This ride is a 151 mile loop beginning and ending in Frederick City, Maryland. Frederick City and County are located one hour north of Washington, D.C. and one hour west of Baltimore, Maryland. Along this route are many historical sites in addition to some great twistes and gorgeous vistas. Frederick County is the birthplace of Francis Scott Key, composer of the National Anthem and the home of Camp David, the Presidential Retreat, located in Frederick County’s Catoctin Mountains.
On leaving Frederick you travel east on Route 26 to scenic Route 550 on which you head north-west giving you great vistas of the Catoctin Mountains. Stop for a moment in Thurmont at the famous Cozy Restaurant where numerous presidents including Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Bush and Clinton have dined. The Cozy also has an excellent Camp David museum. This is not a fancy restaurant so come-as-you-are.
On leaving Thurmont you ride into the Catoctin Mountains with Cunningham Falls State Park on your left and Catoctin Mountain National Park on your right. Camp David is in the latter. You can go past the entrance to Camp David on Park Central Road but cannot see the retreat itself or stop or take photos. The “Catoctin’s” are a small (about 30 miles north/south and 10 miles east/west) mountain range that has some excellent motorcycle roads with lots of twistes and some beautiful valleys. Explore the side roads if you have time.
When you leave the Catoctin’s you ride west toward Sharpsburg, MD and the famous Civil War battlefield of Antietam. This was the site of the first major battle of the Civil War on northern soil where 23,000 men died in one day, more than any other single day in the entire war. Stop at the national memorial for a brief visit, you will not be disappointed.
Upon leaving Sharpsburg you head west on two beautiful roads; Rt. 65 & 68. These roads take you past several C&O Canal locks run by the National Park Service, well worth seeing. Eventually you reach the western-most point on the ride at Big Springs and begin your loop back toward Frederick on the famous “National Road”, U.S. Route 40. This was one of the first federally funded highways in the U.S., begun in 1811. At it’s height it provided portage for almost 1,000 miles between the Potomac and Ohio rivers.
As you ride back toward Frederick you will again cross the Catoctin Mountains, this time on Rt. 550, another road with some great twistes. Then you head south toward Frederick on Rt. 15. There is an excellent small zoo, the Catoctin Zoo just off Rt. 15 south of Thurmont. Stop if you have time.
This entire ride is only 151 miles but if you are visiting the area you could easily make this a two day ride with all the historic, good eating, side roads and scenic places to visit.
Jennings Glenn
This month’s featured ride is provided by Moto-Maps® from their Maryland & Delaware booklet and was created and reported by Jennings Glenn – a Moto-Maps’ colleague and co-author of Great Roads, Great Rides.
Click on the map, legend and directions below to enlarge.
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