Savage River State Forest Margraff Plantation campsite 174

public land records

Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.

MD DNR Savage River State Forest camping page (dnr.maryland.gov/forests/Pages/publiclands/SavageRiver/Camping.aspx -- 404 to scripted fetches on 2026-09-27, read via the Wayback capture of 2026-06-12): 'Margraff Plantation: Located off the Fratz Road in Accident, Maryland (4 sites)- No Pay pipe, Pay at HQ Kiosk.' 'Camping is $10 per site per night.' Self-register with the green envelope at the HQ kiosk (cash or check payable to DNR) and display the receipt on the dashboard. Sites have 'a picnic table and a fire ring' and no water or hookups. 'Campfires are permitted except during drought conditions.' HQ 301-895-5759. NOT STATED by DNR: a stay limit, or any water source. Coordinate = OSM node/12349928330 ('Savage River Forest Site 174'). CORROBORATION (not a survey): OSM maps exactly four numbered Savage River SF pitches (173-176) and DNR says Margraff Plantation has exactly 4 sites; all four sit among the MD DNR Margraff Plantation trail loops, 0.8-1.3 km in from Fratz Road. Point-in-polygon: inside MD DNR MD_ProtectedLands 'SAVAGE RIVER SF' (DNR Owned Property). County per FCC: Garrett County, MD. NOT VERIFIED: that DNR numbers these sites 173-176 -- the only DNR site-number map found (Camp Loop Map) stops at 168 and does not show Margraff, so the numbers come from OSM alone. Confidence 'medium' for that reason. Access: the point is 12 m from an unnamed OSM highway=track (way/367710988). NOT VERIFIED: whether that road is gated, seasonal, or passable by a passenger car. Nearest town: Accident ~1.7 mi. 'Nearest town' is straight-line distance to the nearest OSM place=city/town/village, NOT a driving distance; in the Potomac valley the nearest named place is often across the river in WV or PA. Ingest 2026-09-27. | REVIEW 2026-09-27 (nightshift-verified, fire 2660): Old DNR URL .../SavageRiver/Camping.aspx is a genuine 404 now; the text moved to the live page dnr.maryland.gov/forests/Pages/publiclands/SavageRiver/recreation-trails.aspx (200 today), which still says 'Margraff Plantation -- 4 sites. Off Fratz Road in Accident. No pay pipe; pay at headquarters kiosk.', 'Camping is $10 per site per night. Cash or check payable to DNR.', 'Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. No electric, water, or sewer hookups at any site.', and 'Margraff Trail System ... Four primitive campsites on site.' It also says 'All Savage River State Forest sites are numbered 100 and above', which is CONSISTENT with OSM's 173-176 but does not prove them. NEW EVIDENCE for the position: DNR's 'Margraff Trail System Map' (dnr.maryland.gov/forests/Documents/savage%20river/srsf_MD_Margraff_Map.pdf, dated 2025-06/07, linked from that page) marks exactly four 'PRIMITAVE' [sic] campsite icons. Measured on the map with its own 2,000 ft scale bar: NE icon -> south-central icon = ~945 m S, ~550 m W; south-central -> the SW pair = ~485-555 m S, ~290 m W, the pair ~70 m apart. OSM 173 -> 174 = 959 m S, 450 m W; 174 -> 175 = 513 m S, 290 m W; 175/176 10 m apart. Same layout: OSM 173 = DNR's NE icon, 174 = the south-central icon, 175/176 = the SW pair. STILL NOT VERIFIED: that DNR itself numbers them 173-176 (the map has no numbers). OSM node still live, unmoved, tags unchanged. Point-in-polygon re-run today: MD_ProtectedLands 'SAVAGE RIVER SF' (Maryland Forest Service). Duplicate check on COORDINATES: nearest approved/published camp is row 17341 'Forbes State Forest roadside campsite 006' at 21530 m -- not a duplicate. DECISION: approved.

On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.