Best Equestrian Camping near Afton, NY

This is an amazing state park that has something for everyone. There is an environmental education center with programs, there is fishing and boating, and an amazing network if hiking and horse riding trails. There are several campgrounds, with tremendous variety for every camping style. There are standard car camping tent sites, RV sites, and yurts and camper cabins. For those who like more rustic options, there are hike-in sites that are beautiful and not far from the parking area. The campsites are nestled in a deep shady mature forest, and peaceful and quiet due to the wooded aspect and spacing of sites (at least for me, in September in a hike-in site not far from the regular campground). It is nice to have such a fine camping and outdoor recreation opportunity within an easy drive of the city of Clarks Summit, so probably a great weekend getaway for local folks, but a wonderful stopover for anyone on a road trip through northern PA as it is not far off Interstate 81. I was there only one day, but would like to be back to explore the trails!

I stayed on a lakeside electric/water site for 5 nights in August 2020.  It was SO BEAUTIFUL.  We had SUPs and kayaks to take on the lake and our sites were right next to the boat launch.  Each day we would paddle over to the swimming area on the lake.  It was awesome.  The sites seemed a little narrow when we first pulled in, but it was plenty.  The kids had fun riding bikes on the road, which was off the main road.  The bugs were better than I would have anticipated next to the lake, although some days the flies were a bit annoying.  The kids caught multiple sunnies and even a small perch.  All in all, we had a great time and plan to go back next year.

I would not recommend this campground. Please be aware that 148 -149 sites are located near a small pond and not an actual lake as shown on pictures. The area 148-153 sites is located right next to the Roosevelt highway and it makes it impossible to enjoy nature and silence due to the trucks and cars driving by it. It is a 10 min walk to the showers and restrooms. Camp sites are tiny, there are no dividers/trees/bushes between you and other camp sites. The reason why I am writing this review is the staff. When we came to the front desk asking if its possible to switch the sites, two women there were really rude and mean. With smirks on their faces they said that they are fully booked. However, site 152 ,for example , remained vacant the whole weekend. They also laughed at us when we mentioned how far the restrooms are- " you are camping"- they said. These women also didn't understand why we needed firewood at 9PM when we arrived and asked us to come back to get it the next day. After asking them 3 times, we got firewood. No delivery to the camp site was suggested. We ended up buying firewood closer to our "pond site" where firewood costs only 5$. There is a huge sign at keen lake campground office " do not buy firewood beyond this point". However, our "pond" was right after this sign and it was closer and cheaper to buy it there.

Also we were charged 25$ for " reserving " our site in advance. 2 women at the front desk were insisting we reserved it, however, we proved them that we didn't and 25$ were refunded. Be careful.

There is no security at the campground, anyone can drive in at any time. Beach was full during the day. Pool was overcrowded.

I would not leave this review if we didn't have to pay $ 269 for this camping experience ( min stay at "lake view" site was 3 nights, although we stayed 2 nights + they charge 10$ per tent per every night which is ridiculous) and if the staff was polite.

We were Motorcycle camping and came in on a Holiday weekend without a reservation. But we were given a terrific tent site. The park was very neat and well manicured. Bathrooms were fairly nice, but no TP mid day. The sites were a little close to each other and where we were in the park was a mixed use area. So we had an RV next to us with the Genny running all day. The people were nice and fed us so I didn’t complain. The Lake looked nice though we didn’t use it. The roads all around were great for motorcycles and Scranton was very close for all your needs. This place gets thumbs up but only 4 stars because I’m hard to please.

We had a great time despite cold wet weather. Our site was probably one of the worst in the place but we were able to scope out others that we would prefer for our next visit. We didn’t have a view of the lake, instead we were in someone’s back yard lol. It wasn’t a big deal. The site was well maintained and flat which were the most important. Most of the sites seem to be on the smaller size when compared to other campgrounds we’ve been too. That said we had plenty of space, it was just very close to the next site. We were on the far side of the lake which is not really within walking distance of the beach, pool and store. We knew this going in and were totally OK with it. I seemed less busy where we were as far as cars and people which is what we were looking for. We hopped in the car and drove the 2 mins to get to the beach. There was always parking. If you stay closer to those things it would be easy to walk & ride bikes to the different activities. The bathrooms were the cleanest we’ve ever experienced at a campground. *The showers are coin operated. The staff were so accommodating and everyone was super nice. There is a lot for younger kids to do and the grounds are pet friendly which was a huge plus for us. My kids really loved having a pool to swim in,in addition to the lake.

My take always:

• Get a site on the lake.

• You won’t have a ton of privacy but you’ll have space for your stuff.

• If you don’t want to drive during your stay, camp on the side w/ the beach and pool.

• The store has a huge selection of necessities, so no need to worry about forgetting things.

• This is a great place to bring an RV.

• Great for families. It would be a great place to camp with extended family.

• Pet friendly. They have a beach for swimming with your dogs

Keen Lake Campground, as it’s name implies, is an amazing campground situated along the shores of a lake. They have several sites with a water view. The sites are average in size. The site we had was a little tight to get into, but we had enough room to enjoy our site. The campground itself is a little hilly, but the sites were pretty level. We had full hookups.

The campground has a nice pool, a well stocked store with ice cream, toys, camping supplies, and basic groceries. Everyone in the store was extremely nice and helpful. You can also rent paddle boats and disc boats to paddle around the lake for a very reasonable cost.

I’ll start with our arrival: well marked with signs directing you to office for checkin. They were very organized in the office. When we got to our site the sewer pipe was buried and we didn’t know where it was, they sent someone out to our site within minutes. After finding it they determined the top flange was crushed but I could still get my drain in there so they let it wait till the next day. They had it fixed by 10 am. We were there over 4th of July so the pool was pretty full during the weekend so we decided to utilize the lake for those days and enjoyed the pool during the week once some of the weekenders left. All facilities were clean and in working order. Jones dale was a short drive and they had a nice community celebration capped off with a great fireworks show. Keen had a great live band one night and my step son enjoyed the crafts and organized activities. We had fun kayaking and paddle boating on the huge lake.

We like Lackawanna State Park.   This is the place we camped when we moved to PA.     It has signts that are very wooded.   Some are a little close to each other, but others offer plenty of space, including our site (52) on this trip.    One of the biggest spots we have ever had.   The site has one potential drawback for some, no electric hookup, however most of the loop we were in and the other pet friendly loop was also electric capable.    The trails are fun for relaxing hikes, we especially like the one right along the lake.    Also their is a huge lakefront area along a different stretch of the lake that offers people a lot of ways to enjoy themselves.   It also has a huge pool area, but that was closed and that was our reason for giving the rating a 4 star.   Can't have your number 1 item closed during the middle of summer and get a 5 star.    We would love to come back in the winter when they have an ice rink with a warming house.