Deep Creek Lake, Maryland
No admission feeMaryland's largest freshwater lake, ringed by state parks, ski slopes, and mountain resort towns in the Appalachian highlands.

Photo: Arbogastlw, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
A Garrett County state park on the Youghiogheny River, known for Muddy Creek Falls and its old hemlock woods.
2470 Maple Glade Road, Oakland, MD 21550 · Oakland, MD
Swallow Falls State Park sits in the mountains of western Maryland about nine miles north of Oakland. The Youghiogheny River runs along its edges through shaded rock gorges and fast rapids. Its main draw is Muddy Creek Falls, a tall waterfall that drops about 53 feet. Stands of hemlock trees, some centuries old, fill the forest. A roughly 1.25-mile trail leads visitors past the park's scenic highlights. The park also offers camping, fishing, hiking, picnicking, and pavilion rentals.
The closest stops to Swallow Falls State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Maryland's largest freshwater lake, ringed by state parks, ski slopes, and mountain resort towns in the Appalachian highlands.
9.9 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
A rural Pennsylvania history museum preserving Casselman Valley pioneer life through thousands of artifacts.
21 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Look out over the Cheat River canyon from sandstone cliffs, hike more than 50 miles of trails and see an 1830s iron furnace.
22 mi awayMore like this
A Pennsylvania battlefield preserving the 1754 site where George Washington's troops fought and surrendered, an early clash of the French and Indian War.
Transit: reachable by public transit
24 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Take a guided tour through Pennsylvania's largest cave, a steep sandstone maze high on Chestnut Ridge, or crawl into unlit passages on a caving program.
26 mi awayMore like this
Raft or kayak the Youghiogheny River gorge, slide down the Meadow Run rock chutes and hike to waterfalls in the Laurel Highlands.
26 mi awayMore like this