Frederick and Western Maryland Travel Guide

Although just a short drive from Washington, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh, western Maryland and Frederick County feel a world apart, with their postcard-perfect vistas and vintage feel. Sometimes called "The Mountain Side of Maryland," travelers are drawn here by sweeping views of the Allegheny Mountains, especially when the foliage turns rich shades of gold and russet. Others come to explore the area's historic Civil War past at Harpers Ferry, Monocacy, and Antietam National Battlefield, scene of the bloodiest one-day battle in the nation's history. The past is inescapable here: everywhere there are reminders of the men in blue and gray who clashed during the Civil War, and the steam engines that chugged through mountainous passes into the wilderness.