Places to Go - Cabin Camping & Swimming at Cunningham Falls State Park (Thurmont, MD)

A few weekends ago, we spent the weekend with friends at Maryland's Cunningham Falls State Park (located approximately 1.25 hours from DC). We visited a few years ago (click here for past posts), but this time felt extra lucky as we reserved two of the campground's rustic cabins. As much as I love camping, sleeping on a bed (even a super hard "rustic" bed) really trumps sleeping on the cold, hard ground.

The cabins are pretty basic - two SMALL single bunkbeds and a a double mattress for adults (or in our case, for adults plus T). The kids had a great time "decorating" the few shelves and quaintly unpacking their few belongings. And then (of course) we ate smores over a campfire while all the children made a super detailed fairy home (honestly, hours were spent on this fairy dwelling, making me hope they really are real) and playing flashlight tag with all the other children in the campground. Without an ipod in site. Pure magic.

























A small man made lake resides within a quick drive of the campground, with plenty of shade to lounge under. The water is pretty shallow but the kids still swam and swam, despite the fact that the lake looked rather, um, murky. Two days later F caught a hell of an ear infection. Coincidence? I think not. Oh well, still a nice way to spend an afternoon.











We spent Sunday morning hiking to Cunningham Falls. The state park offers a few alternate trails to the waterfall; we chose the one with boulders to climb. So. many. boulders.

All in all a great weekend (despite the lake's icky water), click here for more info.

Places to Go - Car Camping at Cunningham Falls State Park, Part II - hiking and swimming

As I mentioned yesterday, a few weeks ago our family went car camping at Cunningham Falls State Park. During out visit, we hiked (only 0.5 miles) to the waterfall, which seemed more like a water trickle (I guess it's late in the season for rushing rapids). Rocks and boulders surround the waterfall area, which the kids loved climbing on (though I worried I'd twist my ankle).

We also went swimming in Hunting Creek Lake, which has a small beach area. The water was brownish and sort of dirty but the kids loved it. Plus the water was shallow, so they could explore further out (and a lifeguard sat on duty).

By Sunday afternoon, we were exhausted. So we packed up the minivan and headed home (the park is about 1.5 hours from Arlington), bathing suits still on.



HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

Places to Go - Car Camping at Cunningham Falls State Park, Houck Area Campground (Thurmont, MD)

In my 20s, I camped and backpacked a lot. Seems like almost every summer weekend my friends and I packed up the Jeep and headed somewhere or other; living in CO really does give one a great appreciation of the outdoors. I planned on continuing such excursions throughout my 30s, but I worked at a law firm (often on weekends) and then the babies came and all of a sudden my sleeping bag was crammed into a corner of the attic, unused for years. When the girls were little (3 and 2) we tried camping at Assateague Island, but P wouldn't sleep (she kept waking up every hour to "go see the stars" - cute, but exhausting) and the wild horses figured out how to open the latch of our cooler (nothing beats awakening to random strangers laughing outside your tent and saying "I bet they don't even know yet"). After that Dan proclaimed "no camping til they're older." And FINALLY they're older (well at least two out of three are). So we planned a camping excursion with good friends and their children. As far as car camping with children goes, Cunningham Falls State Park has a lot going for it - clean bathrooms (with showers), lots of families, even small cabins if you reserve early enough (we didn't). The sites were small, but adequate. And the kids all loved exploring the outdoors (oddly while playing Star Wars), sleeping under the stars, and roasting smores. As for me and Dan, returning to ground sleeping proved difficult and somewhat painful (our poor backs). But the stars, WOW, it's amazing how many of them there really are. Amazing.

If you're interested in visiting, Cunningham Falls also has a lake for swimming and a short hike (0.5 miles) leads to a large waterfall (more on this tomorrow). Unfortunately, neither the lake nor the trails are accessible from the campground, but the drive to them is pretty short.


P's all about the tattoos lately. Just a phase? Time will tell. I think she kind of looks bad-ass with them.


*The girls spent the morning at a build a bear birthday party, where they made pink dogs (Pinky and Pinkalicious), who (of course) HAD to come camping with us.
*All the older kids are taking tae kwan do, so we witnessed a lot of kicking. A lot.
*T's obsessed with driving the mini-van. Obsessed.


*Dan loves T's "Jungle Buddies" shirt, primarily because all of the animals featured (a lion, a zebra, and giraffe ) neither live in the jungle nor are they buddies. Good job Carters, way to do your research.
*It took T hours to fall asleep, so I walked him around the campground in his stroller. And he cuddled the lantern like a baby, until, eventually, I saw his head drop to the side.


I love when they act as "nature explorers", the more acorns the better.