Deep Creek Lake State Park: Camping Trip Overview

This weekend we went to western Maryland, to Garrett County where Deep Creek Lake State Park is. We left Friday evening after work and drove the three and a few hours west to get to the park. This was a rescheduled trip from earlier in October in which a Nor’easter put us in a tough spot weather wise. Over the next week I will be putting a spotlight on the state park and giving a trail review as well as a write up on some of the cool things at Deep Creek Lake, like the Discovery Center. Today, I’ll give you the overview so you get a little taste while it is fresh in my brain.

Because it is November and we didn’t leave until after work, it was pretty dark for the drive out and when we got there to set up. We did stop at a really cool little eatery in Hancock on the way there called “Buddy Lou’s Eats, Drinks, and Antiques”. But in terms of camp pictures, here is the first one on Saturday Morning with some Pancakes and Eggs for breakfast. Pictured here is Seningen, our favorite acorn enthusiast, and our friends Falker and Shaun with there camp van “The Hobo Express”.

Even though it was a cold night’s sleep Friday night, we still geared up and headed out to hike on the Indian Turnip Trail (orange). Here we were at the trail head all bundled up. It was about 35 degrees when we started the hike. It was a pretty cool hike, and while of course I will do a trail review later, I will quote Shaun’s assessment of the trail: “The Orange trail is Safe and Reliable”. It totaled around 6 miles, and we overall enjoyed it. More details to come.

After the hike, we went out to the Lake itself and the Discovery Center at the recommendation of the Ranger that sold us our firewood. I will go into more detail about the Discovery Center in a later post, but this picture is (from left to right) Me, Falker, Joey (my son), and Shaun. We are standing on the back deck of the Discovery Center after touring their wildlife exhibits and aviary.

After the Discovery Center, we did a classic camping meal over the open fire. We roasted some Hot Dogs, had some S’mores, and Falker made some tin-foil apples. Pictured here is Seningen with the best toasted marshmallow Peep Ghost I have ever seen. The sugar had formed the perfect carmalized shell, it was like crème brulee on the outside. Major props for this one. After that we settled in for another very cold sleeping night. Poor Seningen was inside three sleeping bags and a blanket. He worked hard for the sleep he got. In the morning we headed out early and hit Cracker Barrel for Breakfast. Overall Great Trip! Be on the look out for my reviews and spotlights later this week!