USA, Maryland, I-68 - Sideling Hill, higway cut in mountain
Observation deck on I-68.
Interstate 68 road cut in Sideling Hill in western Maryland.
The Sideling Hill Road Cut on Interstate 68 and U.S. 40 is a 340-foot (100 m) deep notch excavated from the ridge of Sideling Hill, about 7 miles (11 km) west of Hancock in Washington County, Maryland. It is notable as an impressive man-made mountain pass, visible from miles away, and is considered to be one of the best rock exposures in Maryland and the entire northeastern United States. Almost 810 feet (250 m) of strata in a tightly folded syncline are exposed in this road cut. Although other exposures may surpass Sideling Hill in either thickness of exposed strata or in quality of geologic structure, few can equal its combination of both. The exposed rocks consist of the Devonian-Mississippian Rockwell Formation, underlying the Mississippian Purslane Sandstone.
A highway rest stop, located near the eastern side of the Sideling Hill Road Cut on Interstate 68 west of Hancock, includes a pedestrian bridge crossing I-68, connecting the eastbound and westbound rest areas and offering views of the cut, in which stopping is prohibited.
The rest stop formerly included the Sideling Hill Exhibit Center, a four-level geological museum and travel information center which opened in 1991. Due to state budget cuts, this facility was closed on Aug. 15, 2009, as part of a $280 million budget reduction package, saving the state about $110,000 annually. Before its closing, the center served about 95,000 visitors a year, at a cost of about $1.16 per visitor.
Sideling Hill exhibit transferred to Hancock Museum and Visitor's Center, Hancock Maryland
Let's Visit Sideling Hill (Near Hancock, MD)
In this video, I visit Sideling Hill about 5 miles west of Hancock, MD. This video is taken at a rest area along I-68 as it travels through the cut through the mountain. The rest area provides some beautiful views of the rock formations within the mountain.
Sideling Hill Cut and Visitors' Center
Here we check out the Visitors' Center and cut on Sideling Hill, located along Interstate 68 in Western Maryland.
The cut opened in 1985, and the visitors' center a few years later. The highway was originally US 48 before becoming I-68 in 1990. This highway also carries US 40, the rerouted National Pike. The original Pike takes a longer loop to the south.
Sideling hill is a syncline-shaped like a U-with coal veins running through. Millions of years back-this was the bottom of a vast ocean!
A highly recommended stop for anyone traveling through Western Maryland, and looking for a scenic stop!
Done on August 7 2016.
Related video-Day Odyssey: Nat'l Pike showing original route over Sideling Hill:
Driving through Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland, United States. It is the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a population of 103,299. Located on the Potomac River, Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia.
Historically Cumberland was known as the Queen City, as it was once the second largest in the state. Because of its strategic location on what became known as the Cumberland Road through the Appalachians, after the American Revolution it served as a historical outfitting and staging point for westward emigrant trail migrations throughout the first half of the 1800s. In this role, it supported the settlement of the Ohio Country and the lands in that latitude of the Louisiana Purchase. It also became an industrial center, served by major roads, railroads, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which connected Cumberland to Washington, D.C. and is now a national park. Today, Interstate 68 bisects the town.
Maryland Welcome Center
On I-95 north of VA
Driving through Sideling Hill!
Driving on I-68W through the amazing Sideling Hill cut!
Sideling Hill Maryland 360
The State of Maryland in the United States, has wonderful natural resources including the Chesapeake Bay and beautiful mountains to the west. Trucking travel was often fatal once a large truck got to the top of the prior mountain path in Hancock on Route 40 which had a 90 turn at the top. It was necessary to slice into the mountain with a new highway I68 to cut down on the immense death toll highway 40 presented.. Dynamite was used to blown apart a path through the mountain (called Sideling Hill) and now motorists and truckers enjoy traveling with less risk of death but in doing so, the layers of some 100 million years of Earths history are revealed in the sides of the remaining hillside. In this 360 video, the Phantom 3 drone can also be seen as it fights the wind currents which go through that slit in the mountain as the video is being captured. It was tricky taking the video as traffic goes through this area at 70+ MPH.
Sideling Hill Rock Exposures, I 68 Maryland
Passing through Western Maryland on I 68 we stopped at Sideling Hill to see the extraordinary rock exposure from the cut.
Celebrating America in Carroll County, MD
Sideling Hill, Md: I-68 Road Cut & Overlook 4/15, 4/20 2016
From Wikipedia: The Sideling Hill Road Cut on Interstate 68 and US 40 is a 340-foot (100 m) deep notch excavated from the ridge of Sideling Hill, about 7 miles (11 km) west of Hancock in Washington County, Maryland. It is notable as an impressive man-made mountain pass, visible from miles away, and is considered to be one of the best rock exposures in Maryland and the entire northeastern United States.[4] Almost 810 feet (250 m) of strata in a tightly folded syncline are exposed in this road cut. Although other exposures may surpass Sideling Hill in either thickness of exposed strata or in quality of geologic structure, few can equal its combination of both. The exposed rocks consist of the Devonian-Mississippian Rockwell Formation, underlying the Mississippian Purslane Sandstone
Here is the Link:
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Maryland I-68 -- Sideling hill roadcut (2/2)
Sorry for the Santa-like chortling, but I was pretty happy.
Also my camera was, uh, facing the wrong way. I wanted to get the closer side of the roadcut, without really realizing it'd be in shadow.
Sideling Hill Roadcut I-68
A drive-through of the Sideling Hill Roadcut on I-68, west of Hancock, Maryland. This outcrop exposes the Purslane Sandstone overlying the Rockwell Formation, and is one of the biggest and best exposures of a syncline in the United States.
Online article on the roadcut:
I-68 traffic in Maryland at exit 62 (the jct. with Scenic U.S. 40 and MD St. Rte. 144)
This shows the traffic flow on I-68 at exit 62 on Thursday, May 24, 2018. This exit is the one where I-68 has its junction with MD St. Hwy. 144 and Scenic U.S. 40 a/k/a National Pike Northeast. The first part shows the traffic at ground level and the second part is from the car approaching the highway overpass.
C&O Canal Lock 75, Cumberland, Maryland
While traveling west on the scenic byway, Maryland Rt. 51, enjoying the amazing beauty of rolling wooded hills, farmlands, the rows of round bales of hay, horses, cows, sheep and dark green fields of young crops of corn, eventually we needed to find a rest stop. Coincidental to the urgency of our needs, we came upon an open area with a small gravel parking lot, one Porta Potty and a sign that read Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Lock 75. After relieving ourselves, we explored the restored canal site and lock house, and walked a short distance down the C&O trail, recording this video along the way.
???????? Maryland To Michigan
Traveling North West On I95, MD 200, I270, I70, I68, I79, I70,
Assateague Island MD Camping 2019 4K
Flying around Assateague Island. Home of the wild ponies!
My journey through Cumberland Maryland on i68 West bound and down
City of Cumberland, Md Overlook 4-15-16
Cumberland is the County Seat of Allegany County, Maryland and is part of the western Maryland highlands. Population: 20,859
Maryland Scenic Overlook
While driving from Deep Creek, MD to Hopwood, PA on US 40 we saw a sign for a hidden overlook so we made a brief detour to take a peek and this is what we saw. It looks like a scene from the 1950s not 2009.