Best Cabin Camping near Claysburg, PA

This campground is located on the east side of Pennsylvania and offers a beautiful view of Lake Raystown. The campground has over 200 sites to choose from, and many of them are right on the water. There are also plenty of activities to keep you busy, including swimming, fishing, kayaking, and canoeing and my favorite thing to do Mt Biking. Raystown lake is also a really nice boating lake. The lake is a natural beauty with so many coves and inlets for the biggest of boats to enjoy. They do have a camping resort on the other side of the lake which makes it nice for anyone looking for rustic cabins or cabin rentals. 

 There are 50 miles of single track mountain biking at this campground. They are some of the best flow trails on the East coast and are the# 1 trail system in Pennsylvania. This is a family friendly campground and has so much to offer. There are volleyball nets, playgrounds, kayak and paddleboard rentals. The kids took a kayak over to an island and spent the afternoon cliff jumping with a 10 ft and 25 ft cliff to launch off of. The sites here are some of the nicest we have ever seen. They are all big and private with stunning views of Raystown Lake. There are steps down from your camper to a pad with a fire pit and area for a tent. You are literally 10 feet away from the water as you enjoy a sunset while sitting around the fire. The lake is a great place to kayak, paddleboard, or just relax and enjoy the view. We love coming here and spending our weekends on the lake. All tent sites are equipped with picnic tables and most sites are electric. looking for other epic reviews check out the top ten campgrounds in PA https://www.longdaycampingco.com/post/10-best-campsites-in-pennsylvania-gorgeous-sites-to-enjoy-the-outdoors

This place is awesome! Our site (15) was a spacious pull through with great view of the mountain through the fall foliage! Our friends were in the site next to us (17) which was also nice and there was a wide walking path between them. Family also stayed in one of the rental cabins (21). Sites are spaced far apart in the section we were in with lots of foliage for privacy. There is walking path behind the loop along the lake that goes to the beach area and camp store. Easy access to the bath house with several paths off the loop. I recommend the pull through sites for their size and privacy but most sites looked great. The cabin was cute. It had a queen bed, bunk beds, side table and front porch with a couple windows. Picnic tables are large and fire pits were placed perfectly for our site.

UPDATED reviews for rustic and modern cabins.

March 2020, Modern Cabins: Before COVID-19 hit PA we stayed in one of the modern cabins. Wow...everything was seemingly quite new and it was extremely comfortable. Nice bathrooms, nice kitchen, etc. One of the best things about Black Mo is how isolated it feels and it's never crowded in the off-months. The Moss Hanne is still a thrilling trail even in the winter months and there's been a lot of beaver activity since we last visited including a very impressive dam. 

October 2019, Rustic Cabins: We stayed in one of the rustic cabins on a cold October weekend. Very charming small cabins with robust woodstoves. Although we probably could have been more careful, there were unfortunately some very bothersome mice who kept us awake each night...and were seemingly not very afraid of us! The construction of the rustic cabins is such that there probably isn't much you can do about mice getting in. If this doesn't bother you, these cabins are really cute and cozy.

July 2019, Tent Camping: As far as camping goes, the loop area is a bit cramped for my taste, but if that doesn't bother you it's fine. Clean bathhouse and convenient outdoor sink for washing up after dinner. Overall one of the best PA parks and well maintained.

I really have to address some of these other reviews, though:

"Water was thick with weeds& lilies but ok nonetheless." Wow! Pitcher plants, sundews and water lilies are not "weeds." They are unique to bog environments and don't grow in other places. The vegetation in the lake is what makes Black Mo black, so picturesque and unlike other PA parks!

"The overall area has nothing to do. And I mean NOTHING. We drove 45 minutes to Altoona to see the famous Horseshoe Curve but there’s literally nothing else around for miles and miles. Not even an ice cream stand, or not one we could find. And, since there’s no cell service, we couldn’t figure out any options either." Like many state parks in this part of the world there is no cell service, so you need to bring a real map (Purple Lizard) and look a few things up on the internet ahead of time. Black Mo is literally ten minutes from Philipsburg where there is surely an ice cream stand, 25 minutes from State College, which has tons of touristy offerings…I could go on but really this is laughable.

General: 300+ site campground with a mix of FHU, 30 and 50-amp electric, and non-electric tent sites, yurts, and cabins. Select loops allow pets but not all do. 

Site Quality: Varies by type and location within the park. I heeded the advice of other reviewers warning that many sites were not level and did not reserve ahead of time. A Monday in mid-October had many open sites. Most of the non-electric sites were decidedly not level but many of the FHU and electric sites were fairly level, and we did not have a problem finding one. Some sites have gravel pads that were level and vary in length from 20’ to 115’ Most of the non-electric sites had no definable pads at all and as mentioned, were not level. Some roads in the campground were paved but a few were not. 

Bath/Shower House: was clean. Did not use the shower. 

Activities: A somewhat dated playground was located in the A Loop. A lake and beach are a short distance from the campground. We did see a boat launch and what appeared to be kayak rentals, but we were there out of season. 

As remote as the campground feels, there was a surprising amount of road noise. This was just an overnight stay for us. We’ve been to many stellar Pennsylvania state park campgrounds, but this one was not as good as many others.