My wife and I are Making plans to do the Maryland Challenge in September. Any feedback from someone who has tried it?
I have been to Maryland some years ago, but it was before trying to see lighthouses. Any special problems in getting around?

Eric,

We did the MD Challenge last year- on the spur of the moment. We were supposed to go on the LI Beacons Of The Night Cruise but it got cancelled due to the Hurricane coming through.

I had thought about doing the Challenge so I had a plan of attack setup. We made reservations for motels on Friday for Sat & Sun. We left from NJ Sat morning and the weather was still very bad when we got near Turekey Point so we skipped it figuring we'd get back on Sunday- unfortunately we didn't make it. A bit of a bad decision as to where to stay on Sat and too much talking during the day on Sunday. That's life.

Go to the Chesapeake Chapter site and have a brochure sent to you. The driving directions are very good. The driving times are a bit hit or miss depending on the individual and the actual conditions that day. The directions will be online in the future.

I can send you a copy of the directions from the brochure I have to help with your planning. Send me an e-mail directly and I'll send them back to you.

http://www.cheslights.org/challenge.htm

The best thing to do is to get to the area of the first lighthouse you will visit the night before so you can get to it first thing in the morning.

I'm not sure where you intend to start from but if you are coming from FL to do it I'd say for you to take 301 off of 95 and go over to the Eastern Shore to start. You can stay in Solomons and hit Drum Point & Cove Point first thing then move down to Piney Point and Point Lookout.

You then go up to Hooper Strait and finish up near Turkey Point for the day. There are plenty of motels near Turkey Point in the Elkton area.

You could then start at Turkey Point on Sunday then go on to Concord Point and the Baltimore Lights and finish up at Fort Washington and get a good distance towards FL that day.


The two biggest problems with the MD Challenge are the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Baltimore. These can be very busy traffic wise- especially if there is a baseball or football game on those days. The Bay Bridge can get backed up very easily if it's a nice weekend.

The other thing to consider for this year's Challenge is the fact that Concord Point will not be available for the challenge until 1 PM due to a scheduled wedding. There will be some accomadation made for those starting at Turkey Point but as for Concord Point itself you won't get to climb the tower or even possibly get near it for pictures on Saturday before 1 PM.

The MD Challenge is very doable in the time alloted if you plan ahead- you'll even have plenty of time to talk to the many Wackos you'll find along the way.

Any questions I haven't answered don't hesitate to ask. I'll do my best to answer or someone else will.

Dennis

Dennis is correct in that this is an easily accomplished Challenge. You can do the lights in a day and a half without pushing too hard. We started at Fort Washington. Then Piney, Lookout, stopped for a view of Point No Point, Drum & Cove, over to Hooper before overnighting on the outskirts of Baltimore. This allowed us to start in downtown Baltimore first thing Sunday which helped to cut down on the mess there. Then onto Concord and finished at Turkey Point.

This route worked well for us as we were headed north after we left. Given the situation with Concord it might also work well with you as it would allow you to hop back onto I-95 and head south.

Dennis points out some of the potential slowdowns. The other two that I can think of are the shuttle from Calvert Marine Museum to Cove Point, but they were running pretty regular the first year we were there. The other one is Turkey Point. You have to park a ways away from the light and take a bus to the trail head. If it has been raining this one can be a challenge in itself as it is uphill going in - the first year was mud city. Turkey Point is a great location and you don't want to miss it, it can just be a little challenge to get to it. (I think Elmer started here 2 years ago in the worst of the weather and he survived.)

Dave,

You're right about both Cove Point and Turkey Point.

The bus was running fairly quickly at Cove Point last year- they had at least two of them running continuously so it took about 10-15 from the time one bus came to the time the next one came at either the museum or the Lighthouse.

I can't speak from experience about Turkey Point during the Challenge. We missed it and went there on Monday morning. The mud had almost completely dried by that time and it took about 10-15 minutes to walk in and the same to walk back out. It's a good long drive from the main road to the parking area also, but part of that would be on the bus.

They brought in some 4 wheel drive vehicles last year to ferry people in because the mus was so bad on Sat & Sun. We also learned afterwards that we probably could ahve gotten to Turkry Point on Sunday as they stayed late because of the weather related conditions.

I used the route for you assumming you were coming from the south and returning there. Dave's route will eliminate some of the hassle of Baltimore but it creates more backtracking along the way for a north to south route.

There isn't any right or wrong way to do it, just some ideas to think about.

Dennis

Dennis,
got the attachments. Thanks. I find that good planning makes trips enjoyable and successful.
By the way, this will be a 10 day trip for us and we plan to see Lighthouses and Lightships in Virginia and Delaware as well. We plan to fly up, due to the shortage of time (I owe, I owe so it's back to work I will go).

Eric,

Hope the trip goes well. Ask away if you need any info on DE or VA. I've been to a few there also.

Dennis

Wow a month has gone by already! However, been checking the websites and maps. We want to see all the Virginia and Maryland Lights plus lower Delaware Lights. Any tips on Fishing Battery, Pooles Island, Hoopers Island and Solomons Lump? It seems the first 3 may be viewable by land, but I think Solomons Lump would require a boat.

Perhaps you might want to go to the website of the Chesapeake Chapter, USLHS, which is
www.cheslights.org
Then go to Maps, Photos & More and you will find information with directions for the lighthouses you have mentioned plus many more lighthouses. The website indicates that two of the lighthouses you mentioned are only viewable from the water. The other two lighthouses may be viewable from the land but they are three or four miles away and they may be difficult, if not impossible, to see dependent on clear it is.

Jerry and Donna

Fishing Battery is visible from Concord Point if you know which direction to look. The closest point of land to Pooles Island is the Aberdeen Proving Ground. I don't think you will get in there to see the lighthouse. Solomon's Lump will require a boat or airplane. I have never tried to view Hooper Island from the land; I have only seen it from boats.

Well, which direction is the correct direction to look at Concord Point for Fishing Battery?

I'd like to try and see it during the Challenge myself this year.

Dennis

I have looked at severl websites,however, sometimes a report that a light can be seen from a certain point doesn't seem to be true. For instance Haig Point in South Carolina, I was told can be seen from Hilton Head (Sea Pines), however, having looked both Spring, Summer and Fall the trees were in the way, perhaps the viewer saw it in Winter and could see thru the trees or perhaps they looked a long time ago it could be seen before the trees grew as high. We ended up renting a boat in order to see it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind renting a boat but the time and costs add up quickly. There are tours in the Chesapeake but it seems at different times then this time period.
View from Concord Point might just work. According to my maps it would be in the South direction.

I wrote Larry of Larry's Lights website. He has doubts that Fishing Battery can be seen from Concord, however, it won't hurt to look.