Deep Creek Lake, Explained
Deep Creek Lake is man-made, built between 1923 and 1925 to generate hydroelectric power, and it still does. It covers about 3,900 acres and runs to 75 feet deep. The State of Maryland owns the water, the lakebed and a strip of land all the way around the shore, and most of the land behind that strip is private.
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A lake that started as a creek
Deep Creek was a creek. It ran through a marshy valley that the people living there called The Glades. In 1923 the Youghiogheny Hydro-Electric Company began damming it to make electricity. A resort was never the plan. The water started rising in March 1925, and the generators came on that May.
A century later the dam still runs, operated by Brookfield Renewable, and the lake is a working reservoir first. That’s why the water drops in winter, why the shoreline is owned the way it is, and why there are scheduled whitewater releases on the river below the dam.
The parts of the lake
Deep Creek Lake is about 13 miles long, and each part of it has its own pace.
The north end, around McHenry, has Wisp, the restaurants along Deep Creek Drive and Mountain State Brewing, with Sang Run State Park and the Youghiogheny just beyond. Route 219 crosses the water in the middle of the lake, past Honi Honi, Firewater, Trader’s Landing and Dutch’s at Silver Tree. Deep Creek Lake State Park holds the northeast shore, below Meadow Mountain, with the public boat ramp and the beaches. Oakland, the county seat, is at the south end, with its Victorian downtown and the Autumn Glory parade.
Beyond the lake are Accident, just north, in farm country; Friendsville, northwest, on the Youghiogheny; and Grantsville, east, on the old National Road.
Who owns the shoreline
The lake and the lakebed belong to the State of Maryland, and so does a strip of land running the whole way around the shore, bought in 2000. Private waterfront owners hold the land behind it.
So the shoreline is public, and most of it is reached through somebody’s yard. Treat a gap between two houses as private. Bringing a kayak? Put in at Deep Creek Lake State Park.
Mountain weather
Garrett County averages around 110 inches of snow a year. The Maryland average is 20.6.
That snow is why there’s a ski resort at McHenry, at the north end of the lake. The county sits high in the Alleghenies, and its fall color turns a week ahead of the rest of the state.
Summers are mild, with July highs averaging around 78°F, and people come up from Washington every year to sit by the lake.
Common questions
- Is Deep Creek Lake man made?
- Yes. The Youghiogheny Hydro-Electric Company built it to generate power. Ground was broken in November 1923, the lake began filling in March 1925, and the plant came into service that May. Before the dam, Deep Creek ran through a marshy valley known as The Glades. The dam is still in service, operated by Brookfield Renewable.
- How big is Deep Creek Lake?
- About 3,900 acres, the largest lake in Maryland, with 69 miles of shoreline. It's about 13 miles long, according to Maryland DNR.
- How deep is Deep Creek Lake?
- 75 feet at its deepest, and about 25 feet on average.
- Who owns Deep Creek Lake and its shoreline?
- The State of Maryland owns the lake, the land under it, and a buffer strip running the whole way around the shore, which it bought in 2000. Private waterfront owners hold the land up to that strip. The shoreline is public land, but most of it sits behind private property. To get onto the water, put in at Deep Creek Lake State Park. The dam and power plant are privately owned.
- Does Deep Creek Lake freeze in winter?
- Yes, often. Maryland DNR describes the surface as frequently frozen, and people ice fish and ride snowmobiles on it. There's no official ice report for the lake, so test the ice yourself and follow DNR's guidance: at least four inches of new, clear ice, and no ice is ever guaranteed safe.
- Is Deep Creek Lake safe to swim in? Is it clean?
- Yes, at the state park's designated beaches, inside the swim lines. The water is in good shape. DNR classes the lake as oligotrophic: soft water, low in nutrients. Its one documented concern is low dissolved oxygen deep in the lake, which comes from the water's natural layering. The state park beaches are tested for bacteria under Maryland's Healthy Beaches program. There's no record of algal bloom advisories here.
- Why does the water level drop at Deep Creek Lake?
- The lake is still a working reservoir, and it's drawn down each winter. Full pool is about 2,462 feet, and the drawdown takes it to roughly 2,455, a drop of about seven feet. The permit behind it balances power generation with docks, the cold-water fishery downstream and scheduled whitewater releases. The low water affects docks and launches off-season.
- Is Deep Creek Lake good for fishing?
- Yes. The lake holds trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleye, yellow perch, northern pike and muskellunge. Anyone 16 or older needs a Maryland non-tidal fishing license, plus a non-resident trout stamp to fish for trout. Three-day and seven-day licenses are available.
- How high is Deep Creek Lake?
- The lake sits at about 2,462 feet at full pool. Garrett County also holds Maryland's highest point, Hoye-Crest on Backbone Mountain, at 3,360 feet. All that height gives the county its own mountain weather.
- How much snow does Deep Creek Lake get?
- About 110 inches a year, according to the State of Maryland's own manual for Garrett County, against a statewide average of 20.6. That's more than five times the rest of Maryland. January lows average around 21°F and July highs around 78°F.
Where to stay
A romantic cabin for two, at the north end of the lake.
Nightwood is a luxury cabin, thoughtfully designed for couples, on two wooded acres at the north end of the lake. Sleep in the loft above a wall of windows, with the hot tub waiting beneath the deck in any weather. Your dog stays free.
See Nightwood