Best Tent Camping near Alexandria, PA
Looking for the best tent campgrounds near Alexandria? The Dyrt helps you find campsites with tent camping near Alexandria. From remote to easy-to-reach, these Alexandria campsites are perfect for tent campers.
Looking for the best tent campgrounds near Alexandria? The Dyrt helps you find campsites with tent camping near Alexandria. From remote to easy-to-reach, these Alexandria campsites are perfect for tent campers.
The Nancy's Boat to Shore Campground, in the central region of Raystown Lake, is the perfect secluded getaway camping spot accessible only by boat. Located near both James Creek and Aitch Boat Launch areas, the campground is situated on the shoreline of Raystown Lake away from public roadways. Nancy's camp map
Fishing is excellent with small and large mouth bass, muskies, striped bass, and brown trout, abundant in the lake. Trough Creek State Park is nearby across the lake; Seven Points and Lake Raystown Resort are both within 8 lake miles. Nearby trails, including Lower Trail (Rails to Trails), Terrace Mountain Trail, Old Loggers Trail and Mid State Trail, attract plenty of traffic.
Raystown Lake is in the ridge and valley province of Pennsylvania. The lakeshore is lined with an old oak-hickory forest giving way to mountain ridges and cliffs. The man-made lake is fed by the Raystown Branch tributary of the Juniata River and is the largest lake completely in the state of Pennsylvania.
Aitch Boat Launch, James Creek Boat Launch, Seven Points Recreation area, Raystown Lake Visitor Center, Lake Raystown Resort & Conference Center and Trough Creek State Park are all nearby.
$15 / night
This 41-acre park is in an isolated area of the Seven Mountains region known as the Stone Creek Kettle. While this Centre County park is small in size, it is surrounded by an 80,000-acre block of Rothrock State Forest.
Penn-Roosevelt is a good base for those seeking low-density recreation on this vast expanse of public land. Popular activities include: hiking on the Mid-State or other State Forest trails, gravel-riding on over 100 miles of Forestry roads, and mountain biking the nearby Cooper’s Gap area, a destination Pennsylvania mountain biking trail system.
Rustic sites, tents only
The 18 rustic campsites are for tents only and are open year-round. Some sites are walk-in for more privacy. All campsites are first-come, first-serve.
Drinking water and non-flush toilets are available.
Due to the isolated location, Penn-Roosevelt provides an excellent opportunity to get away from noise and electric lights.
Park rangers routinely patrol the park and camping fees are paid through a self-registration/payment system.
Please keep food and coolers in vehicles to protect them from wild animals.
$25 / night
Enjoy camping creek side at the edge of an open field with access to fishing, hiking on adjacent state game land trails, kayaking in nearby Juniata River, biking the Lower Trail just minutes away, or booking a guided hike, onsite horseback riding lessons, or book a trail ride on our beautiful and smooth gaited Tennessee Walking horses or bring and board your own.
Read reviews here: https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US/pennsylvania/ride-long-acres-on-clover-creek/long-acres-at-clover-creek
$25 - $65 / night
$20 - $22 / night
Our location is in the heart of the Stone Valley Forest. Tucked away in a beautiful little hollow behind a farm field. This is a boondock location; we do not offer any hookups at this time. We do have a porta potty on site for restroom access. Click the link to be directly connected to our page.
Follow us on Instagram for updates, photos and videos @wilsons_boondock
$35 - $50 / night
This recreation area is part of Raystown Lake
I’ve camped here twice, two years ago in a Kodiak tent and this year in my Airstream GT24. Such a lovely spot! It’s spotless, and Raystown Lake is gorgeous.
Better off just pulling off the side of the road. Nothing here worth the $25 out of state fee.
In the middle of the woods vibe. The sites had good privacy and it was just a pretty area. Neighbors were respectful and relatively quiet.. There was zero cell service at this campground. Bathrooms were clean.
We've stayed here at least a half-dozen times with a popup. The smaller B loop is nicer, but no electricity. Pets allowed only on a certain portion of the A loop. The bathrooms are clean, the lake is small but pretty, and the hikes around the lake, and up the mountain on the ridge, are as easy or as challenging as you want. Cell service is pretty much nonexistent so you definitely get unplugged.
We stayed in the smaller camping area B, which we enjoyed. Even on Labor Day weekend, it didn’t feel busy because of how few sites are in this section. Our site was level and sizable. The bathroom was clean and there was access to the very pleasant hiking trail going around the lake. We had no cell service with Cricket or Verizon.
Very clean, could be a bit more level. Great amenities, boat, fish, games, hike.
A dingy place. The ground was swampy the only dry places are the gravel pads in the sites. I wouldn't tent camp here.
On the plus side, strong AT&T and T-Mobile cell signals. (I don't have a verizon device)
We stayed during Bigfoot weekend. It was super fun as our family likes bigfoot fun. We started out Friday night getting the offered $12 bbq plate that included pork burnt ends, beans and potato salad that were "oh it's so good". On Saturday was rock painting and then bingo and ended the night with a DJ dance party. The pavilion where all those activities happened were right next to our site (22 with the doggie den). Then Sunday we had pancakes and later a visit from RayCEP which is an education program that PA DNCR provides talking about various outdoorsy type things. This is primarily for kids, but we sat and listened too and our 17 year old helped out with the craft.
After the weekend though, all the activity slows down. There are seasonal campers that stay around, and they're constantly working on improving and fixing up sites during the week. Expect lots of quiet time just relaxing during the week. There's the pool, dog park, bounce pillow, playground, but not tons to do which if you're looking for is great. Raystown Lake has multiple access areas that are probably 15-20 minutes away - we fished at Tautman Run and Aitch - both were accessible and had lots of bluegill to steal our worms.
Now to the site description: Site 22 is a deluxe patio back in site with a patio, 4 nice Adirondack chairs, a double glider, a weber propane grill and built in fire pit AND a dog fence just for that site that was maybe 6 ft x 6ft. it was big enough for our 2 labs to fit into when we fed them. The site wasn't hard to level our RV but overall the sites are hilly and in fact the whole park is on a hill.
The owners and workers were friendly and great hosts! We love what they're doing there.
One last tip: if traveling from the Altoona area, go out through Martinsburg over Cove Mountain Rd - it saves you 30 minutes to an hour.
Would go back here again! Very primitive, only 2 sites with electric and no playground (but 4 swings), however the creek is beautiful and the kids were so happy to play in it. We had site 108 and had a site path right to the creek. I wouldn't recommend big campers as most of the spots would be a pain to back into. But if you're looking for a quiet campground in the woods, this is it!
Our first time at Cowans Gap and we loved it. 5 nights, 6 days with no cell or wifi to stress us out. Biking, Hiking, sitting around a campfire, very nice. Site 14 was ok, small. Weekend kids were noisy. Bathrooms and showers very clean. Firewood always available. Easy access to dump station. Coming back in July to a site we scout out. Looking forward to our next visit.
We had a great time visiting the park! We stayed in site 28 which was a walk-in site, this was perfect for us since we wanted to be further away from people and the light from the bathroom/shower facility. The site was not far from our parking spot, maybe a hundred yards but there was a slight hill. There are even more isolated campsites further up the hill.
The park itself is definitely on the smaller side but packs in a lot. Lots of great trails and the beach would be great( close due to bacteria overgrowth) the michaux forest is 30 minutes away and has a lot more outdoor activities.
Will stay here again in the future.
The drive in was exciting. Lots of sheepish hills and turns. As long as you go slow, you'll be fine. Leaving on the other hand was terrifying. Being the down hill version of the drive in.
A note on cell service. There is none. NONE. No AT&T, no Verizon, no TMoblie. They campground doesn't have WiFi either.
If you were planning on going out to do stuff off the state park, there's nothing nearby.
We brought our kayaks and had a nice day paddling around the lake.
As a rule we always try to stay in parks if possible. Really like the layout here, and the k9s love it. We couldn’t see the lake from the camper, but in the woods we could see the lake and the camper from the same spot.
Our first time in the Moshannan National Forrest area. Simply stunning. Beautiful area.
The campground was adequate. Bath houses were relatively clean.
My biggest criticism is how close the sites are to each other. This may only be true of the full hookup sites. Felt like we were camping with our neighbors.
Driving in I got a little worried I was getting lost, but I drove on. I arrived on a Wednesday evening. I had my pick of campsites, because I was the only person there!
The water was off, but I was prepared to wilderness camp later in my trip so, that was no big deal.
It was so secluded, I heard nothing but nature for over an hour before a plane flew over.
If you have a trailer, I do not recommend this spot. there is a very tight hairpin turn on the way in. My six foot long trailer barely made the turn!
We loved the swimming and fishing in this park. Awesome Sandy swim beach and roped off area in the water made it great for keeping an eye on the kids while they swam. We had site 59 and are tent campers. This site was on an incline so the cots we brought were pretty miserable to sleep on. This spot was in its own little wooded cubby hole so it gave us a little more privacy but we thought that a lot of these sites were much too close together. We plan to scope out other sites to find a more level and more private option. Overall we really loved the park itself and will be back!
Great tent site with lots of room. Have your own little driveway to park your car right next to the site. Comes with a picnic table and fire pit. Need lots of rope for setting up tarps as trees are far apart. Cute little stream in the back with a log crossing. No cell service, near town with free wifi. No toilets or garbage. Good amount of traffic coming down the road but isn't an issue at night time.
We camped in on of the cabins overnight on a recent road trip. Cabins are nice and spacious, bath facilities are some of the best I've seen. We didn't;t get to explore since we were traveling, but there's plenty to do in the area.
We showed up after dark and it was a bit hard to find our way to our site—advise arriving during the day! Great little campground. Very quiet. Nestled between a hillside and a stream with a great sound of running water. Several walking/hiking trails directly from the campground. Clean and convenient restrooms. Large sites.
The campsites are beautiful, even though there were a lot of people when we went we felt like we had a lot of privacy from our neighbors. We stayed in the ridge loop, so not waterfront but within the campground there were so many things to do (huge mountain biking scene). The whole grounds were very well maintained, and the bathrooms and showers were some of the nicest I’ve seen at a campground. Highly recommend!
Booked for 5 nights to have an opportunity to explore the Bedford, PA area. Great access to Flight 93 Memorial, local covered bridges, Fort Bedford Historic Fort, and many other attractions. Loop D was quiet with ample space between sites that provided privacy. Bathhouse was clean and used for showers. Dump and water fill station easy to access on your way in or out. Verizon signal good enough for streaming.
The bike trails/course at the KOA were absolutely awesome! Even though we don't have kids to bring along, I couldn't help but wish I could hit those trails myself– what a cool feature they have.
Now, onto the bathrooms– they were impressively spacious and private, and the best part? Always clean. No complaints there. We appreciated the added security with the entrance gate, it gave us a sense of safety during our stay.
And speaking of people, everyone there was super polite and friendly. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to visit again!"
We stayed on a primitive site in our van, it was only for one night but we wished we'd booked more, the facilities are great and everyone is friendly. It feels homey, would definitely come back if I have the chance 🥰
Getting to the park had some sharp turns and windy roads. Small campground but nicely equipped. 2 bath houses were dated but clean. Nice playground at the campground and also one at the beach. Small camp concessions with a few camping items as well as ice cream cones. Great hiking and a beautiful lake for kayaking. Site 22 is a full hookup. Utilities worked nicely. However, our picnic table had seen better days. The site sat down off the road but once you were backed in the spot it was pretty level. This site also had a separate tent pad located down a few stone steps. Verizon and AT&T cell service were basically non existent. Every once in a while a text would come in or send but very spotty. Sorry I failed to get a pic of the site in the daylight. It was spacious and we had plenty of room for our 30' trailer, truck, and easy up over the table. 6+ chairs around the fire pit, cooking ring could have been better. Grassy area for cornhole or playing.
We arrived when it was dark out and had site #2. The camp hosts were fantastic and helped us back into a spot. The spot was hard to maneuver for a 41 ft 5th wheel because of the turning radius. There was also a drop off on the other side of the road which limited the turning radius as well. We only slept here but it looked like a nice place. The grounds are hilly.the well was dry so there wasn’t any water.
We do a lot of dispersed camping but we spoiled ourselves with this spot. It was $50 for a tent site but I have never used a cleaner camp shower or seen so many amenities on a campground. They were also very accommodating of our late check-in as we travel across the country.
For a state park it is very nice. Lots of campsites and cabins. Pool was down so kids were a little upset but there was other stuff for them to do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Alexandria, PA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Alexandria, PA is Nancy's Boat To Shore Campground (PA) with a 4-star rating from 3 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Alexandria, PA?
TheDyrt.com has all 12 tent camping locations near Alexandria, PA, with real photos and reviews from campers.