John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Tour
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Fall 2024 Tours
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The September 2024 tours have been canceled. However, we are keeping a list of those who have expressed an interest and will contact you, if we can resume the tours in April of 2025
Thank you for your interest and your patience.
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On the night of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by the dashing young actor, John Wilkes Booth, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington City. While Lincoln lay dying, his assassin was making his escape into Southern Maryland.
Over the next twelve days, Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, were tracked through the lower counties of Maryland and across the Potomac River into Viriginia. They were finally trapped at Garrett’s Farm near Bowling Green, Virginia, where Herold was taken prisonsor and Booth was shot and killed by federal troops. Herold was hanged along with Mary Surratt on July 7, 1865.
The Surratt Society sponsors tours each fall and spring along Booth’s escape route. Many of the same roads and houses used by Booth are still in existence and are visited on this excursion which is narrated by nationally-recognized authorities on the Lincoln assassination and John Wilkes Booth’s flight.
The cost of the 12-hour bus tour is $85 per person ($80 for Surratt Society members). Proceeds go toward the preservation of the Surratt House Museum which was the first stop on Booth’s flight south.
If you are interested in joining us for one of the next available tours:
• Contact the Surratt Society by e-mail or mail.
e-mail address:
mailing address:
Surratt Society - BERT
9201 Edgeworth Drive #3853
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-3853
• Ask to be placed on an advanced notice mailing list.
You will be contacted by mail.
Anyone requesting spring tours will be contacted in mid-January, and anyone requesting fall tours will be contacted in mid-June. Reservations will not be taken until notifications have been sent out. Reservations will be accepted on a first come-first served basis as payment is received. Payment by check or money order only. Reservations are not accepted over the phone, or via email.
For further information, these excellent resources are available at the Surratt House Gift Shop:
• John Wilkes Booth Escape Route History Map by Kieran McAuliffe
• American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman
• Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
See also:
"Tracking An Assassin" (pdf) by Sarah Mark (Washington Post, April 14, 1995). The article provides a comprehensive description of the the various stops on the escape route tour.