Ten state parks and forests sit within half an hour of Deep Creek Lake, including Maryland's tallest waterfall, its largest lake and its biggest state forest. One of them now needs a reservation to walk into.
Muddy Creek Falls is the tallest free-falling waterfall in Maryland at 53 feet. The mile-long loop past it runs through old-growth hemlock and white pine, some of it over 300 years old and the last of its kind in the state. It's the most visited park in Garrett County, and the reason the reservation system exists.
Waterfall
Restrooms
Picnic areas
Showers
Camping
Cabins
Trails
Fishing
Winter use
Pets are not permitted in the day-use area, including the Canyon Trail, from 23 May to 7 September 2026.
The state park sits on the northeast shore of Maryland's largest lake, with the only public swimming beach on Deep Creek and a discovery center that stays open year-round. Everything else on the lake is private shoreline, which is why this one gets busy.
Beach
Swimming
Restrooms
Picnic areas
Showers
Camping
Cabins
Trails
Boat launch
Fishing
Winter use
Pets
Dogs are allowed, but not on the beach. The one part of this park most people drive here for is the part the dog can't come to.
A natural labyrinth of house-sized sandstone boulders, moss over every surface, with passages narrow enough to turn sideways for. It isn't a signed DNR trail and it isn't on the state forest's map. Locals know it, and that's mostly how you find it.
Camping
Trails
Snaggy Mountain Road is one of the forest's ORV trail areas. Expect motorised vehicles on the road you park on.
A 53-acre lake made by damming Herrington Creek, with twenty year-round cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. No gas motors on the lake, which keeps it quiet. Cross-country ski rental in winter, one of very few places in Maryland where that's a real option.
Beach
Swimming
Restrooms
Cabins
Trails
Boat launch
Boat rentals
Fishing
Winter use
Pets
Dogs are allowed on the trails and in the day-use area, but NOT on the sandy part of the beach, in the swimming area, or inside buildings.
A 13-acre lake on the site of a nineteenth-century milling settlement, wrapped inside Savage River State Forest. Eleven cabins, a groomed cross-country ski network in winter, and enough elevation that it holds snow when the rest of Maryland has none.
Swimming
Restrooms
Picnic areas
Showers
Camping
Cabins
Trails
Boat launch
Fishing
Winter use
New Germany is replacing its water and waste water treatment plant in 2026-2027. Cabins, campsites and pavilions will close at various times during construction and the park says closures are subject to change. Ring 301-895-5453 before booking.
Three hundred acres at the mouth of the Savage River where it meets the reservoir, surrounded on all sides by Savage River State Forest. Primitive camping, and the put-in for some of the most serious whitewater in the mid-Atlantic when the river is released.
Restrooms
Picnic areas
Camping
Trails
Boat launch
Fishing
Pets
Whitewater here depends on scheduled dam releases from the Savage River Reservoir. Without a release there may be no runnable water at all.
Four acres around an 80-foot stone arch built in 1813 for the National Road. It was the largest single-span stone arch in America when it was finished, and it's a National Historic Landmark. A ten-minute stop rather than a day out, and worth it.
A restored 1800s homestead and former general store on the Youghiogheny, kept as a picture of rural life before the lake existed. Also the put-in for the upper Yough, which is genuinely expert-only water.
Picnic areas
Trails
Boat launch
Fishing
Winter use
The upper Youghiogheny below here is expert whitewater and depends on scheduled releases. It is not a place to improvise.
Maryland's designated off-highway vehicle park, on reclaimed mine land above the Potomac's north branch. Miles of ATV and dirt bike trail, plus hiking, fishing and hunting. Unlike anywhere else in the state park system.
Trails
Fishing
Active OHV trails. Not a quiet-walk park, and hikers should know that before arriving.
Maryland's only designated wild river, running north through a gorge toward Pennsylvania. Managed for the river rather than for visitors, so there are few facilities. The whitewater through here is among the hardest in the east.
Trails
Boat launch
Fishing
Expert whitewater with limited access and limited rescue. Release-dependent.
Maryland's largest state forest at around 54,000 acres, wrapping Big Run and New Germany. Dispersed camping, hunting, trout water and the reservoir behind it. A forest rather than a park, which means different rules. Worth knowing which one you're standing in.
Camping
Trails
Boat launch
Fishing
Winter use
Hunting is permitted in season across the forest. Check dates and wear blaze orange.
A five-mile reservoir on the North Branch of the Potomac, holding back water for Washington DC since 1981 and forming the Maryland-West Virginia line. Over a hundred feet deep, and it holds the state walleye record. Run jointly by Swallow Falls and Herrington Manor with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Boat launch
Fishing
The boat ramp is open April through October, weather permitting. It is not a year-round launch.
