Click here to read Day 1
“The Deluge Continues”
First stop – Broadford Lake
The heavy rain continues with 2 – 4” of rain in the forecast for day two of the tour, we head out around 9am to meet Colin at Trader’s Landing Coffee House to get instructions on how to use the Go Pro video camera, Jeff and I are in need help with all this technology. Around 11am we arrive at our first stop of the day, Broadford Lake near Oakland, Maryland. This park is operated by the Town of Oakland and is a great place to paddleboard since powerboats are not allowed on this lake; the park has a beach area and boat launch area. We were the only people in the park except for one person getting in a morning walk. It was a cool 52 degrees with heavy rain when we took off on our first paddle of the day, the water was fairly calm, we headed towards the beach area and then across the lake up the right side of the lake, the wind picked up as we made our way back to the launch area. The water was a warm 68 degrees. The rain continued as did the alarm on the Jeep as we were loading up to head to Savage River Reservoir, the electronic key got wet in the rain and then it would not turn off the alarm. We finally turned the alarm off and headed out to our next paddleboard site, before the police arrived to check out the alarm and the crazy people paddling in the rain.
Broadford Lake Area information:
Launch site: Boat launch area, $4 park fee per vehicle
Paddleboard rental nearby at Deep Creek Lake or Bring Your Own Board: Wisp Resort, Deep Creek Marina, High Mountain Sports
Nearby lodging: a couple local motels in Oakland or various lodging options at nearby Deep Creek Lake
Dining options: Long Branch (wings) Cornish Manor (causal dining) Deep Park Inn (fine dining), Dairy Queen (fast food)
Other nearby area activities: Potomac State Forest (hiking)
Second stop – Savage River Reservoir
The rain continued as we headed to SRR, we first checked out the Dry Run launch site, the lake is lowered for the winter season for flood control and was down about 25’ already for the winter season, we decided to check out the other launch site at the upper end of the lake, about half way to the upper launch we turned around, due to the heavy rains, the lake had came up about two feet causing the upper end of the lake to become real muddy. We arrived at the launch near the dam and proceeded down to the water. As we were unloading the boards we were treated to the site of a golden eagle in flight just about the water, this area is know for eagle sightings. The wind was blowing down the lake at about 10+ mph, we headed toward the dam hugging the shoreline, the water was 72 and the outside air temperature was 55. This is a perfect place for mid summer paddle during the busy season at Deep Creek Lake, since this lake does not allow powerboats. The rain picked up and the winds gusted up to 15 mph so we packed up and headed towards our next stop Jennings Randolph Lake. Only drawback to this paddle session was the loss of my thermometer than I placed on my paddle earlier in the day. This is a US Army Corps of Engineers Lake.
Savage River Reservoir Area information:
Launch sites:Three public launch sites around the lake, these launch site are so what rough and can be long walks to the water during the fall draw down season. No charge to launch (swimming is not allowed at the reservoir)
Paddleboard rental nearby at Deep Creek Lake or Bring Your Own Board: Wisp Resort, Deep Creek Marina, High Mountain Sports
Nearby lodging: Savage River Outfitters (rental cabins) White Water Sites (camping)
Dining options: none, Westernport about 10 minutes away (fast food)
Other nearby area activities: Savage River and North Branch of Potomac (fly fishing and white water kayaking on select release dates)
Third stop – Jennings Randolph Lake (Maryland side)
We arrived at the boat launch on the Maryland side of the lake; there also is a boat launch and beach on the West Virginia side of the lake. The Maryland side launch is real nice and has plenty of length as the fall drawn down season comes into play. This was my first visit to JRL and is sure not to be my last, the water was super clear with 10+’ of visibility and is sure to become one of my favorite paddleboard sites. Due to the mountains surrounding the lake, the lake is somewhat sheltered from most winds, even during this rainy windy day we experienced little wind, the rain even stopped for about 25 minutes to allow us to enjoy a brief rain free paddle session. Along the way to the launch we came upon three different groups of wild turkeys. The lake was down about 20’ feet for the fall drawn down season. The water temperature was 76 degrees and the outside air was 55 degrees. This is a great place to paddle and is undiscovered gem. The rain picked up and we packed up and headed to our last stop for the day Mount Storm. This is a US Army Corps of Engineers Lake.
