10/11/2026
For all those who love ThorpeWood 🤎💚🤎
A Note from the Merle Thorpe Jr. Charitable Trust
ThorpeWood Is Here to Stay
Sixty-six years ago, Merle Thorpe Jr. purchased 23 acres in the Catoctin Mountains. In 1993, before his passing, Merle established The Merle Thorpe Jr. Charitable Trust (MTCT), a 501(c)(3) private foundation, and endowed it with 30 acres of this special place and the responsibility to carefully steward it for the future.
Merle loved his mountain acreage. It was his refuge from city life and the demands of practicing corporate law. Nearly every weekend, he retreated to this place along Bussard Branch to reset and restore himself by immersing himself in the outdoors.
Merle’s vision extended well beyond his own enjoyment of the property. He believed that others—particularly people from underserved communities—should have the opportunity to come to ThorpeWood and be moved, each in their own way, by the mountain’s abundant offerings, just as he had been.
For more than two and a half decades, those hopes have been made real at ThorpeWood—a place where people have gathered, explored, learned, and experienced the simple joy of being outside. The 30 acres originally entrusted to MTCT have grown to 156 acres of forests, fields, streams, and trails. Together with ThorpeWood’s barns, animals, and gathering spaces, this remarkable property has welcomed thousands of people.
Over the years, ThorpeWood’s identity has largely been shaped by three important community activities:
Programs supporting underserved members of our community;
Interactive experiences with our farm animals and opportunities to explore our trails, brook trout stream, pond, arboretum, and natural world; and
Events and gatherings at the Lodge.
These three pillars remain central to ThorpeWood’s future.
We understand that the recent announcement by the nonprofit, ThorpeWood, Inc., about the relocation of its programs understandably created some confusion. We would like to clarify what that announcement means for the ThorpeWood property and animals.
ThorpeWood is not moving.
Merle’s ThorpeWood lives on Catoctin Mountain. This is its home. ThorpeWood is inseparable from the forests, fields, streams, trails, animals, and gathering places that surround it. It remains here, and it will continue here.
We are deeply grateful to the employees and volunteers who have cared for ThorpeWood over the years, who have tended its gardens and trails, cared for its animals, maintained its facilities, welcomed visitors, and brought its programs to life. They have given an extraordinary amount of themselves to this place, and they have our deepest gratitude. We look forward to opportunities for their continued employment and volunteer involvement at ThorpeWood.
As part of this transition, the nonprofit formerly known as ThorpeWood, Inc. will relocate its programs and operations to elsewhere in Frederick County, where the organization will continue its work in mental health, wellness, grief support, outdoor education, and other nature-based programming under the name One Wild.
The MTCT Trustees wish One Wild every success in this next chapter. We are grateful for the programs and experiences created at ThorpeWood and for the many people whose lives have been touched by that work.
And we want to be very clear about what this transition does—and does not—mean:
ThorpeWood is not going away.
The Merle Thorpe Jr. Charitable Trust is actively working to forge a new partnership that will ensure uninterrupted care for our animals, create opportunities for current employees to continue their work on the property, and open the door to new ways for the community to experience and enjoy ThorpeWood.
There is much more to come.
ThorpeWood will continue to be a place to wander a trail, meet an animal, learn something new, gather with others, breathe fresh mountain air, and discover just how much adventure, wonder, and joy can be found outside.
We are proud of ThorpeWood’s history. We are deeply grateful to the people who have helped build, care for, and sustain this special place. And we are excited about what comes next.
The Trustees
The Merle Thorpe Jr. Charitable Trust
