20 Best Things To Do In Hagerstown, Maryland
Antietam battlefield, the museums in City Park, the Crystal Grottoes caverns and the Schweinshaxe at Schmankerl Stube, in and around Hagerstown, MD.
Rewritten in November 2026, with every place checked against its own website. How we work.
Hagerstown works as a base for a Civil War and small-museum weekend, with a lakeside city park and a historic theater downtown. Antietam National Battlefield and the C&O Canal at Williamsport are a short drive south, enough for a second day.
1. Hagerstown City Park
Hagerstown City Park's lakes and wooded paths fill roughly 50 acres, with three museums and a rail yard inside and swans and other waterfowl on the water. No fishing.
For a short walk, start at the kiosk by the Virginia Avenue bridge, which has a color-coded trail map. Two of the newer loops are themed: the Arboretum Trail labels the park's trees on the way from the Hager House to Walnut Street, and a StoryWalk sets a children's book out page by page on the path to the Mansion House.
2. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts
The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts sits on the lakefront in City Park and holds over 6,000 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures, with touring shows on top. Admission and parking are free, and it's open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Mondays.
3. Mansion House Art Center
John Heyser built the Georgian-style Mansion House in 1846, using bricks made from the mud of the lake it overlooks. Today the Valley Art Association runs it as a sales gallery for more than twenty local artists, open Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
4. Jonathan Hager House & Museum
Hagerstown's founder put up his stone house in City Park over a spring around 1739, so the family had fresh water in the cellar even under attack, and the Jonathan Hager House still stands on walls twenty-two inches thick. Guides take you through rooms furnished with period pieces.
It's a seasonal museum, open on weekends from spring to early October and by appointment the rest of the year, with adult tickets at $6, cards only.
5. City Park Train Hub
Kids can climb aboard six cabooses and a steam locomotive at the City Park Train Hub, which opens on Fridays and Saturdays from spring to early fall. The engine is Western Maryland Railway No. 202, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1912 to haul passengers between Baltimore and Hagerstown, and the city calls it the only Western Maryland road-type steam locomotive in existence.
6. Hagerstown Cultural Trail
Walk the half-mile Hagerstown Cultural Trail, lined with public art, to get between the downtown Arts & Entertainment District and City Park.
7. The Maryland Theatre
Thomas Lamb designed the Maryland Theatre, which opened in 1915 and seats 1,293 in its historic hall.
The program mixes Maryland Symphony Orchestra concerts with touring tribute bands, comedians, dance recitals and films. Book the hotel after the events calendar.
8. Miller House Museum
Since the Washington County Historical Society made it its headquarters, the Miller House at 135 West Washington Street has doubled as the county's history museum. The 1825 Federal-period townhouse shows military artifacts, Shenandoah pottery and locally made decorative arts.
9. Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum
Model trains and rolling stock fill the volunteer-run Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum at 296 South Burhans Boulevard, which opens three days a week year-round and closes whenever Washington County declares a snow emergency. Train fans can pair it with the Train Hub in City Park.
10. Krumpe's Do-Nuts
Doughnuts here are an evening thing. Krumpe's Do-Nuts sells them every night from 7 to 11 p.m. out of a shop at the rear of 912 Maryland Avenue, which makes it a stop after a show at the theater. The family business calls itself a Hagerstown tradition for over 80 years.
11. Schmankerl Stube
Schmankerl Stube at 58 South Potomac Street serves Bavarian cooking and beer. The dish to plan around is the Schweinshaxe, a Bavarian pork shank that needs 24 hours' notice except on Wednesday evenings after 6 p.m., when it's first come, first served. Gluten, lactose and soy needs have their own menu.
On the last Sunday of each month the restaurant serves a five-course Sonntags Festessen, and it's closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
12. Antietam Brewery
Antietam Brewery calls itself Hagerstown's first craft brewery and makes small-batch ales for its taproom and kitchen on Western Maryland Parkway. The taproom is open Tuesday through Sunday, and tours of the brewhouse are available on request, so it's an easy dinner stop on a day without a show.
13. Hagerstown Flying Boxcars at Meritus Park
For a ballgame, the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars play professional baseball in the Atlantic League at Meritus Park, 50 West Baltimore Street. Home dates go up on the team's schedule page once the new season is set.
14. Hagerstown Aviation Museum
The Hagerstown Aviation Museum shows its aircraft by the airport on Showalter Road, in hangars that include a 1943 Fairchild flight test hangar. It's open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., adult admission is $10, and some hangar areas aren't climate controlled, so bring a jacket in winter.
15. Discovery Station
Discovery Station is at 14326 Barrick Avenue in Cascade, in the county's northeast corner, and opens Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The children's museum moved to Fort Ritchie from downtown Hagerstown.
Its exhibit rooms are hands-on: Discovery Town, where children play at medical, fire, police and grocery jobs; a dinosaur gallery with life-size models and a sand dig; and a rainforest room with a live tarantula. The museum doesn't post admission prices online.
16. Antietam National Battlefield
The Antietam National Battlefield preserves about 3,000 acres of farmland outside Sharpsburg, south of Hagerstown. Start at the visitor center at 5831 Dunker Church Road, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
The self-guided auto tour is a nine-mile route with 10 stops, beginning at the Dunker Church. With more time, walk the Cornfield or Bloody Lane trail, or add the Pry House Field Hospital Museum, which keeps its own hours. Entry costs $20 per private vehicle, valid for three days. The park's Memorial Illumination falls on the first Saturday in December.
17. C&O Canal at Williamsport
Williamsport is the spot on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park where you can see a lift lock, a railroad lift bridge, a turning basin and a watered aqueduct in one place. In season, rangers run free launch boat tours of about 40 minutes, with tickets handed out first-come, first-served an hour before departure.
Walkers and cyclists can join the towpath here. Cushwa Basin has public parking and restrooms, but the steep staircase up to the towpath at the Railroad Lift Bridge is not recommended for bikes or strollers.
18. Crystal Grottoes Caverns
Crystal Grottoes Caverns near Boonsboro bills itself as Maryland's only show cave, with guided tours of about 40 minutes past stalactites, columns and draperies. Above ground, a gem mill lets kids sift sand for gemstones and fossils.
From mid-December to late March the cave opens to group reservations only; the rest of the season, adult tickets are $23. It isn't accessible and doesn't allow pets.
19. Greenbrier State Park
Go to Greenbrier State Park to swim. On the National Pike, it's built around a 42-acre man-made lake with a sandy beach, canoeing, boating and fishing. Almost eleven miles of trails run through the park, most rated moderate to strenuous, and the Appalachian Trail crosses its eastern edge on Bartman's Hill.
20. Big Cork Vineyards
Big Cork Vineyards grows its grapes on a 100-acre estate in Pleasant Valley, in the Blue Ridge foothills at Rohrersville. Its estate wines include Cabernet Franc and Viognier, the tasting room takes table reservations, and in winter it's open Friday through Sunday only. Make it the last stop of a south-county day with the battlefield or the cave.