Origin
Four Corners, MD
Night in Four Corners on Friday
Local time
10:34 PM
EDT
Current temp
76°F
Unavailable
Live forecast
Trip from Four Corners, MD to Bowie, MD
Compiled and reviewed by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 18, 2026 · Editorial standards
Drive Time
27m
Distance
19.5 mi
31 km
Drive Score
6/10
Good drive
Same Day?
Yes, doable
Fuel Cost
$3
one way
EV Charging
Unknown
Best Time to Leave
4 AM
0h 25m
★
6 AM
0h 28m
8 AM
0h 32m
10 AM
0h 29m
12 PM
0h 29m
3 PM
0h 30m
5 PM
0h 32m
8 PM
0h 26m
Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.
Four Corners, MD
Gabriel Ramos
Bowie, MD
Wikimedia Commons
Trip Overview
This 19.5-mile drive from Four Corners, MD to Bowie, MD is a quick trip, estimated to take just 27 minutes. It's a perfect candidate for a single-day excursion, requiring no overnight stays. You'll navigate primarily using the Capital Beltway and John Hanson Highway, with a portion on Collington Road. With a modest fuel cost estimate of $3, this route is budget-friendly for a short journey. The drive covers a short distance within the Northeast region, remaining within Maryland for its entirety. It's a straightforward route for a quick hop between these two Maryland locations.
About the Cities
Arriving in Bowie, MD
Full guide →Bowie is a suburban bedroom community of Washington, D.C. in Prince George's County, Maryland.
City content from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0).
Who Is This Route For?
Weekend Trip
Doable as a same-day drive at 27m. Total distance: 19.5 miles.
Family Friendly
Moderate complexity with 0 natural rest stops along the way.
Solo Traveler
27m drive, comfortable solo distance.
EV Driver
0 DC fast chargers along the route. Coverage: unknown.
Scenic Drive
Turn-heavy local drive route profile with national parks nearby.
Drive Character
Expect a turn-heavy local drive for this 19.5-mile journey. While 100% of the route involves highway driving, it's characterized by frequent transitions rather than long, uninterrupted stretches of a single highway. Your longest continuous segment will be about 10.3 miles on the Capital Beltway. This means you'll experience a mix of highway speeds and potentially busier local road conditions as you approach your destination, making it less of a monotonous interstate grind and more of an active navigation experience.
This route has more turning and local-road decision points than a simple highway run.
There are about 14 navigation steps in the underlying route data, so the final approach matters more than the middle miles.
Capital Beltway is the longest continuous segment at about 10.3 miles.
How Hard Is This Drive?
Expect a hands-on drive with frequent turns and local roads rather than long highway stretches. This route has several spots where lane changes, forks, or exits need your full attention. The trickiest moment comes around 1.1 miles in near I 495 / Capital Beltway.
Driving Effort
8/10
Focused - busy navigation packed into a short drive
Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.
This is a short but busy drive. With 11 decision points packed into just 19.5 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 27m.
Where does it get tricky?
The main spots that need attention: at 1.1 miles (I 495 / Capital Beltway): Merge point - match speed before joining. Lane positioning matters here; at 11.3 miles: Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here; at 18 miles: Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here.
Critical Maneuvers
5 of 11 key pointsThese are the spots where you need to pay the most attention. Preview them before you drive.
5
1.1 mi into trip
|
~2m in
|
I 495 / Capital Beltway
Merge onto I 495 / Capital Beltway
Merge point - match speed before joining. Lane positioning matters here
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
7
11.3 mi into trip
|
~15m in
Take the exit toward US 50 East: Annapolis
Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
Exit 19A
Toward US 50 East: Annapolis
7
18 mi into trip
|
~24m in
Take the exit toward MD 197: Bowie
Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here
Use the slight right lane.
Exit 11
Toward MD 197: Bowie
7
18.4 mi into trip
|
~24m in
Keep slight right at fork toward MD 197
Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here
Use the left / right lanes.
Toward MD 197
5
19.4 mi into trip
|
~27m in
Turn right
Navigation decision point
Main Roads
| Road | Distance | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Beltway | 10.3 mi | 12m |
| John Hanson Highway | 5.7 mi | 6m |
| Collington Road | 0.8 mi | 1m |
| University Boulevard East | 0.6 mi | 1m |
| University Boulevard West | 0.2 mi | <1m |
| Evergreen Parkway | 0.2 mi | <1m |
Longest stretch:
Capital Beltway
— 10.3 mi, about 12m
Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions
Step-by-step road directions between Four Corners, MD and Bowie, MD.
1
Start on MD 193
473 ft
·
13 sec
·
University Boulevard West
2
Continue on MD 193
0.1 mi
·
22 sec
·
University Boulevard West
Use the left lane.
3
Continue on MD 193
0.6 mi
·
1 min
·
University Boulevard East
4
Take the ramp
0.3 mi
·
33 sec
Toward I 495 East: Capital Beltway East, Baltimore, College Park
5
Merge onto I 495
10 mi
·
12 min
·
Capital Beltway
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
6
Take the exit
1.0 mi
·
2 min
Exit 19A
Toward US 50 East: Annapolis
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
7
Merge onto US 50
5.7 mi
·
6 min
·
John Hanson Highway
8
Take the exit
0.4 mi
·
50 sec
Exit 11
Toward MD 197: Bowie
Use the slight right lane.
9
Keep slight right at fork
273 ft
·
6 sec
Toward MD 197
Use the left / right lanes.
10
Turn straight onto MD 197
0.8 mi
·
1 min
·
Collington Road
Use the left lane.
11
Turn right onto Evergreen Parkway
0.2 mi
·
35 sec
·
Evergreen Parkway
12
Turn right
259 ft
·
20 sec
13
Turn left
110 ft
·
8 sec
14
Arrive at destination
Fuel & Cost
Regular Gas
$3.23 one way
$6.47 round trip
$4.21/gal
25.4 MPG avg
7 kg CO2
| Fuel Type | $/gal | One Way | Round Trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| midgrade | $4.61 | $3.54 | $7.08 |
| premium | $4.93 | $3.78 | $7.56 |
| diesel | $5.61 | $4.31 | $8.61 |
No toll roads detected on this route.
Drive Cost (one way)
Fuel
$3
Estimated CO2 emission: 6.8 kg one way. Prices: EIA weekly data, 2026-04-13.
Driving Electric?
About $2 in charging · 0 stops · 71% less CO2
| Vehicle Type | kWh | Stops | DC Fast | Home Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average EV | 5.9 | 0 | $2.05 | $0.94 |
| Efficient EV | 4.9 | 0 | $1.71 | $0.78 |
| EV Truck/SUV | 7.8 | 0 | $2.73 | $1.25 |
Gas CO2
7 kg
EV CO2
2 kg (71% less)
This trip is well within single-charge range for most EVs. No charging stops needed if you start fully charged.
DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.
Travel Intel
Current conditions at both ends of the drive.
Destination
Bowie, MD
Night in Bowie on Friday
Local time
10:34 PM
EDT
Current temp
68°F
Unavailable
Live forecast
Time zone
Same local time
Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.
Temperature spread
8 degrees cooler at arrival
A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.
Road read
27m on the road
Use the two city cards together: check the sky where you start, then compare it with the local time and temperature at arrival.
Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.
Frequently Asked Questions
The drive from Four Corners, MD to Bowie, MD covers 19.5 miles and takes about 27m without stops. Add 15-30 minutes for a fuel or rest stop on longer drives.
The main roads are Capital Beltway, John Hanson Highway, Collington Road. Expect a mix of highway and local road driving.
This is a comfortable same-day trip.
The midpoint is about 9.8 miles from Four Corners, MD. Look for rest areas, gas stations, or food options near the halfway mark.
At current regular gas prices, expect to spend about $3.23 one way. This estimate uses 25.4 MPG — your actual cost will vary with your vehicle's fuel efficiency and current gas prices.
Leave by 9 AM and you'll arrive before lunch. Even a 4 PM departure gets you there before dark in summer.
This is a short but busy drive. With 11 decision points packed into just 19.5 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 27m.
The main spots that need attention: at 1.1 miles (I 495 / Capital Beltway): Merge point - match speed before joining. Lane positioning matters here; at 11.3 miles: Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here; at 18 miles: Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here.
The route from Four Corners, MD to Bowie, MD does not surface many named destination signs beyond the main corridor.
Yes. Nearby national parks include Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park and Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.
How this page is built
Compiled by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy from open government datasets — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for geometry, EIA for fuel prices, and NPS for national parks. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.
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