Antietam Campaign Scenic Byway

Frederick County, Maryland

The Antietam Campaign Scenic Byway is where history was made and where its echoes still linger across the landscape of Frederick County, Maryland.

Tracing the routes used by United States and Confederate armies during the Civil War, this scenic byway follows the path toward the Battle of Antietam, the single bloodiest day in American military history. In Frederick County, the road passes through towns and farmland that bore witness to marching soldiers, urgent decisions, and lives forever changed. Today, those same landscapes remain remarkably intact, offering visitors the chance to stand where history unfolded.

The War Correspondents Memorial Arch at Gathland State Park, site of the 1862 Battle of South Mountain

Follow the byway over South Mountain and into Downtown Frederick, where the city became “One Vast Hospital” after Antietam, caring for thousands of wounded soldiers. Learn that story and much more at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. 

Explore preserved battlefields at places like Gathland State Park, one of the sites where the Battle of South Mountain took place, and walk trails that once saw troops move toward Antietam and Gettysburg. Visit museums and Civil War Trails sites that interpret the campaign’s significance while connecting it to the broader story of the nation.