Sugarloaf: The Mountain's History, Geology, and Natural Lore

Listen for the calls of nesting ravens and warblers, watch the growth of wild geranium and black cohosh, and savor the first autumn blush in the tupelo trees. Revel, as did Frank Lloyd Wright, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt—among generations of other amateur naturalists—in the remarkable natural, historical, and geological treasures of Sugarloaf, the Maryland Piedmont’s only mountain.

A favored destination of nearly one-quarter million visitors each year, some 35 miles...