Need some help, trip coming up to Washington DC

[+usyoopers]

We will be in the Washington DC area in May on business. The 3 days of the business part of the trip will include many of the virtuals in the city. We won't have a car for those days so between virtuals and a museum or 2 I think I have that part under control.

 

I would like to rent a car for 2 days to try and add a few States to our "cached in" list. Maryland, Virginia and W. Virginia are the intended States (I think) ... so a day trip to Maryland and then a day trip to the Virginia's. Any suggestions for an interesting location/good food/must do caches that fit our time frame??

 

We really aren't into lampposts unless they are at an extremely interesting location, ditto waste containers or nano's on the back of street signs. We are more into parks, nature trail or historical sites.

 

Thanks in advance for all the great sugestions I am sure we will get!

[+Packanack]

I was drawn to your name, as I graduated from NMU and have always been partial to pulp cutters, iron miners and upes. Recently I was in Silver Spring MD and was able to do a nice virtual called the Original.

The nice thing about Silver Spring is that you do not need a car--the Metro runs right to it in Downtown and there were a number of caches within easy walking distance of the station. Enjoy your trip, I am sure you will get many other suggestions.

[+briansnat]

Scotts Run Preserve near McClean has some nice caches. It's a pretty park along the Potomac. There is also Sugarloaf Mtn Park in MD sout of Frederick.

 

When I was working in McClean my window had a view to the north and I would look at this distant mountain rising above the flat land around it. Took me a while to figure out what mountain it was, but it turned out to be Sugarloaf.

[+Toojin]

I used to live in the DC area (before Caching came to be). Anyway, you can get to caches in Maryland and in Virginia by using the metro system and a little foot power. You can also take the MARC train to West Virginia.

 

Be warned if renting a car. The DC area has the second worst traffic in the U.S. -- only LA is ahead of it in general awfulness...

 

Edit to add a link I forgot...

http://www.homefinders.com/METRO-MARC-VRE.php

Edited February 16, 2011 by Toojin

[+Sins DS]

Jusef's Cache is the oldest in Maryland, up near Baltimore. HOGS HEAVEN is also a particularly pretty site in a nice park.

[+ChinCache]

Oh hell, if your going to rent a car you may as well hit 95 and get NJ,PA and DE to your list.

[+GZip]

Fountainhead Park should be open by then. One of NoVA's most prolific, and beautiful cache areas. It is not very conducive to cache and dash if adding states is your goal.

 

If I had two days and a car, I would use one day and head out to the Harper's Ferry area. You can get all 3 states pretty easily and the area is very interesting historically. I would go to Fountainhead on the second day.

 

Have fun!

[+vds]

If you're in DC, you might want to examine the Metro maps vs. the caching maps and see what you can get without driving. The Metro should get you at a minimum DC (a zillion virtuals), VA, and MD.

 

Given wheels, WV is a bit further but there looked like a nice area around Harpers Ferry. Gettysburg is pretty cool if you haven't been there (PA) You could also go north on 95 and get PA/DE/NJ pretty quickly with many just over the state lines. Beware the high tolls on the bridge on 95. Come with cash (not cache, $$$$).

Edited March 4, 2011 by vds