Maryland Roads - Scenic US 40

Scenic US 40


Maryland wasn't kidding with the "Scenic" designation. These photos pan from east to west at the top of Town Hill, which is actually taller than Sideling Hill to the east (first two photos, with the famous rock cut on I-68). Pardon the oxymoron, but West Virginia is in the near distance in the third photo.


US 40 is actually on I-68 the whole time, and Scenic US 40 is a separate route. That means that until the next exit, there is a US 40/Scenic US 40 concurrency.


Scenic US 40 follows the original National Road alignment as much as possible, but Western Pike deviates from Scenic US 40 on the east side of Sideling Hill after a rather uneventful hairpin crossing. The slope down to this dead-end road was too steep for a modern highway, so it has been bypassed to the north. These photos head west from Exline Rd., where Western Pike is no longer just an exurban residential street, until further traffic is barred. The pavement then curls left from here and comes up toward the current alignment after a couple of bends. In hindsight, I should have gotten out and hiked a bit.


Back east to Exline Rd. to return to Scenic 40.

Onto parent US 40

Onto I-68
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