A Md. park built around a country store
Maryland’s newest state park used to be a hamlet with a country store in the woodsy western part of the state, and I think it’s safe to say that, acre for acre, the 81-acre Sang Run State Park offers as much as, if not more than, any of our fine public destinations.
Located in Garrett County, a short drive from McHenry and Deep Creek Lake, the park is the result of a bequest to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. It has been taking shape for close to a decade. (Mike Sawyers first reported on the state’s acquisition in the Cumberland TimesNews in 2010.) The park officially opened last September.
The centerpiece of Sang Run is the old Friends country store. It used to be the hub of activity in the area — fur trappers, among others, stopped by in their travels — and it is again. You can take the kids inside for penny candy and ice cream. You can also get a soda or cup of coffee. There are a bunch of antiques to peruse, souvenirs to buy and a hands-on crafts table to get all hands-on crafty with.
You can buy locally-made bird houses and feeders — you get to name the price — and recently there was an Aldo Leopold bench, specially designed for bird watching and nature photography, for sale. I was also impressed with the offering of fishing flies, a nod to anglers who visit the nearby Youghiogheny River. The store, which once housed a post office, sits hard by Sang Run Road in an area known as Friends Delight. A fellow named Friend — as in Friendsville, a friendly town to the north — established his homestead here in the late 18th Century. The name, Sang Run, is believed to come from a native word for ginseng root, said to have been plentiful along the little stream that feeds the Youghiogheny.
For $5 (the group rate), the state park offers hay rides through a meadow and along stands of maple and black walnut trees. On the yonder hill, if you feel like the hike, there’s an old family cemetery. The large house on the property is where the park ranger lives. There are special gardens — a pollinator patch, a pumpkin patch — and a robust bluebird restoration project.
There are picnic tables, and just beyond the parking lot, an old election house, a polling station for the inhabitants of Sang Run. It is due for restoration this year.
So, a lot to see and do in what, on your first approach, looks like a little pocket park on a curving country road. The Friends store makes Sang Run look like a commercial enterprise, but if it’s a money-maker for the state, it’s a modest one. The park employees were eager to have visitors and could not have been nicer. In the fall, they will be making apple cider and apple butter. I’d get this one on your itinerary next time you’re in Western Maryland.