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5. New Germany State Park
Farther along on Rte. 40A, a turn to the south leads to New Germany State Park, a comely patch of wilderness—with winding trails, hilly woods, and a trout-stocked lake—that showcases the seasons to perfection. In summer an emerald canopy of cherry, oak, and hickory trees shades these gentle slopes, until the days begin to shorten and gold and scarlet spread like wildfire across the hillsides. All too soon, an icy, arctic breeze blows the last leaves off the trees, a prelude to the blizzards that roar across the silent land, dumping so much snow—over 100 inches a year—that it lasts well past winter. Only in April or May do the rhododendrons and mountain laurels begin to show their pink and white blooms, acknowledging the arrival of spring.
6. National Road
All the way to Cumberland, Rte. 40A traces the well-trodden route of the old National Road, an ancient footpath first forged by Native Americans, then traipsed by explorers and militiamen into the unmapped lands beyond the Appalachians. This historic route was designated a National Scenic Byway in 2003. In the early 1800s the government—wanting to open up its untamed western territory—widened the path, paved it with broken stone, and dubbed it the nation's first federal road (it was generally known as the Pike). In no time long lines of covered wagons, their holds chock-full of pioneers yearning for a better life, churned westward toward Oregon and Santa Fe, joining herds of teamsters and stagecoach riders on the slow, bumpy trek. Mementos of that era include the crumbling stone mile markers scattered here and there along the roadside, the tiny village of Frostburg—which grew up around a cluster of taverns, smithies, and inns that served travelers plying the National Road—and in the town of LaVale, an old brick tollhouse.
7. Cumberland
Beyond La Vale the road squeezes between the sheer 1,000-foot bluffs of Cumberland Narrows, then slides into Cumberland, an alluring town of historic red-brick buildings nestled in the mountains. Here in the early 1750s, George Washington, as a young lieutenant in the French and Indian War (his cabin stands in Riverside Park), dreamed of a magnificent canal that would carry goods between the frontier and the coast. He never had the chance to build it, but the idea took form in 1828, when President John Quincy Adams broke ground (and, some say, the shovel) in Washington, D.C., and work was begun on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. The canal operated for nearly a century, its husky mules plodding beside the waterway with low-slung boats in tow. But the mules and canal boats were no match for the sleek engines of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (the nation's first), which came barreling up and over the mountains and eventually signaled the demise of the canal in 1924 after parts of it fell victim to flood damage. Today, the last lock to be built before all hopes for the canal were dashed stands down by the Potomac in Cumberland and has been transformed into Canal Place, commemorating the C & O Canal's terminus. It also has been designated Maryland's first certified heritage area. Throughout the summer season, here you'll be able to participate in a variety of activities including canal boat replica tours, scenic rail excursions, and festivals, culminating in the largest: CanalFest. It's also a welcome boon for the hikers, cyclists, and joggers who swarm to its scenic towpath—now part of a national historical park that meanders for more than 180 miles, all the way to Washington, D.C., along the old, leaf-shaded waterway. Plans in the future call for restoring a section of the canal itself and offering boat rides from the rewatered terminus of the C & O canal.
8. Sideling Hill
From Green Ridge State Forest, the drive follows Rte. 40A to the town of Piney Grove, where it joins Rte. 40/68 and heads into Sideling Hill. When road workers blasted into the hilly landscape here in 1984 to make way for the highway, the resulting gash revealed eons of geological history. Among the lessons imparted here is how the mountain came to be—how, 230 million years ago, the continental plates of North America and Africa rammed into each other like a slow-motion car crash, their impact crumpling the land to create a mountain range. Also discovered here were the fossil remains of brachiopods left behind by an inland sea, and traces of swamp ferns dating from the days of the dinosaurs. These and other treasures are on display at the three-story exhibit center.
Ahead, the mountains melt into hills as the road enters the heart of Maryland's farm country. Old stone houses and classic red barns dot the velvet-green fields, and the hillsides are clad with fruit trees.
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