We went to Deep Creek, Maryland, over Labor Day Weekend to get away from the hustle and bustle.

You know, I wasn’t expecting to go to Deep Creek at all. Back before the summer of 2024, my sister decided to book a cabin in the mountains of Western Maryland, and bring all of the family together to stay in it. It had four bedrooms, and in the end ten of us ended up going.

I wasn’t supposed to go on the trip originally because as soon as I arrived back from my time in South Korea, I was kind of expecting to get my student visa for India much sooner than the time we would depart for Deep Creek. I was hoping I would be in India by this point, but I wasn’t.

That’s an entirely different story, but basically I ended up going on the trip and packing my little Patagonia duffel bag to see another part of Maryland. I had gone once as a child to Deep Creek, but all I remember about it was that I was terrified of the log cabin we were in because it seemed like a place you would get murdered in.

Well, this was a pretty relaxing trip overall despite it only being two days. Deep Creek is definitely a place where you go to enjoy nature and spend some time with yourself, rather than being glued to a computer all day.

Here’s what we did during our time there!

On our first day, after driving, we got groceries and relaxed around the cabin.

We drove up from the Baltimore County area Saturday morning, which was about a three and a half hour drive from where we were based. We almost drove straight through, but stopped a little bit outside of the Oakland area for a quick McDonalds meal. I picked up a Happy Meal and was delighted to see it was a Sanrio x Yugioh collaboration.

By the time we reached Deep Creek, it was about 12-1 PM. Our cabin was a little bit away from the lake, but it was so nice. It had these big windows and glass doors, and the furniture you could tell was a lot higher end than the average rental. We had paid about $1,500 for two nights apparently, but the ones on the lake are much more expensive than this.

Despite needing some food supplies, we decided to relax, venture through the cabin, and get in the hot tub before a big storm rolled in. Once the storm hit, we got out of the hot tub and went to the nearby Walmart about ten minutes down the road to grab eggs and milk.

The rest of the night was dedicated to staying in, as it was pretty much raining. When it stopped, we started a fire in the fire pit and made smores. This was the night dedicated more to relaxing, as we were planning more tomorrow.

I ended up passing out around 10 PM, and found it to be quite chilly at the end of August. We were all glad we packed layers heading here, as Deep Creek is in the mountains and tends to run colder than the cities.

Day two: state parks, donuts, and a boat ride around Deep Creek Lake.

We started off day two early in the morning, as my sisters ventured to Deep Creek Donuts, as they had placed orders beforehand and went to pick them up. My parents made some more filling breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon, and toast, and I ate that while they went to pick the donuts up. My verdict is I thought the donuts were way too sweet for me, but I could see how someone with a sweet tooth would like them.

At 10 AM we ventured to Swallow Falls State Park. At that point, the park was pretty empty, so I recommend going early if you’re going on a weekend like us: there was a massive line to get into the park when we were leaving, and definitely not enough parking spots. We got one right in the first lot when we came.

The trail for this park isn’t too hard; we started on the side with Swallow Falls, and there were some great views throughout the park of the waterfalls. It’s pretty green, as one could see on my camera pictures above, and there was quite a bit of climbing rocks.

So wear some shoes with good traction! I saw an older woman slip right in front of Swallow Falls. I liked the other waterfall a bit more than Swallow Falls, but they were both very beautiful to look at while we were there.

We spent about two hours there, then headed out to a gift shop called Bear Creek Traders. It was a little pricy in there, but I picked up a pin anyways for about $6. We went home and made sandwiches, then hung around for a bit in the cabin.

We’d booked a boat ride where we could drive the boat on Deep Creek Lake, and that was for an hour around sunset. I was really nauseous at how fast my brother-in-law was driving the boat, but if you don’t have severe motion sickness like me, you probably would enjoy the beautiful views around the lake.

On the way home, we picked up three pies from Brenda’s Pizzeria, which are massive. A 20” pizza with huge slices, this fed all ten of us pretty easily. My mom and I weren’t fans though of the cheese, although the crust was good.

After that, we pretty much just stayed in the cabin and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Day Three: Hagerstown Outlets

We had to check out of the AirBnB by 10 AM the morning of Labor Day, so we packed up our belongings, said goodbye to my sister’s family, and then went to a nearby Denny’s ten minutes down the road. Denny’s always hits well when you need it the most.

After Denny’s we drove about two hours to Hagerstown, which we were shocked by the state of the outlets. I hadn’t been there in about five or six years, and it used to have so many more stores than it does now. I would not be surprised if these outlets ultimately ended up closing—and maybe this is a sign of the economic fall that’s to come in the near future with an aging population.

We spent about an hour in Hagerstown looking at the Under Armor, Kate Spade, and North Face stores, then headed out for the hour and a half drive back home.

All in all, this was such a relaxing trip. I think we would have done more if we stayed longer, but Deep Creek and Oakland definitely are places to clear your head if you need to escape from reality for a bit.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.