Best Cabin Camping near Mercer, PA

I told my wife that this was the rotten place that we stayed at before. She insisted that was somewhere else but there we were, all the people complaining about the nasty manager lady as we are swimming by AND the creepy, chubby manager dude with the grey goatee, ogling the little girls a little too long. Why are those people still there?? All she does is sit outside the office and smoke cigarettes and he creeps around. Everyone hates them and will smile to their faces but they're horrible!

Pros: paved roads, mostly clean bathrooms and two swimming pools. Cons: Teeny, tiny sites. Bingo hall bathrooms are gross. Awful, rotten egg smelling water. The beds in the cabin rentals are rock hard. Horrible WiFi. Good luck if you’re there and the electric cuts out. Very few activities (which you will also hear about"there used to be so many activities" "Lisa never has any activities any more") Good grief, the people are unhappy but I guess, too cheap to move on to a better place? The entire staff complains about them constantly, especially Rhonda in the office. I just came in to buy ice, lady, I don't need to hear about much you hate your boss!

I would suggest you keep looking rather than tolerate this toxic place and all the unhappy seasonal people and employees. Save your money and vacation time for a nice place with decent management.

Here's what's great about this campground situated at an easy drive from major cities like Columbus and Cleveland...its scenic, a fully loaded campground with bathhouses, parks, hiking paths, swimming resivoir with boat rental...we highly recommend renting a pontoon for the day and hanging out in the resivoir for swimming and lounging! It's both relaxing and nice to get away from the beach crowd!

Moraine State Park is beautiful. It offers many camping styles including Group Tenting, Adirondack shelters for backpacking, and Cabins.

• Group Tenting
• Cabins
• Kayaking/Canoeing
• Motor boating 15hp or less
• Sailboats
• Bike Trail
• Great Fishing Spots
• Swimming Area
• Snowmobile Trail

I stayed in a cabin with a few friends. It was a great area with a lot to do around it!

We've stayed in cabins, yurts, tents, and our camper. Always up kept and very clean. Have to try out there Halloween production.

We spent the weekend at one of the cabins. We had a great time. They seem to have a lot of seasonal people at this campground. It is close to Moraine State Park.

This place is great if you want activities for the kids (Has a pool, arcade, etc) but if you want some privacy in the great outdoors this definitely isn’t the place (campsites are in open area extremely close to the cabins) It feels more like camping in a little neighborhood than at a campsite. That being said, we still enjoyed our stay. Staff was extremely friendly and there’s a cute mini golf/ice cream place down the road.

"Camping is prohibited in the park." (That is directly off the DCNR website.)

I am not reviewing Moraine State Park (which is awesome). I am reviewing the CAMPING options at Moraine State Park. Which brings me back to the DNCR website. It says "No Camping" and "Camping is prohibited in the park. Private campgrounds nearby offer camping."

It DOES list cabins, group tenting, and a backpacking shelter, which is available by reservation only.

But this park is not where somebody looking for CAMPING would want to be.

The Linesville Campground is a mid-sized state park campground with level, wooded sites, right on the Pymantuning Lake. A short walk to the marina which hires boats and sells snacks& fuel. There is a campground fish cleaning station with complimentary fridges/freezers. 

The amenities are well kept with plenty of space, located in the center of the park. There is also a laundry. They accommodate tents, RV’s and have cabins also. RV dump station and water fill up conveniently located in the center of the grounds. 

The township of Linesville is just 5min drive from the park entrance. Great weekend escape from Pittsburgh. They welcome furry friends!

We stopped at this koa on our way home from a friends private camp property in Mercer county. They permit non guests to utilize the dump site at a small fee $20 (during non peak times). Convenient location off of route 80. The grounds are pretty with tall trees and plenty of amenities for families. Some sites have concrete patios and furniture provided. There is a playground, inground pool, and a store. We plan to visit and stay sometime over the summer.

Breakneck is a private campground on the edge of the McConnell’s Mill State Park. They offer RV sites, tent camping and cabins. The tent camping is either grassy, flat sites or on an elevated timber platform overlooking a gorge. They also offer walk-in tent sites down by the creek which are beautiful. 

We were lucky enough to be able to to camp down by the stream. There are designated fireplaces. It is quite a walk up the hill to the campground amenities, but worth it to feel secluded down by the creek. From our campsite we walked along the creek into McConnells Mill State Park and joined the covered bridge trail. Approx. 30min walk along the creek down into McConnells Mill State Park. 

The campground sells firewood and has great amenities. Note: there is no phone reception at the tent sites by the creek. They welcome fury friends!

Beautiful area for a get away in Ohio. The beach is never too packed. You can take kayaks out and venture off around the shores.

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.

Good location for outdoor and city experiences, along with a relaxing getaway. Workers and permanent campers are very friendly with all the amenities necessary on site, including nice dog park. A small campground that didn’t have many kids for ours to play with during our visit. In addition, hill keeps permanent campers separate from temporary campers.

My family has camped at West Branch for years, and it makes for a great, quick getaway. Summers can be very crowded, it's always best after the kids go back to school and it cools off a bit. Great swimming, and Nelson Ledges is not to be missed!

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.

We’ve tent camped here several yrs. Haven’t Back our camper in yet but we re waiting for an opening . It’s booked up for a reason . Shower houses are nice and flow hot water when needed. Grounds are clean and well maintained. Beach is small yet clean and nice . Sites are shaded and nice size . Some larger than others. We fished w little luck around boat ramp and shoreline around there . Overall great family get away .

Moraine is a great park, but camping here is limited. As I understand it, this park was created so that Pittsburghers would have a place to go sailing--so camping has never been its primary draw. But it's a scenic park that has a beautiful, meandering lake with lots of coves and estuaries. There are bike trails and hiking trails all throughout, plus a bike rental shop, and two swimming beaches. The North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) has an Adirondack shelter and small tenting area within the park that's reserved for backpackers. But what's to say you're not just a one-day backpacker, doing a small portion of the trail, who needs a place to spend the night? You could hike into the backpacking campground known as the Link Road Overnight Shelter and set up your tent. It would have to be primitive camping; there are no facilities of any kind. The only other way to camp at Moraine is to reserve one of the two rustic group tenting areas--which are actually very pleasant despite the absence of showers. In order to see if your group qualifies to use the group tenting area, go to this website.

We really enjoyed camping at Lake Pymatuning. We had site J522, which is tucked back in a quiet loop. We camped for the first time in our (new to us) pop-up camper. The site was not level, but we were able to get the tent trailer level without too much effort. Bringing our bikes was a blast as we were able to bike down to the beach for swimming and we took our bikes to Meadville to do the Ernst bike trail (recommended - a paved, flat, easy 6.3 mile cycling trail through the woods and along the river). 

Flush toilets and hot showers are available in the bath houses. The showers do not have a changing area within the shower unit or an area to store your towel/clothes within the shower unit. There is a central dressing room with towel hooks and 4-5 showers connected to the central dressing room. This was not a problem when I took a shower, as I was the only one using the area, but could be problematic if it was full and there was no place to set items you want to keep dry. 

Fantastic campground for biking, swimming, boating, and having a peaceful getaway.

West Branch is one of the best-known family campgrounds in NE Ohio. And it's not hard to understand why. Full amenities, clean facilities, and a nice lake round out the picture of a great place to get some family R&R.

Here's what you can expect:

1. It's Busy. 

Like, really busy. Be sure to book early as spots fill up often. Sites are fairly close to each other, but most people seem respectful of space and limits. 

2. It's Accessible.

West Branch is a quick drive from Akron, Canton, Cleveland, and Youngstown - hence the draw. if you live anywhere close, there's no reason NOT to check this place out!  

3. It's Fun (but a bit loud) 

If you're looking for quiet, West Branch might not be the place for you. Since the lake has not real HP limits, you'll hear boats motoring quite a bit throughout the day. 

4. It's got everything :) 

Seriously. There's nothing else you could want. Hiking trails, swimming, a fully stocked office for the essentials you forgot. 

Quick tip: Bring swimsuits. There are plenty of places to swim in the well-kept beaches or off a boat. West Branch is a great family getaway for summer swimming!

We recently stayed at this campsite with our 3 very young kids and dog. What amazing views from this location! It actually does really sit at the mountain top and gives you pretty good views of the valleys and surrounding areas from any of the rim campsites. Fall was in full effect and it was AMAZINGLY beautiful!! I will also say, the host Gary and his family, who live in a cabin house right on property, are PHENOMENAL hosts! They will pretty much help you with ANYTHING you need at any time! They called me and texted me in advance to remind me us of our reservation and also to find out if we were coming in late! We arrived at 9 PM, and sure enough he was there ready with his little ranger golf cart to escort us to our site!

The ONLY downsides at this site (which are really not downsides for anyone else without kids) are:

1. There is no playground or activities for children. I understand they have blue grass bands that come and play in the warmer weather and a large campsite fire, but since we were there at the beginning of Fall weather, there weren't any scheduled bands or fires. They do however have a very very large open field right smack dab in the middle of the campground for any kind of activities you can come up with if you brought those activities with you (i.e. soccer, kite flying, baseball, etc..)

2. There are no full-hookup sites…..yet! They are currently working on having full-hookup sites throughout the campsite. In the meantime, and ONLY if you stay for a week, they give you the option of having a mobile pump-out come to your rig to pump you out for and additional $30 only on Wednesdays. We stayed for a week and left on a Wednesday, so we chose to drive to the dump station on our way out (100 yards away from our site) and save the $30. **Side note: the dump station has a fixed dump hose that all you have to do is pull up and connect to it. They also have a water hose with a sprayer if needed to wash anything down, or even to disconnect the sprayer and hook the hose up to your black tank flush if you have one.

They do provide all other hookups for free that are found at each campsite (i.e fresh water hose for city water, 30 amp cable already connected to the pedestal, and **grey water hookup so you don't have to unpack and use your own!) **Since they sit atop the mountain, the grey water hookup is a long hose that has an adapter which hooks up to your black and grey tank outlet and it runs down the hillside of the mountain into the grassy area. This means that unless you are a very active user of the commode (or have 3 kids like us), your black tank should not need to be flushed for 1-2 weeks at a time! Otherwise, you can use your shower and faucets as if you were connected to a full hook-up site! Pretty neat!**

All in all, the sites are pretty spread out and spacious, so you have pretty decent privacy ( if you keep your shades down!). We will be definitely be going back any time we are looking to go to Pittsburgh area for some fun. This place was great!