Modeled view from campsite 53, Green Ridge State Forest: the terrain, sky and sun computed for 22 October, facing the sunrise. Not a photograph. Look around in 360
Modeled view, not a photograph: the terrain and sky around this pitch, computed for 22 October from the elevation model, with the sun where it will be. How it’s made
Primitive site · Green Ridge State Forest, Maryland

Campsite 53

1,154 ft east-facing hillside

Site 53 is one of the primitive, first-come campsites scattered through Green Ridge State Forest in western Maryland. It sits at 1,154 ft on an east-facing hillside, with running water 240 ft south. The drive in is rated “Gravel road”.

Open site 53 in the app See every site on the map
Booking
None. Sites are first come, first served.
Fee
$10 a night for a standard site, $20 for a group site, paid at headquarters. Maryland DNR.
Check in
Sign the sheet at headquarters when you arrive, then go to the site.
Is it free tonight?
This page cannot know. The app shows what the sign-up sheet last showed, with the photo's age.
In short

Hillside, by a creek, easy in, quiet.

  • Modeled1,154 ft, east-facing hillside.
  • ModeledGravel road, 8.8 mi and 29 min from HQ, 3.4 mi of it unpaved, 14% grade on the way. The pitch sits 95 ft from the road.
  • ModeledRunning water 236 ft south.
  • ModeledOut of earshot of the range, the interstate and the freight line.
  • ModeledModeled only: nobody has photographed or described this pitch for Greenridge yet.

Modeled from USGS elevation, OpenStreetMap roads and the sun   Community reported by campers

Sun and shade

Hours of direct sun

NESWN 11:00 am · on the pitch
The horizon around site 53, east on the left, south in the middle, west on the right, with the sun's path on 22 October: amber where it reaches the pitch, dashed where the ridge hides it. The fainter arcs are the other dates the site’s 360 view shows. Its highest ridge stands 9.5° above the horizontal to the northwest. Sampled 144 times out to 9 km from the USGS elevation survey. Every sun time on this page is computed against this line.
8hJan9hFeb10hMar12hApr13hMay13hJun13hJul12hAug11hSep10hOct9hNov8hDec
Hours of direct sun on the pitch by month; the grey behind each bar is the full day the almanac gives with no ridges in the way.

The tallest ground on this site's horizon stands 9.5° above level, to the northwest.

On the March equinox direct sun reaches the pitch at 8:04 am and leaves it at 6:38 pm: 10 h 36 m of it, against 12 h 12 m of daylight on an open horizon.

Direct sun on the pitch, 2026. “Open horizon” is what the same day would give with no ridges in the way.
DateFirst lightLast lightDirect sunOpen horizon
20 March8:04 am6:38 pm10 h 36 m12 h 12 m
21 June6:26 am7:44 pm13 h 20 m15 h 2 m
21 December8:20 am4:18 pm8 h9 h 26 m
Lay of the land

The ground

The elevation model puts the pitch at 1,154 ft, on a hillside tilted about 5.3° to the east.

Within the 1.2 km square sampled around it, the site stands 102 ft above the lowest ground in that square, which lies 0.4 mi northeast and 269 ft below the high ground 0.3 mi northwest.

The nearest mapped water is an unnamed run 240 ft south. OpenStreetMap maps the channel but has no name for it. Treat any water from it before drinking.

20 ft contours, 1.2 km across, from the USGS elevation survey. Watercourses from OpenStreetMap. The dot is the site.
Next door

Nearby sites

How to choose between them · All 100 sites

On these shortlists: Quiet · Beside water · Near a trail · All shortlists

Evenings here

When the ridge takes the sun

  • 20 MarchSun off the pitch at 6:38 pm, 50 minutes before sunset
  • 21 JuneSun off the pitch at 7:44 pm, 64 minutes before sunset
  • 22 OctoberSun off the pitch at 5:40 pm, 48 minutes before sunset
  • 21 DecemberSun off the pitch at 4:18 pm, 38 minutes before sunset

For tonight, with the moon, darkness and the overnight low, open Site 53 in the app.

Where these numbers come from

Provenance

Most of this page is computed from public data; the lines marked Community come from campers. The computed data was last rebuilt from its sources on 28 September 2026.

  • Elevation, landform, slope, aspect, contours, the horizon profile and the steepest grade on the approach come from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), read from its elevation tiles.
  • Roads and watercourses come from OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed ODbL, as mapped at that rebuild. A road can wash out or close after it.
  • Sun times are when the sun clears that measured skyline, computed with the NOAA Solar Calculator equations. They are for 2026 and shift by a minute or two from year to year.
  • The pin comes from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources campsite GIS layer.
  • Evenings here are the same sun times, on four dates of the year: when the sun drops behind this pitch's measured skyline, against the open-horizon sunset.
  • The modeled view and the 360 are rendered from a 3D model of the forest, from the pitch, through a whole day in each of five seasons. The ground is the same elevation data plus lidar. Tree heights come from lidar; the species mix and tree form come from US Forest Service inventory plots in Allegany County, so no tree here was surveyed individually. The tent, table and fire ring are the same stand-ins at every site. When a photograph from the site, ours or one a camper sends, shows the model is wrong about where the pitch is or what the ground is like, the model is corrected and the 360 is rendered again. How the 360 is made.
  • Character tags and field notes come from campers. They are judgements rather than measurements.
  • Availability is not on this page because nothing publishes it. The app shows what the last photograph of the sign-up sheet said, and how old that photograph is.

Greenridge is independent and is not affiliated with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources or any government agency. The forest's own rules apply.

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Every message is read. For rules and closures, Maryland DNR is the authority.