Best Tent Camping near Allegheny National Forest

Tent Camping Reviews near Allegheny National Forest

459 Reviews of 17 Allegheny National Forest Campgrounds

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  Britt B.

  Ranger

  Oct. 27, 2020

  Wolfkiel Run Shelters — Oil Creek State Park

  Best Hike-In Camp in PA

  Wolfkiel is one of two hike-in areas along the Gerard Hiking Trail, in the Oil Creek State Park. Wolfkiel is made up of six(6) Ariondack Shelters and a tent camping area. The Adirondack shelters are perfectly positioned to be private from one another, each looks out over the forest. They are a raised timber platform with a slanted roof and stone chimney with fireplace. There are two shelves and several hooks on the wall. Each shelter has a picnic table. The platform is large enough to sleep 4 people in sleeping bags or set up a two person tent. 

  The tent section is cleared and grassy with communal firepit and picnic table. Lots of trees to enable hammock set up. There is a supply of firewood in a covered shed for a small donation and two(2) drop toilets. Water is available in the summer months. The shelters are approx. 15min walk to the creek& Miller Farm Bridge, which joins the Oil Creek State Park trail. It’s a stunning walk with lots of small swimming spots along the way. 

  The shelters are approx. 10min drive from Titusville, PA. The walk-in from the carpark is approx. 15min– slight downhill on the way in.

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• 

  Bill G.

  Guide

  Jun. 18, 2020

  Hearts Content Recreation Area

  Simple and serene

  Hearts Content is best described as a way station. The sites are nestled within a grove of immense pines. Some are large enough for large RV’s . There are no showers. Bathrooms are vault toilets. Two of the sites include Adirondack type shelters. A picnic table and fire ring are within each site. I used this site as a staging area to explore Allegheny National Forest for a week. Used a camp shower. The closest town is Warren, PA. Firewood is available at the camp host site. Across the road is an hiking area with picnic tables and the like.

• 

  Bill G.

  Guide

  Sep. 10, 2018

  Hearts Content Recreation Area

  Minimal offering for maximum relaxing

  This campground is within Allegheny National Forest near the town of Warren and Tidouette. The sites are few but spacious. Good for car camping, though I’m sure a smaller RVcould get by. Each site has a fire ring. Two sites have Adirondack type shelters. The night sky is promising but light pollution from Warren inhibits a truly awesome night sky. There is a vault toilet. No showers. No water either. Bring what you need! The closest town is about 30 minutes away. Lots of critter life. My dogs loved it here. We spent all days exploring the nearby trails and creeks. Price was cheap. No frills but a quiet respite for sure.

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• 

  Britt B.

  Ranger

  Mar. 1, 2021

  Wolfkiel Run Shelters — Oil Creek State Park

  Winter Camping at Wolfkiel Shelters

  This was our second time to the Wolfkiel Shelters in Oil Creek State Park. Wolfkiel is one of two hike-in camping areas which consists of six(6) Ariondack Shelters and a tent camping area. The road in was snow covered but easily navigated. The Shelter carpark is small and was almost full the day we arrived. The track from the carpark to the campground is beautifully graded making it easy to pull a sled in with extra supplies. The walk in is less than a mile(~15min). The drop toilets were open, but probably wise to BYO toilet tissue. The shelters have hooks that allow you to hang a tarpaulin to help keep the heat in your shelter, although not necessary, especially if the nights are still. Snow did blow into our Shelter in the morning but was minimal. There is a self-serve timber stack which was fully stocked. A donation is requested. It’s wise to bring your own kindling, or an axe to cut some from the larger pieces. The shelter fireplaces have hooks for hanging pots and pans over the flames. Even in Winter, the shelters positioned so you do not look at other shelters. They are a raised timber platform with a slanted roof and stone chimney with fireplace. There are two shelves and several hooks on the wall. Each shelter has a picnic table. The platform is large enough to sleep 4 people in sleeping bags or set up a two person tent. These shelters are very peaceful in the winter and would highly recommend them if you are keen for some“winter camping” but not keen to sleep in a tent or be completely exposed. The shelters are approx.15min walk to the creek& Miller Farm Bridge, which joins the Oil Creek State Park trail. The shelters are approx. 10min drive from Titusville, PA

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• 

  Dan G.

  Ranger

  Jun. 14, 2016

  Loleta Recreation

  Loleta Got the Job Done

  Loleta Recreation campground is a good central location for activities in Allegheny National Forest. This campground has everything you look for in a campground, showers, firewood and ice available for purchase and fire pits located at each site. It looked like most of their campsites had electrical hook-ups, if needed, but we are just tent campers and had one of the few sites without electricity. Vault toilets are located throughout the campground and each site has a campfire ring with a cooking grate attached.

  There are two main locations in the campground, the upper campground and the lower campground. The lower campground seemed to be taken up by a majority of trailer camping where as the upper campground was a mix of tents and trailers. There are also a couple of group campsites that looked to hold about 25-50 people. The upper campground entrance has a spot to park just for the day and has a few trails to hike or a spot to swim in the river just above a small dam.

  We encountered a few loud patrons at the campground, but it did seem that everyone respected the quiet hours and knew when they were 10pm-6am.

  While we did some hiking throughout Allegheny we found a few spots that would have been a little more fitting for us to camp, Ministers Creek has some great first come first serve spots along the creek with a short or long hike in, or even a few reserved spots closer to the main road. Loleta did the job for us especially since we were booked last minute for Memorial Day weekend and we had no real complaints. It did the job for us, but don't expect anything great.

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• 

  Jennifer K.

  Ranger

  Jun. 14, 2022

  Hearts Content Recreation Area

  Great quiet little campground

  Very nice quiet small wooded campground. No hookups, about 3-4 fresh water spigots, 1 dump station and dumpster. Water pressure was very low and took a while to fill tank. 26 various sized sites, some large with plenty of space for our 22 foot tow behind and truck + some for extra vehicles. Other smaller sites for tents or vans. Self serve ice $2 wood $10. Vault toilets. Fire rings and picnic table at each site. AT&T spotty 0-1 bars. Host camper. Quiet time 10pm-6am. 1 Xlarge site for groups.

• 

  Mary S.

  Legend

  Sep. 24, 2018

  Quaker Area — Allegany State Park State Park

  This is a great vacation area.....spend a week!

  Did you know this is NY's largest state campground? We stopped here on a rainy night, but what we saw convinced me we need to return. I know this campground is a vacation destination for families in western NY.

  Cain Hollow is in the Quaker Run area which includes Quaker Lake. There is another campground in the Red House Area, and there are also lots of cabins. This is definitely a 4 seasons park - hiking, biking, swimming, fishing, snowmobiling, cross country skiing....

  I was able to take photos of a few sites the next morning. You can see that sites are private and you're definitely in the woods. There are food storage boxes at all campsites because you're in bear country.

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• 

  Danielle S.

  Ranger

  Apr. 16, 2019

  Minister Creek Campground

  Small, rustic, gorgeous

  We stayed here July 2018 and found a quiet campsite by the creek. It had been quite rainy and some of the sites were wet and muddy, but for $12, I couldn't complain. While there is an outhouse, it is simply a couple of toilets (bring a lantern or wear a headlamp). Arrive early to get a prime spot, and take advantage of the hiking trails (a bug net for your head will help in the summer as the gnats and deer flies are distracting). Looking forward to staying again.

• M

  Matthew

  Traveler

  Jul. 22, 2022

  Hearts Content Recreation Area

  Quiet, Fairly Remote, Pleasant National Forest Campground

  Allegheny National Forest is Pennsylvania's only National Forest and a gem of a location for outdoor recreation. Hearts Content itself is a well-maintained, very quiet campground with some of the most private sites we've experienced in 15 years of regular car camping.

  Site A02 is very nice for privacy, one of the three front sites which means a bit of road traffic for other arriving campers, but covered by dense old-growth forest on all three sides and well set off the road. Ample tree coverage means an excellent shade canopy, but not-so-great if you're powering your rig with solar.

  Clean, good-tasting drinking water at several community water spigots are available, and the central grassy area even contains a clean and well-maintained playground.

  The campground itself is actually across the road from the Recreation Area. The Recreation Area is home to 3 nice hiking trails, including one all-season trail that converts to a cross-country skiing trail in the snowy months, as well as some picnic tables and a restroom.

  The campground has a couple pit toilets that have been very well maintained by campground hosts each year we've been there. Zero smell or problems here, they appear to be looked after daily. They are still pit toilets so this is not exactly a luxury affair, but as pit toilets go, these definitely suffice.

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  INTERNET: One bar of usable Verizon 4G LTE and T-Mobile 4G LTE suitable for slow web browsing and e-mail, but little else. Because of the very dense tree cover here, Starlink is not really a viable option. The most southern facing sites have more of a clearing which may work for Starlink, but are smaller, less private, and also face the group campsite which is well trafficked by Boy Scout troops and other summer camp gatherings, so you're upping your noise quite a bit.

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  MAJOR PROS: This is a great campground to just enjoy camping. Set some 15 miles back in old growth forest, the most private of the campsites provide a very pleasant wilderness experience but still some well-maintained amenities like fresh drinking water and good pit toilets. In our experience camping here several times over several years, weekdays are very quiet at this location, perhaps the quietest of any campground of this size and caliber we've experienced anywhere. It's only really Friday evenings and Saturdays where you'll see more than 3-4 other campers in this place.

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  The closest nearby town is Warren, PA a small but service-rich town set on the Allegheny River that provides all the necessary stuff - a Wal Mart,  a Lowes, and plenty of restaurants and little shops. Warren is the longtime home of a refinery of some sort and on days when the downwind is blowing especially strong, you can catch the faint whiff of a funky but ambiguous smell of…something?

  Cell service kicks up to 5G on T-Mobile in Warren itself, but you're still stuck on 4G with Verizon, as of summer 2022.

  Back to the campground, I would highly recommend this place for people who can get out there on weekdays and enjoy peace and quiet. Firewood is available for sale at the Camp Host campsite, but there's so much downed wood behind just about every site that purchasing wood really isn't necessary: you can keep a hot fire going all night, for free, just by cleaning out the underbrush.

  This is such a pretty, quiet campsite that during weekdays the area deer will often approach from the woods behind the campsites to feast on low hanging leaves. We've seen dozens of them who will get within 10-20 yards of you for a snack later into the night. While never getting too close, it does make for a pleasant wildlife viewing opportunity.

  We really like this place. No showers or other running-water facilities and limited internet service prevent this place from being a perfect 5. It is also a bit of a drive into town for provisions or daily ingress if you need these amenities. That aside, tent, trailer or RV, you are likely to enjoy your experience here if you enjoy camping at all.

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