Best RV Parks & Resorts near Penn Run, PA

The camping is great! There are showers, RV hook ups, beautiful views and close to Cougar Bob's which is the best place for pizza!

My wife and I stayed for two nights at this campground and enjoyed it greatly.  We happened to be assigned what I believe was the best of the RV sites, a pull through that had full hook up.  We have a 32 foot trailer.  The site we were assigned was easily accessed and had a nice view of the campground.  However, as we drove through the rest of the RV park area we noted that many of the sites had very awkward back-in approaches that did not provide sufficient area to maneuver a large rig into them.  The lake is gorgeous and has a large, sandy beach.  Would love to spend more time there to explore the park further.  There are numerous tent sites, some with electric, that appear to be large and fairly level.

Was a little concerned as I was driving off the highway to get there. However once there, it’s a very nice place. I luckily got a spot on looking over a very dense tree-d valley with a beautiful sunset. Sites 41-48 are the best view at sunset.

I had a full hookup site. Spacing between spots was not cramped at all. The central bathroom, pay shower, and laundry room had ac, a couch and we’re quite clean. The host also sold firewood and ice. There was also a decent size park.

There’s were a good number of long term residents but the campground was kept clean and quiet.

Overall highly recommend.

This campground checks all our boxes. Beautiful scenery, quiet location, spacious campsites, full RV hookups, well-placed fire rings, dog park, nice large bathhouses, polite staff, and Wi-Fi that works. 

This is located about an hour away from my home, so we plan on making this our go-to for quick camping getaways throughout the year. 

Highly recommended. Definitely worth checking out.

Named after the disastrous 1889 Johnstown Flood, this park is at the site of the dam that burst. I need to remember that my definition of a campground is different than what others think of as a campground; this is more of an RV Park. There are ten sites located on a large gravel lot and would definitely not be suitable for tents. There are five sites on either side of the large lot. All have full hook-ups for a very reasonable price ($25 cash or check only). The biggest plus to this campground is the host, Wayne. He immediately greeted us as we arrived and spent time orienting us to the campground and the area, as he is a lifelong resident of the area. He even offered to give us some firewood but when we returned from dinner, it was raining. He showed us that the restrooms were located across the street. Although they were unlocked, when we went to use them at night, we discovered the water had been turned off! It was too late to let Wayne know but he was very surprised to learn this the next morning; he had no idea who had turned the water off. The other downside is the VERY loud coal train which woke us up at just after 5 am. Normally for the restroom issue and loud trains, I would give this two stars but Wayne was very welcoming and apologetic about the restroom issue. This is not our typical type of campground, but we chose it for its proximity to the Johnstown Flood Memorial which is about a mile from the campground. If you are at all interested in the history of Johnstown, this is a must-visit. There is also a museum in the city of Johnstown, about 12 miles away.

We loved it here!! First time here. Very spacious site with full hook up. #76 Next to camp host who were terrific. Deer came up to campsite every morning. Came to do some elk viewing. About 30 -40 min drive to Benezette. Already booked for next year!!

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.

Excellent clean park and easy to get to from Pittsburgh. The campsite and bathrooms were clean when we arrived and when we left. The site numbering is a bit wonky on the door loop so make sure you look at your map before you start driving the loops.

The electrical hookups are not played out well like an expensive RV park with the shared power post on the entrance side of the camper. You may want to have an extension for your power cable.

The park ranger drove through multiple times a day. Overall the dog loop was quite and at night we could hear the coyotes in the distance.

The lake provides a great place to fish and the walking trail has some less used fishing spots if you are willing to walk. We enjoyed the easy walking lake trail with the kids because it was wide and flat.

Kayak rental of $15 for an hour was the cheapest we have seen and allowed us to explore more of the lake.

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!

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.

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!

We have tented and RV'd at Clear Creek. A must do when camping in Pennsylvania. The Clarian river is great for kayaking . Multiple trails off of park. Biking and breweries close by. if you have RV/travel trailer do NOT recommend the non-power sites, they are not level enough, you may really have to bring up the trailer. There were wonderful campsites hosts when we there

Pros; excellent location, great friendly people, clean and stocked bathrooms which include showers. Some sites are separated.. great camp hosts

Cons…a few sites are really close, however not a bad thing here as we got to meet a lot of great people, so for us it was kind of a Pro.

This place was awesome! We were there for one of the first weekends of the season, and we enjoyed every bit of our trip. Not only were the staff super friendly and helpful, but we were lucky enough to get a full-hookup site right on the lake. Quiet, peaceful, everything you want on a spring trip. We really got to witness the owners' kindness when we left for a hiking trip and a sudden windstorm caught our awning and broke one side of it, sending most of the awning itself up on the roof. The owner and his son got right to work fixing it: One got up on the roof and the other worked from the bottom to set it right and wire the broken arm to the side of the trailer so we could drive home. They also folded up our chairs and put everything we had outside in a neat little pile. I've been camping for nearly 40 years and have never witnessed that kind of pro-activeness. It's exactly what you SHOULD(but don't often) get. We will absolutely be back.

Stayed in one of 4 full hookup sites. My complains...WAY too close to the neighbors and VERY little shade. It’s a small campground though. Would probably stay at again. There is road noise, which really didn’t bother me. I liked the good cell coverage since my oldest kid was at home.

Our first time in the Moshannan National Forrest area.  Simply stunning.  Beautiful area.

The campground was adequate.  Bath houses were relatively clean.

My biggest criticism is how close the sites are to each other.  This may only be true of the full hookup sites.  Felt like we were camping with our neighbors.

Quiet in the camp but lots of highway noise at night if the breeze is just right. Nice pull-thrus with full hookups for overnights. Bring a quarter for a 10 minute shower! There's one 1950's bathhouse with a few stalls for hundreds of RV sites but they figure you're self-contained I suppose. A Kildeer must've had a nest nearby & protested about something many times during the night. Beautiful countryside. Much visible respect for those who have served in the US Armed Forces. Only one guest encountered with Trump hat and one Let's Go B... disrespectful sign. We are of keep-it-simple mindset in a new Ford Transit and were the smallest rig there by far.

Love it here! This is a great State Park. The campground has added many full hookup sites and there are also cabins available also. Nice clean sites.The lake has good trout fishing and the beach area offers a nice place for a relaxing summer retreat. Several picnic shelters are for rent if your looking for a place to have your reunion or annual company picnic. There are also boat/kayak rentals, a snack bar/ camp store, and a large modern bath house/changing building down near the beach.Come for the day or stay for the week. Parker Dam State Park offeres something for everyone.

Friendship Village Campground in Bedford, Pa.

Overall, I give the campground 4.5 out of five stars. The campground is nestled on the outskirts of Bedford Pennsylvania and is a very easy location to travel to regardless of your rig size. Check in was extremely easy particularly if you pay for your stay upfront. In that case all you need to do is walk into the office and they will have your packet ready for you and you’re headed to your site within a minute.

The office staff was extremely friendly and you can tell that this is a family owned and religious-based campground. The campground is quite spread out through the property with sites ranging from primitive campsites to full hook up big rig sites.

There are multiple ponds on the property however only one of them can be fished in. No license is required for fishing here. There are also two pools at each end of the campground and they are very well-maintained and have lifeguard supervision. The pool hours or a little later than most campgrounds as they open at 11 through the week and 12 on Sunday. The campground does maintain a policy of having to wear a shirt or a cover-up when not in the pool vicinity but that was not really a big issue. The lower pool is right beside the main office which also includes an arcade and a very nice miniature golf course. The upper pool is larger and also well maintained.

Neither pool has provided seating so you will need to bring your own camp chairs or towels to sit on. They also do not provide umbrellas but allow you to bring your own as long as they are 5 feet wide or less.

There are many playgrounds spread out across the property as well as a jumping pillow and a very well-built gaga ball pit. We stayed at site number 41 for the weekend and have no complaints at all. It’s a little more of a tight packed area versus the rest of the campground but it was in good vicinity to everything.

For tent campers I recommend staying in the area of sites 5-25 as there is a very nice bathhouse very close by. For big rig campers, you need to stay at the upper portion of the campground at sites 200-500. In my opinion, the best sites to stay at if you have kids are sites 145–171 as those are right beside the jumping pillow, playground and gaga ball pit.

The property had a movie showing in their barn on Saturday night (Despicable Me) and they also seem to schedule a lot of live entertainment, mostly Bluegrass. The staff on the property is virtually nonexistent minus trash pickup, lifeguards, and office staff...which I think is not a bad thing. I imagine if we would have needed anything, it would have been easy to find a staff member. If you have any issues with your camping rig, there is a full-service RV dealership basically at the entrance to the campground where you can buy virtually anything that you may require.

I only give this campground 4.5 out of five stars primarily due to its location. There is really nothing to do in Bedford Pennsylvania. You are limited to the activities within the campground unless you travel to another township to find something to do. There are no hiking trails in the campground however it was quite nice to walk through the campground at 5 o’clock every morning. I would absolutely return here again, the rates were very reasonable for the value to get out of it. Even though our campsite was close to the fishing pond, it was a little tighter than the other larger sites and I think I would attempt to stay in those next time.

All in all, this is a great family (non-commercialized) campground and I would recommend staying here.

My family has stayed here so many times throughout my lifetime. We always prefer tent camping, but there are spots for RVs, plus there are cabins and yurts available. It has always been clean, quiet and family-friendly.

There's so much to do here--hiking, swimming, rafting, biking, disc golf, etc. There's also a really nice playground and a great little beach at the entrance of the campground (water is always cold though!) Plus plenty of picnic shelters.

This is also a great place to go year-round for kids interested in learning about nature. There is a nature museum. Seek out Ranger Susanne--she is a really great teacher!

General: Large campground in four loops with a variety of sites ranging from tent-only, 30-amp electric, 50-amp electric, and 30/50-amp electric, along with eight camper cabins. 

Site Quality: All sites are gravel; most appeared level, but some did not. All sites are wooded but some have more separation than others. Our site backed up to the creek but surprisingly, there was not a lot of water flowing in the spring, 

Bath/Shower house: Basic and dated, but reasonably clean. Did not use the shower.

Activities/Amenities: Many include fishing, swimming, boating, bicycling, hiking, geocaching, and hunting. The lake is separate from the campground, but it is less than a mile away and a reasonable distance walk. There is also a playground, volleyball, shuffleboard, and a large picnic area at the end of one of the loops. Bike and boat rentals are available in the summer season; the season was set to open the day after we left so aside from hiking, we could not avail ourselves of any of the activities (and my husband had a foot injury so even hiking was out for us). There are also laundry facilities, but I did not check these out. 

We were surprised that just a few days before Memorial Day, only a handful of sites were occupied. We’ve been very impressed by the pristine conditions of many Pennsylvania state parks, but this one had a more rustic feel and had not been modernized. Fleeting cell at best on Verizon.