Russell P Letterman Campground — Bald Eagle State Park

This is a big park. We just reserved one night as as an overnight stop after a 10 hr day of driving. We travel with a dog so our only choice for an electric site was on the Sycamore loop. The Oak loop does not allow pets. Sites we nicely laid out with level gravel and a fire ring. Looks like there lots to do around the park, especially for families.

Stayed in the modern camping section. Easy access to camp ground. The check in process was just to drive to the site and set up which was different but very easy. The sites are private on the sides with some green space to play on. Lots of extra places to park extra cars or bring a second vehicle with a boat.

The kids had fun riding the bikes around the loop and taking the short cuts cut in around the loop. We had fun walking to the foot bridge to go fishing.

The camping area was very quite both mornings and evenings. We saw the park rangers drive through multiple times per day.

The bathrooms were clean. There are no shelfs in the showers (except for a bar of soap) but they had hooks to hang your clothes.

The racoons were a fun surprise on our last night! We left the grease trap from the Blackstone out and the they found it. We did not see any bears though we heard they are there.

We had smoke from Canadian forest fires so haze in the pictures is smoke not haze or rainy days! The walking trails are great. You can see the largest white swamp oak in Pennsylvania!

Definitely check out Penns Cave too.

PROS

Senior discount $18 

Able to reserve 334 days prior to arriving

Campground quiet but can hear PA 150 road noise 

Great night sky viewing 

Nice privacy from side neighbor's campsite 

Asphalt parking pad 

Large gravel around pad to include firepit and utility hook up 

Grass around gravel, but was mid-calf high 

Metal fire pit which was cleaned out upon arrival 

Lantern pole 

8 miles off of Interstate 80 

Firewood for sale at the campground; $6 bundle 

Park is good proximity to Penn State University and Central Pennsylvania 

Country Pride Restaurant Milesburg (TA truck stop off of Interstate 80) has some terrific food! 

4 bars Verizon 

CONS

$6.50 reservation fee for self made online reservation 

One day while away from our campsite, park personnel mowed  mid-cafe high grass at and around our site and the mowers threw grass all over our table with a table cloth, chairs, trailer, driveway...you name it...it was covered with grass. Why the mowers didn’t direct the mowed grass AWAY from our items is beyond me. What a mess!!! 

Check-in clerk at park office was disturbed we checked in with her. Told us just to go to site. Could not tell us if site was vacated. We had to ask for a park map and directions to campground/campsite since this was first time visiting 

Site MO45 unlevel from side to side 

Site MO45 NO shade as was the case with most of the FHU campsites

Metal frame wood top table in bad condition 

Need pathway from upper campsite to toilet/shower building…have to wade thru mid-calf high grass if you don’t walk on the roadway 

Toilet/shower facility lit up like a Christmas tree 

Toilet/shower facility cleaned on Wednesdays only, according to sign on door 

No WiFi

Park is on a large reservoir. Lots off electric sites makes it a nice stopover day from our long road trip. Sites are large with adequate privacy. Bathroom is flush with sinks-just adequate. Only 2 showers per bath house, and they are subpar. Some short hikes in the park. Beautiful stars at night, and Poconos off in the distance.

Been going to this camp since 2001. Love it ever since.

Sites are on 2 loops. The sites have a decent amount of space between them so you are not on top of each other. Picnic tables and fire rings at each site. Not a lot of trees so many sites are in the direct sun. There is a mix of 50 and 30 amp, some sites with water, some without. Very quiet. I found the sites easy to back into due to the layout. One loop allows animals, the other doesn’t. I was able to make a very last minute reservation with a number of site options available.
If coming by gps, make sure you put in Bald Eagle State Park modern campground. 9 miles to a number of big box stores and 30 to Penn State.

Only knock is this section of the campground is not for pet owners, but it’s not completely obvious when making a reservation. So, we stayed with our pups and didn’t get in trouble but felt weird for breaking the rules that we didn’t know about before arriving 🤷‍♂️

Stopped over on my cross country drive and pitched a tent before a thunderstorm -- dicey! Did not die and the facilities were solid.

We love this park and usually rent a boat and swim and watch the eagles all day. One of the best experiences ever.

We loved it here! Very beautiful, nice hiking trails and a beautiful lake. Clean grounds and bath houses.

Very nice quiet campground.   Level spots.   Large lake to boat and kayak.   Beautiful scenery.  Full hook up spot

We stayed at site 78 on the Sycamore loop at the end of April in a tent, which isn't the best equipment for this campground. Our site had a blacktop driveway, a very small amount of gravel, and a ton of mud. There was standing water toward the back of our site, and no really solid place to pitch our tent.

It was very windy the night we stayed and the following morning was as well. Because our tent stakes were anchored in mud, our tent blew over and collapsed. Our neighbor's tent did as well.

With the exception of our neighbors, we were the only tents in the loop (the other sites had RVs, and there are 2 cabins and 2 yurts on the loop as well). Firewood is for sale at the camp host site.  Bathrooms are clean and the showers are delightfully warm.

The sites are flat and open. There is a lack of trees, so no real wind break. Each site has a fire ring and a hook to hang food from small animals.

If the primitive sites weren't all booked out (it was the first day of turkey season) we would've stayed there. I'd give this place another chance, but only if we can snag a site at the primitive campground.

This Park is clean, well maintained, and well manicured. I enjoyed the Nature Inn and surrounding area more than the campsites. The camp hosts were strange and were not helpful. I had to go find my own site, see if the electric worked because they were having issues, then check myself in, and still had to pay a booking fee when I did all the work! A very family oriented campground, nothing wrong with that, except everyone stared at me and made me uncomfortable because I was camping alone. I would greet people and get no response so I gave up. The next morning on my quest to find coffee, I found the Nature Inn and it, the staff, and the view were awesome. I spent quite awhile there, relaxing, enjoying my coffee, the lake view, the birds, and taking lots of photos. I do plan to visit the Inn again but not the campground.

Camp hosts were strange and not very helpful. I ended up doing everything myself. It seemed to be very family oriented, so much so that they made me feel strange for being there alone. The campgrounds were nice and clean. The lake was beautiful but I loved the Nature Inn which is where I had my morning coffee overlooking the lake.

We have stayed at Bald Eagle several times and have enjoyed our stay. The park has basic, water & electric as well as a few full hookup up sites. The sites are very spacious with a picnic table and fire rings and are easy to back into even with a rig as big as ours. We stayed recently and the park office was undergoing rennovations and expanding their camp store. We discovered one of the evening talks about the eagles nesting in the park and the ranger set up binoculars for us to try and see the nest. Very peaceful place to stay with lots to explore. The views are spectacular in the fall with beautiful foliage! If you are not the camping type you can stay at the Nature Inn and enjoy the beautiful lodge in an amazing location! Definitely tops on our list of state parks in Pennsylvania!

The lake is okay but you can't even see it from the campsites. The trails are also pretty boring and nothing more than a stroll.

This was our first time in our new camper. We are local and familiar with the park. Definitely look at pictures of your site before reserving. The distance between spots was good. Roads were a little narrow but manageable. Everyone was very friendly and with the exception of one neighbor, dogs were kept mostly quiet.

Great little fishing pier 2 minutes away walking. Good bike riding areas for kids. Ranger station is under construction. Not sure if it will be ready for 2018 season.

I’m not sure about other sites, but we did not have a water hookup, just a spigot we could fill from. The dump station worked fine and was clean. Power pole was in rough shape but worked.