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Town parks · Mountain Lake Park

Maryland 4-H Environmental Education & Camping Center

University of Maryland Extension · 1916 Maryland Highway, Suite A, Mountain Lake Park, MD 21550 · 1,100 acres

No photograph yet

Nobody has sent me a picture of Maryland 4-H Environmental Education & Camping Center. 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.

Restrooms

Yes — season not confirmed

Extension lists modern bath houses. Those are on the reserved side — whether anything is open to a public visitor is not confirmed.

Long known locally as Pleasant Valley. Over 1,100 acres run by University of Maryland Extension, part open to anyone and part reserved for camp programs and private hires. The swimming beach, boating, challenge course, archery and shooting range and the cabins all sit on the reserved side.

Over a thousand acres, and most of the good bits are for camp programs and booked groups rather than for turning up. The lake, trails and fishing are open. The beach and boats aren't.

Matt, 3 Aug 2026

What's there

Facilities

7/15 confirmed

What a visitor can use. Things marked no may still exist here for camp programs and booked groups — see above.

Playground
Not confirmed
Splash pad
Not confirmed
Dog park
Not confirmed
Swimming
No
Beach
No
Picnic tables
Not confirmed
Pavilion
Not confirmed
Grills
Not confirmed
Trails
Yes
Courts / fields
No
Boat launch
No
Fishing
Yes
Paved path
Not confirmed
Winter use
Not confirmed

Hours, fees and contact

Hours
Not confirmedLake and beach reported open daily in summer. Season dates unconfirmed.
Fee
Not confirmed for public use. Facility hire is priced separately by Extension.

I got this wrong

  • Corrected 3 Aug 2026

    I'd said: "Thirteen hundred acres run by the University of Maryland, with a lake and beach open daily through the summer for swimming, fishing and canoeing." Swimming and the beach were listed as available.

    Actually: It is over 1,100 acres, and Extension — the operator — puts swimming, boating, the ranges, the challenge course and the cabins on the PRIVATE side, available through a camp program or by booking. Only the lake, trails, fishing, biking and wildlife viewing are described as public. My version would have sent a family there to swim. It also came from a county tourism site rather than from Extension, which is the kind of source this site is not supposed to use at all — that is the root of it.

From people who were there

  • Twelve rustic cabins for campers, an athletic field, a challenge course, a basketball, volleyball and four-square court, a beach area at the lake for swimming and canoeing, and marksmanship and archery ranges.

    Site maintainer, first-hand · reported 3 Aug 2026 · visit date not given

Where it's

Maryland 4-H Environmental Education & Camping Center, 1916 Maryland Highway, Suite A, Mountain Lake Park, MD 21550, MDDirections →

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