The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-11-24
Concluding Article In Sunday
Sun on Maryland Travels Gives
Garrett County High Place

Baltimore Sunday Sun, gives the high
spots of his journeys in last Sundays
issue, placing Garrett county at the
head in impressive mountain scenery
and a place for the establishment of
winter sports.
Parts of his article follow:
"After driving through all the
twenty-three counties of Maryland, l
bring back with me certain especially
striking pictures. Because they are
strikingly picturesque or beautiful or
full of historic interest they stand
out in my memory.
"The visit to each county was brief
and hasty. Many points of great
beauty and interest were, certainly,
not seen at all. The list printed be-
low is not offered as comprehensive. 1t
includes many scenes familiar to most
Marylanders. Doubtless, it omits
others which surpass in charm or
beauty those named. 1t represents,
at best, only personal reactions to a
hurried drive of several thousand
miles through the State. Better judges
may we'll disagree with the choice
made.
Varied Scenery
zone initial impression was most
fully confirmed. Small as it is, Mary
land offers the widest possible variety
of land-and water spaces. Lacking
any stupendous or overpowering nat
ural feature, the State-divided yet
connected by the great bay-contains
within its irregular and almost dis
connected limits, land which varies
from sea level to half mile in
height. With only single county on
the Atlantic Ocean, there are fifteen
others which border on or are pene-
trated by great tidal rivers, while IN
the western counties there are rushing
mountain torrents and waterfalls and
branches which discharge their waters
into the Gulf of Mexico.
"The most impressive mountain
scenery is in Garrett county. To see
it at it's best one should drive from
Cumberland over the river road which
runs into the borders of West Vir-
ginia and then climbs the rugged
sides of seven-mile mountain. From
its crest one may look back over miles
of wild and beautiful country, while
the slow descent into Garrett county
opens up a whole series of pictur-
esque views.
Mountain Vistas
Oakland, the county seat, lies west
of the Allegheny Mountains, and the
whole circuit back to Cumberland is
a succession of sweeping mountain
vistas, the highway leading finally
through the historic Cumberland Mar
rows, from earliest days the gate
way to the great west. Through this
gap in the mountains passed General
Braddock, George Washington and
most of the pioneers who took pos
session of the Ohio and Kentucky
country.
A familiar but always beautiful
mountain picture is that seen from
the crest of Braddock Heights, few
miles beyond Frederick. The hill is
about 1000 feet high. 1t breaks away
abruptly to the west and reveals the
wide sweeping of the charming Mid
dletown Valley.
Mountain CataractS
y - s. Different again and in their
own manner quite as beautiful, are
the views of Deep Creek Lake in Gar
rett county, where for miles the blue
mountain water fills the deep valleys
between the mountains and the pros
pect from the crest of the Dulaney
Valley road, in Baltimore county. =
"To those who like their water in
swift motion, Garrett county offers
Swallow Falls and the still higher
cataract near by where Muddy Creek
drops over a cliff of limestone. Hav-
ing seen these, the Marylander is
bound to visit the Great Falls of the
Potomac, some miles above George
town, in Montgomery county, where
the great river runs for long dis
lance over and around big boulders
and rushes down a series of steep
rapids.
"In Garrett county would seem to
be the ideal spot for the establish
ment of winter sports on large scale.
Here are a thousand hills and noun
tains, varying in height and steepness
and, in a normal winter, thickly COW
cred with deep snow for months. To-
boggan slides and courses of skiing
are almost everywhere, made to order
in advance. And, as for skating, the
winding water of Deep Creek Lake
extending for miles among the hills,
with shelter houses here and there
along it's banks, offers every attrac-
ton, to say nothing of the rivers and
branches which, when frozen over,
make pathways leading far back into
the wild country of the hills.