The Eastern Panhandle is on the north east side of West Virginia. It’s a strip of land that dips down so it borders Maryland on the north and Virginia on the south. All 3 counties Jefferson, Berkeley and Morgan extend from the MD border on the north to the VA border on the south.

We’re surrounded by some major metro areas. The driving distance from Washington DC and Baltimore is about an hour and a half. Dulles International Airport is about 1 hour 15 minutes. Pittsburgh is a 3 hour drive,. For trips to New York city, you can drive to Harrisburg which is an easy drive up 81 – about 2 hours – and take AMTRAC right to Penn Station. There’s 3 MARC train stations in the Eastern Panhandle. 2 in Jefferson County and 1 in Berkeley County that goes to Washinton DC Union Station. So you’ve got these big cities – major employment opportunities – that are easily accessible especially if you telecommute and just need to go to the office a couple of days a week so you want to be fairly close.

So you have good accessibility – but living here is a whole different thing than living in a major metro center. This area is less congested and has lots more open countryside. And it’s also a lot less expensive. Plus there’s lots of interesting history here and places you’ll want to see in all 3 counties..

You’ve probably got GPS but if you are not familiar with the area, it’s nice to have an overall picture of how to get around.
In the middle of the 3 counties is a large interstate – I81 which makes for a quick trip to Maryland or Virginia. It is also a connecting point for roads leading to Jefferson and Morgan County. So if you are traveling from Jefferson to Morgan County or vice versa, you’ll use roads that take you to 81 and those roads run southeast to northwest.

The main one is Rt 9 6 which is centrally located. That goes from Charles Town to Martinsburg – makes a short detour – and then goes through Hedgesville and straight to Berkeley Springs. A little further north in Jefferson County, there’s Shepherdstown Pike which hooks up to Rt 45 in Shepherdstown and takes you to 81. In the southern part of the Panhandle, Rt 51 runs from Charles Town then crosses 81 in Berkeley County – it becomes Buck Hill Rd and twists and turns it’s way to Morgan County – beautiful route but it goes over a mountain and not the fastest route to take, So wherever you’re located, you’ll probably end up on one of those roads if you’re traveling between counties.

This area is a great place to just go for a drive especially in the fall. So hope this helps with getting around and be sure to call us if we can help.