Deep Creek Lake State Park, Maryland 10/6/20

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Deep Creek Lake State Park, Maryland

Chilly, clear, crisp, low 40s

Ian, Court, Doc

4.3 miles

Courtney’s brother bought a lake house on Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland and we took a road trip all the way from Texas to go check it out. The expedition consisted of myself, Court, her parents, and the two dogs, Biff and Finn. Overall it was a 3100 mile round trip in about a week. That’s a lot of driving. We did get a couple of good hikes in though and we were there in peak leaf peeping season.

Deep Creek State Park was less than a mile from the house and we got up early one morning and got in a nice hike up to a fire tower and back down. The air was crisp, the trails were well marked, and the woods were beautiful. This is bear country, but we would not see any the entire trip.

The trees were still pretty green on this hike, though there were some yellows strewn about, and the forest floor was covered in moss and ferns.

We reached the Thayerville Fire Tower, which was decommissioned in 1993, about half way through the hike. I wasn’t aware the trail we were on went to the tower, so that was a nice surprise.

We headed back down the back half of the trail and looped back towards the trail head. We passed the camping area, which looked very well maintained, complete with bear boxes. If we make it back this way one day, perhaps we will spend the night.