Cunningham Falls State Park

About this park

Cunningham Falls State Park protects 6,157 acres in the Catoctin Mountains of northern Frederick County, named for its 78-foot cascading waterfall on Hunting Creek, the tallest cascading falls anywhere in Maryland. The park sits immediately adjacent to the presidential retreat at Camp David within Catoctin Mountain Park, forming part of an unbroken chain of protected forest along the Catoctin range that also includes the Frederick City Watershed and Gambrill State Park further south. The park is divided into two distinct areas: the William Houck Area off Route 77, home to the waterfall itself, a 43-acre lake, and the main campground; and the separate Manor Area off Route 15, home to the Scales & Tales Aviary and the ruins of the historic Catoctin Iron Furnace, an early ironworking site. More than 70% of the park's acreage is protected as State Wildland, restricted to passive recreation, and the park also anchors the Cat Rock and Bob's Hill Natural Area, preserving the largest contiguous forest tract remaining in this part of Maryland. Recognized as part of the Maryland Blue Ridge Important Bird Area, the park draws serious birders alongside its more typical swimming, hiking, canoeing, and camping visitors, and the annual Maple Syrup Festival each spring has become a beloved local tradition. Cell phone service is notoriously spotty throughout much of the park, a genuine reminder of how far its mountain terrain feels from the Washington-Baltimore corridor despite being barely an hour's drive north of the nation's capital.