While the nation is celebrating its 250th birthday, Loch Lynn Heights, which was incorporated in 1896, is officially 130 years old this year. The small town has a history rich with tales, including the famous Loch Lynn Hotel, which was essential to tourism in the early 1900’s, and an adjacent casino that attracted great attention.
Original residents of Loch Lynn took great pride in these amenities. Present-day residents can boast that they are part of the community that offers the first fully ADA accessible playground in Garrett County. In addition to a playground that offers inclusive play for children of all abilities, a wetland trail is also partly accessible to wheelchair bound individuals.
The newly renovated playground at Loch Lynn Heights offers an inclusive play experience that fully complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The surface at the playground is wheelchair compatible, utilizing a wood carpeting that settles into a smooth and hard surface. A direct wheelchair path to a swing allows children who are wheelchair bound to enjoy a playground amenity that is often inaccessible in other playgrounds.
The Merry-Go-Round at the park has a netting over the outer perimeter to help prevent riders from falling off. For children that love to make music, there are percussion toys and flowers that make music. The playground also has a specific feature for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is a cocoon that they can climb into. While the inclusive play features set the Loch Lynn Heights playground apart from others in the county, the ADA-compliant restroom and parking spaces are also features that are singular to this playground.
The initiative to develop the community playground into a fully ADA accessible playground with inclusive play was factored by multiple community stakeholders, years of fundraising, and a bit of perfect timing. In 2022, the Deep Creek Lake Lions Club partnered with Tiffany Georg, the mother of Landon Georg, to raise funds to develop an inclusive playground in Garrett County. The location of the inclusive playground had not yet been determined when fundraising began; however, when Loch Lynn Heights began the renovation of its playground, Georg spearheaded an initiative for the funds that had been raised as part of the Landon’s Dream project to contribute to the renovation of the Loch Lynn Heights playground.
State and federal funding had been allocated for the originally planned renovation of the playground, which did not include plans to make it fully ADA accessible and provide inclusive play opportunities. It was with the additional funding raised by the Landon’s Dream project that the playground was able to include those features into the renovation. In the summer of 2025, the Deep Creek Lake Lions club gifted Loch Lynn Heights the funds raised from the Landon’s Dream project.
Becky Friend, who has served as the Clerk/Treasure for Loch Lynn Heights for ten years, has had a front row seat to the evolution of the playground project. Friend confirmed that the major aspects of the renovation were completed in October 2025; however, there are a few remaining tasks such as adding cameras and additional lighting to the area. She also shared that the renovation on the playground inspired the town to make its Wetland Natural Trail more ADA accessible.
The trail, which is two streets over from the playground, has an elevated boardwalk from which to view the wetlands; however, there are some gravel areas that make the area hard to navigate with a wheelchair.
Friend shared that the hope of the town is to not only improve the access to the boardwalk from the parking lot, but to have higher side rails along the boardwalk and improve the deck of the boardwalk to allow for full wheelchair accessibility.
The Wetland Nature Trail was developed by grants from Project Open Space and the Garrett County Commissioners. The trail offers an educational walk through a protected wetland area with informational signs that provide information on the plant and animal life a visitor is exposed to on the trail. There is also a deck area for guests to sit and enjoy the view of the wetland.
To fully experience the Wetland Nature Trails, visitors traverse a boardwalk, gravel and paved trails as well as a dirt path. Friend explained that the goal is to make as much of the trail wheelchair accessible as possible, but the full plan had not yet been outlined.
Written by Francesca Branson.
From the June issue of the Lakefront Magazine.
