Potomac State Forest, Lostland Run

Lostland Run

In my last post, we covered my favorite places to photograph along Laurel Run in Potomac State Forest.  There's another road in the forest that follows another stream called Lostland Run [map].  This stream is equally beautiful to Laurel Run, and they are relatively close by.  Unless it's a cloudy day, I rarely have time to go to both places in one day--the light gets too difficult once the sun gets too high.  But I enjoy both places equally.  There's a 3.5 mile trail you can walk that follows campsites and the Lostland Run stream, but I've never actually walked the whole trail at one time.  It's not that it's too long.  It's just that I find myself stopping so frequently for photographs that I don't get that far.

Cascade Falls

When I drive down Lostland Run Rd, I usually drive down to where there's a little place to park with a small sign that alerts you to a trail that takes you to Cascade Falls.  This is the largest falls in the forest (that I've found).  It's very large and wide, and the look of the falls varies greatly by how much it's rained.  I think the falls is most beautiful when there has been a fair amount of rain.  From there I walk up the trail along the stream and there are many small cascades that are extremely picturesque.  In fact, the first photograph I've had published came from just upstream of Cascade Falls (it's the first photograph in this post).  I usually walk up stream until the sun gets too high and then return to my car.

Little Falls in Lostland Run

You can begin walking from the trail head and walk the path downstream.  There are a few nice places if you take this route, and after a while you'll come to a small falls (about the same size as Tolliver Falls in Swallow Falls State Park), that's very picturesque. I've never followed the trail from this point down to Cascade Falls, so I don't know what you may find if you continue down the path.

Lostland Run

Between Swallow Falls, Laurel Run, and Lostland Run, I suspect you'll find enough to explore to keep any photographer busy for a while.  Western Maryland seems to have more beauty than one location should be allowed to have.  But I'm not complaining.  You can see my gallery for Potomac State Forest here.  For tips on photographing waterfall, see this post.