Mark’s Score 8.6
The entire Pocomoke Forest, from Snow Hill to Pocomoke City, is reported to be the most haunted forest in America. Along the Pocomoke Nature Trail you are reportedly able to hear the screams of a ghostly woman and her baby. While doing my research about the forest I stumbled on Youtuber CJ Faison. He has done a number of videos on haunted sites throughout the forest. In one video he came upon a trail that started in a cemetery. I had no idea where this trail was until I visited Pusey Branch Trail, and lo and behold, this trail starts in a cemetery.
Pusey Branch Trail is one of the shortest trails in the Pocomoke Forest, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers). The trail was designed as an educational nature trail by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, meaning you will find a number interpretive signs along the path. Though the trail is short, you pass through several habitats, pine plantations, mixed pine-hardwood forest, and non-tidal bottomland hardwood wetlands. According to the Department of Natural Resources, this trail is meant to serve as a miniature introduction to the ecology and forestry history of the Pocomoke region.
I visited this trail on the first truly hot day of the season. The sun was bright, the sky cloudless, and there wasn’t a breath of air. I parked my car behind the cemetery, and started my hike by exploring the cemetery. This trail is in the back of the beyond. There are no churches. There are no towns nearby. So, it was a mystery to me why this cemetery would be here at all. Most of the head stones date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so perhaps there was a settlement here at one time. There is a story of a mysterious church that vanished into the swamp, perhaps this is where the church once stood.
After the cemetery, I started down the trail, bravely entering the haunted forest all on my own. I have to admit, even on a bright sunny day this trail is a bit foreboding. There was a severe ice storm in February, and the foreboding atmosphere was made all the worse by multiple toppled trees along the way. In fact, there were so many downed trees that it was impossible to trek the entire trail.
Though I could not walk the entire trail I did manage to explore the hardwood wetland section. Honestly, in the multiple times I have walked in this forest I have never witnessed anything supernatural. However, I do admit that there is an ethereal quality to this forest that could easily conjure visions of ghosts. If there are indeed haunted places, this place would be a strong candidate.
This is a short, easy walk, well worth the visit. Unfortunately, is currently impassable for all the fallen trees. Hopefully the MVDR will soon get around to clearing this trail. When they do, it is a beautiful location, and a fun walk, if a bit creepy.
What else is there to do in Snow Hill?
What else is there to do in Princess Anne?
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