Deep Creek Lake State Park is a state-operated, public recreation area surrounding Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County, Maryland, in the United States. The park features water activities, camping facilities, and recreational trails and is located about south of Interstate 68 on U.S. Route 219.HistoryAlthough settlers arrived in the area in the 1700s, it was the massive logging operations of the 20th century that stripped the land of its virgin forest. The park’s northern hardwood forest of oaks and hickories was regenerated from the original timber stand.The Deep Creek Lake reservoir was created on a tributary of the Youghiogheny River with completion of the Deep Creek Dam by the Pennsylvania Electric Company in 1925. The state took charge of recreation on the lake in 1980, then purchased the land underlying the lake and buffer zone properties for $17 million in 2000.Activities and amenitiesLake activities include motor boating, water skiing, swimming, fishing, and canoeing. A campground has 112 campsites, 26 with electricity. Trails are used for hiking and mountain biking. The park’s 6000sqft Discovery Center offers exhibits on local plants and wildlife, including the American black bears occasionally seen in the campground, the lake and its watershed, conservation issues, and local coal and logging activities in addition to the daily educational programs about nature and the environment presented by naturalists, rangers, and volunteers.
