Swallow Falls is a
Maryland State Park nine miles north of
Oakland. It's bordered by the
Youghiogheny River and is full of rapids and
beauty. If you look up the website
(http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/swallowfalls.html, for directions and rules), it isn't lying; the whole place is
spectacular. Anyone who lives within a hundred miles should be
obligated to visit
at least once. If you have any sort of
appreciation for nature, you'll want to come back. Bring
friends. Be prepared to get wet and muddy, climb rocks, and wander around in
child-like awe.
As for
advice, it's in a mountainous area and at night it gets extrordinarily
cold. This doesn't merely mean "Bring a sleeping bag." If you have a sleeping bag built for the
arctic, this is a step in the right direction. You're probably going to take this trip when the weather isn't terribly cold so that you can play in the water, but bring
several pairs of socks and a couple layers of
shirts.
And for the
water, in some places the
current is very strong. I'm not sure if you're supposed to swim in the water or not, so if the
state police comes up and tells you to
get out, do so, as
politely and promptly as you can. (I haven't had this problem, but it's always a good rule to follow when
police officers ask you to
do something.) While you're in the water, you might want to wear
water shoes or sandles, since the rocks on the bottom can be sharp.
Watch where you're going because there could be things like
barbed wire caught in the shoreline.
According to my father, his
boy scout troop slid down the rapids like a
waterslide when he was a kid. I'm not going to suggest this unless you're really open to getting
bruises and you
scout out where the water is heading for--don't jump in if you don't see several
foolproof ways of getting out. But it's possible, at least.
It's remarkably simple to go underneath
Muddy Creek Falls, and very fun. The easiest way to do so is to cross to the other side and just walk underneath. Go to the
bottom of the falls, walk out on the rocks, jump in, crawl to avoid being swept away, and you're there. Alternately, if there's a lot of you, get one person to do that and then
link arms, which is best if anyone's scared about getting swept
downstream (which would probably
hurt). You have to duck under the falls, but you're walking on solid
shale and shouldn't have any problems. You can go back the same way, or swim out from the other side, but since it's
difficult to get back onto the rocks once you're in the water, make sure that you have someone waiting to
grab your hand if you get
swept by.
Quiet hours are from 11PM until 7AM.
Bring music, but if you're going to play it in public, keep it
child-friendly.
Pink Floyd is good;
Lords of Acid is
bad. There are usually
families with young children who will appreciate this.
It might be because my
friends and I are
tree-hugging hippie freaks, but sitting in the mossy rocks and trees is a wonderful way to feel peaceful and
relaxed. The place is some sort of
magical fairy forest kingdom if you want it to be.