Best Tent Camping near Kennedyville, MD

The Hilton area campground is unique because, unlike the Hollofield area of the park, it doesn't allow RVs and its tent sites are non-electric. However, a tiny cabin experience with electricity is available... within the same loop as non-electric tent camping. My non-electric tent campsite was surrounded by brightly lit cabins, even unoccupied all of their porch lights stay on all night. It doesn't make the upper half of the campground ideal for stargazing. The other reviewers are correct that the lower half of the loop is situated lower in the valley which will make any rain you get more difficult, so avoid booking a site at the very bottom. Overall the campground and state park deserve 4 stars because from what I could see tent pads were level, firepits had grill gates, showers were hot, and staff were cleaning and maintaining the grounds everyday. But be safe; prepare detailed offline navigation if you use the trails surrounding the camp. I definitely got lost relying on blazes for what I thought was supposed to be the Charcoal Trail.

Sites are full hook up with about 5 tent sites.

All are pretty much level.

Close to shopping if needed.

Nice drive on sites for tent camping. A few well managed trails. A little heave on the rules(must use the wood they sell, clotheslines must come down overnight.

Two thumbs up on this small campground with spacious, wooded sites!

We stayed here on a Thursday when the campground was almost empty, but there was a reservations list that showed the campground would be full for the Columbus Day weekend. We have good luck walking up to campgrounds during the week, but we look ahead to weekends and make reservations.

Spacious, Wooded Sites

- Lots of shade and trees on large sites and space between sites make this a pleasant campground.

• Parking pads on the electric loop are asphalt.

• There's very finely crushed rock on the non-electric loop. This includes the parking pad and tent pad.

• There are 8 camper cabins, 4 on each loop. There are beds for 4 or 6 people, and the cabins have air conditioning, a ceiling fan and electricity. These are a nice alternative to camping in a tent.

• Bathrooms are located in the middle of each loop, and there are spigots on the loops with potable water.

Small Park But Many Activities

• Canoe/kayak launch between sites 46 and 48. The walk to Tuckahoe Creek from the parking area is very short, and the creek leads to Tuckahoe Lake (no gasoline motors) with more of the creek on the other side of the lake.

• Fishing

• 20 miles of hiking trails are also open for biking and horseback riding.

• Archery range

• Disc golf

• Hunting - as a hiker, I am extremely wary of hiking in parks at a time when hunting is allowed.

We tent camped at Pine Tree Associates. They are a nudist club with a very nice camp ground. There is a bath house with outdoor showers. Camping fees include access to a large outdoor pool, an indoor pool and a hot tub. There is room for tenting and campers.

Adorable little campground! Close to the tourist spots in Lancaster. Great views. Clean, friendly, and would definetly recommend! Clean bathrooms, laundry facilities, full hook ups for RVs, lovely tent sites, great playground for kids.

This was our first visit to this park and we really loved it. We stayed in a tent site which included a fire ring and picnic table, and we had two tents and plenty of space for everything. While we were there, I believe all of the cabins were full and some other tent sites reserved, but the grounds were still very quiet and peaceful. The bathrooms and showers were modern and very clean and looked to be only a brief, flat walk from most of the sites/cabins in the loop. The loops were smaller than I expected, but that wasn't a bad thing. There is also a large sink on one side of the bathhouse which was nice for cleaning up after cooking. AT&T phone service was slow but available. While in the area, we also visited WorkHorse Farm for a tour, First Fruits Orchard for PYO blueberries, and Denton Station antique mall.

We went tent camping with 3 friends. We occupied 2 camp sites. There was a clean bath house with showers. There was plenty of downed trees and limbs for firewood. If you like being close to stores, this is your place. We were 5 minutes from a grocery store and plenty of places to eat.

My husband and I have stayed at Elk Neck twice. It’s a great campground with lots of different loops to choose sites from. The bath houses are very clean, and the folks responsible for their upkeep are great. There are sinks for washing dishes outside the bathhouses, making cooking cleanup very convenient (especially if your site is close by, like ours). I can’t speak for the camper/RV sites, as we tent camp. But overall our experiences at Elk Neck have been consistently great.

We do Lums Pond at least twice a year if we can get reservations.

Sites are big and all were redone in the last few years with concrete pads, 30 amp service and full sewer. There are some equestrian and tent sites as well.

Lots of boating (electric motors only) and kayaking on the pond and a decent amount of hiking. There’s an off leash dog park, equestrian center and boat ramp. Book early because it fills up fast!

My son absolutely loved this place. There’s anything and everything you could think of available to keep everyone busy. A water park, volley ball field, playgrounds, amphitheater, nature center, nature trails, and boat rentals at the lake.

It is a huge park, with secluded spots available for tent camping, cabins, and regular open spaces for camping rvs with electric hook up. Staff was friendly, campgrounds were well kept. It can get a little crowded but it’s worth it to stay. If you don’t like crowds, I suggest coming during the week days!

Camp site(Tent camping)

The camp site is what it is, just a camp site :)  It's one of the bigger state parks surrounded by forest in MD. We live close by so we go there for hiking a lot too.

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Facilities/ Amenities

Bathrooms were clean and well maintained.

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Surrounding area

This is where this camp ground shines. It has access to many trails and the Patapsco River. Saw Mill trails is great for a family hike.

The state park is in a great location for a quick trip for groceries and restaurants.

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As others have said, sites are tight, only one bathhouse…which was dirty and outdated. There are a ton of people, including tent sites, sharing one bath house. They do have porta pots but they are gross!! Lots of sand and flys. Also beware of the squirrels! They will eat through anything, including outdoor storage containers to get to food. They will destroy your things.

We did however enjoy the kayaks and the water park which we thought were very enjoyable for the kids. They also had great trails if you enjoy running!

We had stayed in this canpground about 5 years ago and we loved it. We returned this year with my 12 and 14 year olds and a 12 year old friend. The kids were bored. The only improvements in the 5 years is they took out tent sites and replaced them with cabin rentals. The go carts are old. The air pillow was flat. They took out the pool table. Hardly any games in the game room. We were very disappointed. They really need to ass something new to make it.more teen-friendly.

This is a good free state forest with maybe 10 (or less) designated tent-camping sites, and designated areas for deer hunting. Each campsite features a picnic table or two, and a fire pit, plus one bundle of firewood. The ground is dirt covered with woodchips and sometimes evergreen needles -- pretty easy to sleep in a tent. There are a couple portapotties in the camping area, which are a few feet from one campsite, or a few blocks from another. There is one water pump. And there are plenty of hiking trails in the state forest, complete with mushrooms, and deer-hunting-stands.

RV camping is not encouraged. Horseriding is encouraged. And you may regret not brining mosquito repellent. The blood-suckers are relentless.

My only beef is that it's a legitimate campground, which means, neighbors. But the neighbors aren't unreasonably close, so it's actually pretty good.

Two loops. One has a few sites with electric and some cabins. Potable water is available in several places on each loop. The bathhouses are rebuilt recently and are very nice. Some walk in tent sites. There are lots of long scenic hiking trails down to Deer creek and to the Susquehanna River. There’s a great bike trail to the Conowingo dam which is a nice place to visit, and a great place to see lots of eagles. There are amazing wildflowers on that trail. You can bike to the trail from the campground. All downhill. So be ready for the climb back up. One trail has two amazing specimen trees. There’s a working, renovated mill and home at the river also.

First the positives: 

• The free splash pad is perfect for younger kids and felt great on a hot summer day.
• Boat rentals were cheap and perfectly adequate. The area of the reservoir where you can travel is limited, but fun to cruise around in an hour or so.
• There are quite a few playgrounds in the area.
• I did not get to try the disc golf course, but a few holes look particularly fun.
• Snack Bar was great; decent food and the screened-in porch overlooking the water is awesome. And can't beat the convenience.
• Bathrooms were reasonably clean and did the job.

My one primary gripe about the campground is the layout of the tent sites, which are not particularly well shaded, were a bit cramped, and felt like an afterthought to the numerous RV sites. There were some primitive sites that looked more wooded, but less organized. I might try those next time.

We took out 1st trip to Tuckahoe over the 4th of July weekend. We really liked the park, but beware, the sites can be small! I watched people with 25+ footers struggle to back into the sites. We booked site 21, blind. The web site does not say site 21 is extremely small. We have a 25' camper, and it barely fit, length and with were an issue. The firepit was about 3-4 feet from our door. No camp fires as it was not safe. The canopy was directly over the pit!! It also rained pretty hard one day, and since we couldn't put the mat in front of the door, there was water & mud right when you stepped out. I could not move the pit because it was cemented in. If you go to Tuckahoe don't reserve site 21 unless you're tent camping!!! Other that that issue, it wasn't a bad visit, there's lots to do. We made a list of sites we'd fit in and still have room to use the firepit and our stuff. Going to book future trips!