Maryland may be small, but it packs a mighty powerful punch. Just drive along its scenic byways and you’ll see what we mean.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Maryland Scenic Byways program. The state now has 18 officially designated scenic byways, six of which have been elevated to National Scenic Byway or All-American Road status.
Traveling on scenic byways is a fun and enlightening way to see a region and get a taste of its history and heritage, culinary and craft offerings, agricultural landscapes and bucolic vistas, and off-the-beaten-path attractions.
Here are five of our favorites:
The Historic National Road
Yes, this year may be the centennial anniversary of “The Mother Road,” the beloved and ever-kitschy Route 66. But not to be overlooked is the “Historic National Road” that expanded America’s western reach. Carved out of mountains and forestry while spanning rivers, the road was a marvel of its times. Its macadam and cobblestones took this nation into the great frontier.
Started in 1811 to carry settlers and trade from Maryland into the wilds of Illinois, the National Road would take four decades to complete.
To learn about “The Road That Built a Nation,” why not come to the hamlet of Boonsboro in Washington County and check out the National Road Museum at 214 Main Street? This brand-new museum chronicles the creation, story and legacy of America’s first federally funded highway.
The museum is just minutes away from the original Washington Monument in Boonsboro, South Mountain Battlefield and Antietam National Battlefield. It’s also next door to the Boonsboro Trolley Station Museum, a sure-fire treat for streetcar enthusiasts and others.
Falls Road
Right in our backyard is the Falls Road scenic byway, stretching from Prettyboy Reservoir near the microscopic northern Baltimore County community of Alesia to Baltimore City.
Along this 39-mile byway — much of which is rural and runs through rolling hill country — you can check out such gems as Gunpowder Falls State Park, Oregon Ridge Nature Center, Gramercy Mansion, the town of Butler and the historic Rockland district, and The Cloisters, a nearly century-old mansion modeled after late medieval architecture and now used for special events.
You’ll also spot plenty of grand homes, taverns and houses of worship making your way up or down Falls Road. Winding up this byway is the 10-mile Jones Falls Trail and the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.
This scenic byway is a feast for the eyes and definitely worth the schlep!
John Wilkes Booth
Lincoln’s mustachioed assassin is of endless fascination to Americans, particularly the Maryland-born actor’s escape after committing his despicable act of cold-blooded murder at Ford’s Theatre.
This 66-mile scenic byway takes you from Washington, D.C., to Bowling Green, Virginia, tracing Booth’s route to avoid Union troops and their 12-day manhunt.
The byway is part of the “Great Chesapeake Bay Loop” and passes through a chunk of Southern Maryland. The route includes the Surratt House, a Confederate “safe house” in Clinton the Cedarville State Forest where Booth and his accomplice David Herold passed through; Dr. Samuel A. Mudd’s residence (now a museum) in Waldorf where Booth was treated for his broken leg; and the Potomac River Water Trail where Booth and Herold hid along the Nanjemoy Creek before fleeing to Virginia and their ultimate capture and demise.
Besides the historic nature of this byway, you’ll enjoy some breathtaking scenery and spectacular vistas.
C&O Canal
This year marks the 175th anniversary of the completion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. So what better time to enjoy “the Grand Old Ditch” and soak up the ambience of its national historic park and 184-mile towpath?
In its day, the C&O was considered an engineering marvel of the 19th century that captured the imaginations of Americans. Today, the canal and its surrounding areas offer a wealth of opportunities for hiking, biking, bird watching, barge rides and other outdoorsy endeavors.
This 184-mile byway stretches from the “Queen City” of Cumberland in Western Maryland to D.C. and its Georgetown district.
Along the way, you’ll enjoy scores of picturesque small towns, breweries and wineries, markets and bakeries, and passage trails and taverns.
Don’t miss such highlights as the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, the Clara Barton National Historic Site in Glen Echo and the C&O National Historic Park Hancock Visitor Center.
From history buffs to outdoors enthusiasts to noshers to craft beer lovers, there’s something for everyone to savor on this byway!
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Scenic Byway
Across roughly 125 miles — from the Dorchester County seat of Cambridge to the town of Goldsboro in Caroline County — country roads through small communities will lead you along the secret network of trails, waterways and safe houses used by enslaved people seeking their liberty in the north.
This reenacted flight to freedom begins at Cambridge’s Visitor Center at Sailwinds Park along the Choptank River and winds its way to the nearby Harriet Tubman Museum and Education Center. Along the way you’ll see museums, homesteads, meeting houses and other locales that transport visitors back to antebellum days.
In Bucktown, don’t miss the village store where Tubman (born Araminta Ross in Dorchester County), in her first recorded act of defiance, came to the defense of an enslaved man about to be captured.
On the road to Goldsboro, you can stop by the 1852 James Webb Cabin, the only surviving pre-Civil War log dwelling built by and for an African American; the Museum of Rural Life in Denton; and the historic towns along the Mason-Dixon line near Delaware.
Besides immersing yourself in the life and times of one of America’s greatest freedom seekers and social activists, this scenic byway offers ample opportunities for antiques shopping, fine dining and guided walking tours.
For information, go to visitmaryland.org/scenic-byways. To view the Maryland Scenic Byways Guide, click here.
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