Located in the Catoctin Mountains, Cunningham Falls State Park is one of Maryland’s most popular state parks and is home to a great selection of boulders! Join Mid Atlantic Climbers on October 4, 2025 (rain date October 5) for an invasive species removal & native planting event that will help protect the habitat in this great park! We are looking for up to 20 volunteers. Just like our spring event, Anne (Cunningham Falls Park volunteer) will be demoing the plant(s) to remove and showing us where to plant the seedlings and how to protect them so they will flourish during the remainder of the season.
This event is currently cancelled, though we are looking at alternative dates.
Schedule:
- Registration: 8:45 am
- Project work: 9 am-12:00 pm
- Raffle: 12 pm
Where To Meet/How To Get There:
We will meet at the main Cunningham Falls parking lot in the William Houck Area. If this parking area is full, there is ample parking at South Beach. There are restrooms there and it is a short walk past the Nature Center from there to the Falls parking. You will have to pass an entrance station that collects fees — volunteers DO NOT pay a fee to enter! The Contact station attendant will know about the event, just let the attendant know you are working with Ranger Padilla.
What To Bring:
- Closed toed shoes or boots
- Long sleeves and pants (we will be removing plants with thorns!)
- Work gloves (if you have them; we will be providing them to anyone who doesn’t have their own)
- Water
- A snack
- A backpack or bucket for carrying supplies up hill. We will have some, but extras would be nice
What We’ll be Doing:
We will be pulling invasive plants out and then plant/plug the holes we make with native saplings (trees, shrubs, wildflowers). Some plants may be difficult to remove; we will use tools such as shovels, maddox, etc. All tools such as loppers, pruners, shovels will be provided. When planting saplings, we will install fencing to protect them and water them. We will be walking up steep inclines at times.
Questions?
E-mail us at adoptacrag@midatlanticclimbers.org.