Best Tent Camping near Natrona Heights, PA

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!

I love this park, and for tent camping, I think this is one of the best. Their tent camping sites are a very good distance from other sites, so you feel much more secluded. Nothing bothers me more than when I have to set up my tent 15 feet away from someone else's that I don't even know. This park does not jam you in like others do, they give you the space you need to enjoy it the best way possible. Love this place!

Went tent camping with my fiancée. Had a great time other than the loud neighbors. Bathrooms were also a bit dirty.

I enjoyed my stay at this park. We had a tent site for the weekend. It was a beautiful area and I really enjoyed exploring. Looking forward to going back soon!

I had the most wonderful time on my first tent camping at Racoon Creek. We made a fire, hiked by the moonlight and swam at the warm lake at night. There were other campers around but we rarely noticed them and only when walking to restrooms at the daylight. I will be back soon

We stayed here overnight on a trip to Pittsburgh. Tent sites were nicely spaced apart, but were often on inclines, like ours. We saw deer and turkeys, so be on the lookout for lots of animals! Bathrooms were fairly clean! Fun hiking to mineral springs!

My son and I tent camped here in July to escape the head down in Pittsburgh.  Sits up high in the mountains close to 3000ft elevation.  Park and campground are very small and almost desolate during the week.  There is a main road nearby and you hear industrial trucks rolling by constantly.  There are some great private tent only wooded sites that sit above the main park of the campground so you really feel secluded.

Kooser State Park sits on the border of Forbes State Forest in the Laurel Highlands. It has a mix of camper & tent sites around a central clearing, and offers a few cabins. There is a central bathroom with showers, flush toilets and a sink to wash your dishes.

We stayed in a Ranger Smith Cabin in the upper campground. I give this 3 stars because I'm a state park camper at heart: I prefer more room between sites,  more relaxation and nature when camping. But your kids will love it here: two pools, splashgrounds, fire truck rides, arcades, meeting Yogi and friends, nightly movies...the list goes on. Be prepared for an endless parade of golf carts during your stay. We were underwhelmed by the expensive cabin as it had dorm room furniture and uncomfortable beds. The walk-in tent sites were in a hilly area without pavilions, but reservable tent sites in the lower campground had pavilions and more level ground. This is a great base camp for exploring area attractions in the Laurel Highlands such as Idlewild,  Fort Necessity and the beautiful Ohiopyle State Park. If you go to Idlewild, then stop by Gino's pizza in Ligonier; order the sampler pizza (includes pierogi,  taco, white and margherita)--you won't be disappointed.

Older type bathhouses but very clean, stainless steel fixtures. The campground is in two areas but split into about 5 loops. A lot are paved with electric sites, a couple loops are I paved roads and mostly tent sites but very nice! Pretty peaceful place, well patrolled by park rangers!water access in all loops. Outside of camping area are picnic areas and a lovely swimming beach, nice electric only fishing lake!

Plenty to do with it’s ups and downs. Has a pool but it isn’t the cleanest and with small children you have to be within arms reach of them. Fine for one not so much with two. For 37 dollars a night you have check in at 3 and have to be checked out by 12. 5 dollars per hour before or after those times. The saving grace to this place is the back primitive tent site and the private beach.

The campground is small but it is quiet and clean. Route 31 is nearby but it wasn’t all that noticeable. There was a nice playground area for kids and some nice overflow tent sites nearby. Several pull thru sites are available along with some nice sites near the creek. My only complaint is that many of the sites are not level at all and take some serious work to get your rig level. The campground is close to many places in the Laurel Highlands which makes it convenient. Firewood is available 24/7 for $5 a bundle.

We visited this campground 3 years ago and had an absolute blast!! We ended with a very private tent site with no amenities but around the corner from a pavilion with an outside washing station and flush toilets. There were multiple bathhouses in the upper and lower camp. This is a great RESORT type location for families with store, restaurant, pools, slides, mini golf, picnic basket wagon rides, yogi bear fire truck rides, and snowless snow tubing! We stayed for 4 days and 3 nights! I encouraged everyone from PA to book a few nights there with their kids/grandkids! My children still talk about the fun we had!!

Loved this campsite. I was the only tent site in a 3 tent space so I had my privacy as I was the only one booked. They had beautiful hiking trails in the area that I did not have to drive. The kids from the camp grounds came to play on the playground while I was in and out. Only thing that was disappointing was the fact it was on a highway and all night I could hear the trucks driving. Over all it was beautiful just not the peaceful getaway from trafic you need. Major plus for the showers though. I want to add the call center after 5, help was so amazing and she took care of me so well after I was having a rough time getting there. Very genuine people.

My girlfriend and I stayed at tent site 40 Friday August 9th and Saturday August 10th. Most of the sites were pretty private and ours was probably the most private and had a lot of space since we were on the very end of the road / cul-de-sac. I would definitely recommend this site if you like privacy but it is a longer walk to the bath house but we didn't mind that at all. The only thing I didn't like about the campground is that there is no wash tub / sink to wash your dishes which made clean up a little more of a chore. Other than that the staff were very friendly and it is overall a great campground.

In the past 5 years, I've made 13 trips to Raccoon Creek State Park and spent 16 nights in a tent there. It is my local state park and I can tell you lots about it.

The D loop is really great tent camping at Raccoon Creek State Park. It's tents only, no RVs. So it gets a really fun, party vibe on Saturday nights during the summer. There's a trail right to the beach near the D loop, so it's a great place for families to go with pets. The sites are big, wooded, and all close to the bathroom.

The C loop, however, doesn't take pets (which stinks). When we have our dogs with us, we gravitate towards the C loop. It's fine, but it's not as fun as the D loop.

When we don't make a reservation and we have our dog, we end up in the F loop. It's not our preference (but--let's be clear--even the worst site in the F loop is better than NO trip!).

Nice little park& campground. Very Clean, cozy and quiet, except for the road noise. Right off Route 31, minutes from I-76 makes it a very convenient place to stop along your travels. Bathrooms are clean, grounds very well kept. The park area is lovely, but the lake is currently very low. Trout stocked but I wouldn’t count on fishing here right now. Short walking trail along a creek. Very lovely cabins and cabin areas and tent sites. RV sites are small but adequate and most are pull though. Honestly some of the best attention and details we’ve seen at a state park. We would stay again.  We stayed at site 12E and site 1E.  Be aware that site 1E is not very level on pull through gravel surface.

Went to Raccoon Creek State Park to camp for Labor Day weekend. We booked campsite F1 since we had 2 dogs and the F loop allowed dogs. This site was great! We could fit two tents and it was nice and secluded from the other sites. I recommend booking a site that is on the outside of the “loops” if you want some seclusion. The inner loop sites are right on top of each other, good for Rvs, not so much for tent camping. The bathrooms were a little bit of a hike, the next loop over, but they where clean and had flush toilets and running water along with a shower and sinks to wash dishes. There was a place to get water across from this site which was very convenient . The dog walking trails weren’t bad, but they where very up and down hill, at points steep and rocky. The spring was a really cool hike (right off the park office parking lot.) Down by the beach they had a place to buy wood, only $5 a bundle and the beach place also sells bags of ice. Overall a really good family campground!

I have been to Raccoon Creek many times as it is one of the closest camping places to the Pittsburgh metro area.  The park it self is large, has over 40 miles of trails, a fantastic backpacking loop setup for beginners, and a nice lake for swimming, fishing, ect.  I would give the park as a whole a 5/5 but for tent camping the campground is mediocre.  It is a really large campground with lots of adjoining loops.  We stayed in the tent loop at the back of the campground.  The area is not wooded at all and most sites look right into the sites next to them.  If you are like me and crave privacy, avoid.  The bathroom was rather dirty also.  There is a trail that leads down from the tent loop to the beach which is cool but very very steep (not for too young or old).  Overall, if you are looking to stay in a camp in this park I'd suggest doing the backpacking loop instead.  Grab your permit at the park office, park at the heritage trail lot in the southern end of the park and hike to the Pioneer shelter.  Sites 4 and 5 are amazing.  Note though that the Pioneer site does not have water so you will need to filter water from a stream on the way, though there are many opportunities.  The Sioux site is overgrown and is not worth backpacking to, though it does have a water pump and is close to the park office.