St. Mary's & Point Lookout

Down to the southern tip of Maryland: from California the route rides MD-235 through Lexington Park and MD-5 through Ridge to Point Lookout State Park, where the Potomac meets the Chesapeake, comes back up MD-5 through St. Mary's City, the colony's first capital, then Callaway and Leonardtown, and returns through Hollywood to California. It's 61 miles of long straights and easy curves, good for a big pack. Expect Navy base traffic in Lexington Park at rush hour; fuel up in California, Lexington Park, Callaway or Leonardtown.

From California the route rides MD-235 through Lexington Park, home of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, so expect base traffic at rush hour, and then MD-5 south through Ridge to Point Lookout State Park, the southernmost point of Maryland's western shore, where the Potomac meets the Chesapeake. During the Civil War, Camp Hoffman, a Union prison camp here, held about 50,000 Confederate soldiers, and nearly 4,000 died. The Point Lookout Lighthouse dates from 1830. The last stretch to the point is an out-and-back on MD-5.

Heading back north, MD-5 passes Historic St. Mary's City, founded in 1634 as Maryland's first settlement and its capital until 1695, today an outdoor museum next to St. Mary's College, with the reconstructed State House of 1676. The route goes on through Callaway to Leonardtown, the county seat, with its old town square, and returns through Hollywood to California. Long straights and gentle curves make it an easy pace for a big group; one review warned of rough pavement near Point Lookout.