Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Austin, PA

This is a big park. We just reserved one night as as an overnight stop after a 10 hr day of driving. We travel with a dog so our only choice for an electric site was on the Sycamore loop. The Oak loop does not allow pets. Sites we nicely laid out with level gravel and a fire ring. Looks like there lots to do around the park, especially for families.

This is my favorite campground so far in PA.

For the most part, there isn’t a bad site (although we didn’t see any of the walk up sites, and I recommend not booking a site immediately next to the bathrooms since the ones without showers are more like “outhouse” toilets and can stink). The sites are private, flat, surrounded by trees, and have plenty of space. The ground is quite rocky though, so bring plenty of heavy duty tent steaks.

Highlights include: the reservoir (beautiful and clean! You can swim with your dog from the access points at the campground), quiet, friendly staff (a kind older gentleman helped us jump my car and refused to take any money as a thank you), updated/very clean showers, not buggy, reception is great (we have Verizon), plenty of room to social distance, and 2 trading posts about 1 mile away with milk, eggs, basic supplies, etc.

Cons: the bathrooms without showers aren’t flush toilets, and there is no campground office so you must see the hosts for any issues.

Things to do nearby (last 5 pictures): the Kinzua Skywalk Bridge free- an old train bridge that was partially destroyed by a tornado in the early 2000’s. The bridge is handicap/stroller accessible, pets are allowed. There is a small indoor museum & gift shop, and a hiking trail along the wreckage. If you hike, wear good sneakers, the path is rocky and VERY steep. The hiking path is not recommended for small children). Bathrooms on site.

The Kinzua Dam free - beautiful. Handicap/stroller accessible, pets permitted. Bathrooms were closed due to social distancing.

Rimmrock overlook free- just a small distance from the parking lot. NOT stroller/handicap accessible, and there are rock steps, however we saw numerous families with small children go through the path with no issues. Pets permitted. Bathrooms on site.

Nearby towns of Kane and Ridgway looked cute, but we didn’t spend time there due to our efforts to social distance.

This is one of our favorite campgrounds. Very neat & clean. Full hookup sites & pet friendly. Close to dam where the fish are plentiful. Nice level sites.

Only knock is this section of the campground is not for pet owners, but it’s not completely obvious when making a reservation. So, we stayed with our pups and didn’t get in trouble but felt weird for breaking the rules that we didn’t know about before arriving 🤷‍♂️

We are a small family campground located in the Allegheny Forest, 6 miles from the Kinzua Sky Walk. Fishing & boating is located off route 59. Call ahead for reservations we have 8 open sites for visitors and they full fast. See our website for the list of planned actives. We are pet friendly.

Nice clean and quiet campground. The address online took us to the ranger station. Turn left BEFORE bridge. Couldn’t see sign from the road. The section we were in was “no pets allowed”. My kids loved the beach, swimming was not deep. Beach was big with adjacent playground. Lots of pavilions all over. The area was a little crowded for my liking.

We stayed at site 8 which is creekside. It was a large, beautiful site and the sound of the burbling water lulled us to sleep every night. The bathrooms and showers are very clean and modern (tiled, not concrete block for a change). The only downside to the area is the quantity of timber rattle snakes that we encountered, one at our site and one in the woods nearby. Something to keep in mind if you have pets or small children.

Real nice park that can get pretty busy on weekends. We arrived on a Thursday and, in advance, reserved one of the few remaining sites. Never used their facilities, but they looked nice. Electric only at our site. Both ATT & Verizon signals weren't bad. Wouldn't try to watch a movie or stream anything though. For the most part the sites were pretty level. Most pretty shaded, and there is also a pet section as well as a full hookup area. The full hookup, as normal are full sun for big rigs.

The campground at Cherry Springs State Park has 30 sites and vault toilet restrooms. Pets are not permitted.

But don’t go for the camping. Cherry Springs State Park is an International Dark Sky Park and measures a 2 on the Bortle dark-sky scale. Go for the night skies - to see the stars and the Milky Way.

There are nearby state parks with daytime activities (try Lyman Run State Park for the swimming beach, hiking, and ATV trails).

Helpful Tips:

• Astronomy field is only for serious amateur astronomers and must be reserved (observe from the public viewing area behind the campground)
• Use red light even in the campground (free red cellophane available near the amphitheater)
• Site 26 is the best for unobscured night sky viewing
• Dress warmly (evenings are very cold, even in the summer)
• Do not expect cell service (even within an hour driving radius)
• Be prepared (nearest city of Williamsport is an hour away; firewood may be available at Lyman Run State Park concession stand)

General: 73-site campground; most have electric hookups, and some are FHU. Pets are only permitted at selected sites. There are also 20 (13 rustic and 6 modern) cabins. Cell service is extremely limited to non-existent (Verizon). 

Site Quality: Pads are gravel and most appeared to be level. Site 70 was at the end of the loop which is why we picked it. A picnic table, fire ring, and lantern hook complete each site. 

Bathhouse: As has been our experience in all PA state parks, the bathhouse was pristine, and the shower (for no additional cost) was clean with plentiful hot water and was very much appreciated. 

Activities/Amenities: Coin-operated laundry. A playground is in the campground and there is an additional one at the swimming beach. The swimming beach is open from mid-May to mid-September, from 8 am– sunset. Electric motorboats are permitted on Moshannon Lake. Boat rentals are available in season. Permits are required. 24 miles of hiking trails, including two trails directly from the campground to the lake. In the summer, there is a camper store/concession stand. Hunting is allowed in season. There are 4.3 miles of mountain biking trails. 

I used to think Oregon State Parks were the best, but Pennsylvania State Parks have them beat by a mile. We have yet to be disappointed by the amenities(especially the clean bathrooms) offered at the half-dozen state parks we have visited so far.

We had a great four-night stay in Loop C at Cain Hollow in late July/early August. Our site was wide and long. We had electric and we close to a water pump so we could fill up our camper. The campground provides great metal locking bear prevention boxes at each site for your trash and cooler. So awesome! While we have visited this park in the past, we found the new bath house at Quaker Lake and new boat rental feature at that lake nice. However, $18 for an hour boat rental seemed high.

Adults and Children alike will love the park office / Wildlife Center at Sinnemahoning State Park. Learn about this buildings green construction (LEED)geo thermal heat, rain water harvesting system, recycled materials and more! Step inside to view elk bear birds and other wildlife! Learn about the building of the dam and the early days of the CCC camps. If you can get the children out of the office or bring yourself to leave ... make a souvenir penny on your way out before walking across the parking lot and around the corner to visit the arch tree. This park is a long narrow park with a road running through it that is perfect for a bike ride or stroll. On one end is a wildlife viewing area, the other end offers great fishing and a boat launch. Between is a picnic day use area and a 35 site campground with a dump station, a modern restroom with flush toilets and showers. The restrooms and some campsites are ADA accessible. Electric hookups are available and each pet friendly camp site has its own picnic table, lantern hold and fire ring. Elk, eagles deer and many other varieties of wild life can be seen here on a regular basis! There is much to explore here during any season and even on a rainy day the kids will have the opportunity to learn about the world around them! 5 stars Sinnemahoning! What a treasure in the PA Wilds!

Many consider Patterson State Park an over flow Park for when the famous “Dark Skies” Cherry Springs State Park or the large Lyman Run State Park with its lake for swimming, boating and fishing gets full. Indeed, many who couldn’t get a reservation at either of these larger state parks have ended up at this first come, first serve rustic campground. This is how I discovered the often overlooked beauty of this little park. First the location of this park makes it easy to take advantage of the amenities of the two nearby parks and it’s only a hop skip and a jump from mini golf and a newly installed zip line in Sweden Valley, Pa. If Hiking is your thing, the STS trail system runs right through it. On one side of the road (they must allow horse back riding on that section of the trail as we saw trailers of horses pull in to trail ride). There are two pavilions, one with a fire place . There is one rustic toilet. This is rustic camping, no electric, a pump for water but it is also pet friendly and has cell service. One of the best features and why we will definitely be back is that at any given time you may have the whole park to yourself. If you are camping with children this can be a plus! They will have plenty of room to play, and it is a poke-stop. It has a take it with you waste management plan that really helped us all think differently about packaging and some of the choices we make. I give this little park 5 yes 5 gold stars. But don’t tell anybody... let’s keep this little gem a secret between us!

Campground Review:

This is our second trip to Parker Dam State Park.   It is a beautiful PA state park.   It is quiet and peaceful.   The leaves were beginning to change.  This trip was chilly at night, but gorgeous weather during the day.  Bathroom/shower houses are a bit outdated, but clean.  We had a full hook up site.  They have pet loops as well.  If you want to stay in September, book early.  Limited cell service.   Spent time driving to Benezette - about 30 minute trip - to see the Elk.   Great experience seeing approximately 100 elk.  Several very large bulls.   Would recommend the campground and the trip to Benezette to everyone. 

Product Review: 

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, we get products to test from time to time- today we tested the Banner & Oak Women's Hoodie. https://bannerandoak.com/collections/hoodies/products/freedom-heathered-black I so apologize because we were so busy watching the elk in Benezette, that we completely forgot to take photos of the product.  This hoodie is very soft! The sizing is accurate.  While it is not a thick sweatshirt material, it keeps you very comfortably warm.   I prefer the thinner material versus a thick and heavy sweatshirt.   It has become my "go to" hoodie.   Pros:  Lightweight, but very warm.   Con:  The pouch in front is actually 2 small pockets even though it looks like a pouch.   I'm not sure this is really a "con" because it depends on what style you prefer.  At first, I wasn't sure about it, but I am beginning to like it.  Wish the pockets would be a little bigger though.   Overall, I think this is a great lightweight hoodie and worth a purchase!

General: This is a small 28-site campground located on the east rim of the canyon; seven of the sites are electric and six of them are pet-friendly. We reserved site 17 after looking at the site map because it looked like there was a generous amount of separation between this site and the surrounding ones, however, upon arrival, this was not the case. Although some of the sites are generous in size, there is no physical separation between them. Site 1 would, in my opinion, be the best of the non-electric sites for privacy. Sites 6 and 8, while close to the bathhouse, would likely have people walking through your site to get to the bathhouse. Campers have worn a path between these sites to access it. Props to this park for having recycling bins for plastic, glass, and aluminum. While this park is open year-round, the campground is only open from the second Friday in April through the third weekend in October. 

Site Quality: The parking pad is delineated by rocks but not very clearly defined. There is a generously sized picnic table and fire ring to complete the grassy site. 

Bathhouse: Very clean (we have found most Pennsylvania state parks excel in their bathhouse cleanliness). Hot water (definitely appreciated on this cold weekend!) and one handicap accessible shower (but it was too cold while we were there to want to take a shower although it did look inviting). 

Activities: Two hiking trails on the east rim where the campground is located. The Turkey Path was closed about ¾ mile down (by the waterfall) due to storm damage. Although the trail was clearly marked closed at this point, many chose to ignore it and continue on☹. This trail is challenging as it has steep switchbacks down and back up again and it is narrow and slippery but definitely worth doing. The Overlook Trail, while not long (less than a mile), is also challenging with down and uphills. If you don’t want to (or can’t) access these trails, there is an observation platform where you can enjoy great views of the canyon. All of these trails are accessible from the campground. There is also a long multi-use trail for hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing. There is a nice playground accessible from the campground. 

Conclusion: We were here the last weekend the campground was open and while the fall foliage was not experiencing the best year, it was still very beautiful at this park, and we enjoyed the hikes.

The campground is beautifully kept. Bathrooms and sites were nice. Some sites are alittle closer personally esp in the dog area. It was extremely buggy when we went. Our dogs wouldn't come out of the camper because there was no relief. It was the height of rattle snake season. A site near ours and very close to the playground had a rattler under their camper. Alittle too close for comfort. Otherwise, campers, rangers and hosts were nice to deal!

Sites right on the creek! Great for trout fisherman, and those with dogs who love water like ours. Bathrooms were super clean. All the kids seem to love the playgrounds. Staff is awesome and friendly!

$20/night basic site has a picnic table and fire ring. Each loop has. Pit potty on it. Shower facility in the park, very very hot water. Quiet, friendly people. Dog friendly. Bear area..,take note. Some sites have water access.