State park featuring Maryland's highest free-falling waterfall, the 53-foot Muddy Creek Falls, as well as smaller waterfalls on the Youghiogheny River and Tolivar Creek

How to Get There

Overview

Swallow Falls State Park is a public recreation area located on the west bank of the Youghiogheny River nine miles (14 km) northwest of Oakland in Garrett County, Maryland. The state park features Maryland's highest free-falling waterfall, the 53-foot (16 m) Muddy Creek Falls, as well as smaller waterfalls on the Youghiogheny River and Tolivar Creek. The park is notable for its stand of old hemlock trees, some more than 300 years old, "the last stand of its kind in Maryland."

History

The park had its beginnings in 1906 with the donation by John and Robert Garrett of Baltimore of 1,917 acres (776 ha) to be used as a state forest. The land now known as Garrett State Forest included the areas that became Swallow Falls and Herrington Manor state parks, both of which were developed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Activities and amenities

The park contains 65 campsites, a picnic area with a pavilion and playground, as well as a mile-long hiking trail through the old growth forest. A 5.5-mile (8.9 km) trail for hiking and mountain biking connects the state park with Herrington Manor State Park.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Swallow Falls State Park", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0