Best Equestrian Camping near Avella, PA

Family Campground on Leslie Road [map]

• 6 electric sites
• 44 non-electric sites
• Dump station
• No showers; no flush toilets
• Pets are permitted on all sites

Equestrian Camp on Sprucevale Road

• 59 primitive sites (no electric)
• Vault latrines
• Tie-ups
• 12 sites may be reserved; the remaining are first-come, first-served.

Group Camp on Sprucevale Road

• Two group camp sites
• Can accommodate organized groups up to 30 people
• Available by reservation

I live near by to this state park and have spent much time exploring the entirety of it.

The trails are all nice, nothing too strenuous, and each have something unique compared to the others in the park. During the spring the Salamander trail is filled with thousands of Trilliums, a truly majestic experience. Lots of flowing water to enjoy throughout the park, some are off the trails but never hard to reach. A good park to enjoy with family and friends because you can fish, kayak, bike, skate, hike, horseback, and picnic. In addition, there are numerous historical cabins, locks, shelters, and a water run mill to sight-see. Then for those in search of a bit of spookiness, Gretchen’s Lock is notoriously a haunted location with certainly eerie vibes.

The family campground is small, but the park as a whole is not far from civilization so if any supplies are needed it is not a far endeavor. 

I do not horseback, so I cannot comment on that campground, but many of the trails are friendly for horses to travel.

OH! And if you are there on the weekends the Wildlife Center is a must! The staff are so nice, it is by donation to visit so is in everyone’s price range. An astounding display of animals and nature information! You can even hold the snakes and see a bee hive in action.

This tiny gem of a campground is actually quite decent. Each site is furnished with a small fire ring and picnic table. The fire rings do not have a grill grate. The pit toilets in the restroom are "fragrant" when you enter the women's side of the building but not so terribly that they can't be used. My friend did gag upon entering the men's room. There are designated wastewater areas to dump grey water, but you'll have to bring your own water for drinking, washing, etc. There are no electric hookups.

As others have mentioned, there is a gun range nearby and you can hear occasional firing. Helicopter traffic at night was a slight distraction from the otherwise quiet night I spent here.

There is an easy orange-blazed trail behind site 10 but as of this writing, a there are several downed trees blocking the trail a good distance in.

I'd definitely stay again.

5/3/2021 Edited to add:. Well, our second stay here is decidedly less positive. We are at site 9 this time. No fire ring here. The women's bathroom is filthy and it made me gag (there is feces all over one toilet seat and the other smells so bad that I just peed in the woods). It's turkey season so lots of noise in the woods.

When you pull into Beaver Creek Family Campground you pretty much have two choices: either you go left into multiple Pine tree sites or right into two cabins and more RV friendly open sites.  A few of the RV sites have electric, but no water for their tanks.  I suggest the pine sites for any tent or hammock campers.  I stayed in one of the first set of 3 pine sites numbered 43, 44, and 45.  There is some brush and cover between these sites, but each has a pull in parking pad.  If 45 was occupied with a RV, 44 would not be as nice as it was.  Backing into 44 and 45 would be tricky as well.  To be fair any larger RV that came in better know how to get through tight quarters.

The back area of each of those 3 sites looked best to get even ground for a tent.  My buddy hung his hammock between the tree to the left of the picnic bench and to a tree back and left in the picture of site 44.  Site was fairly clean, but be sure to move the pine tree duff away from the fire pits to be safe. 

Probably the nicest pit toilets I have experienced and while we didn't use, it the sun shower building would give anyone privacy if they had packed a portable shower.  Lots of trails to choose from and the pioneer village in the state park gives you many options to spend the day.  Had some luck fishing at the Canoe/Kayak area in the South East area of the park close to the Group Camp Sites.

The camp ground was nice except there is no running water. We took advantage of some of the hiking trails around and they were good in some areas, but definitely needed to be kept up on more often. Very over grown and difficult to follow the trails, but overall we were able to hike for about 3 hours without running into anyone else. The creek that runs through the area is beautiful and there were many people fishing along the way. Kayaking is also very popular among the creek, but the water was too low this time. If I were to go back I would definitely kayaking if the water is at the right level. The best part about the area was the history that surrounds it. There is a pioneer village near the park office that offers some picnicking areas around it. It also has original buildings from the pioneer days (church, school, etc). Really historical area to check out and hike around.