After checking in, join us for an orientation of Shepherd's Spring and an overview of the program. A presentation on the region's geology and its affects on history will conclude the evening.

Arrive To: Check In and registration will be held from 3:00 to 5:00 pm in the lobby of the Shepherd's Spring lodge.

Dinner: Enjoy a buffet style dinner with a salad bar, followed by dessert, in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Evening: We welcome you to our facility, staff will orient you to Shepherd's Spring and provide an overview of the program. Professor Mc Dermott will then present "Potomac Valley Geology" which will explore how the landscape created this unique "avenue" in history.

Lodging: Shepherd's Spring Outdoor Ministry Center

Meals Included: Dinner

Numerous presentations will explore topics from Native American trails to the Iron Horse in how America moves Westward. Follow in the footsteps of history as you walk along the C&O canal and learn of the cooperation between canal and railroad.

Note: The C&O Canal walk entails approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile walking on level packed and cleared, but unpaved (possibly muddy), ground.

Breakfast: Enjoy a hot buffet style breakfast along with fresh fruit and cereal selections in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Morning: Learn about how how the earliest Americans used the natural landscapes for trade, warfare, and transportation. Then after a time for a fresh air break. Delve into how he Potomac Valley was further explored and developed by surveyors such as George Washington. Seek to understand how early colonists saw the expansion of the Nation through this unique geographic "avenue" during thess presentations.

Lunch: Enjoy lunch with a salad bar in the Shepherd’s Spring lodge dining room.

Afternoon: Discover how several forms of transportation converged in this area to grant the entire nation a gateway west. This look will include how the National Road, C&O Canal, and several area railroads effected our nation's history of expansion. Then follow in the footsteps of Canawlers and their mules as we take a walk along the C&O canal towpath at the Cushwa Basin in Williamsport. In this short walk alone see a canal boat lock, canal boat basin, historic bridges, and a stone canal aqueduct.

Dinner: Enjoy a buffet style dinner with a salad bar, followed by dessert, in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Evening: Witness the duel between the Railroads and the Canal as they battled for narrow transportations lanes. Through an interactive slide show using numerous historic photographs learn how the Canal and Railroad competed and cooperated to move coal - the nation's fuel in the 19th century. This presentation will be led by Randy Anderson.

Lodging: Shepherd's Spring Outdoor Ministry Center

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This day explores the wide variety of places where people stopped along their way through this "avenue". Visits to a basin along the C&O Canal, a Revolutionary War fort, and a President's Retreat fill the day.

Note: This day has numerous walks, all on level and cleared ground. Approximately 2 miles of walking will be covered by the end of the day. Stairs must be taken to access several parts of today's destinations. There may be several points at which docents or guides may anticipate that guests stand for several minutes.

Breakfast: Enjoy a hot buffet style breakfast along with fresh fruit and cereal selections in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Morning: Explore Fort Frederick - a French and Indian War era stone fort - with park staff and our own historian. Journey on to Oldtown, site of the Michael Cresap House. This small settlement served as home, outpost, river corssing, and trading post when Western Maryland was still the American frontier. Conclude the frontier history of the area with a visit to America's first "Gateway West", the "Queen's City", historic Cumberland. In Cumberland you can discover the Terminus of the C&O Canal, former site of George Washington's Headquarters, the main station of the old Western Maryland Railroad, and more.

Lunch: Enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch at Oldtown, Md. where the site of an important Shawnee river crossing existed and later the Cresap trading post. Currently it is the Site of the only privately owned toll bridge crossing the Potomac River.

Afternoon: Continue the journey with a guided visit to one of the area's former Presidential Retreats. Then we conclude our day's journey by traveling through the Sideling Hill cut -- a mountain cut along I-68 that allows for great geological observation and dramatically shortened the time to travel west by road.

Dinner: Enjoy a buffet style dinner with a salad bar, followed by dessert, in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Evening: Discover the plants and animals that call the Appalachias home through a presentation of the flora and fauna of this region. Some are unique to this area, other have invaded from far away, but all now dwell here.

Lodging: Shepherd's Spring Outdoor Ministry Center

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

War time invades the "avenue" - learn how Civil War battles and World War II munitions kept this geographic region a center of history. A afternoon free of programming allows for some exploration of your own.

Note: Prepare for a morning of walking if you wish to explore Harpers Ferry. Harpers Ferry is a historic town situated on a steep hill side; side walks may be uneven due to natural paving stones and stairs are often utilized throughout the town due to its topography.

Breakfast: Enjoy a hot buffet style breakfast along with fresh fruit and cereal selections in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Morning: The paths to progress -- in American expansion, industry, human rights, and war -- all converge at Harpers Ferry. We'll explore the many facets of history found in this one town during a scenic and educational walk led by one of historians. After learning of this town's visits by notable figures such as George Washington, Merriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, John Brown, "Stonewall" Jackson, Frederick Douglas, and W.E.B. Dubois spend time to discover it on your own through numerous museums and a historic commercial district. Also, take the chance to explore one of the current "avenues" that crosses through Harper's Ferry by visiting the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters.

Lunch: Enjoy a picnic lunch laid out by our staff at Harpers Ferry National Park.

Afternoon: On our travels back from Harpers Ferry we'll make stops at Gathland State Park, former home of writer George Alfred Townsend, and Washington Monument State Park. Both state parks were mountain passes crossed by the armies of the North and South during the Civil War and currently cross by Appalachian Trail hikers. Take witness to all the history, grandeur, and vistas that these sites have to offer (including our nation's first monument to George Washington) while under our historian's guidance.

Dinner: Enjoy a buffet style dinner with a salad bar, followed by dessert, in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Evening: Railways, canals, and roads open up to skyways during World War II. The second world war would result in mobilizing all of Hagerstown toward airplane manufacturing for the military. This would add yet another spoke to the "hub city" of Hagerstown keeping the geographic "avenue" busy with a new sort of traffic.

Lodging: Shepherd's Spring Outdoor Ministry Center

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Enjoy guided walks to numerous Civil War battlefields, imagining the struggles people faced as they struggled and fought across the landscape. Our evening meal will be at a restaurant near Camp David where a special guest will join us.

Note: Numerous short walks pervade as stops are made at each battlefield. The ground is often uneven. Expect to walk up to 3 miles by the end of the day.

Breakfast: Enjoy a hot buffet style breakfast along with fresh fruit and cereal selections in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Morning: Experience the hilly terrain and imagine the struggles of men as our historian guides you through the Civil War battle of Antietam.

Lunch: Enjoy a buffet style lunch with a salad bar in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Afternoon: The experience of observing how the efforts of men were tempered by the lay of land culminates as our historian takes us to the Civil War battlefield of Monocacy. This battle is an example of how terrain can turn the tide of war -- both sides using this "avenue" as a means of surprising the other while a valiant strategic defense of a river crossing save's nation's capital from Confederate occupation.

Dinner: Enjoy a buffet dinner at the Cozy restaurant in Thurmont, MD and be sure to visit the Camp David room with Presidential memorabilia while there.

Evening: A surprise visitor joins us after dinner to give her perspective on Presidential living.

Lodging: Shepherd's Spring Outdoor Ministry Center

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Consider what the future holds for this "Avenue of History" during a our visit to Shepherdstown, W.Va.

Note: Some walking and standing.

Breakfast: Enjoy a hot buffet style breakfast along with fresh fruit and cereal selections in the Shepherd's Spring lodge dining room.

Morning: Visit Shepherdstown, West Virgina to learn about its past and present role in shaping this region as a center of development, education, recreation, and research.

Lunch: Enjoy a buffet style lunch with a salad bar in the Shepherd’s Spring lodge dining room.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch