Herrington Manor State Park in Maryland has private cozy cabins, gaming areas, and hiking trails, plus a lake to kayak, canoe, or swim!
History and Location
Herrington Manor State Park is located in Oakland, Maryland, about 2 hours south of Pittsburgh. Deep Creek and Swallow Falls State Parks are just a few minutes away.
The park covers 365 acres and includes Herrington Lake.
The area was originally a real estate investor’s homestead in the 1800s. The state acquired the property in 1935.
The Civilian Conservation Corps then moved in to build the park’s infrastructure, including the lake (by damming the creek) and the cabins.
In 1964, Herrington Manor House was taken down. During the same year, the park officially became a Maryland State Park.
Herrington Manor State Park can be enjoyed during all seasons. Many trails are open for cross-country skiing or snowmobiling in the winter and hiking or biking in the summer.
In addition, there are open gaming and recreation areas to enjoy any time of year, including a basketball court, tennis/pickleball court, frisbee disc golf, and playgrounds.
The lake has a swimming beach, as well as a boat house for renting kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddleboards.
Accommodations
If you are planning to spend the night at Herrington Manor State Park, you’ll have to plan ahead!
The park has 20 modern furnished cabins with full bathrooms and kitchens. There are minimum stays depending on the time of year, and cabins can booked up to a year in advance.
And most are!
The cabin area is well-laid out and tucked away nicely from the rest of the park. Each cabin has its own ‘yard’, including a picnic table and charcoal grill stand.
Cabins 1 through 10 are pet-friendly, and we were able to secure Cabin 6, starred above.
Cabin 6 has a side porch with 2 adirondak chairs and a porch swing, which we appreciated after a long day of hiking!
If you are fan of porch swings (who isn’t?), make sure you look at the cabin photos when booking to make sure one is on the front porch of the cabin you pick.
The porch swing gave me a front row seat to a downpour our first evening there:
Inside, Cabin 6 can sleep two people. The main room has a large table and 2 chairs, along with a queen bed, dresser, and night stand.
You’ll need to bring your own sheets, pillows, blankets, and towels.
A full bathroom with shower and kitchen with a refrigerator, stove, and dishes/utensils completes the cabin.
While there’s no air conditioning, a large ceiling fan offers a good breeze. Or if it’s cold, you can stoke the wood stove with free firewood from the stall outside the cabin.
Extras!
Right above the cabin area, you’ll find a playground and open recreation areas.
And don’t worry about bringing your equipment from home! The park has a sport shed that you can borrow equipment from during your stay.
Russ and Franklin were surprised how stocked it was!
After we played a few matches of pickleball, Russ showed off his dunking skills on the basketball court.
He said to let you know this hoop was definitely not adjustable and was definitely set to 10 feet (wink wink).
Herrington Manor State Park also has a full calendar of ranger-led programs that you can find at the bottom of this page.
During our visit, Hazel and I attended a ranger-led program on Saturday night at the campfire ring. We learned 5 different owl calls and observed different moths attracted by an ultra-violet light.
Not too shabby for a weekend away!
Trails and Wildlife
Herrington Manor State Park has 12 miles of hiking trails, and most double as cross-country skiing and snowmobiling routes in the winter.
Another 5 1/2 mile trail leaves the northeast parking lot and heads to Swallow Falls State Park, shown below in light gray in the top right.
The park trails are all loops without names, just colors. Plenty of signage on the trails makes it easy to stay on course.
The lake is just a short walk away from the cabin area, so swimming and fishing are closeby.
You can drop your kayak, canoe, or paddleboard at the boat house beforehand to use during your stay. The park also rents them as well.
The night we arrived, we took the short walk to the lake. Hazel was a little apprehensive of the floating docks, but the whole area (besides the swimming beach) was very dog-friendly.
The next day, we connected about 4-6 miles total of hiking by taking the blue and red loops.
We also added on some areas around the cabins and lake that weren’t officially marked trails. Our routes are outlined here:
While you won’t find endless miles of hiking at Herrington Manor State Park, the trails are quite wide and very well-groomed. If you are hiking with dogs, you’ll appreciate the space!
Franklin even managed to find a rustic resting spot:
While visiting, look out for chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, and deer, and thank goodness…MUSHROOMS!
After a year of sub-par mushroom finding, I was glad to see more popping up this year!
Not nearly as colorful fungi as our Deep Creek State Park trip, but getting better!
Also, we saw this guy on the lawn near the spillway:
If you visit the Park Office, take a walk downstairs to see the Nature Center.
Not only do they have some large stuffed wildlife, they also have some living displays as well.
Even though we were on the lookout while we hiked, we didn’t see any snakes.
However, the poster in the Nature Center indicated there could be quite a few different types lurking about:
PIT STOP! Deep Creek Donuts
About 15-20 minutes from Herrington Manor State Park, you’ll want to pull over in Deep Creek at Deep Creek Donuts.
These delicious gems are made to order and come in a wild variety of flavor, icing, and toping options.
They’re served warm and taste just as scrumptious as they look!
The Last Word
Herrington Manor State Park in Maryland is a great spot for a dog-friendly, cozy-cabin, lake-activity weekend.
The park is small and off-the-grid enough to feel private, yet large enough to get a few good hikes and paddles in.
And did we mention dog-friendly?
