thumb|right|300px|Panoramic view of [[History of Deep Creek Lake, Maryland|Deep Creek Lake, Garrett County, MD|alt=Panoramic View of a lake in Maryland]]
Garrett County () is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland, completely within the Appalachian Mountains. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 28,806, making it the third-least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Oakland. The county was named for John Work Garrett (1820–1884), president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Created from Allegany County in 1872, it was the last county to be formed in the state. The county is part of the Western Maryland region of the state. Garrett County is bordered by four West Virginia counties and to the north the Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary known as the Mason–Dixon line. The eastern border with Allegany County was defined by the Bauer Report, submitted to Governor Lloyd Lowndes, Jr. on November 9, 1898. The Potomac River and State of West Virginia lie to the south and west.
Garrett County lies in the Allegheny Mountains, which here form the western flank of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Hoye-Crest, a summit along Backbone Mountain, is the highest point in Maryland at an elevation of .
The Eastern Continental Divide runs along portions of Backbone Mountain. The western part of the county, drained by the Youghiogheny River, is the only part of Maryland within the Mississippi River drainage basin. All other parts of the county are in the Chesapeake Bay basin.
The National Register of Historic Places listings in Garrett County, Maryland has 20 National Register of Historic Places properties and districts, including Casselman Bridge, National Road a National Historic Landmark. Garrett County is part of Maryland's 6th congressional district. The extreme south of the county lies within the United States National Radio Quiet Zone.
History
right|450px|thumb|Map of Braddock's Military Road from Cumberland, MD to Braddock, PA 1755
In the early 20th century, the railroad and tourism started to decline. Coal mining and timber production continued at a much slower pace. Today, tourism has made a dramatic rebound in the county with logging and farming making up the greatest part of the economic base. Due to a cool climate and lack of any large city, Garrett County has remained a sparsely populated rural area.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water. It is the second-largest county in Maryland by land area.
Garrett County is located entirely within the highland zone of the Appalachian Mountains known variously as the Allegheny Mountains, the Allegheny Plateau, and the Appalachian Plateau. The county's highest elevations are located along four flat-topped ridges and range to a height of at Hoye-Crest along Backbone Mountain, the highest point in the state of Maryland. As is typical in the Allegheny region, broad flats generally lie below the ridge crests at elevations of approximately . River valleys are generally narrow and deep, with ravines typically 1,000 to below surrounding peaks.
The county contains over of parks, lakes, and publicly accessible forestland. It is drained by two river systems, the Potomac and the Youghiogheny. The Savage River, a tributary of the Potomac, drains about a third of the county. The Casselman River, a tributary of the Youghiogheny, flows north from the county's central section into Pennsylvania. The Youghiogheny itself drains the westernmost area of the county and flows north into Pennsylvania, where it empties into the Monongahela River at McKeesport, just south of Pittsburgh.
Geologic points of interest
The Glades
The Glades' is of great scientific interest because it is an ombrotrophic system (fed solely by rainwater) with peat layers up to thick, and is one of the oldest examples of mountain peatland in the Appalachians.
On the western edge of the Savage River State Forest along Maryland Route 495 lies Bittinger, Maryland, which is named after Henry Bittinger, who first settled in the area and who was joined by other German settlers moving in and taking up the fertile farmland. On the eastern edge of Bittinger is one of the largest glades area of Garrett County. Geographically, this is an area that seems to have been affected by the last great ice sheet of North America. Two miles southeast of Bittinger, there is a large deposit of peat moss.
Loess Dunes
In the Casselman River valley, south of Grantsville, Maryland and beside Maryland Route 495, one can see remains of geological evidence about the last great ice sheet over North America. A series of low mounds can be seen in the fields on the west side of Maryland Route 495 that are "loess" (wind-blown) material. Apparently, these are the only ones still visible in the northern part of Garrett County.
The mounds were formed when a glacier lake existed in the Casselman valley, and the ice around the edges of the frozen lake melted. Wind blew fine grains of earth into the water around the edges where it sank to the bottom, and the mounds were the result of the deposit of this wind-blown material.
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Mountains
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{| class="sortable" cellspacing="0"
! style="border-bottom:1px solid gray" | Mountain
! style="border-bottom:1px solid gray; text-align:center;"| Elevation (ft.)
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| Backbone Mountain || style="text-align:center;"| 3,360
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| Big Savage Mountain || align=center | 2,991
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| Blossom Hill || align=center | 2,620
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| Contrary Knob || align=center | 2,680
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| Conway Hill || align=center | 2,760
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| Dung Hill || align=center | 2,732
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| Elbow Mountain || align=center | 2,694
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| Elder Hill || align=center | 2,826
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| Fort Hill || align=center | 2,600
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| George Mountain || align=center | 3,004
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| Lewis Knob || align=center | 2,960
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| Little Mountain || align=center | 2,920
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| Little Savage Mountain || align=center | 2,817
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| Marsh Hill || align=center | 3,073
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| Meadow Mountain || align=center | 2,959
|-
| Mount Nebo || align=center | 2,604
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| Negro Mountain || align=center | 3,075
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| Pine Hill || align=center | 2,500
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| Rich Hill || align=center | 2,842
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| Ridgley Hill || align=center | 2,617
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| River Hill || align=center | 2,700
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| Roman Nose Mountain || align=center | 3,140
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| Roth Rock Mountain || align=center | 2,860
|-
| Salt Block Mountain || align=center | 2,707
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| Snaggy Hill || align=center | 3,040
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| Walnut Hill || align=center | 2,629
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| Winding Ridge || align=center | 2,775
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| Whites Knob || align=center | 2,940
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| Zehner Hill || align=center | 3,000
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Creeks
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- Bear Creek
- Beaver Creek
- Cherry Creek
- Church Creek
- Crabtree Creek
- Deep Creek (formerly Green Glades Creek)
- Fork Creek
- Georges Creek
- Herrington Creek
- Middle Fork Creek
- Muddy Creek
- North Fork Creek
- Rhine Creek
- Snowy Creek
- South Fork Crabtree Creek
- South Fork Creek
Lakes
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- Deep Creek Lake (largest freshwater body of water in Maryland, in length)
Waterfalls
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- Gap Falls
- Muddy Creek Falls (highest free-falling waterfall in State at 54 feet)
- Swallow Falls
- Tolliver Falls
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Forests, rivers, caves
See these articles for information on the forests, rivers, and caves of Garrett County:
- List of Maryland state forests
- List of rivers of Maryland
- Caves of Maryland (Crabtree - largest cave in Maryland)
Parks and recreation
right|250px|thumb|Forest in [[Swallow Falls State Park]]
Garrett County contains over of parks, lakes, and publicly accessible forestland. Popular activities in the county include camping, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, alpine and cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, hunting, ice fishing, fly fishing, whitewater canoeing, kayaking, rafting, boating, swimming, sailing, horseback riding, and water skiing.
- Big Run State Park
- Casselman River Bridge State Park (Grantsville)
- Deep Creek Lake State Park (Swanton)
- Herrington Manor State Park (Oakland)
- New Germany State Park (Grantsville)
- Sang Run State Park
- Swallow Falls State Park
County parks
Garrett County owns four park sites and fifteen recreation facilities. The parks are maintained in cooperation with local associations and civic groups. The recreation areas are attached to public schools and colleges and maintained by the Garrett County Board of Education.
Municipal parks
The municipal parks of Garrett County provide sport facilities, hiking, bike and walk paths, playgrounds, picnic areas, boat ramps, and fishing.
- Kitzmiller Parks & Recreation Dept.
- Oakland Broadford Park includes swimming, picnic tables, fishing, boat ramp, playgrounds, sports fields.
Libraries and museums
The Ruth Enlow Library was founded in 1915 as the Oakland Free Public Library. Since then, an additional four branches have been added to the library system in Accident, Friendsville, Grantsville, and Kitzmiller. The present director of the library is Thomas Vose.
The Garrett County Historical Society and Museums include a Historical Museum, a Transportation Museum, the Grantsville Museum and the Leo Beachley Photographic Archives.
Adjacent counties
- Fayette County, Pennsylvania (northwest)
- Somerset County, Pennsylvania (north)
- Allegany County, Maryland, (east)
- Grant County, West Virginia (south)
- Mineral County, West Virginia (southeast)
- Preston County, West Virginia (west)