 Cache In - Trash Out!  Dangerous area - use caution  More than Half a Mile from Trailhead  Steep Hike
 Scenic View |
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"TMP" told me about this marvelous place - thanks Tom!
St. John's Rock Cache is located on part of the Big Savage Trail, a 17-mile hike following the ridge of Big Savage Mountain; however, you don't have to hike the entire 17 miles of trail (unless you're having an ambitious day) to get to the cache.
Directions to St. John’s Rock Cache: I-68 to Finzel Exit 29, SW on Hwy 546 (Beall School Rd), turn left on Old Frostburg Rd., continue until you see the small brown sign “Big Savage Hiking Trail” on the left. Here you can either park at the side of the road, retrace General Braddock’s route and walk up (about 1/2 mile), or drive up the rather rough road and park at the top and hike about 1000 ft. to St. Johns Rock and the Cache.
Vegetation is encroaching on much of the view at the rock outcropping, but not all of it; enough remains that one can view the mountains and the city of Frostburg to the east.
Top elevation is at St. John's Rock, a viewing point at 2,900 feet. The access to the trail is a woods road used by General Braddock during the French and Indian War.
In the fall of 1914, Robert Bruce traveled the National Road and recorded his experiences in a work published by the National Highways Association in 1916. The portion of his travel log covering St. Johns Rock is presented here.
“In ascending the long steady grade on the eastern slope of Big Savage Mountain, a wonderful view unfolds over to the left; and it will repay the tourist to watch for the road built by private subscription, just at the crest leading to St. John's Rock. This is shown as a spur from the old Pike on the map, page 38; the "rock" has an elevation of 2,930 feet, or 50 feet above the point where the main road crosses the summit of Big Savage Mountain. From the rock, and to a large degree also from the Pike, one may look back and see Wills Mountain, the Narrows, Sandy Gap, Dan's Mountain and Frostburg.
Up to the time that a road is constructed to Dan's Rock, the view from St. John's Rock is probably the finest on this trip. W. E. G. Hitchens, G. G. Townsend, and other public-spirited motorists of Frostburg, have been principally instrumental in raising the money necessary to build the road, which leads directly to the rock, around which there is ample space for leaving or turning cars. About 800 feet south o f the rock is a low point where the mountain was crossed by Braddock's Road; an old wood road in fair condition leads to it, and the distance can either be walked, or a car can be taken over it without much difficulty.”
Established in 1872, Garrett County has the distinction of being the last county created in the State of Maryland. It is named after John W. Garrett, the president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
Savage Mountain Trail System