In Search of the King and Queen Seats

One thing I appreciate about Maryland is the sheer number of state parks.

Our state boasts fifty-three state and eight national parks, not bad for such a small state. There are also islands to visit in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland also borders D.C., Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Delaware, so it feels like an excellent spot for an adventurer.

Not long after we moved in, I heard someone mention the King and Queen Seats at Rocks State Park, in Jarrettsville, Maryland. I figured that meant rock formations in the shape of two thrones, and I added this to my mental list of “must sees.”

We went to Rocks State Park and explored a little several times during the pandemic.

At times, it was actually swarming with people, and it was hard to find a parking space. With all the malls, theaters, and cities basically closed, the people were driven out into the outdoor areas. That was probably one of the better things that came out of the 2020 corona hysteria.

our favorite swimming area at Rocks State park

On our first several visits to Rocks State, we found an excellent swimming hole and lazy river type spot.

We walked the dog, swam, skipped rocks, and played frisbee.

What we did NOT find was the king and queen seats. Granted, we did not go out and hike up the hills looking for it too hard. We just parked at the first picnic area and headed over to the swimming hole.

Now that it is November, we decided it was time to hunt this locally famous rock formation down.

We have been inside far too much since school started. Saturday was the perfect day. The sun was out in force, and the humidity was gone, leaving the air a lovely, inviting 70 degrees.

Glorious!

Oh, and yes! Dogs are allowed on the trails. Rosie saw many of her kind!

(part of the Red Trail, not near the King and Queen Seats)

If you follow the brown road signs within the park, they will lead you to the parking lot uphill that is literally right beside the entrance pathway to the king and queen’s seats.

Of course, if you have never been, you might park your car and then take off walking half a mile in the opposite direction from your destination on the “red trail.” Ha! That is what we did anyway. We took a nice stroll through the fall foliage for a while before we asked someone where the King and Queen seats were and were pointed back to where we had started from..

So we turned back around, hiked right past our car in the parking lot and on that same trail mere yards from our car, and found all these rocks.

Giant rocks everywhere.

There was also a sign which explained why it is called the King and Queen Seats. It turned out to be from a legend. The story was that our local Susquehannock tribes would meet up there and their king and queen would take their place on these rocks in ceremony. The expert sign at the park explained that there is no evidence to back up this claim, but that it is probably a myth. Ah, well.

Honestly, none of it really looked like a throne to me either, so that was not exactly what I expected.

The climbing experience does not disappoint though.

You can truly feel on top of the world up there. Some of it even looks like a giant bridge. The rocks juts out over this cliff. With small children and dog in tow, I honestly did not climb it to its full potential. I find myself playing it extremely safe these days. Rocks State Park is one of those spots where someone is occasionally in the news for having fallen to their death from up there. Of course, I told this to all of our boys to make sure everyone was cautious, and they were.

Alan and the older boys explored the rocks more fully than I did. Rosie climbed to surprising heights too. She was so funny, whining about wanting to go visit all the other dogs.

I mostly hovered over John David and Daniel, making sure no one made any missteps that would lead to them plunging to their deaths. Out of all of us, I was the only who ever actually tripped, which I did a few times. Thankfully, I tripped on the trails though, not the rocky climbing area.

Of course, I also took tons of pictures. Every group has to have that one person. For now, I am that person. Caleb is the one for our next generation. He is very good about remembering to make photo and video documentation.

I think it actually looks scarier in pictures than it did in person. We did not actually engage in any risky behavior, really.

All of our family enjoys a light rock climbing excursion. This reminded me of places we have climbed in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, or Great Falls, Virginia, or Yosemite National Park in California.

Alan and Daniel in Harpers Ferry, WV, 2012.

Isn’t it silly how people ask if you are a mountain person or a beach person, as if you cannot be both?

Both, guys, both! We get to like both!!

But yeah, if I were to build a house anywhere I wanted, it would be on the shore. Mountains and cliffs and rocks like this are gorgeous and inspiring too though, and that is why God gave us both.