Capitol

The Capitol Region covers the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. and the rolling Piedmont country to the north and west, the densely populated stretch running from Frederick south through Bethesda and College Park. The terrain shifts from rolling Piedmont farmland in northern Frederick County through the heavily developed Capital Beltway suburbs to the Anacostia and Patuxent river bottomlands in Prince George’s County. Three counties cover the region. Montgomery County holds Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring, and Gaithersburg; Prince George’s County holds College Park (with the University of Maryland), Greenbelt, Bowie, and National Harbor at Oxon Hill; Frederick County holds Frederick and Thurmont (the gateway to Catoctin Mountain Park and Camp David). The C&O Canal National Historical Park runs along the Potomac through Montgomery and Frederick; Catoctin Mountain Park, Cunningham Falls State Park, and the Monocacy National Battlefield concentrate the public-land scenery. Most trips here run as DC-extensions or Civil War-historical. National Harbor handles the resort-and-entertainment itinerary; the Antietam and Monocacy battlefields anchor the Civil War circuit; Catoctin Mountain Park draws hikers; downtown Frederick (with its 50-block historic district and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine) handles weekend visitors.