Maryland Panhandle - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 983

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 excur-
sions, 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 his-
torical park that meanders for more than 180 miles, all the way to Washington, D.C. 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. Green Ridge State Forest
Farther along, the road rambles across a succession of long ridges and gentle valleys with
viewsofendlessforest.Atsomepointonthisstretchofroad,whichheadsintoGreenRidge
State Forest, stopthecarandlooktotheskyforhawks,wholike toswoopandglide onthe
thermals here.
At the southern tip of the state forest's lush carpet of oaks and hickories stands one
of the C&O Canal's greatest engineering feats, the Paw Paw Tunnel—3,118 feet long and
built of nearly 6 million bricks. A narrow gravel path disappears into the dark passage, a
place where bats hang from ceiling crevices and ice-cold water oozes from the clammy
walls. If you decide to embark on a trek through the pitch-black tunnel, bring a flashlight
and wear a warm coat. When you emerge at the other end, you can spread a blanket at a
charming grassy picnic spot.
9. 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,andtracesofswampfernsdatingfromthedaysofthedinosaurs.Theseandothertreas-
ures 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.