Friends have a house at Deep Creek lake. It's beautiful out there, and there are a couple of nice little towns with good restaurants, a cute coffee shop, ice cream place you can boat to, several marinas, etc. There's skiing in the winter of course, and even a movie theater. The boating is really nice. Lots of wildlife, very peaceful.

It's a long drive but they do go pretty frequently.

But PP is right. No eating out in lake Anna! (But I'm not sure deep creek would qualify as a connnisuers paradise.).

Sorry. Grew up on lakes

PP that goes to lake Anna. We're boaters and also rent a boat there. We like the beach but free up on lakes and I live the proximity you can get to the water a lot cheaper. There's usially a little beach area for littles and it's usually quite a bit cheaper (even with the boat) for a nice place with water access than the beach. We get to lake Anna from DC in under 2 hours.

I grew up in Minnesota, where everyone had cabins on a lake. It was the norm. When I moved out here, we looked at getting a cabin on one of the lakes. However, the pace of life is just so different here, that the amount of time that we'd spend at the cabin just does not make it worthwhile, even with renting in out. You end up paying a lot in terms of upkeep, grounds maintenance, rental fees, management, etc. The last thing you want to do when you go there is to have to deal with working on the cabin.

We ended up identifying a rental unit we really like and have a standing contract with the owner - we always rent from them for the same week in the summer. Feels like home, since we are so familiar with the property, but it is nice to just be able to walk away at the end of the vacation and not think about it until the following year.

Deep Creek seems to be more of a year round area, it has water activities in the summer, hiking in the fall and skiing in the winter. It also has some amenities in the area.

Lake Anna is pretty flat, very few amenities (forget about dining out) and the water gets a little too warm from the power plant. It's fun for boating.

They are both tough to get to during rush hour.

The drive to either one from central DC is brutal.

You need to do serious research about rentals out there. If I wanted a vacation rental and needed to drive out there (Nissan traffic, rush hour), I would rather go out 50 and go to the ocean. A lake rental would just not be of interest. Maybe if you included jet skis and boating, (not my interest, but maybe others) but I can't even imagine the liability...

Anonymous wrote:I actually like lake Anna a lot. We go every summer - close and warm water for the little kids. Great fishing houses all pretty close to water and just a great little getaway. but I'm not sure about investment there being the same as at other lakes. And - holy god - the chiggers are awful. Don't even think about going outside without dEET. Also been to deep creek and it feels decidedly more redneck and access to like wasn't as good at most houses. Also twice the drive.

OP here- do you own or rent a house when you go?

Anonymous wrote:Lake Anna is connected to a nuclear generator.

Most man made lakes are cooling features for nuclear plants. It's not a big deal.

I actually like lake Anna a lot. We go every summer - close and warm water for the little kids. Great fishing houses all pretty close to water and just a great little getaway. but I'm not sure about investment there being the same as at other lakes. And - holy god - the chiggers are awful. Don't even think about going outside without dEET. Also been to deep creek and it feels decidedly more redneck and access to like wasn't as good at most houses. Also twice the drive.

I don't know about MD, but there are only two natural lakes in Virginia. So, I wouldn't hold out for a natural lake.

Lake Anna is connected to a nuclear generator.

FYI, both lakes are man made and pretty disgusting.

We've been watching lake house bargain on hgtv and are very intrigued. The closest lakes to us are lake anna and deep creek. Looking for pros and cons on buying a lake house at either location. We plan to use the house and rent it out, Should we take the plunge and buy a vacation home?