Best Campgrounds near Mercersburg, PA

I just returned from a 2-night tent camping solo trip with my dog.  This was my first time at Rocky Gap and I found some strong pros and cons.

Pros

Large camp sites, with decent space for tents. The descriptions on the State Park site seem very accurate. Mid week (Sunday and Monday nights) the campground was less than a third full, and the folks who were there were spread out so it felt more spacious than it was. There are some great trails for hiking, and the dog beach was perfect. You can rent kayaks, canoes, and SUPs, or bring your own for no launch fee.

Cons

It was very noisy at night due to traffic on I-68 and even the campground road, which despite a 15 mph posting has no speed bumps and seems to have a poplar straightaway for cars with loud mufflers who like to open it up. I don't know if the I68 traffic just sounds louder at night because everything else is quiet, or if the sound carries farther at night. But sleeping my tent, I was woken up many times by the sound of trucks down shifting and braking.

Another noise -- during the day I heard what sounded like the world's largest circular saw, only to discover that there is a large saw mill about 2 miles north. Fortunately that noise stopped by about 6 pm.

And finally, although there were only a few occupied sites in Dogwood loop, some were with very large groups with either no self awareness or no consideration for others. No fault of the park, and people did basically follow quiet hours, but 8:30am blasting music, and hooping and hollering into the night. Just. know that it is a popular park for large groups.

Based on other reviews here saying that it was quiet, I'm willing to give it another try in a different loop. Or, not in a tent but in a camper van which is my other option.

I hate leaving bad reviews, but I think people should be aware of this campsite. First thing we noticed when we arrived at the campsite was that it was very tight. We had a pull through campsite, but on the camp side it was all dirt and grass that look like it hadn’t been mowed in over two weeks. With the heat and humidity we have been having for the last couple weeks, I knew this was gonna be a buggy site. Then the rains came and everything turned into mud. We had a rug laid down, but the mud and water worked its way through that. We couldn’t enter the RV without tracking mode through it. On days it was raining we spent a lot of time in the camper. That’s when we discovered another issue. On almost all occasions there was no Internet. We had a strong Wi-Fi signal, but no Internet. Upon talking to some of our neighbors who frequented this campsite, they said they had never seen it this bad. The other thing too, was that there was hardly any trash receptacles. Ending this on a good note, we loved how close it was to historical Harpers Ferry, and how convenient it was to be able to walk to the visitor center and catch a ferry. It really is a beautiful area. I would hope that the management of this KOA would address these issues, because I’m sure I’m not gonna be the only one to leave a negative review about this campground.

We stayed in cabin 170 in Fir loop and the site was incredibly spacious, heavily shaded, close to the bath house, path to the beach, and well distanced from other sites. There are only 2 cabins on this loop and this one is the best positioned. The bath house was kept very clean, even though the campground was full. We brought paddle boards and the lake was perfect for paddle boarding. Note that you cannot swim anywhere outside of the roped swim areas. It was a hot day and we found a great shallow area and decided to take a dip and the lifeguards came out on boat and kindly told us we could not swim. We will definitely be back here to camp again soon.

Terrible experience. Very, very noisy. So loud couldn't sleep. Just wanted to rest for a night. Was awakened by extremely rude staff when I just wanted to rest. All those bad reviews are true. Never had such a bad experience. As I was filling the fresh water for travel it overflowed and revealed the huge amount of septic black water which really smelled. Looked pretty but that revealed their true nature, turd with a ribbon on it. The staff was so rude and really had a mean demeanor, just as other reviews have stated. I will never stay there and though I usually only give good reviews, I felt compelled to warn others. This place has park nazis in golf carts that harass people. I saw it happen to others who cut their stay short. No wonder the park was almost empty.