This article is part of Jmore’s May/June 2021 Travel Issue featuring nearby getaways for the not-so-accidental tourist.
Back when I was a bright-eyed college freshman, a friend asked if I wanted to accompany him on a weekend camping excursion to Deep Creek Lake, located approximately three hours northwest of — and seemingly a world away from — the suburbs of Baltimore.
I jumped at the opportunity, since I was itching to steal away to the great outdoors and heard that Deep Creek Lake was a particularly picturesque slice of the Old Line State.
Decades later, I don’t really remember too much about that weekend, other than that my buddy and I had a wonderful time hiking through the woods of Western Maryland and canoeing on the lake, which happens to be the largest inland body of water in the state.
The one thing that particularly stands out in my memory, though, is that a cluster of torrential summer storms hammered the Deep Creek area both nights while we were there, forcing us to flee from my friend’s soggy pup tent into the cramped front and back seats of his beat-up VW Beetle.
It was the first time in my pampered existence I’d slept in a vehicle, and I wasn’t too thrilled about the experience.
“This just can’t be happening, man,” I yelled over to my wet and shivering pal, shaped like a question mark in his back seat, trying to make myself heard above the thunder and driving rain pounding the Beetle. “I’m sorry but Jewish guys from Randallstown just don’t sleep in cars. It’s against the religion.”
Since then, I’ve actually slept in a car a couple of other times, including one memorable starry night with my son a few years ago along Skyline Drive, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
I always wanted to return to Deep Creek, but somehow the chance never came up. For years, my wife, a daughter of the Midwest, inquired persistently about Deep Creek, only to have to listen yet again to my anecdote of sheltering in a car and the discomfort of it all.
“You need some new stories,” she snapped at me. “Get over it already. I want to go to Deep Creek Lake!”
Last summer, with the pandemic in full throttle, we decided the time was ripe to finally satisfy her curiosity, grab the kids and journey to DCL for a few days. It was an adventure well worth taking, reminding us of how glorious Maryland truly is. It’s not called “America in Miniature” for nothing, folks.
Founded in the mid-1920s in the Appalachian Mountains range as a power generation project, Deep Creek is truly a natural (albeit man-made) wonder to behold in any season. Covering approximately 3,900 acres with 69 miles of shoreline, Deep Creek offers ample opportunities for hiking, fishing, boating and water sports, mountain biking and horseback riding, skiing at the Wisp Resort and enough activities to keep any devoted outdoorsy type or tree-hugger quite pleased.
And if the world of nature just isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other activities at Deep Creek, including paintball and golf, visiting the nearby B&O Railroad Museum or checking out the historic Garrett County seat of Oakland, located about eight miles south of the lake resort area and near the West Virginia line.
There are also plenty of fine dining spots, pubs and bars, pizzerias and ice creameries, wineries and assorted tchotchke shops to be found in the Deep Creek area. (BTW, for serious noshers, I’m told that the glazed doughnuts at the Rolling Pin Bakery in the nearby town of Accident, pop. 325, are not to be missed!)
Staying at a chalet in the woods off the beaten path, my family and I enjoyed our time to hang together and decompress, make s’mores over the backyard fire pit and commune with nature a bit. Just across the street was a rolling meadow populated by scores of not-so-friendly cows who seemed rather piqued by my morning harmonica performances of “This Land Is Your Land” (guess they’re not Woody Guthrie fans).
Our favorite activities during our time at Deep Creek were jet-skiing around the lake one sunny afternoon (which was exhilarating … until I flew off and hurt my back) and riding the Mountain Coaster at Wisp. Another highlight was hiking around the trails and bluffs of Deep Creek Lake State Park, as well as the magnificent Swallow Falls State Park where Muddy Creek Falls with its 53-foot waterfall is a major attraction.
But as one of my kids later told me, just “chilling in our house at Deep Creek and playing Fortnite” wasn’t so bad either, while my wife and I sat on the back porch, read our books and schmoozed.
All in all, nostalgia about youthful escapades aside, my most recent visit to Deep Creek Lake with my loved ones certainly beat my earlier visit of hoboing around and sleeping in a car there. For a scenic three-hour drive through Western Maryland and a place to simply enjoy God’s bounty, DCL just can’t be beat.
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