Maryland trails · Northwest Branch Trail
Northwest Branch Trail
A 1.9-mile out-and-back in Maryland, with 129 ft of climbing. Reaches Burnt Mills Reservoir and other lake/viewpoint destinations.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the final third — 58% of the ascent, between mile 1.2 and mile 1.9. It gives back about 108 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Burnt Mills Reservoir (lake)
- Big Rock (viewpoint)
Heads up
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:08 a.m., the sun rises at 6:35 a.m. and sets at 7:40 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:07 p.m. (EDT) — 13 h 05 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 3.7-mile round trip takes roughly 1 h 30 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 8:05 a.m. — 11 h 35 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Northwest Branch Trail + Chute 1 + Copperhead Run Trail — 1.1 mi loop, 184 ft gain
- Copperhead Run Trail + Chute 2 + Northwest Branch Trail — 1.4 mi loop, 204 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Billy Goat Trail, Section A — 13.0 mi
- Potomac Heritage Trail — 18.7 mi
- Grist Mill — 19.8 mi
- Perimeter Trail — 20.3 mi