Best Tent Camping near Holtwood, PA

Recent Tent Reviews near Holtwood, Pennsylvania

803 Reviews of 17 Holtwood Campgrounds

• 

  Reba H.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 4, 2022

  Patapsco Valley State Park-Hilton Area

  Well maintained but fair warnings

  The Hilton area campground is unique because, unlike the Hollofield area of the park, it doesn't allow RVs and its tent sites are non-electric. However, a tiny cabin experience with electricity is available... within the same loop as non-electric tent camping. My non-electric tent campsite was surrounded by brightly lit cabins, even unoccupied all of their porch lights stay on all night. It doesn't make the upper half of the campground ideal for stargazing. The other reviewers are correct that the lower half of the loop is situated lower in the valley which will make any rain you get more difficult, so avoid booking a site at the very bottom. Overall the campground and state park deserve 4 stars because from what I could see tent pads were level, firepits had grill gates, showers were hot, and staff were cleaning and maintaining the grounds everyday. But be safe; prepare detailed offline navigation if you use the trails surrounding the camp. I definitely got lost relying on blazes for what I thought was supposed to be the Charcoal Trail.

• R

  Rachel D.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 30, 2022

  Old Mill Stream Campground

  Ideal for locals

  We love this campground for tent camping. Tent sites are lined up along the water which is great for fishing (especially when you need to stay close to the littles sleeping in the tent). Lots of benches lined up along the water. Each site has a fire pit and picnic table. There is also a playground in the middle of the tent site line, along with a basketball court. It’s not terribly exciting but it serves its purpose.

  Great location on route 30, tons and tons of shopping, restaurants, tourist attractions nearby within a 5 minute drive. Lots of 24 hour places in case there was a middle of the night emergency since the little store closes fairly early, it also opens fairly late.

  Being attached to Dutch wonderland is great too. It’s awesome to not have to drive home after a day of being at an amusement park.

• K

  KENNETH

  Scout

  

  Sep. 1, 2021

  Codorus State Park Campground

  Nice campground for primitive tenting

  Large campground but only 15 sites dedicated to“roughin’ it” tent camping. However, those sites are isolated from the others. The tent sites were in very good condition, spaced well, and fairly private. Most sites have plenty of shade and grassy, though a few are dirt only. Many sites within walking distance from the lake(no swimming) and set up for you to store and launch your kayak or other boat. Water, bathrooms, and showers a little distant but everything clean and in excellent condition. Ice and firewood available on the grounds. There is also a small store but I didn’t see it because it was open for very limited weekend hours only. Otherwise, major grocery stores are only a few minutes’ drive. Definitely going back…!

• N

  Norman A.

  Scout

  

  May. 4, 2024

  Gifford Pinchot State Park Campground

  Nice and quiet.

  We camped in a tent. It was nice and quiet. Lots of birds singing, and owls at night. The bathroom is older, but ok.

• M

  Melissa C.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 15, 2019

  Elizabethtown-Hershey KOA

  Excellent Campground

  We have been here tenting twice, once last year and once this summer. They have upgraded the tent sites since last year, no more primitive sites, all the tent sites are now mulch pad with water and electric. Bathrooms are very clean and modern, but a decent walk from tent sites. The facilities are all lovely, staff in the camp store are kind and helpful. The snack bar is very convenient, breakfasts on the weekends in the summer. Close to lots of great activities and there is lots to do at the campground as well. Highly recommend.

• T

  Terri S.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 9, 2018

  Muddy Run Rec Park - PPL

  Very accommodating!

  we tent camp and the site was booked over the phone and we got there nd the site was wooded and not enough room for our big tent, but they left us change sites and were very nice

• J

  John

  Guide

  

  Jun. 6, 2022

  White Oak Campground

  Good and near Lancaster

  Nice tent camping with plenty of space. Has a pool, too. The campground is clean and showers and restrooms like new and very clean. We liked our stay a lot.

• L

  Lois .

  Guide

  

  Aug. 3, 2019

  Roamers Retreat Campground

  Small but quaint

  Small campground with tent sites that are close together. Cleanly run close to Lancaster shopping and Amish country

• 

  Amy R.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 6, 2020

  Merry Meadows Recreation Farm

  The best!

  Such a wonderful campground. We have visited 5x this year. Wooded sites, open sites, tent sites. All great!

• S

  Sandy E.

  Scout

  

  May. 22, 2018

  Lums Pond State Park Campground

  Nice and quite. 7 mile hiking trail and 8 mile multi purpose trail.

  Sites are full hook up with about 5 tent sites.

  All are pretty much level.

  Close to shopping if needed.

• J

  Jen

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 18, 2022

  White Oak Campground

  Noisy but nice

  The tent sites here are in an open field close to a busy road. The nearby mooing cow - cool. The horse and buggy traffic - super cool. The motor vehicles - so far from cool they can’t even see cool. Other than that, this is a very nice campground with a pool, rec room, and playground. The host was friendly and helpful, and the restrooms and showers were clean and adequate. The RV sites look a bit close together, but the tent sites are spaced more generously. There is a camp store with general items on the premises. Our only negative review is the road noise. And there’s a lot of it.

• A

  Angel L.

  Traveler

  

  Feb. 18, 2020

  French Creek State Park Campground

  Close to the city

  This state park is close to Philly but has some wonderful tent sites. There are also cabins and yurts but they aren’t dog friendly. Lots of nice trails.

• 

  Andrea N.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 22, 2024

  Gifford Pinchot State Park Campground

  Nice campground, needs updating

  The campground had a good feel to it. We had a nice view of the lake. We booked a non electric site for our tent camping. The bath houses need updated though. The only negative I can say is that our site did not have a great spot for the tent except by the parking spot and not down by the fire ring.

• L

  Lee P.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 22, 2019

  Cedar Lake Family Campground

  Amazing campgrounds!

  Everything was on point here! The staff run the place like a resort or a cruise ship. So many activities for kids and adults and a huge family atmosphere with staff and campers! Tent site near the lake is HUGE

• b

  brian R.

  Guide

  

  May. 13, 2021

  Patapsco Valley State Park-Hilton Area

  Camping close to civilization

  We went tent camping with 3 friends. We occupied 2 camp sites. There was a clean bath house with showers. There was plenty of downed trees and limbs for firewood. If you like being close to stores, this is your place. We were 5 minutes from a grocery store and plenty of places to eat.

• L

  Lois .

  Guide

  

  Aug. 3, 2019

  Old Mill Stream Campground

  Family camping close to Dutch Wonderland

  Family cabins available, tent sites are small. Clean parks with a small stream. Next to Dutch Wonderland, showers are nice, laundry facilities available. Enjoyed our time but only because we were going to the park, not a campground to visit if your looking for quiet and isolation.

• 

  MsTrailBlazer 🏔.

  Guide

  

  Mar. 10, 2022

  French Creek State Park Campground

  A great Trip for us.

  I usually Tent Camp so the Cottage was nice. Had a stack of wood waiting for me and light and heat on. The campground is very nice but I’m here in the off Season and so heard it gets crazy. So much to do. We will be back!!! Bathrooms were not the best. But maybe bc it was off Season?

• 

  Anthony

  Traveler

  

  Nov. 22, 2020

  French Creek State Park Campground

  Solo Tenter- winter trip

  Great location for a tent setup, especially since I’m new to winter camping. The site facilities were near my site and I felt comfortably spaced from other sites although that can also be attributed to choosing a corner space. There were a few other campers, mostly RV, but that didn’t detract from the beauty or experience of tent camping. Only wish I could have stayed longer to fish!

  Great spot for a state park!

• D

  Darrien K.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 15, 2018

  Blue Mountain Lakes

  Fun place for kids and adults alike

  There are two fun ponds where you can rent boats, go fishing, and swim. There's walking paths around the lakes. The tent sites are rustic and in the woods by a creek. The RV sites are more exposed. There's a bar and restaurant and also an arcade. Overall great place.

• 

  Dave R.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 30, 2019

  Dutch Cousin Campground

  Great little spot

  Great smaller campground. Staff was friendly, general vibe was low key. A lot of year round sites. Only complaint being not a lot for the kids to do aside from ride bike. We did notice they have really nice tent sites that are all to themselves. Might be back to give those a try at some point

• 

  Megan S.

  Ranger

  

  Mar. 5, 2019

  Gifford Pinchot State Park Campground

  Camping Trip

  Not a bad camping trip. We stayed in a tent site with electric. It was pretty crowded. The sites were pretty close together and covered in rocks but level. It wasn't our favorite spot/site but there were a lot of things to do in the park! The young kids really enjoyed the playground and beach.

• 

  Sara S.

  Legend

  

  Jun. 30, 2016

  French Creek State Park Campground

  camping cabin

  The camping cabins and yurts are somewhat grouped together in the middle of the campground area. We chose to stay in a yurt, as we were on a business trip to Philly, but wanted a couple days outside before heading home. There looked to be some nice tent sites as well. Lots of hiking trails to explore!

• 

  Karen S.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 16, 2021

  Cedar Lake Family Campground

  Hershey camping trip

  Very nice campground nice size sites all have picnic table and fire ring. Lot of full time RV here but many other for people traveling and tent sites also. Nice lake for fishing. Easy check in. Nice little store. About an hour away from Hershey where we went to the RV show. We will come back if we are in the area again

• C

  Colls G.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 8, 2021

  Deer Run Campgrounds

  No COVID-19 Precautions in 2020 and Tight Spaces

  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.

• 

  AdventureStang

  Ranger

  

  Jun. 3, 2021

  Hersheypark Camping Resort

  Nice facilities, clean campground

  We camped right up against the lazy River, the campground was pretty open because it was a weekday. Spots are kind of close, no trees or anything to separate spots. We’re used to that now haha. It had really nice bathrooms and showers. The washers and dryers work awesome, grateful for that! We paid $29 for a no hook up tent site. Very happy with our stay!

• 

  Laura E.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 11, 2022

  Pinch Pond Family Campground & RV Park

  Great sites and friendly staff

  We always stay at this camp ground when we go to the Renaissance Faire. We ussually stay for a long weekend. The sites are a nice size. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. We have friends and family that tent camp so they try and accommodate us all staying together which is nice. Please note there is a driving range so starting around 10am you will here guns go off. Also the highway is close by so you can hear it.

• 

  Dave G.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 30, 2016

  Florys Cottages & Camping

  Decent, if nothing else available

  We needed a tent site for the night in November and discovered that most of the campgrounds in PA were closed for the season. We found Florys, outside of Lititz, PA. It's mostly an RV campground with 5 or 6 tent areas. Each site is small and you're not allowed to build a fire. The only interesting thing about the site, was waking up and looking out 50 yards at the horse stables where horses greeted you from a distance.