No photograph yet
Nobody has sent me a picture of Big Run. If you have been, that is the one thing I cannot get by ringing anyone up —send one and it goes on this page with your name on it if you want it.
Not on Maryland DNR's list of parks requiring day-use reservations as of 25 June 2026. Day-use fees may still apply on arrival.
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.
Primitive camping where the Savage River meets the reservoir, wrapped on every side by state forest. There are restrooms and picnic areas, which for a site this rough is more than you'd expect.
Matt, 3 Aug 2026
What's there
Facilities
10/14 confirmed- Waterfall
- No
- Beach
- Not confirmed
- Swimming
- No
- Restrooms
- Yes
- Picnic areas
- Yes
- Showers
- Not confirmed
- Camping
- Yes
- Cabins
- No
- Trails
- Yes
- Boat launch
- Yes
- Boat rentals
- Not confirmed
- Fishing
- Yes
- Winter use
- Not confirmed
- Pets
- Yes
Where things are
- Camping
- 27 primitive sites, open and bookable year round. Walk-in camping for one night only is taken at the self-registration area.
- Restrooms
- Waterless, and available year round.
- Groups
- Two group camping areas and a large picnic pavilion for day use.
- Boat launch
- For small craft — kayaks, canoes, rowboats. Trailered boats can find it challenging.
- Trails
- The 4.6-mile Monroe Run Hiking Trail in Savage River State Forest starts from here. Backpackers need a backcountry permit from the forest.
Getting in
- Fee
- No day-use service charge listed by Maryland DNR as of 3 August 2026.
- Annual pass
- Maryland State Park and Trail Passport — $75 a year, $100 for non-residents. Covers day-use entry statewide. Where it can be bought in the county is not confirmed.
- Shop
- Not confirmed
- Hours
- Not confirmed
- Park office
- 301-895-5453
From people who were there
Restrooms, picnic areas and camping.
Site maintainer, first-hand · reported 3 Aug 2026 · visit date not given
Bears on: restrooms, picnic, camping
First-hand and useful, but not the same as the agency confirming it — so it doesn't change the stamp below. It changes what I go and ask.
Where it's
Field notes
What I saw on the day. Not checked with anyone, and it can go out of date faster than the facts above.
Field note · 6 August 2026 · Site maintainer
Pets were unconfirmed here while the park's own warning said "pets must be leashed and with their owner" — a rule about how to keep a dog is Maryland DNR saying you may bring one. Read as yes. The new dogs page is what put the two side by side; on the park page they sat in different blocks and nobody noticed.
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The other parks
- Swallow Falls — state park, Oakland · reservation required
- Deep Creek Lake — state park, Swanton
- Herrington Manor — state park, Oakland
- New Germany — state park, Grantsville
- Casselman River Bridge — state park, Grantsville
- Sang Run — state park, McHenry
- All ten, side by side