The countryside around Cumberland is the real draw — half a dozen state parks, the Allegheny National Forest, and a series of small mountain towns within an hour's drive.
Frostburg, 15 miles west and 1,400 feet higher, is the terminus of the scenic railroad and a pleasant small college town with a strolling main street. Berlin, Pennsylvania, just over the state line, is one of the GAP stops. Deep Creek Lake is the regional summer destination, an hour south. Antietam National Battlefield, 90 minutes east, is one of the most affecting Civil War sites in the country.