Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Gowanda, NY

This is my favorite campground so far in PA.

For the most part, there isn’t a bad site (although we didn’t see any of the walk up sites, and I recommend not booking a site immediately next to the bathrooms since the ones without showers are more like “outhouse” toilets and can stink). The sites are private, flat, surrounded by trees, and have plenty of space. The ground is quite rocky though, so bring plenty of heavy duty tent steaks.

Highlights include: the reservoir (beautiful and clean! You can swim with your dog from the access points at the campground), quiet, friendly staff (a kind older gentleman helped us jump my car and refused to take any money as a thank you), updated/very clean showers, not buggy, reception is great (we have Verizon), plenty of room to social distance, and 2 trading posts about 1 mile away with milk, eggs, basic supplies, etc.

Cons: the bathrooms without showers aren’t flush toilets, and there is no campground office so you must see the hosts for any issues.

Things to do nearby (last 5 pictures): the Kinzua Skywalk Bridge free- an old train bridge that was partially destroyed by a tornado in the early 2000’s. The bridge is handicap/stroller accessible, pets are allowed. There is a small indoor museum & gift shop, and a hiking trail along the wreckage. If you hike, wear good sneakers, the path is rocky and VERY steep. The hiking path is not recommended for small children). Bathrooms on site.

The Kinzua Dam free - beautiful. Handicap/stroller accessible, pets permitted. Bathrooms were closed due to social distancing.

Rimmrock overlook free- just a small distance from the parking lot. NOT stroller/handicap accessible, and there are rock steps, however we saw numerous families with small children go through the path with no issues. Pets permitted. Bathrooms on site.

Nearby towns of Kane and Ridgway looked cute, but we didn’t spend time there due to our efforts to social distance.

Called up on Friday afternoon of Labor Day weekend and they accommodated us for two nights.  John and his staff were friendly and welcoming.  Very clean campground with mostly seasonal sites.  Several overnight sites with electric and water.  These sites were mostly gravel and cut into a bank so that there is some separation.  Surrounded by trees but grounds are well kept.  Fully fenced dog park that was great for our pup.  A couple of ponds for kids to fish and what looks like a nice pool.  Quiet hours observed.  On Saturday night there was a band in an outdoor stage that was great.

Close enough to Ellicottville to enjoy the shops, brewery and restaurants there.

Only thing I would mention is the dump station is simply just a pipe off one of the driveways with a water hose.  Not a problem and it works, just not typical of dump stations.

ntmnet. Overall, this is a nice place to go camping. We camp in a tent and our site was wonderful (PT1). We were pretty much alone. The facility was nice and kept up. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked. My only complaint would be that the pet rules are not enforced. I would see five dogs from my site and only one was on a leash all the time. My dog. One dog was free to roam wherever it wanted. Owners would walk with him and let him go. He came to our site several times. We did our best to keep our dog quiet but it was difficult. The dog ended up taking "a dump" on our site. The owners had not intention of cleaning it up till I talked to them when they walked by. They sent a child who didn't clean it toroughly so I had to. Called the office but no answer. Never saw an employee making rounds checking things out. Not going back.