Herrington Manor State Park Campground

This park is just down the road from the much more popular Swallow Falls. But other than the falls, this park has everything the other does, and even a lake. Most come here for the cabins. They are very nice, and easier to get a reservation here than the more popular parks. There is access to endless trails in the State Forest, and good fishing in the lake.

We came to visit Herrington Manor while we were staying at Swallow Falls. The park is about a mile or so down from Swallow Falls, and is also fairly close to Deep Creek Lake. The great thing, is that if you are camping at Swallow Falls, you get entry into Herrington Manor for free and visa versa.

The other great thing about this particular park, is that if you have T-mobile cellular service, you can actually make and receive calls here, unlike at Swallow Falls.

When you first enter the park, you see several areas where you can pull off and picnic and such. As you go down a bit you enter the beach area. We stayed here after some storms and were sad to find a notice about Ecoli after we had gone swimming. This is my reason for only giving 3 stars.

That said, the park was clean, there are paddle boards and kayaks for rent, a small concession stand and a decently stocked camp store. The beach was clean, had a small swing bench, and some shaded trees to sit under. I would highly recommend visiting if you are camping at Swallow Falls!

We have NOT stayed in or photographed the cabins at Herrington Manor state park, but I wanted to provide some photos of the lake and a brief review of the park and facilities as we’ve been there several times.

This lake (the main attraction of the state park) is one of my husband’s favorite fishing spots, especially on the kayaks. Even if you’re not kayaking, it’s just a beautiful place to spend an afternoon. The few times that we’ve visited, we’ve caught a bunch of chain pickerel, panfish, and a few bass. A few summers ago, there was a bald eagle nest on the far side of the lake and you could see them circling and hunting every once in a while. There is a really great beach area for the kids (or adults!) to play at, and a general over-abundance of creatures in and around the lake. There are TONS of salamanders along the shore, literally clouds of tadpoles near the launch docks (if you time it during the right part of the year of course), and the ranger showed us where a couple of snakes were currently making their homes near the main building.

The main park building on the lake itself is great, with clean restrooms, a food concession and small store with HM souvenir items, boat rentals with safety vests, and a cozy little viewing room with seating, a view of the lake, and a huge fireplace in the middle. We’ve never visited HM in the winter, but I’m sure it’s awfully cozy when that thing is roaring.

We love this area, and if we ever end up staying in the cabins (which sound like a great deal), I’ll post another review - we love it so much we come back down every other year or so. It’s beautiful!