Maryland

Maryland's six national park sites run from the beach of Assateague Island National Seashore, where wild horses live, to the Antietam battlefield of 1862 and the C&O Canal. The canal park runs 184.5 miles along the Potomac River from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Cumberland. It had 4,579,704 visits in 2025, counted across D.C., Maryland and West Virginia together.

Baltimore holds BWI airport and Fort McHenry, the fort whose defence in 1814 inspired the words of the national anthem. We read the figures below on 27 October 2026 on the National Park Service's pages, BWI's and the Maryland Transit Administration's, the Comptroller of Maryland's, the City of Baltimore's, the National Aquarium's and NOAA's normals.

Which Maryland park sites are free, and which take only cards?

Maryland's national park sites are cheap to enter: two of the six charge nothing at all, and the C&O Canal charges only at one spot. None of them is on the 2026 list of eleven parks that add $100 for every non-resident aged 16 or over. Fort McHenry, Antietam and the C&O Canal's Great Falls area take no cash, in the Park Service's words.

Fort McHenry and Antietam both recorded zero visits in October 2025, and no Park Service page we read says why. Their 2025 totals are therefore lower than 2024's without telling you anything about a trend. Assateague's count covers its Virginia district too, since the Park Service keeps one figure for the island.

Two adults from abroad in one car pay $25 at Assateague, $30 at Fort McHenry, $20 at Antietam and $20 at Great Falls Tavern. That makes about $95 for all six sites. The $250 non-resident annual pass does not pay off in Maryland. On 27 October 2026 the Park Service marked a fee-free day, but since 2026 those days apply only to US residents. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains where the pass does pay off.

The Harriet Tubman park's visitor centre lies about 11 miles south of Cambridge. The Park Service's data gives its hours as Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday. Tubman, in the Park Service's words, "repeatedly risked her life to guide 70 enslaved people north".

How close can you get to the Assateague horses?

Assateague's horses must be kept at least 40 feet away, which the Park Service calls "the legal minimum (a 'bus length')". The same page warns that 40 feet "may still be much too close depending on the circumstances". The horses bite and kick and can carry rabies, and citations may be issued for feeding or petting them.

The Park Service calls the horses feral, descended from domestic animals, and says no records yet confirm the shipwreck story of their origin. A fence at the state line splits them into two herds. The Park Service manages the Maryland herd. The Virginia herd, often called the "Chincoteague" ponies, belongs to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. "Visitors are kicked, bitten and knocked down every year," the horse page says.

The Maryland district charges $25 a car for seven days, $15 per person arriving by taxi or non-tour bus, and nothing on foot or by bicycle. The ranger station there takes cash or cards. Passes for Assateague State Park, a separate state park, are not valid in the national seashore. We could not read the state park's own fee.

Why can you camp only on Assateague's Maryland side?

Assateague Island has campgrounds only in its Maryland district; the Park Service says there is "no camping available in the Virginia district". Individual sites cost $40 a night and group or horse sites $80. Reservations are required from 15 March to 15 November on Recreation.gov, six months ahead, and weekends are usually full on the first day.

The campgrounds have no hookups, chemical toilets and cold showers from mid-March to mid-November. Outside that season one oceanside loop is first come, first served, and the bayside drive-in sites can be booked all year. Non-campers may not enter the campgrounds.

No road links the two ends of the island. The Maryland entrance is at the end of Route 611, eight miles south of Ocean City by the Park Service's directions. The Virginia entrance is near Chincoteague, and a car has to go back to the mainland to reach it. No public transport reaches either end. On 27 October 2026 the park's alert, dated 18 October, said the Maryland over-sand vehicle zone was closed because of overwash.

The Maryland district is open 24 hours a day all year. Its visitor centre, before the Verrazzano Bridge, opens daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July is the island's busiest month, with 466,701 visits in 2025.

What does Fort McHenry charge for the star fort?

Fort McHenry charges $15 per adult aged 16 or over for its Historic Zone, the star fort and outer battery inside a wooden fence. "The majority of the 43-acre park is free," the Park Service says, including the visitor centre and its film. The pass is valid for seven days with the receipt.

The fort's registers are cashless: tickets are sold by card at the Paul S. Sarbanes Visitor and Education Center, or online at Recreation.gov. The park opens daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 4:45 p.m. The star fort and visitor centre close 15 minutes before the park.

The fort's defence in the Battle of Baltimore, on 13 and 14 September 1814, inspired Francis Scott Key's words that became the national anthem. The park lies three miles south-east of the Inner Harbor; from I-95 north, take Exit 55, Key Highway. The Park Service still warns that Baltimore traffic has increased since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Why were Dunker Church and the Antietam visitor centre closed?

Antietam National Battlefield closed Dunker Church, Dunker Church Road, its visitor centre and nearby trails on 27 October 2026. Specialists were removing unexploded projectiles from the base of the O.T. Reilly Monument, and the alert said "Closures may continue Oct. 28". The rest of the battlefield stayed open.

The battle at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862 left 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of fighting, in the Park Service's figures. The Park Service adds that it led Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The grounds open from sunrise to sunset, and the visitor centre normally from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

Antietam charges $20 a car for three days, or $10 a person on foot or bicycle, by card only. Its directions page puts it 65 miles from Baltimore, 70 from Washington and 17 from Harpers Ferry. Hagerstown, 10 miles away, is the closest place on the page's list.

What does the National Aquarium cost on a Friday night?

The National Aquarium in Baltimore charges $24.95 per person every Friday after 5 p.m., half the usual adult price. A standard adult ticket, for ages 21 to 69, costs $49.95, and youths and seniors pay $39.95. Children aged 4 and under go free, and entry is by timed ticket.

In October the aquarium opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, at 9 p.m. on Fridays and at 6 p.m. at weekends. From November it opens at 10 a.m., and it closes on 26 November. Last entry is 60 minutes before closing. Its partner garages charge a flat $18 for up to 24 hours.

The aquarium stands at 501 East Pratt Street on the Inner Harbor. Visit Baltimore, the city's tourism bureau, also lists Historic Ships in Baltimore there, among them the USS Constellation, built in 1854. The Maryland Science Center sits across the harbour, and a waterside promenade runs from Rash Field Park to Canton Waterfront Park.

Which trains run from BWI to Baltimore and Washington?

BWI airport has two rail links: the Light Rail at the terminal door to downtown Baltimore, and MARC and Amtrak trains from the BWI rail station. The Light Rail costs $2 one way and reaches Camden Yards in about 25 minutes. From there the Inner Harbor is four blocks east on foot.

Light Rail trains run every 30 minutes from about 5 a.m. to after midnight on weekdays. On Sundays and holidays they run only from about 10:35 a.m. to 8:40 p.m. The stop is outside the lower level of the terminal, next to Concourse E, at Door 19.

A free shuttle runs 24 hours a day to the BWI rail station, every 10 to 15 minutes. BWI gives about 30 minutes from there to Washington's Union Station.

MTA's fare chart prices a one-way MARC ticket at $8 to Washington and $6 to Baltimore Penn Station. That chart is dated "effective June 27, 2021", and it is still the one MTA links today, so check the CharmPass app before you travel. Paying cash on board when a machine or agent was available adds a $5 surcharge.

A taxi or ride-hail car takes about 20 minutes to the Inner Harbor and about 45 minutes to Washington, by BWI's estimates. Passengers with an approved ESTA can use the airport's twenty passport-control kiosks on arrival.

Which international airlines still fly to BWI?

BWI's international passengers from September 2025 to August 2026 flew mainly with four airlines, by the airport's own monthly report: British Airways, Icelandair, Copa and BermudAir. British Airways carried 138,360 passengers in those twelve months, Icelandair 110,026, Copa 64,334 and BermudAir 11,913. Condor flew passengers in only two of the twelve months.

The airport's own pages name the destinations of three of them: British Airways to London Heathrow, Icelandair to Reykjavik and Copa to Panama City. BWI prints no full destination list; its route map is a script-only widget we could not read. PLAY carried no passengers at BWI after September 2025. Spirit Airlines ceased operations on 2 May 2026, by the airport's press list.

Washington Dulles, in Virginia, has far more long-haul routes; it lists 67 international destinations, as our Virginia guide sets out.

How far is Assateague from Baltimore by road?

Assateague's Maryland visitor centre is about 131 miles from Baltimore's Inner Harbor by our own routing, roughly 3 hours 20 minutes. The route crosses the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on US 50/301 and runs partly through Delaware.

The distances are our own routing without traffic. The Park Service gives other numbers from its own starting points: 65 miles from Baltimore and 70 from Washington to Antietam, and about 66 from Washington to Harpers Ferry. Philadelphia, about two hours away, is covered in our Pennsylvania guide.

Maryland's tolls for the Bay Bridge, the Fort McHenry Tunnel and I-95 are missing here, because the Maryland Transportation Authority's site refused our requests. The state parks' site refused them too, so no state-park day-use fee is given. The Naval Academy's site could not be reached, so its visitor rules for Annapolis are missing as well. We would rather leave a figure out than give one from memory.

How many days a year reach 90°F at BWI?

BWI airport averages 33.9 days a year at or above 90°F, on NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, against 13.2 days at Ocean City's airport. BWI also averages 19.3 inches of snow a year.

The table gives NOAA's average highs and lows at four airports. Hagerstown stands in for Antietam, and Ocean City for Assateague. Salisbury gets the most rain and melted snow of the four, 47.49 inches a year. Assateague is busiest from June to August, while Catoctin's busiest month in 2025 was October, with 59,096 visits.

Maryland lies wholly in the Eastern time zone. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on 1 November 2026, when clocks went back an hour.

What does a Baltimore hotel room pay in tax?

A Baltimore hotel room pays Maryland's 6% sales tax and Baltimore City's 9.5% hotel tax, which add up to 15.5% by our own sum. The Comptroller treats accommodation as taxable, and a booking site's charge is taxed on the full amount the guest pays.

Hotels in Baltimore's Tourism Improvement District also owe 2% of their gross receipts. If a hotel passes that on, the bill carries 17.5%, again by our own sum. The city's tax page does not list which hotels are in the district. We did not read the lodging tax of any other Maryland county.

Maryland's sales tax is 6% everywhere, and the Comptroller says there are "no general local sales taxes in Maryland". Short-term car rentals carry 11.5% instead. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains why the price on the tag is not what you pay.