Swimming is great, but swimming with snakes? Not so much. Thankfully, there’s no need to guess if you’re likely to encounter a snake in some of Maryland’s best and lesser-known bodies of water, because the answer is yes. For those who want to stick to eating seafood on waterfronts, boating along Chesapeake Bay, or evading the water altogether in Washington, D.C.: You’ve got no reason to worry. But if you’re looking to take the plunge anywhere in Maryland’s greener places, it pays to know which bodies of water to avoid, what types of snakes are out there, and what you can do there as an alternative.
In general, swimming is legal in Maryland’s public waters unless stated otherwise. Those situations come up more often than you might think, though, as in the case of reservoirs. Baltimore’s three reservoirs are off-limits to swimmers, for instance, including Prettyboy Reservoir (reputedly named after a horse), which is one of Maryland’s most snake-filled bodies of water. Other waters, like Cunningham Falls State Park, only allow swimming from Memorial Day to Labor Day. In other words, you should check the swimming-related specifics of the destination that you’re headed to.
That being said, a number of Maryland’s waters are totally fine for swimming. They are also home to a variety of snakes. Some snakes, like eastern copperheads, are venomous, but most aren’t. You’ll want to take the most care in Deep Creek Lake, Gunpowder River, Patuxent River, Mattawoman Creek, and Lake Habeeb.
Deep Creek Lake’s venomous snakes
As the largest freshwater lake in Maryland, Deep Creek Lake doesn’t just attract over 1.4 million visitors of the human variety each year, but plenty of snakes as well. The lake’s 65 miles of shoreline, 3,900 acres of water, and 41,000 watershed acres are perfect for concealing stealthy slitherers of both the venomous and non-venomous varieties…