Author's note: I started writing this entry in 2021 after our first stint as Camp Hosts at the Manor. Now, in 2025, we are on our fifth season living in the forest and taking care of "our" campground. We love this place.
During the Spring, Summer and Fall of 2021, we spent a total of four and a half months at a single camp ground in Maryland. We were working as Camp Hosts and we fell in love with the camp. The campground is called The Manor and it is the smaller campground of Cunningham Falls State Park, just off of Route 15 near Thurmont, MD. Just down the mountain from Camp David.
When we secured the job as Camp Hosts at the park, I didn’t know a lot about either of the campgrounds in Cunningham Falls. I had done a little research a few years ago as I was planning a hike in the area that I never took, but I didn’t know much about The Manor. We would find out that this small campground of 31 sites was a true diamond in the rough. A hidden gem, that we got to discover, explore and come to love. It became our home for the seasons and we hope to spend more time there in the future.
The Manor is located just off of Route 15 in central Maryland. About two miles south of Thurmont, MD and around 10 miles north of Frederick. The park entrance is right at the highway and I’m pretty sure the camp was there before the highway.
When you first enter that section of the park, you pass a control station that is never manned. It has an honor box where the righteous will leave their three to five dollars to enter the park and use the day use facilities. Two automatic gates come down sometime around 2200 each night and open around 0600.
The road moves to the left with another splitting off to the right and going up the hill to the campground. As you follow the left road, there is the first parking lot on your left. This is where we send the overflow vehicles in camp and where hikers will park as they head up the Bob’s Hill trail.
Shortly after that trailhead is an area to the right that is set up as a short archery range. During the summer, the park runs informal archery training on Saturdays for anyone eight and above. A small fee is charged to participate.
The second parking lot on the left is usually used by playground users and picnickers. A pretty large playground with lots of mulch and soft paths made of recycled rubber sits against the woods beyond the first picnic tables. There are several tables in the area each with a grill. There is also a rest room at the edge of the area next to the playground. In between the rest room and the playground is a short interpretive trail that leads to the Visitor Center and Aviary. There are signs with a short story that children would enjoy as they walk through the woods.
Continuing along the road you come to the Visitor Center and Aviary with a small parking lot. Another trail leads up the mountain to the right and meets the Catoctin Trail after about a hundred meters. A turtle habitat sit outside the Visitor Center containing box and wood turtles.
The Visitor Center is mostly open on weekends during the season and is usually full of interpretive displays. A volunteer is usually working there to answer questions about the park and trails. A couple of snakes usually hang out in some aquariums just inside the doors.
The Aviary has a number of “representatives” living there., a Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl,, a Red Shouldered Hawk, Red Tailed Hawks, and an American Eagle all live here. They each have come here after suffering accidents or illness that have left them unable to live in the wild. Some are missing a wing, some just can’t fly anymore. They are well cared for by the Park Naturalists. You can walk around the outside of the building where the birds are exposed to the weather and learn a little bit about each of the different species.
Between the two buildings the trail from the playground ends with lots of native wildflowers that are the perfect habitat for butterflies, bees and humming birds.
Continuing down the hill you come to the lower parking lot. This area is surrounded by more picnic tables and grills, another rest room and Little Hunting Creek runs along the edge. At the very end is the start of the Iron trail, which follows the creek for a ways, then crosses the highway on a high footbridge, before continuing on to Catoctin Furnace and beyond. This hike is a very interesting one through the history of the area.
On the northern edge of the parking lot is a wide path that leads the the Parks only rentable pavilion. The large, covered shelter has several tables which can accommodate large parties and even weddings. There is a nice stone fire pit at the one end and two grills are also installed in that area. The trail that started at the playground and split off at the Visitor Center ends here.
Several trails lead from the picnic tables near the creek and follow along to the Catoctin Trail. This blue-blazed, 27 mile long trail starts in Gambrills State Park, crossed the creek here and heads up Bob’s Hill. It travels over the mountain and down into the valley where the main part of Cunningham Falls State Park is located, including the falls themself. It continues another 10 miles to its terminus to the north.
Moving back to the Day Use area, we come to the road that leads to the campground.
The road leads about a tenth of a mile to the Registration Shed. Campers with reservations will pick up their prepared camping permits which they will display on their dashboards. This permit also allow that vehicle to enter the main part of the park fee free.
Next to the Registration Shed is a wood shed that is stocked daily by the Camp Hosts. Another honor box system collects the $6 a bundle fee to get your fire pit going.
Three dumpsters stand nearby in the area for all your camping trash and recycling.
Across from the Registration shed is site M1. This site is comfortably long, easy to pull into and acceptably level. This site, like all sites, contains a picnic table, a fire pit and a lantern stand that has a high counter build onto it. Perfect for holding a camp stove, water jug or basin or for preparing a meal.
Continuing along the road and starting up the hill you come to sites M2 and M3 on the right hand side. They too are fairly long and easy to get into.
The roads of the campground have no actual names, but there are signs at strategic points letting the campers know which sites are located where. I have given each of the different sections of the roads my own names. This first section that leads from site M1 to M5 where another road branches off to the left I call the Toddlers.
Site M4 is on the left and site M5 is on the right. Both sites are as good as the other three before.
The traffic through the park is all one way now, so at times you must make several loops to cover every site, but for now we are turning left and following that road to sites M6 through M10. I call this road Child.
M6, on the left, is the first electric site you come to in the camp. It is long, wide and flat. The power pole contains a 30A outlet and two 15A outlets.
Site M7, on the right, is what we call a buffer site. It is only used if a problem arises with another site or some situation calls for the need to put a camper there. It is usually empty even on the busy weekends. This site also has electric. It isn’t an optimum site. The driveway is a little sloped and it isn’t as long as the other sites we have passed so far.
Next you come to site M8, also on the right, this the only non-electric site on Child road. It’s sloped driveway and separate raised tent pad make it much more suitable for tents than trailers, but small trailer can and do pull in here.
Moving along we come to site M9 on the right. This is the camps only pull-through site and it also had electric. Several trees near the driveway still make it a little challenging for bigger rigs to get in, but it is possible. This site also has a slightly raised section where the table and firepit are located.
Sites M7 through M9 each have a path that leads to the bathhouse. There is also a path that runs from the road to the bathhouse in between sites M7 and M8.
M10 is the last site on Child road and is also nice and long. This electric site will fit most rigs, but some trees, and being at the end of the road can make pulling in a long setup challenging. In the spring a large mulberry tree drops its fruit right on the site, fulling the table and ground with plenty of berries. This could be a boon or an annoyance, depending on how you look at it.
At the end of Chile Road, you must take a left, this heads back down hill to a stop sign. A right turn will take you back down to the day use area and the exit to The Manor.
Turning left, we continue around and when we reach Preteen Rd, we go straight. I call this part of the camp Tween/Teen. Sites M11 and M13 are on the right and M12 and M14 are on the left. They are all good sized non-electric sites. M14 has a good path to the bathhouse.
Across from M14 is a small building where the water is purified, softened and checked often. There is a large, but quiet generator next to the building that keeps the water pure and flowing in the event of a power outage. Also next to the building is one of two water points in the campground. This pump flows very well and even though it is on the “wrong” side of most trailer fill valves, it is easy to run a hose to the other side. There is still a slight incline to the road here, so tank level indicators may be a little off if you are checking that while filling.
The next road on the left is the Young Adult section. Across from that is M15 the co-Camp Host site. It is usually hidden from the reservation system and is used as a second buffer site when there is no co-Host. This is the site we stay in while volunteering at the park. We love this site. It is long and level, with electric and within reach of the water point with my 65 feet of hose. Muddy Run flows behind the site and is a usually emitting a peaceful gurgling sound. Our dog Ginger liked to walk down the short path and cool off in the creek during the hot days. The stream isn’t at all muddy, but maybe in the days when the mountain was devoid of trees due to the nearby iron industry that wasn't always the case.
As Young Adult road starts, there is another paved path off to the left. This accessible path leads to the one bathhouse in the camp. The men’s side has two toilets, a urinal, two sinks and two showers. The Woman’s has three stalls and two showers.
Outside the men's side is a deep sink which has a garbage disposal. Perfect for the campers to use to wash their dishes. The shower stalls are roomy and the water always hot and at a good pressure. Being well lit at night, it does attract a good deal of insects and spiders.
Back on Young Adult road, we have site M16 across from the bathhouse road. It is spacious and level. There is a small path at the back that connects to site M23. Good for a several site family camp.
M17 is on the right as you move down the road. It is adequate and has electric. The driveway is a little sloped and the site is a little shorter than most of the other sites.
M18 is across from M17 and is another one of the prime sites. Long, level and easy to back into, with electricity. This site has a short path to the bathhouse path.
M19 is on the right next. This is another short, sloped driveway site. We have had a couple campers reject the site because their larger rig wouldn’t fit or was too hard to level off. If you have a small trailer or a tent, this electric site would work fine. Otherwise, I would avoid it.
Site M20 is like M18, long, level and electric. Maneuvering in has been a challenge for some, especially when a large part of a trunk of a tree that had been cut was directly across from the driveway. One of the sawyers of the park cut the stump down dramatically and getting in has become a little easier.
Site M21 on the left is the dedicated Camp Host site. It is the only site in the camp with full hookups. It is long and level. At the end of it is site M22, which is no longer a rentable site and is now just an extension of the Camp Host site. It was too close to M21 and campers complained about the proximity of the vigilant Camp Host.
At the end of Young Adult road, we turn left again and go down the hill. First we come to the second and last water point in the campground. It is on the left. It is also on a slope, but this one is on the “correct” side of most trailers.
Further down the hill is site M31 on the right. Long, level and easy to enter. This non-electric site is on the outer edge of the camp with no close neighbors. If seclusion is your goal, M31 is your answer.
Circling around once again, we go past M15 Camp Host site and continue up the hill on the Twenty-something section of the camp. Site M23 is first on the left. It is a good site that connects to M16 and is close to M24. M24 is right up the hill and is just as spacious and level.
Site M25 is at the top of the hill and the most distant from the rest of the camp. At least that is what most of the campers think when they reserve it or, yes, squat in it late at night. We have given this site the special name of Isabella, and have made up our own stories about the ghost of Isabella and how she haunts that site and the woods nearby, making the campers do weird and stupid stuff. We choose Isabella, not only because the furnace stack down across the highway bares the same name, but there is a path next to the site that leads straight up the hill. It terminates in a cliff-like jumble of rocks and at the bottom of the rocks is a sign naming the area Isabella’s Rocks. Our made up story alludes to something tragic happening among those rocks. Other than being haunted, the site is fine for camping. It is the only site that is set up “backwards” than the others. Meaning the table and fire pit would be on the opposite side of the door to most trailers that you would pull into the site. It is mostly used by tent campers though and they don’t care which side the table and pit are on.
Continuing along, the rest of the sites are on the left. M26 is just across from M25 and M27 is spaced a good way away and has a path that leads to M28. M28 and M29 are close together and have a short path between the two. There is also a path between M28 and M29 that leads to the Young Adult road and another path that leads to the bathhouse. All of the sites on Twenty-Something are non-electric.
The last site in this campground tour is site M30. It is long and level and also next to Twenty-Something road. A short path at the back leads to the road.
All in all there are seven electric sites and twenty non-electric, for a total of 27 reservable sites. The roads in the park are somewhat narrow, hence the one way traffic flow and the whole campground is situated on the rocky tree filled hillside.
Some of the good things about this campground is that it isn’t as crowded and busy as the main campground over by the falls which has over 100 sites. There are plenty of trails in the area to access and cooling off in Little Hunting Creek is fun and refreshing. The creek is managed as a wild trout stream and only artificial lure fishing is allowed and it is catch and release.
Although I never found it a nuisance and some of the campers also didn’t mind was the possibility of road noise from nearby Route 15. Light sleepers may be bothered though.
The major con of the campground is that there is no dump station for the self contained trailers to empty their tanks. Campers can drive over to Houck, the main campground, which has a dump station next to the camp office and can be used for free. It’s only six or seven miles, but it is on windy mountain roads.
In summary, I can’t recommend trying out this campground enough. We fell in love with The Manor during our time here and have continued to come back each year to serve as Camp Hosts and enjoy watching the seasons change in "our" campground.
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