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Water is a major theme of the Catoctin Mountain Range, and there are numerous ponds like this. They are mostly artificially damned to provide water for fighting forest fires.

These are Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) growing by the side of the pond, and showing their spring-time fiddle-heads. This type of fern is quite water tolerant, and is found in temperate climates throughout the northern hemisphere.