3 Outdoor Adventure Destinations to Visit in Maryland

The small state of Maryland is filled with places to go for an outdoor-centric family weekend. Three favorites include a mountain lake, a riverside ramble and an ocean beach with wild ponies.

Deep Creek Lake
This large lake in the Westen Maryland mountains is well located for weekend getaways from coastal cities and crowded ocean beach towns. Camp in the lakeside campground and rent kayaks, paddleboards, tubes or pontoon boats for excursions on the lake. While in the area, explore Deep Creek State Park and find out about wildlife from interactive exhibits in the park’s Discovery Center. Adventure-seeking teens can find climbing walls and zip lining at an Aerial Adventure Park.

Walking or Cycling C&O Canal Towpath
From Great Falls, near Washington, D.C., to the Central Maryland town of Cumberland, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was constructed in the early 1800s to make it easier to transport goods to western Maryland and beyond. Later replaced by railroad line, the canal and its towpath were abandoned until they were restored as a National Historic Park.

Today, the linear park is a recreation corridor, with many of its historic features intact or restored. Walking or bicycling along the towpath, you’ll find locks where boats moved from one water level to the next as the canal followed the irregular terrain. Also intact are 10 of the 11 aqueducts that carried the canal over streams and rivers. Elsewhere, obstacles were solved by tunnels, and you can walk through Paw Paw Tunnel, measuring 3,118 feet long.

Either Cumberland or Hagerstown makes a good base for exploring on foot or by bicycle, as well as for canoe or kayak trips on the Potomac River, which borders the canal. Access points to the canal are well marked on the free National Park map, along with campsites, picnic sites and boat launches on the Potomac. You can rent bicycles, kayaks and canoes at several points.

Assateague Island
Different adventures await families at Assateague Island National Seashore. Wild horses roam the long sand beaches of the unspoiled barrier island, not far from Ocean City. You can camp or park an RV right on the beach and explore this unspoiled strip of Atlantic shore by bicycle or take a tour led by a park ranger to learn more about the famous horses.

Biking and walking trails lead through saltmarshes and along the beaches, and you can rent kayaks on the island or book a kayak tour. Summer and early fall are good times for surfing here, as wet suits are not necessary in warmer waters. Kids will love gathering seashells; park rules allow them to bring home a gallon of them.