# pretty farmland in Maryland?



## Ken Roberts (Oct 3, 2007)

What's your favorite area around Maryland for riding roads thru farmland?

Sharon and I love riding quiet roads with barns + silos, maybe some horses + cows. And we like exploring new places. So although we don't live in Maryland, we're interested in finding some pretty riding.

We had been exploring farmland in Pennsylvania, and then we extended that to around Hagerstown. On our previous visit we find some nice riding north and southwest of the city. Then over Fourth of July weekend we tried a day riding southeast from Hagerstown, around Boonsboro + Sharpsburg/Antietam + Smithsburg -- like on this map.

We were impressed with how interesting + pretty the roads and farms were, and how sustained the roads from Antietam to Smithsburg were holding a high ratio of farms to suburban houses.

Now we're looking for pointers to more of that.

Thanks for your help,

Ken


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Ken Roberts said:


> What's your favorite area around Maryland for riding roads thru farmland?
> 
> Sharon and I love riding quiet roads with barns + silos, maybe some horses + cows. And we like exploring new places. So although we don't live in Maryland, we're interested in finding some pretty riding.
> 
> ...


Anywhere in western Maryland should be pretty nice. Same goes for the Eastern Shore across the Chesapeake Bay. The Eastern Shore is pretty flat. Hagerstown, Boonsboro, Middletown, etc. are somewhat hilly. We have a time trial that goes through Boonsboro and then a road race in the Smithsburg area. Me, I live on the edge of cookie cutter developments in Germantown, but I usually ride north from here and once I pass Clarksburg it is pretty much farms and that is it until Urbana. The Sugarloaf mountain area is pretty nice, which is just northwest of me. Riding out in Poolesville can be pretty nice too, but they have started developing over there too.

They have also started developing in Boonsboro too. I used to hunt a couple farms out there and one of them has been cut in half in size because the owner sold lots out of the front of the farm.

Up route 15 around the Taneytown area is pretty nice and if you are really into climbing you can try the Catoctin Mountains in that area and also ride around Camp David. Just be careful of the Secret Service. Had a friend of mine get a citation for trespassing from them but he blatantly ignored a sign that said NO TRESPASSING.


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## Ken Roberts (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks, that's enough specific places to keep us busy for lots more visits to Maryland.



fabsroman said:


> I usually ride north from here and once I pass Clarksburg it is pretty much farms and that is it until Urbana.


Good -- a bit surprising to me because it seems so close to Interstate 270. But I guess it's kind of unpredictable where lots of people decide to start building houses away from large cities . . .
Like I would not have guessed this:



fabsroman said:


> Poolesville ... but they have started developing over there too.


and eastern Maryland, a whole other place I wasn't thinking of, but could work out well for Sharon and me.

Ken


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## MisterC (May 26, 2007)

Maryland is some great riding. It should keep you busy.


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## iconicflux (Jun 11, 2010)

The area around Antietam (Sharpsburg) is beautiful and it makes it so you can stop in at Nutter's Icecream. That place rocks! Great ice cream and awesome prices on it. It's like $1.85 for a good size 2 scoop cone.

You said Sharpsburg... I'm just seconding it.


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## Ken Roberts (Oct 3, 2007)

iconicflux said:


> The area around Antietam (Sharpsburg) is beautiful and it makes it so you can stop in at Nutter's Icecream.


Good to know -- last time we got to Sharpsburg too early in the morning -- so we saw Nutter's but it wasn't open yet. Next time ...

Ken


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## garysol1 (Jun 4, 2008)

I love riding around the Green Spring Valley area. Beautiful white fenced in horse farms and rolling hills with a few climbs highlight the area.


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## AntonioBiondo (Aug 3, 2010)

*Don' t forget Harford County!*

Harford County also boasts some excellent rural riding. Once you get away from the congestion of Bel Air there are miles and miles of low traffic roads to enjoy. There is also a great velo club, Harford Velo Club, that leads multiple rides each week starting at the community college in Harford County.


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## Creig (Aug 9, 2010)

Worcester County on the lower Eastern Shore has some great back roads. It is flat indeed, but some good rides and scenic views near the back bays and the Atlantic.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Nice flatland rides:
Easton to Oxford and back
Easton to St. Michaels and Tilghman Island
Like hills?
Ride the Tour de Carroll in the Spring.
Western Maryland in the Fall.


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## Tommy Walker (Aug 14, 2009)

LostViking said:


> Nice flatland rides:
> Easton to Oxford and back
> Easton to St. Michaels and Tilghman Island
> .


Tell me more about the Easton rides; I've got a friend who has just started road biking, he lives in MD and want to help him get out a little more.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Easton-Oxford-Easton - Park car at Easton YMCA - ride out of town towards Oxford - ride passes through corn/soy fields, past a cattle and goat pasture (Cooke's Hope), wildlife set-asides etc. with farms and a few scattered residential plots. Depending on season, wildlife sightings can include Deer, Bluebirds, Eagles, Snow Geese and Tundra Swans. Nice wide shoulders with good to great quality roads - three bridges with river/wetland views - I usually ride to the very end past the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry and turn around and gulp down some Gatorade as I watch the Ospreys circle over the Tred Avon - then ride back. If you ride at between 18 to 21 MPH - the complete ride takes about one hour to one and a half hours.

Easton-St Michaels-Tilghman Island and back - A much longer ride. I usually park at Target in Easton and start riding from there. Much the same scenery as described above for the Easton-Oxford Ride - but much longer and with more car traffic at least until St. Michaels; a very touristy town during the summer. Each way takes about two+ hours if you don't cruise too much - so I suggest your friend do this one once he/she feels secure in their cycling form.

Both are nice and flat for the most part - but there are some slight inclines/declines mostly around the bridges. As both are peninsulas surrounded by water - winds can be shifty and occasionally make for a more challenging ride.

Not much going on in Oxford, but visit The Highland Creamery if you have a hankering for some great ice cream. As I wrote above, lots to see in St. Michaels. Easton is the largest town on Route 50 until you reach Cambridge - has a nice town center and hosts a fab Waterfowl Festival in the Fall that could be combined with a bike tour. 

If you want to do both routes at once, consider signing up for the St Michaels Historic Century on Active.com.


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## Tommy Walker (Aug 14, 2009)

LostViking said:


> Easton-Oxford-Easton - Park car at Easton YMCA - ride out of town towards Oxford - ride passes through corn/soy fields, past a cattle and goat pasture (Cooke's Hope), wildlife set-asides etc. with farms and a few scattered residential plots. Depending on season, wildlife sightings can include Deer, Bluebirds, Eagles, Snow Geese and Tundra Swans. Nice wide shoulders with good to great quality roads - three bridges with river/wetland views - I usually ride to the very end past the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry and turn around and gulp down some Gatorade as I watch the Ospreys circle over the Tred Avon - then ride back. If you ride at between 18 to 21 MPH - the complete ride takes about one hour to one and a half hours.
> 
> Easton-St Michaels-Tilghman Island and back - A much longer ride. I usually park at Target in Easton and start riding from there. Much the same scenery as described above for the Easton-Oxford Ride - but much longer and with more car traffic at least until St. Michaels; a very touristy town during the summer. Each way takes about two+ hours if you don't cruise too much - so I suggest your friend do this one once he/she feels secure in their cycling form.
> 
> ...


Thanks, the Easton to Tilghman Island sounds perfect. I will check out the St Michaels Century; I am doing the Seagull.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

I hope to be doing the Seagull this year as well - enjoy!


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