This small town in Garrett County has less than 2,000 residents and hosts multiple state parks and lush natural surroundings, providing winter enthusiasts with endless opportunities. At Deep Creek Lake State Park, you can choose from hiking, ice fishing, cross-country skiing, and ice skating to enjoy the over 1,000-acre park. Alternatively, you can slip into your snowshoes to explore the winter wonderland that is Swallow Falls State Park. When temperatures drop, and the snow begins to fall, the three frozen waterfalls inside the park prove to be a breathtaking scene for explorers.
For more adventures in the town, Herrington Manor State Park boasts a chill environment with a 53-acre lake within Garrett State Forest. Meanwhile, Oakland has a rich railway heritage that you can learn about at the Oakland B & O Railroad Museum or the Garrett County Historical Museum. To ensure that you’re close to the action, you can stay at the Garrett Inn, which sits about 7 miles from Swallow Falls State Park.
The Garrett County Department of Public Works – Solid Waste & Recycling Division would like to invite Garrett County residents to participate in Christmas tree recycling at the Garrett County landfill location during January and February.
Trees will be accepted for recycling during the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Monday – Friday, at the landfill location at 3118 Oakland Sang Run Road, Oakland, Maryland.
Christmas tree recycling is available to Garrett County residents free of charge. A residential disposal permit is not required to participate in this program or any other recycling program in Garrett County.
Christmas trees may also be recycled at home by placing cut branches and needles under trees and shrubs as temporary winter mulch — or by chopping them up and adding them to your compost pile.
Please remove all tinsel, garland, and ornaments before recycling Christmas trees at home or the landfill location.
Note, artificial trees are not intended to be recycled.
Remember that a refuse permit is not required to recycle at any of the seven refuse & recycling sites, including the landfill. Additionally, Garrett County businesses are encouraged to recycle at all seven refuse & recycling sites.
Please contact the office at 301-334-7492 or email the Recycling Coordinator, Kimberly Madigan at kmadigan@garrettcounty.org with any questions.
Wisp Resort is set to unveil the season with a lineup of seven exciting trails and a terrain park that includes Squirrel Cage, Sunset Blvd., Happy Camper, Possum, Grouse Way, Boulder Run, and the Central Park Terrain Park.
Join us for the opening weekend, where the winter magic unfolds with the following schedule:
Friday, December 15:
Skiing and snowboarding: 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Snow Tubing: 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Saturday and Sunday:
Skiing and snowboarding: 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Snow Tubing on Saturday: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Snow Tubing on Sunday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Excitement builds with our opening weekend rates:
Online Advance Purchase (Friday through Sunday):
Adults: $89
Juniors (ages 6-12): $69
(Up to a 16% discount off the window rate)
Ticket Window (Friday through Sunday):
Adults: $109
Juniors (ages 6-12): $89
Snow Tubing:
$45 per person
Secure your spot for an unforgettable winter kickoff by purchasing your tickets online in advance. Don’t miss the chance to save and maximize the thrill of the season!
The state’s most recent known approval of activity within the protected Wild Youghiogheny River corridor is among topics to be discussed at a public meeting next week.
The Youghiogheny Scenic and Wild River Advisory Board at 9 a.m. Monday will discuss how it can get notice in advance of actions that could harm the environment the group was formed to protect.
The event will be held at the County Commissioners Meeting Room, Frederick A. Thayer, III Courthouse, 203 South Fourth St. in Oakland.
The purpose of the meeting is “to discuss the development of a protocol for timely notifications regarding activities and projects within the river corridor to foster communication and collaboration between the Local Youghiogheny River Advisory Board, Garrett County, and the Department of Natural Resources,” a public notice for the event stated.
“This initiative is vital for ensuring that all parties are aligned and that our actions are consistent with the Youghiogheny Scenic and Wild River: Study and Management Plan,” it stated.
“My concern is (for) plans and activities to be presented to the advisory board and discussed before action is taken,” Donald Sebold, chairman of the advisory board, said via email. “This is why the (Youghiogheny River) management plan calls for an advisory board.”
Steve Storck, who owns property in the Wild Yough scenic corridor, said he was pleased to hear the advisory board will meet.
“It is great to hear that the board has decided to take initiative to investigate and discuss recent actions by Maryland DNR in regards to their management of the Wild Youghiogheny,” he said via email. “From what I understand it was always envisioned that this group would be a partner in management of the Yough and their meetings a place to discuss and resolve issues related to its management.”
Bridge
Contributing factors that prompted the advisory board’s upcoming meeting include decisions made by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in the last few months.
DNR in August conditionally approved Garrett County’s application to build a new bridge and road in an offset alignment of the Swallow Falls Road bridge.
Prior to that decision, DNR requested the Youghiogheny River Advisory Board’s recommendation on the issue.
In response, the board said the bridge should follow the same alignment as the existing structure with the road closed for the construction project.
DNR’s subsequent conditional approval contradicted the board’s recommendation.
Fishing for smallmouth bass and walleye has been good – cooler water temperatures always get these two fisheries going and they should last through much of the winter. Deep Creek Lake, Prettyboy Reservoir, and the upper Potomac and lower Susquehanna rivers are excellent places to fish for smallmouth bass. Deep Creek Lake, the upper Potomac and the lower Susquehanna hold good populations of walleye. Most anglers like to use root beer-colored tubes and a mix of soft plastic swimbaits, and crankbaits for smallmouth bass; and soft plastic jigs, swimbaits, jerkbaits, and small crankbaits for walleye.
Trout fishing in many of the specialized trout management waters is very good this week for those who enjoy catch-and-release and fly fishing. The preseason stocking of trout will begin soon, so trout anglers should start checking the DNR trout stocking website.
Largemouth bass are beginning to feel the effects of colder water temperatures and are generally holding in depths of six feet or more. with moving even deeper. Structure is a key item to focus on this time of the year. Sunken wood, steep drop-offs, bridge piers, and rocks are all worthy of extra attention when largemouth bass fishing.
Small, slow, and close to the bottom is your mantra when fishing for sluggish largemouth bass in colder waters. Wacky rigged worms worked slow and deliberate near structure is a proven tactic, pickups by largemouth bass will be subtle. Blade lures are a good lure to use in the deepest waters; slow-rolling a spinnerbait across the bottom can also work well. Craw jigs and small crankbaits worked very slowly along the bottom is another good tactic.
Fishing for crappie is good this week, and they can be found schooled up near deep structure. Sunken brush, bridge piers, marina docks, and fallen treetops all fit the bill. Slowly working a small minnow or marabou jig under a slip bobber near the structure usually works well.
The cold winter months and fishing for chain pickerel go hand-in-hand. Anglers are having fun targeting the fish along shoreline sunken wood or deeper wood such as tree stumps in flooded reservoirs. The upper sections of the Bay’s tidal rivers is a great place to find chain pickerel, often near docks, pilings and fallen trees.
Anglers fishing with small minnows and Beetle-Spins will start to encounter yellow perch in the middle to upper sections of the Bay’s tidal rivers and creek. The fish tend to wander farther up the waterways when water temperatures are as cool as they are. When water temperatures dip below 40 degrees they will travel down river to deep holes and channels where they will hold until warming spring temperatures bring on the urge to head upriver to spawn.
At a recent meeting of its Board of Directors, the Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake (POA) formed a committee to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the lake, which will occur in 2025.
The POA invited representatives from a variety of organizations to participate in this committee, and on Nov. 28, the first meeting of the Deep Creek Lake 100th Anniversary Committee was held. Along with the POA, representatives from the following organizations participated in the meeting: Brookfield Renewable, Deep Creek Watershed Foundation, Garrett County Board of Realtors, Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, Garrett County Government, Garrett County Historical Society, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Deep Creek Lake Yacht Club and the Deep Creek Lake Sailing Association (aka the Turkey Neck Yacht Club).
“We had an extremely productive initial meeting with a lot of enthusiasm for this celebration,” said Committee Chair Chris Nichols, “Just getting this many people and organizations engaged really shows the level of interest in this initiative.”
After the initial introductions, the committee discussed a number of potential projects and events, according to Nichols. One of the first projects discussed was the development of informational kiosks at various places with maps, historical information and personal stories of lake memories.
Plans also included the creation of a commemorative coin, publishing a special commemorative book, commissioning a video and creating a dedicated website to store all of the photos, information and stories gathered for the project.
“One theme that committee members kept bringing up was the importance of engaging with county residents, second homeowners and visitors to help us tell the full story of Deep Creek Lake,” Nichols said. “We’ve already identified a number of other groups to reach out to in support of these projects, especially our local schools. One really great idea was to encourage a ‘Foxfire-style’ initiative where students engage with the family members to record stories of what the lake was like ‘back in the day.’”
Ramsey first advises people considering the big decision to keep in mind that it’s not for everybody all the time.
“Ever heard someone say everyone should buy a house? Or that renting is a lot like flushing a whole bunch of money down the toilet every month?” he asked on Ramsey Solutions. “Yeah, we’ve heard that stuff too. And it’s nonsense! The truth is, not everyone should buy a house.”
The bestselling author is not being pessimistic. But he is setting up the financial reality for people who want to purchase a home. And now may well be the time to do it.
“If you sign the dotted line on a new home when you aren’t prepared financially and emotionally, the house will wind up being a curse instead of a blessing,” Ramsey suggested. “It will wind up owning you instead of the other way around. When you are prepared to buy a house, though, it can be a wonderful blessing for your family and a great way to build wealth.”
Ramsey offered a list of the critical things to consider when making the determination that the major financial opportunity is in order.
US Mortgage Rates Slide Sharply, Reinvigorating Housing Demand
(Bloomberg) — US mortgage rates dropped sharply, capping the biggest four-week slide in nearly a year and spurring a fresh round of applications to purchase homes.
The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage tumbled 20 basis points to 7.41% last week, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed Wednesday. The index of home-purchase applications increased 3.9% in the week ended Nov. 17, the most since June.
Since reaching a 23-year high of nearly 8% in mid-October, mortgage rates have plunged nearly half a percentage point. The effective rate, which includes fees and compound interest, dropped to still-elevated 7.59%. In contrast, the five-year adjustable rate increased.
Mortgage rates tend to move in tandem with Treasury yields. The 10-year Treasury yield has fallen steeply this month after hitting a 16-year high in October, helped by signs the economy is cooling along with inflation.
The overall index of applications, which includes purchases and refinancings, rose for a third week, and refinancing activity picked up.
The MBA survey, which has been conducted weekly since 1990, uses responses from mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The data cover more than 75% of all retail residential mortgage applications in the US.
