Travelers searching for their next autumn getaway are finding Allegany County, the Mountain Side of Maryland, near the top of the list this year. Mountain Maryland was recently named the No. 2 Best Place to Visit for Fall in the United States in the 2026 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. The recognition marks the county’s fourth consecutive nomination in the national competition and moves Allegany County up from its No. 3 finish in 2024.
Ashli Workman, Director of Tourism for Allegany County Tourism, says the ranking showcases something larger about the community and the growing confidence surrounding it.
“I think for so long, we’ve gotten stuck in the mentality of what we’ve lost or what we don’t have,” Workman said. “There has been a shift in our community, a real renaissance and a new generation of people with an opportunity-focused mindset.”
This new mentality is becoming increasingly visible to both Allegany County residents and visitors. Before the public votes in the USA TODAY 10Best competition, destinations must make the first cut. A panel of travel experts and USA TODAY 10Best editors selects the initial nominees, and readers then vote. For 2026, Allegany County was one of 20 destinations chosen to compete and ultimately finished second behind Mackinac Island, Michigan. For Workman, earning a place among those initial nominees carries its own significance, proving that national travel experts are becoming increasingly familiar with Mountain Maryland and see it as competitive alongside destinations across the country. The public vote is yet another measure of how strongly visitors, businesses, and residents are willing to rally around the place.
“We couldn’t have gotten second without that community pride piece,” she said. “Since I’ve been the tourism director here in the last 10 years, that pride piece has grown so much.”
Workman attributes the growing pride to some of the visible progress throughout the community. For example, the newly announced phased opening of Wills Mountain State Park will add another outdoor recreation asset to the county. With sweeping scenic views overlooking Cumberland, the park will offer new outdoor recreation activities for the community, including birdwatching and rock climbing.
October is historically Allegany County’s strongest month for hotel and motel tax collections, according to Workman, making the connection between fall foliage and visitation especially clear. Workman said recent research conducted as part of the county’s tourism strategic planning found that the typical Mountain Maryland visitor comes approximately three times a year. This research shows that outdoor recreation may be the initial draw for a visitor, but travelers also value the county's downtowns, small businesses, architecture, and heritage attractions.
Downtown Cumberland’s revitalization has reshaped the city center experience; new lodging, an appealing dining scene, locally owned businesses, stunning outdoor recreation assets, and continued investment in attractions are giving visitors new reasons to come and residents new ways to experience their own community. Each addition strengthens the collection of experiences visitors can build into a trip and creates new opportunities for existing businesses to capture their attention once they arrive. “There’s a confidence in what can happen here that has been, for many years, lacking,” says Workman.
Visitors are primarily arriving from established markets, including Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, with Philadelphia representing a growing market. They are also making those travel decisions quickly. On average, Workman said visitors decide to come to Mountain Maryland within about 10 days of their trip, indicating that folks see Allegany County as a destination for a spontaneous road trip. A free weekend can quickly turn into a drive west, a hotel stay in Cumberland or Frostburg, a hike or bike ride, dinner downtown, and a visit to one of the county’s attractions.
For Allegany County’s business community, Workman sees the national ranking as something everyone can claim; every restaurant that serves a visitor, shop that gives them a reason to explore downtown, attraction they remember, and positive interaction they take home contributes to how the destination is perceived.
That means national recognition can create a powerful cycle: positive coverage introduces new audiences to Allegany County, prompting visitors to experience local businesses firsthand, and in turn, those experiences help shape the reputation that brings people back and generates the next round of attention. Workman pointed to a recent Southern Living feature on Western Maryland that was unprompted by their tourism team. The feature gave the destination exposure that would be difficult to replicate through paid advertising alone.
Yet Workman says continued community growth cannot depend entirely on visitors.
“Please be a visitor in your own backyard,” she encourages residents. “Tourism can continue to grow in a community, and a business can still not sustain itself if the community doesn’t show up.”
This is especially true during the quieter winter months, when visitor traffic slows, and local patronage becomes increasingly important for small businesses. Workman said the county’s tourism strategic planning process underscored that vulnerability when businesses were asked what would happen if tourism disappeared; 48 percent indicated they would close within 30 days.
A healthy local economy requires both audiences: visitors discovering Allegany County and residents choosing to spend time and money close to home.
For more tourism and economic development stories, read the blog.
