In 1683, when Maryland was still a proprietary colony, somebody began rowing and sailing travelers across the mouth of the Tred Avon River between Oxford and the opposite shore at Bellevue. The crossing has been worked, by one means or another, ever since. The operator calls it the oldest privately owned ferry in the country in continuous service, and Talbot County, a little more cautiously, calls it one of the oldest.
What survives is a very small operation with a very long memory. One boat, the steel Talbot, shuttles cars, motorcycles, bicycles and people across about three-quarters of a mile of river, leaving Oxford on the hour and Bellevue on the half hour from 9 a.m. until the sun goes down. It is privately owned, runs only part of the year, and has become as much a Talbot County attraction as a road link.
In October 2026 the season is winding down. The ferry runs daily until Monday, October 13, then only on weekends through Sunday, November 15, when it stops for the winter.
On the hour from Oxford, half past from Bellevue, until the light goes
2026 season as shown in the operator's booking calendar and schedule, read October 1, 2026: May 22 to November 15, 2026. The 9 a.m. start and sunset finish also appear in Talbot County's tourism material. Oxford–Bellevue Ferry — Current Operating Schedule · 2026-10-01
Twenty dollars a car, and why a bike ticket is ten
The operator sells tickets online, by card, and also on board. A car fare covers the driver only; every other occupant pays the $4 additional-passenger rate, so two people in a car crossing one way pay $24.
| Car and driver, one way | $ 20 |
| Car and driver, round trip | $ 35 |
| Additional passenger in a vehicle | $ 4 |
| Motorcycle and rider, one way | $ 12 |
| Bicycle and rider, one way | $ 10 |
| Bicycle and rider, round trip | $ 18 |
| Walk-on passenger | $ 5 |
| Oversized vehicle, standard | $ 23 |
| Oversized vehicle, large | $ 40 |
| 10 trips, car and driver | $ 150 |
| 10 trips, person or passenger | $ 20 |
| Bicycle, monthly | $ 45 |
Fares in the operator's online ticketing on October 1, 2026 Oxford–Bellevue Ferry — online ticketing · 2026-10-01
The Strand in Oxford and the end of Bellevue Road
No ticket office stands at either ramp. Buy online beforehand or pay the crew on board.
Oxford landing
MD 333 comes into Oxford from Easton as Oxford Road, becomes Morris Street through the town, and ends at the water on the Strand. The last few yards to the ramp are filed in federal road data as Ferry Crossing Slip Road, which is about as literal as a street name gets.
Boats leave this side on the hour. The operator publishes no parking arrangements at either landing, so allow a few minutes to find a legal space in town if you are walking on.
Bellevue landing
Bellevue is a small watermen's community on the north bank, and the ferry ramp sits where Bellevue Road runs out at a short pier. Heading the other way, the same road leads north toward Royal Oak and the route to St. Michaels and Tilghman Island, which is why so many cyclists and day-trippers use the boat as a shortcut.
Departures from Bellevue are at half past each hour.
A three-quarter-mile river crossing instead of half an hour of road
About 0.76 mile of water separates the two ramps at the mouth of the Tred Avon, a tidal tributary of the Choptank on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The USGS map shows the ferry's track as a gentle curve from the Strand at Oxford to the pier at Bellevue.
Making the trip by road instead means driving back up MD 333 toward Easton and round again, and the operator puts the saving at about thirty minutes. For cyclists on the Talbot County loops, the boat turns a long out-and-back into a circuit.
Timing an autumn crossing of the Tred Avon
- Weekends only after October 13
From October 17 to November 15, 2026 the ferry sails only on Saturdays and Sundays. A Tuesday in late October means the road.
- Sunset is the timetable's last line
There is no fixed final departure. By November sunset comes early, so plan the last crossing for mid-afternoon rather than evening.
- Cyclists pay their own fare
A bike and rider is $10 one way or $18 round trip, and a monthly bicycle pass costs $45.
- Passengers are extra
The $20 car fare includes the driver only. Each additional person in the vehicle adds $4.
- Weather closes it
The operator warns the ferry may close for weather and shows a closure banner on its home page when it does.
- A person answers email, not the phone
The operator says calls to (410) 745-9023 are answered by an AI assistant; for a human, write to [email protected].
Only a handful of owners since the seventeenth century
The boat, of course, has changed many times. Talbot County's account begins with a sailing craft worked by scullers. Steam came next, in the form of a coal-burning tug hauling a timber scow, and after it a gasoline tug pushing a bigger one. Oxford builders produced the crossing's first boat with its own engine in 1931; a six-car wooden ferry took over in 1974, and the present Talbot dates from 1980: 65 feet long, steel, with an engine at each end so it never has to turn round. In 2007 its crew squeezed 18 Mini Coopers aboard for a photograph.
The owners have been fewer than the boats. Captains David and Valerie Bittner handed over to Captains Judy and Tom Bixler, who ran the ferry for 23 years and sold it in early 2025 to Capt. Jim Andrews, a former Coast Guard cutter commander whose company, JettyLight, is based in Galveston, Texas. Each spring the season still opens with a blessing of the boat at the Oxford dock. Farther down the Bay, Somerset County's Smith Island boats keep a different Chesapeake tradition alive, and on the Wicomico the Upper Ferry is a county-run crossing of the same short-hop kind.
From sails and scullers to the steel Talbot
Questions about the oldest crossing in Talbot County
When does the Oxford–Bellevue Ferry close for the winter in 2026?
Bookings on the operator's calendar run until Sunday, November 15, 2026. Daily service stops after Monday, October 13; from October 17 the ferry runs on Saturdays and Sundays only.
When will the ferry reopen in 2027?
No date has been announced yet. In 2025 the season opened on Saturday, April 5, with weekend service before going daily later in April; in 2026 the booking calendar began on May 22.
Until what time do boats leave the Strand at Oxford?
There is no fixed time: the operator runs from 9 a.m. until sunset, with departures from Oxford on the hour. In October and November the last boat is earlier than in summer.
For a car, what does the Tred Avon crossing cost?
$20 one way or $35 round trip covers the car and driver; each additional passenger adds $4, according to the operator's ticketing on October 1, 2026.
Can I cross on foot or with a bike?
Yes. A walk-on passenger pays $5, and a bicycle with rider $10 one way or $18 round trip.
Does the Oxford–Bellevue Ferry deserve the title of America's oldest?
The crossing dates from 1683. The operator describes it as the oldest privately owned ferry in continuous operation in the United States; Talbot County's economic development office says one of the oldest.
What is the Talbot's car capacity?
About nine full-size cars, according to Talbot County's tourism office. The boat is 65 feet long and has been in service since 1980.