# The Booth Escape Route *twelve days in April 1865* The Booth Escape Route is a ~95-mile back-roads route from Washington to Port Royal on MD 5 and US 301, driven in 1 day, that stays off I-95 through the Upper South. - **Drive:** Washington → Port Royal - **Distance:** ~95 mi - **Days:** 1 - **Highways:** MD 5, US 301 - **Avoids:** I-95 - **Region:** Upper South - **Themes:** History & Markers, Oddities & Roadside Wonders, Eats & Institutions, Small Towns Out the back of Ford's Theatre, over the Navy Yard Bridge and into Southern Maryland's Confederate-sympathizing tobacco country: Booth's twelve-day run is the most documented manhunt of the century, and you can drive it stop for stop. The Surratt tavern's hidden carbines, Dr. Mudd's 4 a.m. house call, four cold days in a pine thicket reading his own reviews, the Potomac crossing, and the tobacco barn site now sitting, perfectly American, in a highway median. Markers: Nine Civil War Trails signs mark the route end to end; the Surratt Society's map is the definitive companion. ## The drive, segment by segment ### Out of Washington *Ford's Theatre → Surratt House · ~15 mi* The theatre, the Petersen House deathbed, and the sprint over the Navy Yard Bridge into Maryland. Stops: - **Ford's Theatre & Petersen House** (Washington) · History & Markers — The box, the derringer, and the too-short bed across the street where Lincoln died at 7:22 the next morning. ### Southern Maryland *Surratt House → Pope's Creek · ~45 mi* The tavern's cache, Mudd's parlor surgery, and the pine thicket wait at Rich Hill. Stops: - **Surratt House** (Clinton) · History & Markers — Mary Surratt's tavern, where the carbines waited in the joists; she became the first woman executed by the federal government for it. - **Dr. Mudd House** (Waldorf) · History & Markers — Where Mudd set Booth's broken leg at four in the morning. The family-run museum remains, charmingly, on Team Mudd. - **Rich Hill & the pine thicket** (Bel Alton) · History & Markers — Samuel Cox sent the fugitives into the pines for four freezing days while an agent brought food and newspapers; Booth read his notices and despaired of them. - **Pope's Creek crossing** (Pope's Creek) · History & Markers — The launch point for the Potomac row, botched once in the dark before succeeding; the wayside maps the whole water crossing. ### Virginia & the Barn *the Potomac → Garrett Farm site · ~35 mi* Across the river and up to Port Royal, where the porch turned them away and the barn ended it. Stops: - **Port Royal** (Port Royal) · Small Towns — The Brockenbrough-Peyton house porch where the fugitives were turned away, sending them three miles farther down the road. - **Garrett Farm site** (Port Royal) · Oddities & Roadside Wonders — The barn where it ended now sits in the US 301 median; the marker stands on the northbound shoulder. 'Useless, useless,' and then the highway. ## Tips and best time to go - The Surratt Society's guided bus tours (spring and fall) sell out far ahead; the self-drive works any day. - Surratt and Mudd houses keep limited open days; check both before building the loop. ## Worth a detour - **St. Mary's Bryantown** — The church where Booth first met Dr. Mudd in 1864, and where Mudd is buried; the plot thickens in the churchyard. - **Captain Billy's, Pope's Creek** — Crab houses on the Potomac shore near the crossing point; the traditional place to end the chase with a mallet. ## Frequently asked questions ### How long is The Booth Escape Route and how many days does it take? The Booth Escape Route is about 95 miles and takes 1 day at a back-roads pace. ### Where does The Booth Escape Route start and end? It runs from Washington to Port Royal. ### Which highways does The Booth Escape Route follow? It follows MD 5 and US 301. ### Which interstate does The Booth Escape Route replace? It avoids I-95, using MD 5 and US 301 instead. ### How many stops are on The Booth Escape Route, and what are the highlights? 7 stops are mapped, including Ford's Theatre & Petersen House, Surratt House, Dr. Mudd House, Rich Hill & the pine thicket and Pope's Creek crossing. ### When is the best time to drive The Booth Escape Route? The atlas’s seasonal note for this route: “The Surratt Society's guided bus tours (spring and fall) sell out far ahead; the self-drive works any day.” ## Connects with - [Bull Run to the Bloody Angle](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/nova-civilwar) — Loop from Alexandria - [The Northern Neck](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/historyland-neck) — Fredericksburg → Irvington - [VA 5 & the Colonial Parkway](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/va5-colonial) — Richmond → Yorktown --- Canonical URL: https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/booth-escape-route Publisher: Dixie Media (Dixie Road Trip, https://dixieroadtrip.com/) Last updated: 2026-10-05