If you told me that in my late 50s I’d be tent camping in the mountains in Maryland, I would not have believed you!. I mean it’s Maryland, world famous for the beaches of Ocean City, the Chesapeake Bay and blue crabs. To my amazement it is so much more! 

Looking to extend our travels while planning our now annual trip to the Massanutten Mountain Resort in McGaheysville (ma-GAK-eez-vil)Virginia, the other trio of the Four Fine Friends bought into my crazy idea of finding a place to camp for two days along the way. Having taken the bait I visited the HipCamp website at https://.hipcamp.com and shared a choice of 6 different sites throughout the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge/Allegheny Mountain region and after a group vote, the friends and I settled on the site at Locust Post Brewery located in the hills of Little Orleans, Maryland.

Our travels to the Hipcamp site at the Locust Post Brewery began at our home in the Fingerlakes region of New York, through the Nittany Valley, home to the Lions of Penn State University and into the majestic mountains that connect Pennsylvania and Maryland. Amazingly, after a period of a lost GPS connection and a lack of any signs indicating a border crossing into Maryland we found ourselves arriving at the brewery about an hour before sunset. 

The brewery itself is within a beautifully converted barn on a family farm. Filled with imaginative art and decor, the atmosphere quickly enabled our group to forget about the 5 hour trip to get there. We were welcomed by the owners Tony and Denise who also owned a home next door with a campsite in the lower field. Before setting up camp we decided to take in some live music as we enjoyed delicious pizzas and excellent brews prepared by our hosts. The array of beer included choices of cold and satisfying IPAs and Ales. I tasted several Red Ales at various taprooms during our trip and I will have to say that the Red Irish Ale offered at the Locust Post Brewery was by far the best! If you’ve ever enjoyed a cold Killians on St. Patrick's day, you will surely enjoy Brewmaster Tony’s creation. 

The campsite offered a choice of three different sites within a well manicured fenced area all with picnic tables and fire pit. Our group decided to set up at site number one which provided plenty of room for our two tents and canopy tent. Two young ladies on a trail bike trip heading to Williamsport, PA set up camp at site three. The campsite offered a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains, an antique pickup truck filled with fired wood and heated bathrooms with a shower located in the lower level of the brewery. Some will call a campsite with onsite brewery, pizza and hot showers a Glamping experience but hey our group of Four Fine Friends are only looking for the best Wine/Beer, food, travel and fun!

After an excellent night's sleep in the mountain air, our group was able to enjoy some food at a local restaurant before working our way through the gorgeous mountain views to the nearby city of Cumberland, for an afternoon of exploration. Upon returning to Locust Post for a second night our group again enjoyed some tasty pizza and brews as we were greeted by the amazing homegrown bluegrass sounds of the band Low River Express.

The weather and mountain air again made for an excellent sleeping experience for a second night despite a mysterious source of soft rock and country music playing somewhere in the surrounding mountains, ending at 5:00 am. It wasn’t coming from the brewery and we didn’t have a radio but I will say that the playlist was excellent and imagined that perhaps someone was working at their still and filling a barrel with some sort of delicious mountain libation.

After packing up camp and freshening up in the exceptionally clean and warm shower, our group was ready to head south to the resort at Massanutten but not before all reviewing and sharing our fun filled and safe experience that we each had during our 2 day stay at Locust Post. If you like or will consider camping and enjoy travel, I’d recommend checking out the Hipcamp website where you will find not only the excellent campsite at Locust Post Brewery but thousands of choices throughout the United States.

Learn more at: https://locustpostbrewery.com/