Best Tent Camping near Portville, NY

My family and I had a wonderful stay tent camping here. The grounds are huge and very well maintained, including the grass being mowed. There are large, beautiful trees to tent camp in the shade. There’s lots of amenities like volleyball, basketball, playground, swings, all in a safe area away from roads. There’s entrance spots to kayak/ play in the river. Other than a few mosquito bites, we left with a peaceful, wonderful time and memories. Including seeing an eagle fly over the river!

Most beautiful and peaceful place to tent camp! Definitely a long drive for us but it was beautiful before we got the snow and even during (what we could see). One thing I didnt like was we have to drive to the hiking trails.

Tent sites along a confluence of creeks; ankle deep clear water. Amazing miles of upstream hiking, water holes, rope swings, etc.

Perfect for little kids and adults.

Short drive from Letchwood State Park

We have camped here at least 1x a year for the last 5 years and we love it. They have made some improvements thought the years. As a family who tent camps this place has big grassy areas which is always appreciated. It's very close to Letchworth and a short drive to stony Brooke state park.

We tent camped at site 76. Secluded and beautiful. We had the whole side of the upper loop to ourselves! Bumped up against the nature trail for a quick hike. We fished at the small section opposite the swimming area. We were alone the entire time! This park is well kept and very very clean. Attracts the friendliest people.

Willow bay campground is run by the National Forest Service. The reservable lots are wide and numerous for a out of the way sight. The campground services tent sites, RV sites as well as small cabins with electricity. There is a central bathhouse near the oak loop. Closer to the boat ramp sites- most of which are tent ready, there are vault toilets. These sites are less than a mile from the North Country Trail. Other, smaller trails are here as well. The New York State lone is less than five miles away- providing access to Allegheny State Park. The closest town of note is Bradford, which is about 18 miles away. It has all you need to get your necessities. The cabins were small- one twin bed and a set of single bunks. You need to bring your own sheets. There is a small heater imbedded in the wall. It keeps things from getting too cold, as it was when I was there. Fire ring and picnic table provided. Charcoal grill as well. The only problem I had was with the wildlife. A mouse or something kep crawling in the space between the roof and ceiling. There is no cel service here, and you shouldn’t need it either. Places to visit are too numerous to mention, but I will give a shout out to the zippo case museum, absolutely a must.

I loved everything. The sites are neat. We tent camped with no electric. $23 per night. Fishing allowed in the pond. Bathrooms with showers were spotless. Grass maintained. One small complaint is checkin and out times not enforced. Checkin states 3 pm but we saw many checking in as early as 8 or 9 AM. We could have gained a whole day!  Next time! 

Lots of very wet, muddy sites where even mulch would have been helpful.

My husband and I spent his birthday weekend camping in our truck tent here. Around Halloween all the RVs decorate and the kids dress up for trick or treating. The owners of the park are very friendly and accommodating. The sites are level and spacious among the trees. The tent sites have options along the water as well. Unfortunately it stormed the night we were there and the river flooded over the road, so it was tough getting the truck out to leave the next day, but we made it after a couple hours!

The camp grounds were great. Staff was very helpful and nice. Camp sites were decently spaced out. Fire wood was priced fairly well but they don’t usually deliver($).and they sell worms at the gate along with ice.

The RVs had their own loop and tents and cabins were on the water down a wooded trail.

The reason this was 4/5 is because you have to unload the car then walk everything to the camp. There is no drive up access for tent camping. A wagon is highly encouraged

Additionally, vault toilets on the tent side and plumbing and showers on the RV side. Bathrooms were very clean and didn’t smell, the showers were hot.

I saw some boats anchored at sites which I thought was nice. I also got to peek into a cabin and it was pretty cozy.

Great, great campground it was very clean and fairly quiet. It seemed like a lot of RV campsites which is great but we wanted a more tent like experience. It was my wife’s first time tent camping and the cleanliness of the campground really helped her want to camp again. We did a walk to campsite as we wanted a little more privacy, which was nice, we were fairly spread out while only being 150 feet from the showers. Showers were clean and we have Verizon cell service.

Almost all the RV spots were full, but most of the walk to spots were empty which you can see the availability on the PA Parks website. Likewise you had to walk over a small bridge to get to the walk to site.

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.

We went during their Christmas in July weekend. They had a good list of activities from cookie decorating to visits with Santa. The store is small, but fairly priced. A salt water pool had just been added and was going to open soon. One of the coolest things was rafting on the creek! There was also mini golf and multiple playgrounds. A lot of the sites were right on the creek. The scenery was beautiful. The tent site we had, had access to the creek which was neat. The bathrooms are outdated, but clean. Some of the showers cost a quarter and some don't, which was peculiar. Overall, one of the better campgrounds we stayed at this year. I would definitely recommend this for families which kids of any age.

If you are looking for a deep woods experience... this is it! We only stayed one night. The scenery was absolute beautiful but we were given the last open tent spot available. Because of this, we were not as prepared as we would have liked. We were in a primitive spot and we usually don’t do that. This site was beautiful. You crossed a small foot bridge to get to it. There was very little grass because it was deeply wooded. The cabins next to us were very loud so that was distracting. The cabins looked very nice though.

The shower house was clean and nice but did cost money, which I think is not appropriate. The creek that ran by our tent site had a beautiful sound but we were also distracted by the out house. We were not near the bathhouse so there was a port-a-potty there. It was clean but still a port-a-potty. The sites are very secluded though and if you want some peace get one of the sites in the woods and have some time to yourself!

This review will be based on tent camping not w an rv. I 1st came here in late 90’s w friends from school. If you like The feeling of being in the middle of nowhere and extreme fresh air this is the place for you! Lots are huge and never crowed. I think there’s 3 loops still open , 1 closed. Last time we went it was a honor system - put $ in envelope at box near entrance . Ranger might come by to check people and payment - and he/ she may not. There are no hook up electric /water ... just you and nature . Kinzua dam is about 40-45 min drive . Rim rock is a great hiking trail/park you ll pass on way to dam. Before that and much closer to Tracy ridge is boat launch or fishing area . Whether you’re going w a group to get a little crazy or you have young children that will enjoy just being in the woods and learning primitive style camping methods there’s enough space that all will enjoy. We have a camper now and will Definitely visit this place after we get a inverter/ generator .. ya spoiled now hahaha I can’t think of better camp spot for your dogs either ... as long as they listen they ll be able to stretch their legs a little too. Oh and the trail system for hiking is great too, one trail head takes to to the reservoir due East . There a also a campground out on main rd to the north just past a lil camp/country store that lets you pay couple bucks to shower there . Plenty of dead wood around to not even worry about bringing firewood and plenty of options for hanging multiple hammocks 😎 I’ve camped here maybe 15x over the yrs and still my favorite primitive get away.