Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Tour Maryland Geology

Maryland's diverse landscape is an expression of her geology. The mountains, valleys, waterfalls, rivers, and dunes, islands and cliffs you see are produced by erosion. Bedrock, soil and sand are sculpted by water, ice and wind over thousands or millions of years to present us with breathtaking vistas throughout the state. Mountains, cliffs and highlands are formed of hard rocks where erosion removes softer surrounding rocks and sediments. Gorges, valleys and caves are the result of water grinding or dissolving away softer types of bedrock and sediments.

Here we present a virtual tour of some of Maryland's most notable landscapes and geologic features. The feature map shows the approximate location of these features. To view a feature, you can click on a number in the map or on a link in the table below.

Click on a location below

1 Muddy Creek Falls
2 Swallow Falls
3 Dan's Rock
4 Sideling Hill
5 Crystal Grottoes (only public access cave in Maryland)
6 The Great Falls of the Potomac
7 Soldiers Delight Serpentine Barrens
8 Geologic Walking Tour of Building Stones of Downtown Baltimore
9 Falling Branch (Kilgore) Falls
10 Calvert Cliffs
11 Tidewater Maryland
12 Assateague Island