Horses and Hounds Scenic Byway
Maryland Scenic Byway 120 mi in Maryland.
About the Horses and Hounds Scenic Byway
Located in an area traditionally known as “Hunt Country,” where fox hunts and steeplechase races are still a popular pastime, some of the farms you see during this relaxing drive across the beautiful Maryland countryside are also famous for producing Thoroughbreds that have raced on major tracks across America.
Begin your journey at HAMPTON NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE , home of the Ridgely family whose passion for horse racing advanced Maryland's reputation as a center for the sport in the early 19th century. Meets of the Elkridge Hunt Club were held frequently at Hampton and the Maryland Hunt Cup steeplechase was run through Hampton’s fields.
Tour the main house and visit restored slave quarters and outbuildings, including the 1805 Hampton Stable, where free and enslaved Black men served as jockeys and groomsmen for the Ridgely family. Hampton National Historic Site is a NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM SITE .
Return to the byway to enjoy a relaxing and scenic drive through rolling countryside dotted with stately historic homes and charming vistas. As you head north toward Jacksonville, consider a side trip to travel back in time to JERUSALEM MILL VILLAGE . See the historic mill, blacksmith shop and gun factory, and visitor center.
Back on the Byway, stop for lunch at THE SUNSHINE GRILL. After lunch, set your sights on BOORDY VINEYARDS in the Long Green Valley to sample wines amid rolling hills and beautiful stone barn and stable buildings. The sun-dappled coves of LOCH RAVEN RESERVOIR will be on your left as you continue northward to the heart of Maryland horse country.
Visit the site of early April’s ELKRIDGE-HARFORD POINT-TO-POINT , testing ground for the country’s best timber horses for over fifty years. Stop at LADEW TOPIARY GARDENS , which features 22 acres of sculpted shrubbery, 15 thematic flower gardens, and a historic manor house. Its popular Garden Glow, a showcase of creative jack o’lanterns and illuminated sculptures, is a must-see event.
Maryland Office of Tourism, for the Maryland Scenic Byways program's own description, in its words. Byway page on visitmaryland.org.
Camping along the byway
No public campground this site holds lies within 5 miles of the road.
About this page's facts
The line is the Federal Highway Administration's scenic byways layer (HEPGIS, a snapshot of 2022-06-24, a US government work), cut at the state line and simplified for the map; the length is the line's. The designation is the program's own: the national tiers from FHWA's America's Byways roster, the rest from the layer's designation field. Road conditions, closures and seasonal gates change: check the agency's own page and the state's road conditions before you go.