City Escape: Frederick, Maryland
If you enjoy an endless progression of curves and elevation changes on off-the-beaten-path roads, then this City Escape is for you. Because of the challenging riding environment, it may feel much longer than its designated 155-mile length. These roads are great fun.
The area has a rich panoply of farms, lost-in-time villages, mountain overlooks, pastoral valleys, single-lane arched stone bridges, and burbling brooks. You'll find both sights and sounds to enjoy. Although there are not a lot of hairpins and precipitous drop-offs, the incessant demands of negotiating curves hour after hour require you to remain highly focused.
With relatively few exceptions, the roads are all in good to great condition, especially for less-traveled secondary rural roads. They generally follow the topographical contours of the land.
Lunch Stop
Tower Ridge Inn Bar & Grill offers salads, burgers, and other American classics for every taste. Find it at 11433 Lincoln Hwy, McConnellsburg, PA.
Points of Interest
Middletown Overloop from Gambrill State Park
Gambrill State Park is accessed via Gambrill Park Rd. Looking south from this high perch, visitors get a bird's eye view of the farms in Middletown Valley. Most of the park's facilities were built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Buchanan's Birthplace State Park
James Buchanan, America's 15th president, served a single four-year term that immediately preceded that of Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Civil War. Some historians consider Buchanan our least effective chief executive because of his passive approach to managing the lead-up to the Civil War. A 31-feet-tall pyramidal monument marks the location of Buchanan's boyhood home.
R.H. Wilson & Son Old Country Store
Rufus Wilson opened his store on the National Road (US 40) in 1850. It remained in continuous operation until it closed in 1975. The store was rescued and restored in 1983. This back-in-time retail relic sells antiques, collectibles and a limited assortment of foodstuffs. Find it at 14921 Rufus Wilson Rd, Clear Spring, MD.