As Stefanie Boss and her husband, Mike Reed, walk down Smoke-town Road on the Antietam National Battlefield property, a bird with bright blue feathers, a rusty-colored breast, and white belly darts from its perch on the wooden fence to the nearby trees.

Deep in the heart of Pleasant Valley is a blueberry farm, where you can pick blueberries surrounded by a slice of rural paradise. Sandwiched between Elk Ridge and South Mountain, Frog Eye Farm offers pick-your-own (PYO) blue-berries throughout blueberry growing season.

Today, approximately 20,000 passengers take flight from the Hagerstown Regional Airport each year. The sweeping vista from the road around the airport feels like a high plateau. Curving from Showalter Road onto Route 11 leads to another Hagerstown landmark, Nick’s Airport Inn. Like the airport, Nick’s has grown beyond its humble beginnings, evolving as each generation pushes toward the future.

High up on the Appalachian Trail is a non-descript little hut that is key to helping scientists learn the habits of the elusive saw-whet owl. This tiniest of owls, about the size of a robin except much more stout, migrates south each fall. Saw-whet owls have several migration routes, one following the South Mountain corridor. These nocturnal creatures often fly through rural areas where they can seek cover in evergreen forests.