Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, both lakes are man made and pretty disgusting.

+1

Ick

Save your money and use it to vacation in the Adirondacks, or Maine.

+1

there are many great rentals in MUCH better locations

or find somewhere closer (<2 hrs)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deep Creek has year round rentals thanks to the local ski resort. Although when we rented in the fall (after summer, before ski season), the area was dead. Empty. So you can't count on year round rentals.

Lake Anna has a huge stigma attached to it.

What's the stigma?

I have been to lake Anna twice with visiting family and most likely won't again. There is nothing but overly warm water with too much growing in it and the towns around it like Mineral don't give the impression that they are aware that they lost the (Civil) War. The rest is a bunch of Feds/contractors with hick tendencies who already live as far from their DC jobs as they can possibly stand making the migration to boat and get drunk as hell while whipping around in their motor toys often unsafely.

Not for me

+1

this was my impression as well. plus the nuclear reactor is freaky.

There are a ton of lakes closer than Deek Creek and Lake Anna. We have friends that have a house at Deep Creek. They make it there twice a year. In the winter to winterized it and in the spring to open it back up. It's just too far.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deep Creek has year round rentals thanks to the local ski resort. Although when we rented in the fall (after summer, before ski season), the area was dead. Empty. So you can't count on year round rentals.

Lake Anna has a huge stigma attached to it.

What's the stigma?

I have been to lake Anna twice with visiting family and most likely won't again. There is nothing but overly warm water with too much growing in it and the towns around it like Mineral don't give the impression that they are aware that they lost the (Civil) War. The rest is a bunch of Feds/contractors with hick tendencies who already live as far from their DC jobs as they can possibly stand making the migration to boat and get drunk as hell while whipping around in their motor toys often unsafely.

Not for me

Anonymous wrote:Deep Creek has year round rentals thanks to the local ski resort. Although when we rented in the fall (after summer, before ski season), the area was dead. Empty. So you can't count on year round rentals.

Lake Anna has a huge stigma attached to it.

What's the stigma?

Anonymous wrote:FYI, both lakes are man made and pretty disgusting.

+1

Ick

Save your money and use it to vacation in the Adirondacks, or Maine.

Anonymous wrote:Deep creek is very pristine . It has among the highest snowfall averages on the east coast. Garrett county is really beatiful and it has wisp resort skiing too.

DCL is also close to the Savage, upper Potomac and Youghiogheny rivers. All have excellent kayaking, rafting and fishing. Spring and Fall are just beautiful in Garrett County.

I know this discussion is about Lake Anna vs. Deep Creek, but if you're willing to drive a little bit more, Smith Mountain Lake is a great option.

We have a place there and go about 6-8 times per summer. It's a huge lake (500 miles of shoreline) and absolutely beautiful. It's about 4 hrs and 15 min from DC without traffic.

OP- Why don't you vacation at these lakes a few times and then decide whether either is a place you'd even want to visit very often. Rushing into buying a vacation home in a place you've never been just seems like a bad idea for so many reasons.

Deep Creek has year round rentals thanks to the local ski resort. Although when we rented in the fall (after summer, before ski season), the area was dead. Empty. So you can't count on year round rentals.

Lake Anna has a huge stigma attached to it.

Lake Anna is a lot of fun...can swim year round and in the summer it is like a hot tub. About 2 hrs from dc in the Hov lanes. Nowhere to eat out. Houses are crazy expensive. And it is pretty hillbilly redneck country.

Deep creek is further, more traditional lake houses. Water is freezing. More things to do recreation wise. Also pretty redneck but in a baltimore kind of way versus Deep South kind of way.

Deep creek is very pristine . It has among the highest snowfall averages on the east coast. Garrett county is really beatiful and it has wisp resort skiing too.

The housing recession had an affect on the value of property at Lake Anna. Prior to that prices shot up. It has taken some time to get past the recession but we are and properties are selling. The increase in sales the past couple of years is very encouraging. If anyone has thoughts of buying property at a lake in Virginia I strongly urge you to learn more about the local market rather than reading a statement by someone that may know very little about the value of Lake Anna homes and land, especially waterfront properties. Lake Anna is a beautiful lake and I've been very happy to call it home for 23 years now.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

ROFL. There are 61 nuclear power plants in the US. There are many tens of thousands (maybe more) of man-made lakes.

We camp at Lake Anna every summer and go there for a lot of day trips (we live less than an hour from it). We've also camped at Deep Creek. Of the two, I vastly prefer Anna because the water is warmer (thanks, Dominion Power!) and it's so much closer. I don't think I'd ever buy a house there, though. The nuclear power plant stigma is strong. It's not a great investment.