Spring Creek Outfitters

The Youghiogheny was the first river in Maryland to receive a Wild River designation, and it changes character several times over its thirty-eight mile northward journey through Garrett County. South of Oakland it meanders through pastoral farmland and wooded lots before the valley narrows, deepens and turns heavily forested. Entering Swallow Falls State Park the river becomes a stretch of falls and rapids that drops 280 feet in four miles, then eases near Hoyes Run to an average of about ten feet of fall per mile. Cold water released from the Deep Creek Lake hydroelectric station lets that section hold an enormous head of brown and rainbow trout, with excellent caddis and mayfly hatches and green drake spinner falls worth planning an evening around. A half day float on the Yough is $270 for one angler; a full day trout float is $250 for one and $350 for two; wading trips start at $125. Flies come with every trip, lunch comes with full days, and a Maryland licence and trout stamp are required.