CUMBERLAND, Md. — A USA Today poll has placed Allegany County among its top 20 nominees for the Best Places to Visit for Fall 2023 Readers’ Choice Award.
“Having our destination recognized at this level by travel experts is an extreme honor,” said Ashli Workman, director of tourism for Allegany County.
USA Today editors worked with a panel of travel experts to nominate the 20 best destinations for fall for their annual “10Best” list. From the list of 20 nominations, readers will vote on their favorites, which will ultimately result in the top 10 list.
“These places have been nominated as the best places to visit in the U.S. during fall for their beautiful scenery, fantastic weather, and wealth of seasonal activities and events,” the USA Today website says.
“I think our amenities are maturing and growing and we have put a lot of attention into our public relations campaigns and created a lot of great partnerships,” said Workman. “It’s a great opportunity for us to shine.”
“It’s a real honor and if you look at the others in the nomination, we are in pretty good company,” said County Commissioner Bill Atkinson.
The other nominated destinations include Asheville, North Carolina; Ashland, Oregon; Bayfield, Wisconsin; Bloomington, Indiana; Branson, Missouri; Cape May, New Jersey; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Cody, Wyoming; Cooperstown, New York; Fredericksburg, Texas; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Greenville, South Carolina; Mackinac Island, Michigan; New York City; San Antonio; Sedona, Arizona; Stowe, Vermont; Taos, New Mexico; and Washington, D.C.
In recent years, Allegany County has seen the Great Allegheny Passage trail link with the C&O Canal National Historic Park towpath. In addition to the mountain vistas surrounding Cumberland, the area offers the North Branch Potomac River, Rocky Gap State Park and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.
“The GAP Trail is often a top 10 attraction but this is the first time (Allegany County) as a destination has ever been featured,” said Workman, adding that the coronavirus pandemic actually boosted the profile of Mountain Maryland.
“2019 was a record-breaking year for our tourism and sales tax,” said Workman. “Then COVID hit and that challenged every industry and it hit tourism and hospitality. But one of the silver linings of COVID was Western Maryland, with its access to the great outdoors, to really kind of stay open in a safe manner, with our parks and camping it was a safe way to travel.”
Workman said the county saw a surge in visitation numbers to area parks and trails.
“Our volume was record breaking,” she said. “It really exposed people to what they could do out here. We are trending right now, our fiscal 2023 is trending about 16% above 2019.”
Officials said visitors from Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Washington grew steadily during the pandemic.
“People really found us during COVID,” said Atkinson. “They discovered Allegany County and the beauty of our mountains and why we love it here so much.
“If you look at the fall foliage we have and the different areas you can view it from; we have the mountain summits to look at it from. We have the trails you can see it from and the (Potomac) river you can float and view it.”
The top 10 destinations will be narrowed down by public voting. Vote by visiting https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-place-to-visit-for-fall-2023/, once per day until polls close on Sept. 4 at noon EST. The winners will be announced on Sept. 15.