Attention: Swallow Falls Entrance Road Update 5/23/2024:
A temporary one-lane bridge has been placed on the entrance road of Swallow Falls State Park. All traffic exiting the park must yield to traffic entering the park. Please be patient and follow all posted signage. If the line of traffic extends to the main road, do not block the road.
CLOSURE NOTICE (UPDATED 10/25/24): Alert:
The paving project has been rescheduled. Beginning September 2, 2025 through July 31, 2026 contractors will be paving and replacing culverts throughout Swallow Falls State Park. The campground and the shelter will be closed during this time. Until we receive a more detailed timeline for construction, we will not be accepting reservations during these dates. Guests are encouraged to check
https://parkreservations.maryland.gov/ for updates. We apologize for the inconvenience.
1-888-432-2267
Garrett County
GPS Address:
2470 Maple Glade Road
Oakland MD 21550
Mailing Address:
Swallow Falls State Park
c/o Herrington Manor State Park
222 Herrington Lane
Oakland, MD 21550
Contact: 301-387-6938
301-334-9180 (February and March)
Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset
This mountain park is located nine miles north of Oakland, Maryland and contains some of Maryland's most breathtaking scenery. The Youghiogheny River flows along the park's borders, passing through shaded rocky gorges and creating rippling rapids. Muddy Creek Falls is a crashing 53-foot waterfall – a spectacular sight. Tall hemlocks dominate the silent woods. The 1 1/4 mile trail through Swallow Falls guides hikers to some of the most breath-taking scenery in Western Maryland.
Swallow Falls Bridge Replacement
Garrett County, with the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration, is proposing to replace Bridge No. G-0020 on Swallow Falls Road over the Youghiogheny River; a State designated Scenic and Wild River. The bridge is located in Swallow Falls State Park and in the Youghiogheny Scenic and Wild River Corridor.
Please click here for additional information concerning this project.
Famous Travellers
Famous Travelers is a series of articles by Francis Champ Zumbrun covering a time in the summer of 1921, when Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone camped for two weeks in western Maryland. The vagabonds was a term the wealthy captains of industry called themselves when camping together. From their camp at “Camp Harding” along Licking Creek, about 6 miles east of Hancock, they traveled to present day Swallow Falls State Park where they camped from July 27 to July 31.
Read more....
“Every man in his heart revolts at civilization and will revert back to [nature] if given half a chance…We don’t live long enough to find out what life is all about, but we know what civilization is - it is a mere veneer that keeps on getting thicker, but never too thick to pierce…It will be 15,000 years I think, before man will reach such a high point of civilization where he cannot and will not want to go back to [reconnect with nature].” - Thomas Edison at Muddy Creek Falls, Maryland. July 1921
