The only large town in the far west of Maryland, CUMBERLAND started
life as a coal-mining center in the late 1700s. Often confused with
Daniel Boone's Cumberland Gap in southwest Virginia, this Cumberland was
also an important trans-Appalachian crossing, but its main place in
history is as the terminus of the ill-fated C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio)
Canal , an impressive engineering feat begun in 1813 but not completed
until 1850, by which time the railroads had already made it obsolete.
The visitor center in the Western Maryland Station Center (Mon-Fri
9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-4pm; tel 301/777-5905, ), at 13 Canal St, can
provide information on hiking, cycling, canoeing and camping; in summer,
the historic trains of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad set off on
ninety-minute rides through the surrounding mountains (May-Sept Wed-Sun;
Oct daily; Nov-Dec 14 Sat & Sun, 11.30am; tel 301/759-4400 or
1-800/872-4650, ; $18, kids $10). The tiny black and white log cabin
where George Washington served his first commission in the 1750s stands
directly opposite the station on the other side of the canal.
About twenty miles before Cumberland, I-68 slices straight through a
wedge of sedimentary rock, exposing a dramatic syncline that can be
viewed from a platform at the excellent Sideling Hill Exhibit Center (daily
9am-5pm; tel 301/842-2155); there's a special geologic exhibit staffed
by an on-site geologist, and the views east of the hill from the parking
lot are quite stunning.
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