Equestrian Partners in Conservation (EPIC) | Nonprofit Preserving Equestrian Trail Access in Montgomery County, Maryland

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Breezy Loop Trail Complex


Breezy Loop Trail Complex: Mike’s Loop, Breezy Loop, Bucklodge Loop, Turtle Trail and Giliam Farm Loop

The EPIC Breezy Trails system consists of multiple connected loops with a single trailhead at the Potomac Pony Club field and parking lot at 19301 Bucklodge Road. The entire system can be ridden in 2-3 hours depending on your route and pace.

There are stream crossings, spectacular views of Sugarloaf Mountain and beautiful vistas of Montgomery County’s largest historic barn on Old Bucklodge Road.

Our most recent addition to the Breezy Loop Complex is a large loop around the edge of the farm fields south of the railroad tracks. It’s called Mike's Loop, named in honor of EPIC’s founder and chairman, Mike Rubin. It starts from one part of the Gilliam Farm Trail and loop around the large farm fields west of White Ground Road and eventually hooks up with another part of the Gilliam Farm Trail.

The Turtle Trail is so named because of its proximity to the site of a box turtle habitat relocation effort by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and landowner (and EPIC co-founder) Mike Rubin. Part of the environmental mitigation program related to the Intercounty Connector (ICC) was the relocation and study of box turtles. As their habitat along the path of the ICC was being destroyed, the HSUS was tasked with capturing and moving as many of these creatures as possible.

The plan was to move the population to a new, safe locale, sequester them for a period of time and then release them. Two large pens were constructed, turtles placed therein, and two years later they were released with GPS locators implanted.

See below to download a PDF of Breezy Loop, Bucklodge Loop, Turtle Trail and Gilliam Farm Loop trails.

Use: Hiking, Equestrian

Distance: The entire system can be ridden in 2-3 hours depending on your route and pace.

More: Please be careful not to step on a turtle as you ride through. Box turtles like to rest in the middle of trails!

Water & Restrooms: Unavailable

Access and Parking: Parking lot at 19301 Bucklodge Road

Other Resources: You can also find detailed, interactive maps of these trails on TrailLink.com and AllTrails.com and the TROT Trail Directory.


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