Blackwater & Hoopers Island

The open water of the Eastern Shore: from Cambridge the route rides MD-16 to Church Creek, takes MD-335 past the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center and across the marsh of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to Fishing Creek and over the high bridge onto Hoopers Island, turns around on Middle Hooper, and comes back by Key Wallace Drive and Bucktown to Cambridge. It's 62 miles, flat and straight. MD-335 and the island road sit at water level and flood with heavy rain or high tides, and there are few services south of Church Creek.

From Cambridge the route rides MD-16 to Church Creek and turns south on MD-335. The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, opened in 2017, sits on the road; admission and parking are free, and since December 2025 it's open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 to 4. Farther south MD-335 crosses Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, set up in 1933 for waterfowl and now more than 33,000 acres of marsh, with one of the largest breeding populations of bald eagles on the East Coast.

The road reaches Fishing Creek and crosses a high arched bridge onto Hoopers Island, a string of watermen's islands; the route turns around on Middle Hooper, because farther south the road ends in dirt. It comes back up MD-335 and takes Key Wallace Drive past the refuge visitor center, which is free; the 4-mile Wildlife Drive is a detour off this road with a $3 vehicle fee. Then it heads to Bucktown and back to Cambridge. This is all flat and nearly at water level: storms and high tides flood these roads, so check the forecast, and fuel up before you leave Cambridge.