Active Closures:
- The public shooting range is closed June 1–5, 2026 for training. It will reopen Saturday, June 6. Call 301-478-3124 for questions.
- Some roads and campsites may be temporarily closed following a recent flood event. Contact headquarters for current conditions.
Closures are updated as conditions change. Contact headquarters for current status.
Location:
Green Ridge State Forest Map Visitors Guide
From Washington/Baltimore, take I-70 west to I-68 west, Exit 64 (M.V. Smith Road). From Pittsburgh, take I-79 south to I-68 east, Exit 64. Turn right on M.V. Smith Road; Headquarters Drive is immediately on the right.
Headquarters:
28700 Headquarters Drive NE, Flintstone, MD 21530
Phone:
301-478-3124
Office Hours:
7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Self-registration is available at the outdoor kiosk when the office is closed for camping, shooting range, and fuelwood permits. Cash or check only.
Pets
Permitted throughout the forest on a leash at all times.
Recreation and Trails
Hunting, Trapping, and Permits
Forest Management
Overview
At 49,012 acres, Green Ridge is the largest contiguous block of public land in Maryland and the only state forest in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province. The forest occupies eastern Allegany County, bounded generally by Town Creek to the west, Sideling Hill Creek to the east, the Mason-Dixon Line to the north, and the Potomac River to the south. Elevations range from 500 feet at the Potomac River to 2,000 feet on Town Hill. Green Ridge receives the least annual rainfall of any state forest in Maryland, averaging 36 inches per year.
In the early 1800s, Richard Caton and William Carroll owned much of this land, financing timber and mining operations through the Town Hill Mining, Manufacturing, and Timber Company. The Carroll Chimney — the remains of a steam-powered sawmill built in 1836 — is the only surviving structure from that period. By the early 1900s, the Mertens family of Cumberland had cleared and burned thousands of acres intending to establish what they promoted as "the largest apple orchard in the universe." The orchard venture collapsed in 1918. The State Department of Forestry acquired the land in 1931. The Civilian Conservation Corps performed the first forest management activities in the 1930s, focusing on fire control, road construction, and trail development. During World War II, the CCC camp at Fifteen Mile Creek housed German prisoners of war who cut pulpwood on the forest.
Today Green Ridge is a 110-year-old even-aged mixed oak forest with a wide variety of age classes resulting from silvicultural activities beginning in the late 1960s. Wild turkey, ruffed grouse, and woodcock are the primary upland game birds. The forest supports state-rare and federally listed species including Harperella (Ptilimnium nodosum), a federally endangered aquatic plant, and populations of freshwater mussels and tiger beetles in several stream reaches.
