Swallow Falls State Park, on the west bank of the Youghiogheny River northwest of Oakland, is known for pairing Maryland waterfalls with a remnant old-growth forest whose hemlocks are more than 300 years old and considered the state’s last stand of their kind. Its signature feature, Muddy Creek Falls, drops 53 feet as Maryland’s highest free-falling waterfall, joined by smaller cascades on the Youghiogheny River and Tolivar Creek. The land began as part of a 1906 donation by John and Robert Garrett that became Garrett State Forest, and the park was later developed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It remains a scenic and recreational destination.