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Best Tent Camping near Union Dale, PA

674 Reviews

Public lands surrounding Union Dale, Pennsylvania offer several tent camping options within a short drive of town. Oh! Pear Orchards provides five walk-in tent sites situated along a peaceful stream, with well-maintained fire pits and partial shade. Second District Brew Farm, located southeast of Union Dale, features 15 walk-in tent sites with amenities including drinking water, picnic tables, and fire rings. For those seeking more primitive tent camping experiences, Pinchot State Forest's Manny Gordon Recreation Area offers basic tent sites with previously stocked firewood from other campers.

Most tent campsites in the Union Dale region feature natural surfaces with minimal site preparation. Oh! Pear Orchards provides carts to transport gear to their walk-in tent sites, with hosts offering optional valet service for equipment. Sites may be set on dirt, gravel, or forest duff with basic amenities like fire rings, but limited services otherwise. Campers should be prepared for insects, particularly ticks, which are prevalent in the area. Firewood is available at several campgrounds, though availability varies seasonally. Cell service can be unreliable at more remote tent camping locations, and winter access may be restricted due to unmaintained roads.

In early fall, many tent sites offer more solitude and fewer crowds than during peak summer months. One camper described Oh! Pear Orchards as having "the best fire pits, quiet and peaceful, just enough shade to stay cool" with "campsites next to a beautiful stream." The spacious sites allow tent campers to spread out and enjoy the natural surroundings. Tent campers at Manny Gordon Recreation Area noted "plenty of space" at the sites, making them suitable for groups. The proximity to state parks provides additional recreational opportunities, with Merli-Sarnoski Park and Lackawanna State Park within a half-hour drive offering hiking trails and fishing. For backcountry tent camping enthusiasts, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area provides more remote options within a reasonable drive from Union Dale.

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Best Tent Sites Near Union Dale, Pennsylvania (28)

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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Union Dale, PA

21 Photos of 28 Union Dale Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Union Dale, PA

674 Reviews of 28 Union Dale Campgrounds

  • Doug W.
    Jul. 31, 2019

    Valley View Group Campground

    Beautiful River Site

    This is a great campsite right on the river. There are 5 different sites all nicely marked out. Each has its own fire ring. There is also a central area with a big fire ring for everyone to get together. Bear boxes at each site for food storage.

  • Janet R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jun. 29, 2024

    Salt Springs State Park Campground

    Unique park with unique natural features

    This park is technically a “state park” because the land for it was donated to the state for public use. However, once the state became the official stewards, there werent funds in the state budget to maintain it as a park. A lical group, the Friends of Salt Springs, stepped up and offered to maintain the park with funds raised by their group. The result is a small but unique property open to the public for day use (picnicking and hiking and fishing) along with 2 small rustic campgrounds. One campground has a large open mowed grassy meadow with level sites for car camping or small campers, no hookups are available but each site has a fire ring and picnic table. On the other side of the parks trout stream are seven secluded primitive hike-in tent sites along with three basic camper cabins. The Friends of Salt Springs makes a good effort to maintain these two rustic campgrounds, however it seems there isnt a ranger on site at night so a camper said the meadow campground can get a little noisy some nights. The hike in sites are relatively quiet and secluded though, and are positioned nicely along the stream, one site actually adjacent to a good swimming hole.

    The camper cabins are basic with bunks, bring all your own gear. They are fairly new and have electricity but no water or heat.

    On the grounds in the day use area are picnic spits, a pavilion, and an activity barn. When I was there, the barn was featuring a local quilt show.

    The special aspect of this park are the hiking trails through old growth hemlock forest, said to be the largest hemlocks in Pennsylvania. The trout stream also cascades through some some waterfalls, and there are gorges with unique geology.

    There is a village nearby with limited supplies, you may want to stock up on groceries before heading out to this somewhat remote park. There is, however, a local brewery, plus an odd coffee shop featuring both donuts and ammo, an unusual combination…..

  • D
    Jul. 5, 2020

    Tobyhanna State Park Campground

    Good campground for families.

    My dog and I stayed for 2 nights in the rustic tenting area. We were the only campers Wednesday & Thursday. The family camp area features spaces (small areas for either RV campers or tents and cars) with a picnic table and fire ring and water (some have electricity). They also have shared facilities such as bathrooms and showers. However, they seemed a little too cramped fir me and I wasn’t looking for opportunities to socialize, so the remote tent site was my choice. The tent sites do not have water or electric, but do have picnic tables, a fire ring and share one large outhouse with clean pit toilets. There are 5 sites and they can accommodate (shared) multiple tent set ups. Also you need to park your vehicle in a designated lot which is very close to the sites. There are multiple easy hiking and biking trails that are well marked. A lake for fishing and a small sandy beach with a picnic area for families (unfortunately no dogs are allowed on the beach). There are 2 boat launch areas (one for the campers, and another for gen. public) which also has a boat rental business (dogs are allowed). There are black bears in the park so do not leave food out and dispose of all trash in the appropriate dumpsters.

  • Angel A.
    Aug. 20, 2018

    Lower Lake Campground Northwoods Area — Promised Land State Park

    Northwoods Campground

    Big sites with 30 amp service available for RVs and trailers. Each site has a large picnic table and a fire ring with an adjustable grate. The pull-through sites don’t offer much in the way of privacy, but that’s the trade off for convenience. There are two potable water spigots in the campground. The bathhouse offers warm showers, 2 dishwashing sinks, and a coin-operated washer and dryer. The facilities are kept very clean. On the weekends it can get pretty crowded, so it tends to be louder at night then, but the camp hosts and the rangers do a good job of enforcing quiet hours. Access points to several trails are very near the campground. As with all PA state parks, alcohol is prohibited. The park doesn’t have a camp store, however, there is a small general store on Route 390 (The Lake Store) just north of the park that would have any essentials you may have forgotten, as well as ice for your cooler.

  • Alaina Z.
    Oct. 13, 2020

    Pickerel Point Campground — Promised Land State Park

    Beautiful facilities, rocky sites

    Pros: -beautiful new bathrooms -private lakeside walk-in sites -beavers! Far away but exciting nonetheless -the Conservation Walk on the island is short, easy, and beautiful. Well-marked.

    Cons: -chunky bluestone gravel on the sites, so bring a sleeping pad! -has a beach but it's not much to look at -sites have nice sizable fire pits, but they are very tall. It's difficult to cook over them, and sitting around the campfire in the evening is a much less visually appealing experience than I'd like

    We stayed in site 157. Accessible via a path from the designated parking space to the site about 2 minute walk. Lakeside, but visibility not great due to vegetation. All sites have little trails down to the water.

    Site 174 by the road and less private, but prettily overhung by evergreens.

    The cabins look very nice inside.

  • T
    May. 27, 2018

    Mountain Vista Campground

    Friendly Campground

    Set on a hillside, the campground has three levels. The tent sites all have water & electric, and have a picnic table and fire ring. The sites are fully shaded. Facilities were neat & clean, and there was a covered verandah with string lights, chairs & picnic tables outside the bathroom area.

    Campground staff were friendly, and there was a store with firewood, ice and many other conveniences. Wifi was available, and connection was good the entire time I was there.

    The campground is convenient to many hikes in the Delaware Water Gap area.

    Be aware that the campground doesn't have credit card facilities, but does have an ATM in the store if absolutely necessary.

  • Amy R.
    Jul. 16, 2019

    Pine Cradle Lake Family Campground

    RV/tent campground in a beautiful setting

    This is a gated campground that we stayed at 6/30/19-7/04/19. We are NOT an RV. We own a Napier tent that hooks to our truck so that we can sleep up in the bed. However, due to it being a holiday week, the tent sites were completely booked and they only have 4(which also have water& electric). The tent sites are located in the back of the campground behind the sports field within the trees. I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see them but they have them pictured on their website. They let us book an RV site and it was rough setting up on a gravel RV site but we understood that we were not within a normal tent element and placed an extra tarp under the tent. The campground is located at the top of some beautiful and scenic driving through farmland in Pennsylvania and you will be 30 minutes from anything like shopping or small town amenities(we drove to Walmart after setting up to get our perishables since we drive up from Virginia). Our site had water and electric, was a drive through spot for a typical RV with a section to the side of the drive through for the fire pit and picnic table. We were located right next to the shower/bathrooms/playground and had some tree coverage and shade. A lot of the RVs in the campground are permanent sites and our neighbors never showed so we had a quiet buffer but it was not a noisy campground. It appeared that they cleaned the bathrooms twice daily and we were impressed with the cleanliness of the bathroom/showers. There were 4 in the building so we never had to wait. The staff were friendly and helpful. They had a store right next to the pool area that offered common items and RV'er might need with a small grocery area as well which included bundles of wood($6 honor system after hours) and Ice($1.78 per bag). We were allowed to run an account which we paid at the end of our stay. Our campsite was required to be paid at check in. The campground is 18 acres with gravel roads, a sports field, fishing, horse shoes, bocce ball, multiple playgrounds, a rec center with some games, claw machines etc. a splash pad and salt water pool. You will be doing a lot of walking or bring your bicycles like we did. They offer scheduled activities for holidays etc and various weekend activities. You can rent non electric boats and they offer catch& release fishing without a PA license in the lake. My son caught 2 sunfish :) They have guidelines for visitors and quiet hours(my cousin came to visit us in the evenings as she lived close by). We enjoyed camping here even if we were on an RV site. We booked site 211 which had the little bit of tree coverage and was located right next to the showers/bathrooms/playground with a quick walk to the lake for fishing. Most of the other available sites in the road ahead of us had no tree coverage but closer to the lake had more trees and shade. OR, just get an actual tent site :) but they are all the way at the back of the campground, furthest from the lake so I actually preferred our site.

  • Derek W.
    Jul. 1, 2019

    Dingmans Shallows Campground — Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

    Great NPS campsite on the Delaware

    This is a campsite that is maintained by the NPS. It is just past Dingmans Ferry Campground and is only accessible by water (Kayak, canoe, boat, or in my case a packraft).   The site is free but is available on a first come first served.  I stayed here for my second night on the river (my first night was spent at Namanock Island about 8 miles north.  

    The site has a designated fire pit with a grate.  It's quite spacious and can fit several tents easily.  It backs up to the McDade Recreation Trail which is pretty cool as we were able to hike out of there the next day.  

    We cooked S'mores, ate hot dogs, and used a Jet boil for our meals. 

    Note: this is a primitive site meaning there are no bathrooms.  Please exercise leave no trace principles and pack out all trash if you plan on visiting!

    Overall I would recommend the site as it was clean, well maintained, and relatively easy to unload on small sand beach on the Delaware. Happy Camping!

  • T
    Aug. 18, 2022

    Ricketts Glen State Park Campground

    Impromptu trip that we don’t regret!

    This trip was a bit impromptu so we assume most of the good sites were picked over. The site we stayed at was the perfect size for two people, not the biggest site in the campground but we had a bit of a buffer between our neighbors so we weren’t on top of other people. We were located at a bit heavily trafficked area because we were near the entrance of the campground and the restrooms. The state park was beautiful and had a lot of things to do. I recommend doing the Falls trail and to get onto Lake Jean. They have a concessions by Lake Jean that doesn’t only sell food and drinks but some ice and bundle of wood. Definitely bring a hammer because it’s near impossible to stake down your tent by hand because the turf is hard. Would definitely come again and do the primitive group camp option if I can. No cell service (Verizon) but if you drive 10 miles north up towards Lopez we were able to get a signal. This was a nice way to end summer!

Guide to Union Dale

Union Dale, Pennsylvania sits at an elevation of approximately 1,680 feet in the northeastern part of the state, experiencing cooler temperatures than surrounding lowlands. The area's tent camping options extend beyond established campgrounds into the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, where primitive riverside sites offer alternatives to the local private campgrounds. Winter camping isn't widely available as most facilities close from late October through April due to freezing temperatures.

What to do

Waterfalls exploration: 10-30 minute hikes from Namanock Island camping area. "If you paddle across the river from the site, it is only a 10-15 minute hike along the road on the Pennsylvania side of the river to reach Raymondskill Falls. A 'must-see' if your stopping here," reports John B.

Fishing: Variable seasonal conditions in local waterways. River fishing near tent sites can be challenging during summer. "The fishing here is decent, but it's a shallow part of the river so in the summer months the fish seek deeper waters," notes a Namanock Island camper.

Historic sites: Easy access to local landmarks. Dingman's Ferry area offers glimpses into 300+ years of regional history. "Make sure to meet the older couple that work the tolls on the bridge at Dingman's, they actually know 90% of their traffic on sight and by name. They enjoy sharing tons of history with those interested."

What campers like

Island camping: Complete seclusion at Delaware Water Gap sites. "Let me say that of all the places I have ever camped, having an entire island to yourself is a feeling I have never experienced anywhere else," writes John B. Island sites generally remain clean with minimal litter.

Night sky viewing: Minimal light pollution at primitive sites. River camping provides exceptional stargazing opportunities. "No lights means an incredible view of the night sky," notes one camper about Namanock Island.

Spacious tent sites: Room for larger groups at Belden Hill Campgrounds. "Room for pop up canopy and games. Great views of the mts," explains Tim W. Sites accommodate multiple tents without feeling crowded.

What you should know

Water access challenges: River levels affect campsite accessibility. "Spring time trips can find the water levels much higher and swifter making it more difficult to arrive safely, or dry," cautions a regular Namanock Island camper.

Wildlife encounters: Prepare for nighttime visitors at tent sites. "You can expect to be visited by a masked robber or two during the night, but a bear bag hanging will eliminate any issues," advises a camper.

Firewood considerations: Availability varies by location. At Second District Brew Farm, firewood is provided, while primitive sites require collection or pre-purchase. "I was a bit nervous about collecting fire wood being the place was so clean but collected enough. Definitely would stop at one of the many places along the way to buy fire wood," recommends Sean M.

Upstream paddling difficulty: Return trips against current require planning. "I also thought it would a good idea to paddle down stream and back up to Milford beach, Boy was I wrong! Took about 4.5 hours to paddle 3 miles," warns a Namanock Island camper.

Tips for camping with families

Island exploration: Natural trails perfect for barefoot walking. "Beautiful trails criss-cross the island and not a rock to be tripped over. I do not think I have worn shoes there even once," shares a camper about Namanock Island.

Wildlife watching opportunities: Bird spotting along waterways. "Saw tons of bald eagles flying near the site and while paddled birds playing and baby geese with their mommas!" notes Sean M.

Gear transport assistance: Some sites offer equipment moving help. "There is a cart provided which made it pretty easy. The hosts also offer valet service to your site," reports Heather T. about Oh! Pear Orchards.

Tips from RVers

RV campground selection: Belden Hill Campgrounds accommodates larger rigs. "Stayed in 38ft motorhome," confirms Tim W. The campground offers pull-through sites with full hookups.

Level sites availability: Some area campgrounds provide suitable terrain for larger units. "Pull thru full hookup, level, spacious," notes an RVer at Belden Hill.

Seasonal occupancy patterns: Be aware of long-term campers at RV-friendly facilities. "Majority is seasonal. The views for the pull through weekender sites are to die for," explains Michelle S.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Union Dale, PA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Union Dale, PA is Oh! Pear Orchards with a 5-star rating from 2 reviews.

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