U.S. Route 40 Scenic (
US 40 Scenic) is a
scenic route of
US 40 in the U.S. state of
Maryland. US 40 Scenic, which is known for most of its route as National Pike, is the old alignment of US 40 over
Town Hill in eastern
Allegany County and
Sideling Hill in far western
Washington County. The highway was originally constructed as part of a turnpike connecting
Baltimore with the eastern end of the
National Road at
Cumberland in the early 19th century. The highway was paved as a modern road in the mid-1910s and designated US 40 in the late 1920s. US 40 was relocated over Sideling Hill in the early 1950s and over Town Hill in the mid-1960s. The US 40 Scenic designation was first applied to the old highway over Town Hill in 1965. Following the completion of Interstate 68 (I-68) at Sideling Hill, US 40 Scenic was extended east along old US 40's crossing of the mountain in the late 1980s. US 40 Scenic is the only scenic route in the
U.S. Highway System; formerly, there was a second,
US 412 Scenic in
Oklahoma, but this has since been redesignated to a more conventional "Alternate" route.