The best time to ride a motorcycle in Maryland

Maryland's season depends on where you ride. Garrett County in the far west sits mostly above 2,000 feet, gets real winters and stays cool in summer. Central Maryland, from Frederick to Baltimore and the Washington suburbs, has hot, humid summers and mild but salty winters. The Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland are low and flat, with milder winters, sticky summers and the wind and storms that come with living next to the bay.

That spread works in your favor. When the cities are humid in July, Deep Creek Lake is comfortable. When Garrett County is snowed in, a dry January day on the Shore is still rideable. The Maryland riding overview covers the regions, and the best motorcycle roads in Maryland lists the classics in each one.

Garrett and Allegany counties have the shortest season and the best summer riding in the state. Garrett County gets more snow than almost anywhere else in the Mid-Atlantic, enough to support a ski area at Deep Creek Lake, so cold mornings and leftover grit hang around into May. Once it opens up, July and August are comfortable here when the rest of Maryland is sticky, and September is often the best month of all: cool, clear and quiet.

Fall color usually comes first to Garrett County, in the first half of October. That is also when Oakland's long-running Autumn Glory Festival fills the town, so plan around it or ride through early. Fog sits on the ridges on cool mornings, deer are everywhere at dawn and dusk, and the first snow can come in November.

Frederick, Hagerstown, Baltimore and the Washington suburbs get the longest season after the Shore. April and May are excellent, before the humidity sets in. Summer days are hot and muggy, with afternoon thunderstorms, so ride early and be off the road by mid afternoon.

Traffic shapes riding here as much as weather. The best mornings start before the beltways fill. Fall weekends at Catoctin Mountain, Cunningham Falls and Antietam get busy as the color peaks in mid to late October. In winter, dry days come along, but the roads carry salt and brine, and shaded corners on roads like MD 77 hold black ice into the morning. Check Maryland motorcycle events for what's on through the season.

The Shore is at its best in May, early June, September and October. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, beach traffic toward Ocean City crowds the Bay Bridge and US 50, especially Friday afternoons heading east and Sunday afternoons heading west. After Labor Day the crowds thin out and the riding is warm and easy.

Summer on the marsh roads around Blackwater and Hoopers Island brings biting flies and mosquitoes, so wear full gear. Hurricane season runs June through November, with the most activity usually from August to October, and storms and high tides can flood low roads along the bay. Winters are milder than inland, but the wind off the water is raw.