Best Tent Camping near Calvin, PA

We went to Cowans gap last full for a Halloween weekend and the children loved it. We even won the campsite decorating contest. We went this summer and camped in A-tent with friends of ours who had never done it Before & After the amazing trip at callans gap they want to do it again. Awesome beach, nice sights, And a quiet area what more could you want.

Nice fairly private tent sites, clean showers and pet friendly.

I tent camped here about 30 yrs ago and was so happy to come back! But, the nearby Rt 30, especially before leaves return to the trees, is a major commuter route and soooo loud!

This is a great place for a long weekend away. The tent sites are nice and they have a number of dog friendly sites. Fun beach area, hikes and fishing.

Nice campground, wooded sites and most were okay for tent camping however some required your tent to be set up a small distance from the fire ring. Clean showerhouses and bathrooms. Big Lake and a few miles of hiking and biking trails right from the campground.

The Iron Ore mines from the past have left the creek water stained red which is why its called the Red Mo with the locals.

Make a reservation way ahead of your date as this campground is very popular and sites book early. It has sites to accommodate any R.V. and lot of tent sites. The lake has lots to offer. Swimming, boating, fishing, wildlife watching and a big sky view for star gazing.

Plenty of trails to hike from easy to difficult. Local history is right around the corner with the Lost Children of the Alleghenies Monument. Blue Knob houses the second highest peak in PA. The bathrooms were clean. Camp sites are rocky so be sure to bring a mat if tent camping. The park does not offer fire wood for purchase; bring extra.

We used the group tent sites for our Girl Scout weekend. It was a fun weekend. We participated in the Outdoors for Everyone event. The site was clean, decently level area for tents, accessible to potable water and bathrooms with showers. Rangers were wonderful to work with in setting up teaching opportunities for the girls. We will definately go back.

We stayed at one of the tent sites. There was an issue with the electric hookup, but the ranger was able to relocate us without issue. It’s small, but peaceful and the ‘regulars’ (as they referred to themselves) were friendly and welcoming. The grounds were well-maintained and the bathrooms very clean.

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.

Very nice campground with clean bathrooms and showers. Nice creek for the kids to play on a hot day. Great spot for kids. Wish the pool was open!

Not sure about other sites- some sites appeared not to have tent sites and steep parking. All the full look-up sites appeared very nice.

Staff was very friendly and helpful!

We took a chance in September 2020 and decided to make plans to camp for two nights so we could get some hiking in nearby at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park. You're greeted by a sign on the front office door that says "Masks are optional," so that tells you all you need to know about camping here during the COVID-19 crisis. Check-in is easy enough and you are given a card to hang on your mirror that has a barcode to scan to get access to the campground. Then you drive to your site. The signs/directions posted are...not very helpful, and you can easily find yourself face-to-face with someone driving a golf cart from the opposite direction or kids running around through the road, so be very careful. We picked a tent site (218 or 219) as far away from everyone else as we could get. A bunch of the tent sites border the woods, and I definitely recommend snagging one of those if you're able. The tent and RV sites are absolutely crammed together. We started setting up our tent and were somewhat pleased with the amount of space we had from a big family in the next site because we could all enjoy our respective spaces without getting in each other's way. Then another car pulled up and signaled that there was ANOTHER site between us. There wasn't even 10ft between our tents; you could hear everything. The RV/camper sites looked even more snug, so I can't imagine trying to maneuver there. Our tent site was one of the flatter and less rocky ones that I could see. Each site is provided with a fire ring (more like a fire pit/contained cauldron) and picnic table, which was great. I will say that from what we saw, the grounds are kept very clean. The bath house near the tent site is cleaned daily, however not always at the posted hours so I would say to assume it is half an hour before the posted time. There are 2 showers and toilet stalls in each bathroom. Here is where we were the most unhappy about masks being optional: not a single other person that we saw over 3 days was wearing a mask while in the enclosed bathrooms. There are hand dryers, so particles are flying all over the place. There was a concert that ended while I was showering and it was a line of people to get in and the dryers were constantly blasting; I basically held my breath while I was in there. The campgrounds are clean and easy to find off of the main roads. However, if you're looking for a place to stay outside during the COVID-19 situation, look elsewhere.

Beautiful campgrounds with spacious camp sites. Well maintained bathroom and firewood plus ice available at the entrance (this is a great plus for those car/tent camping.

extremely close to the rothrock forest mountain biking trails. Less than a mile to trails that take you to the IMBA epic coopers gap loop.

Campgrounds and surround park area were well maintained with a few picnic shelters, a beach and sand volleyball courts. Camp was full and all day use areas were occupied during our stay.

We had a terrible experience here. We were at tent site #29 but for only an hour...the "water hookup" was BROWN. The bathroom has no lights or sink... Our 16x16 tent didn't fit the "17x17" tent pad. We had bug spray on and had two ThermaCELLs running and we're literally eaten alive by mosquitoes. And just to top it off there's absolutely 0 cell service. We have Verizon. We ended up packing up and going to a different campground. Holiday KOA about 10min away was incredible. Bathrooms are the nicest I've seen at a campground.

Located 8 Miles off of I-81. parked my pickup truck with camper shell in the tent campsite number 35. Plenty of mosquitoes so bring a citronelle candle and bug spray. Other than that it's a quiet campground during the week with clean facilities. The after hours honor system put a check in an envelope registration, including the $4.50 senior discount, the weekday (Sunday Thru Thursday) out-of-state resident fee was $27.

2 night stay in a tent site. Sites were small, but doable. Very clean and spacious showerhouses/bathrooms in each section. Some sections do not allow pets, even for walking. Lake was large with 26 miles of shoreline. The lake was virtually empty, especially for a holiday weekend. There is a swimming area, also empty. The only boats we saw were pontoons and kayaks. Check their website, maybe that is all that are allowed. We don't have a boat, so didn't ask. Some hiking trails around the park. Surprisingly, we saw NO wildlife, and had no campsite "visitors". The park offered many family friendly programs.

My wife and I stayed for two nights at this campground and enjoyed it greatly.  We happened to be assigned what I believe was the best of the RV sites, a pull through that had full hook up.  We have a 32 foot trailer.  The site we were assigned was easily accessed and had a nice view of the campground.  However, as we drove through the rest of the RV park area we noted that many of the sites had very awkward back-in approaches that did not provide sufficient area to maneuver a large rig into them.  The lake is gorgeous and has a large, sandy beach.  Would love to spend more time there to explore the park further.  There are numerous tent sites, some with electric, that appear to be large and fairly level.

This is a small campground with about half the sites being rustic electric back-in sites and the other being rustic walk-to tent sites. We stayed in the walk-to section. A lot of them are labeled "waterfront" by the park site but ours did not live up to that criteria so be aware of that. We were hoping to be truly stream-side but were not that near to it. The bathrooms were modern and clean. The park is extremely quiet and peaceful, probably one of the most remote PA state parks we've been to. The camper side was pretty full while we were the only ones on the walk-to side. We enjoyed walking the roads and little trails around the campground and seeing the old stone fireplaces/chimneys. There was  a dog park area on the walk-to side which was nice. We liked it here.

We arrived after dark, way past the 3pm check-in time, but didn't have any trouble finding our reserved campsite. There were plenty of signs; everything is well marked. We stayed at site 23, a tent site. Sites 1-30 allow pets. This loop was full. I would recommend booking in advance if you plan on bringing your dogs. Vet records or proof of vaccines weren't required.

The tent sites are paved so you can't hammer stakes into the ground. It was windy so we had to get the gear into tent so we wouldn't get blown away.

The water pump is located right in front of site 23. This was convenient but we also had a lot of visitors. If we stay again we would probably choose a more private site with less foot traffic.

The bathrooms were very clean. However, the closest bathroom didn't have showers. It also only had cold water. The bathhouse with showers was located at the other end of the loop; a little bit of a walk. It had three regular showers and one large handicap accessible shower. The sinks at this one did have hot water.

Check-in the next morning was very quick and easy. I had paid online when I made the reservation so I didn't have to do anything. The park rangers were very friendly.

We drove down to the lake from our site after we finished packing up. The lake was beautiful. There's a beach and swimming area. There's a little viewing area/dock with information on the bald eagles and osprey that live there. They have a little concession stand that sold drinks, French fries and some other snacks. They have a little gift shop with t-shirts for sale.

Overall we enjoyed our stayed. The only complaint we had, and it's a pretty big one, is that there's NO CAMP STORE. No place to buy bags of ice, extra batteries, lighters, or any other supplies that people usually need when camping. And this campground is in the middle of nowhere. There's no Walmart's or grocery stores for several miles. Luckily we were only staying for one night and had what little we needed. If you plan on staying for more than a couple days, make sure you come very prepared! There is a little diner though called Milky Way's that we stopped at for breakfast on the way home, not far from the campground entrance. I give them a thumbs up. Very good food for very cheap.