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Best Tent Camping near Thompson, PA

404 Reviews

Thompson, Pennsylvania and its surrounding area offer several tent camping options with varying levels of amenities and privacy. Oh! Pear Orchards features spacious walk-in tent sites located against a creek with well-maintained fire pits. Beals Pond State Forest provides free dispersed camping opportunities where tent campers can experience a more primitive outdoor setting.

Most tent sites near Thompson require campers to be self-sufficient. The majority of primitive tent camping areas lack drinking water, requiring visitors to bring their own supply or have water filtration systems. Sites typically feature natural forest floor surfaces with minimal grading. Fire rings are common at established tent campgrounds, while dispersed camping areas may have informal fire circles from previous use. Access varies significantly, with some locations like Oh! Pear Orchards requiring a short walk to reach tent sites, while others allow direct vehicle access. According to one visitor, "This is a special place with campsites next to a beautiful stream, the best fire pits, and a magical setting."

Tent camping areas around Thompson offer a peaceful outdoor experience away from more developed facilities. Tree cover provides ample shade at most sites, creating comfortable tent camping conditions even during warmer months. A reviewer noted that "sites remained peaceful" even during peak season. Many tent camping locations provide access to nearby recreational opportunities in state parks and forests, including hiking trails, fishing spots, and wildlife viewing areas. Seasonal considerations are important when planning tent camping trips in the region, as winter access can be challenging. Beals Pond State Forest, while offering beautiful surroundings for tent campers, becomes difficult to reach during winter months when roads are not maintained, and cell service is unreliable.

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Best Tent Sites Near Thompson, Pennsylvania (26)

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24 Photos of 26 Thompson Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Thompson, PA

404 Reviews of 26 Thompson Campgrounds

  • Janet R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jun. 29, 2024

    Salt Springs State Park Campground

    Unique park with unique natural features

    This park is technically a “state park” because the land for it was donated to the state for public use. However, once the state became the official stewards, there werent funds in the state budget to maintain it as a park. A lical group, the Friends of Salt Springs, stepped up and offered to maintain the park with funds raised by their group. The result is a small but unique property open to the public for day use (picnicking and hiking and fishing) along with 2 small rustic campgrounds. One campground has a large open mowed grassy meadow with level sites for car camping or small campers, no hookups are available but each site has a fire ring and picnic table. On the other side of the parks trout stream are seven secluded primitive hike-in tent sites along with three basic camper cabins. The Friends of Salt Springs makes a good effort to maintain these two rustic campgrounds, however it seems there isnt a ranger on site at night so a camper said the meadow campground can get a little noisy some nights. The hike in sites are relatively quiet and secluded though, and are positioned nicely along the stream, one site actually adjacent to a good swimming hole.

    The camper cabins are basic with bunks, bring all your own gear. They are fairly new and have electricity but no water or heat.

    On the grounds in the day use area are picnic spits, a pavilion, and an activity barn. When I was there, the barn was featuring a local quilt show.

    The special aspect of this park are the hiking trails through old growth hemlock forest, said to be the largest hemlocks in Pennsylvania. The trout stream also cascades through some some waterfalls, and there are gorges with unique geology.

    There is a village nearby with limited supplies, you may want to stock up on groceries before heading out to this somewhat remote park. There is, however, a local brewery, plus an odd coffee shop featuring both donuts and ammo, an unusual combination…..

  • D
    Jul. 5, 2020

    Tobyhanna State Park Campground

    Good campground for families.

    My dog and I stayed for 2 nights in the rustic tenting area. We were the only campers Wednesday & Thursday. The family camp area features spaces (small areas for either RV campers or tents and cars) with a picnic table and fire ring and water (some have electricity). They also have shared facilities such as bathrooms and showers. However, they seemed a little too cramped fir me and I wasn’t looking for opportunities to socialize, so the remote tent site was my choice. The tent sites do not have water or electric, but do have picnic tables, a fire ring and share one large outhouse with clean pit toilets. There are 5 sites and they can accommodate (shared) multiple tent set ups. Also you need to park your vehicle in a designated lot which is very close to the sites. There are multiple easy hiking and biking trails that are well marked. A lake for fishing and a small sandy beach with a picnic area for families (unfortunately no dogs are allowed on the beach). There are 2 boat launch areas (one for the campers, and another for gen. public) which also has a boat rental business (dogs are allowed). There are black bears in the park so do not leave food out and dispose of all trash in the appropriate dumpsters.

  • Angel A.
    Aug. 20, 2018

    Lower Lake Campground Northwoods Area — Promised Land State Park

    Northwoods Campground

    Big sites with 30 amp service available for RVs and trailers. Each site has a large picnic table and a fire ring with an adjustable grate. The pull-through sites don’t offer much in the way of privacy, but that’s the trade off for convenience. There are two potable water spigots in the campground. The bathhouse offers warm showers, 2 dishwashing sinks, and a coin-operated washer and dryer. The facilities are kept very clean. On the weekends it can get pretty crowded, so it tends to be louder at night then, but the camp hosts and the rangers do a good job of enforcing quiet hours. Access points to several trails are very near the campground. As with all PA state parks, alcohol is prohibited. The park doesn’t have a camp store, however, there is a small general store on Route 390 (The Lake Store) just north of the park that would have any essentials you may have forgotten, as well as ice for your cooler.

  • Oleńka S.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jul. 16, 2023

    Bowman Lake State Park Campground

    Woodsy, pet friendly, and private

    We booked this as our first real camping trip with our new trailer, can’t recommend that for everyone lol, but we had a lovely time.

    We had a back in site with a fire pit, picnic table, and no hook ups. It was gravel and not super level, but we made it work. There was a potable water spigot a few sites over and a bathroom with showers a short walk away.

    This is a great spot for tent camping, so if that’s your vibe this place is perfect. We had a lot of tree cover so we didn’t even need our air conditioning on during an 85 degree day. There are a lot of mosquitoes, but with some bug spray and a couple thermacell mosquito repellents, we were comfortable the whole time. I loved cooking over the fire, the pit had a cinder block wall around it to set a grate on and block the wind. We had a lot of privacy because the campgrounds next to us were empty, but even if there were people nearby there was about 20-30 ft between our site and the next.

    The lake is small but calm and great for kayaking. There is a little “beach” there for swimming, but know that it’s a soft lake bottom further out.

    We really liked it here and booked another visit in August.

  • Alaina Z.
    Oct. 13, 2020

    Pickerel Point Campground — Promised Land State Park

    Beautiful facilities, rocky sites

    Pros: -beautiful new bathrooms -private lakeside walk-in sites -beavers! Far away but exciting nonetheless -the Conservation Walk on the island is short, easy, and beautiful. Well-marked.

    Cons: -chunky bluestone gravel on the sites, so bring a sleeping pad! -has a beach but it's not much to look at -sites have nice sizable fire pits, but they are very tall. It's difficult to cook over them, and sitting around the campfire in the evening is a much less visually appealing experience than I'd like

    We stayed in site 157. Accessible via a path from the designated parking space to the site about 2 minute walk. Lakeside, but visibility not great due to vegetation. All sites have little trails down to the water.

    Site 174 by the road and less private, but prettily overhung by evergreens.

    The cabins look very nice inside.

  • Janet R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Nov. 6, 2017

    Ludlow Creek Lean-To Campsite

    Ludlow Creek Lean-to

    This is a beautiful primitive hike-in campsite alongside the Ludlow Creek section of the Finger Lakes Trail in Chenango County, New York. It is located in a beautiful, unspoiled and seldom visited region of state forest, providing a wilderness type experience fairly close to several nearby villages, and only a half hour drive from the town of Norwich and less than an hour from the city of Binghamton.. The campsite is perfect for groups or individuals willing to hike in a short distance to this secluded spot. There is a large relatively new Adirondack-style lean-to in great condition, perched on an heavily wooded overlook above Ludlow Creek. The hike in from the trailhead to the north is relatively short, and recommended for easy overnight access. The hike is longer coming in from the south. The campsite is maintained by local volunteer members of the Bull Thistle Hiking Club, http://www.bullthistlehiking.org/p/about-us.html, which is a member chapter of the Finger Lakes Trail Conference http://www.fingerlakestrail.org/ If camping here, be sure to pack in water and plan to pack out garbage and leave no trace. Detailed maps of this trail section can be found in the Finger Lakes Trail East Passport Guide, see map E07, p. 21 at http://www.fltconference.org/trail/files/3814/0154/4940/Passport_East_View.pdf, or visit the interactive trail map at https://fltconference.org/trails/P/TrailConditionMaps/Interactive/Seg_Cat.html?Vifw#"

  • Amy R.
    Jul. 16, 2019

    Pine Cradle Lake Family Campground

    RV/tent campground in a beautiful setting

    This is a gated campground that we stayed at 6/30/19-7/04/19. We are NOT an RV. We own a Napier tent that hooks to our truck so that we can sleep up in the bed. However, due to it being a holiday week, the tent sites were completely booked and they only have 4(which also have water& electric). The tent sites are located in the back of the campground behind the sports field within the trees. I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see them but they have them pictured on their website. They let us book an RV site and it was rough setting up on a gravel RV site but we understood that we were not within a normal tent element and placed an extra tarp under the tent. The campground is located at the top of some beautiful and scenic driving through farmland in Pennsylvania and you will be 30 minutes from anything like shopping or small town amenities(we drove to Walmart after setting up to get our perishables since we drive up from Virginia). Our site had water and electric, was a drive through spot for a typical RV with a section to the side of the drive through for the fire pit and picnic table. We were located right next to the shower/bathrooms/playground and had some tree coverage and shade. A lot of the RVs in the campground are permanent sites and our neighbors never showed so we had a quiet buffer but it was not a noisy campground. It appeared that they cleaned the bathrooms twice daily and we were impressed with the cleanliness of the bathroom/showers. There were 4 in the building so we never had to wait. The staff were friendly and helpful. They had a store right next to the pool area that offered common items and RV'er might need with a small grocery area as well which included bundles of wood($6 honor system after hours) and Ice($1.78 per bag). We were allowed to run an account which we paid at the end of our stay. Our campsite was required to be paid at check in. The campground is 18 acres with gravel roads, a sports field, fishing, horse shoes, bocce ball, multiple playgrounds, a rec center with some games, claw machines etc. a splash pad and salt water pool. You will be doing a lot of walking or bring your bicycles like we did. They offer scheduled activities for holidays etc and various weekend activities. You can rent non electric boats and they offer catch& release fishing without a PA license in the lake. My son caught 2 sunfish :) They have guidelines for visitors and quiet hours(my cousin came to visit us in the evenings as she lived close by). We enjoyed camping here even if we were on an RV site. We booked site 211 which had the little bit of tree coverage and was located right next to the showers/bathrooms/playground with a quick walk to the lake for fishing. Most of the other available sites in the road ahead of us had no tree coverage but closer to the lake had more trees and shade. OR, just get an actual tent site :) but they are all the way at the back of the campground, furthest from the lake so I actually preferred our site.

  • KThe Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 16, 2024

    Long Pond Campground

    Great for Dispersed Camping!

    I was initially worried about the other people camping here because I was almost immediately visited by them but the poor kids just needed to charge their phone so I obliged. Aside from that this was a short drive in and I was able to score a spot right on the pond next to a dock. People have driven in to fish and kayak so I don’t feel isolated and afraid, and I am just a few steps away from sitting on the dock and admiring the scenery.

    There is a port-a-potty near the entrance but otherwise a “leave no trace” situation which is fine considering the ample forest coverage in case there is someone who drives in.

    Each spot seems to have plenty of shade and access to downed firewood, and it looks like there are fire pits at each site. Lots of good tinder left over from previous guests which has been helpful.

    Beautiful views, quiet, no insect issues so far, and if I had a rod and reel I wouldn’t need to worry for food at all. T-Mobile service has been exceptional as well. I am planning on staying here for a week or more and I see no reason to find another location as there is no fee or permit needed and you can stay up to 14 days I believe.

  • Jackie F.
    Aug. 22, 2021

    Frances Slocum State Park Campground

    Good stay, great site!

    The goods: We had site 44 in the Stony Point loop and it was by far the largest campsite on the property. We had a thick covered wooded area to our right and a huge grassy area to the left. Was also an easy back in site as there’s an adjacent road (to parking and the amphitheater) right in front of it. All sites only have electric and only certain allow pets. Dump station had easy access and bathrooms, weren’t great but wasn’t the worst I’ve seen either.

    The not so good: mosquitoes and ticks can ruin a good trip, come prepared! Others in the campground were not honoring the quiet hours rules or the no alcohol rules. Some guy walked right in front of our site and threw up in a wooded area close by. Around the lake people leave their fishing bait and tackle on the ground so please be careful with your pups! Also, DO NOT take your pups to the water. There is a weird bacteria or algae currently growing in the lake, it’s completely visible. There are advisories around about it too.

Guide to Thompson

Dispersed camping near Thompson, Pennsylvania offers primitive sites without developed facilities in the nearby forests and state lands. Elevation in the region ranges between 1,500-1,900 feet, with rolling terrain characterized by mixed hardwood forests and small streams. Summer temperatures typically range from 70-85°F during day and 50-65°F at night, while winter camping requires specialized gear for temperatures that can drop well below freezing.

What to do

Brewery visits nearby: Second District Brew Farm provides tent campers a unique opportunity to combine outdoor experiences with craft beer appreciation. The farm maintains basic amenities like drinking water, picnic tables, and trash collection while offering market access for supplies.

Wildlife viewing opportunities: Oh! Pear Orchards features tent sites where campers can observe local wildlife. "Our family of 4 has camped all of the US and this was one of our favorite spots," notes reviewer Heather T., who appreciated the "lots of wide, open undeveloped space" surrounding the campground.

Nearby recreational facilities: Hillside Campgrounds provides access to regional activities while maintaining a community atmosphere. According to Joe M., "This is a men's only campground where they have different themes on weekends. Generally fun and where people can be themselves."

What campers like

Stream-side camping: The best tent camping near Thompson, Pennsylvania often includes water features. "Campsites next to a beautiful stream, quiet and peaceful, just enough shade to stay cool," reports Heather T. about her experience at Oh! Pear Orchards, highlighting the natural setting.

Viewpoints and vistas: Belden Hill Campgrounds offers exceptional panoramas from their sites. Tim W. notes, "Pull thru full hookup, level, spacious. Room for pop up canopy and games. Great views of the mts." Another camper, Jennifer K., confirms the "incredible views" as a standout feature.

Honor system amenities: Some campgrounds maintain traditional camping practices. Tim W. mentioned that at Belden Hill Campgrounds, there's a "wood/ice honor system" which many campers appreciate for convenience and flexibility.

What you should know

Winter access limitations: Beals Pond State Forest provides free dispersed camping but has seasonal restrictions. Joshua M. warns, "This state forest is beautiful but not easily accessible in the winter. After a certain point, the road is not maintained in the winter and I was unable to get cell reception with Verizon."

Walk-in requirements: Several tent campgrounds require campers to walk a short distance to reach sites. At Oh! Pear Orchards, Heather T. explains, "It is a short walk in to the sites, but there is a cart provided which made it pretty easy. The hosts also offer valet service to your site."

Connectivity considerations: Communication options vary between campgrounds. Joe M. reports that at Hillside Campgrounds, "Wifi and internet coverage is decent," while other primitive camping areas have limited or no coverage.

Tips for camping with families

Cart assistance: When camping with children and gear, look for campgrounds offering transport help. Quilted Woods provides both drive-in and walk-in options with toilets available, making it suitable for families needing basic facilities while still enjoying a primitive camping experience.

Nearby attractions: Plan day trips to local sites. Belden Hill Campgrounds offers access to regional activities, with Jennifer K. recommending: "Great animal preserve zoo nearby which is a must visit. Pretty golf course with full bar and food right across the street."

Spacious sites for play: Choose campgrounds with room for family activities. Heather T. valued Oh! Pear Orchards for its spacious sites, calling it a "magical setting" where families can spread out and children can safely explore.

Tips from RVers

Hookup availability: For RV camping near Thompson, some sites offer full amenities. At Belden Hill Campgrounds, Tim W. notes they stayed in a "38ft motorhome" with "Pull thru full hookup, level, spacious" sites.

Weather considerations: Plan for regional weather patterns. Tim W. shared: "Unfortunately we were there after a lot of rain from the hurricane, site was wet but useable, not their fault," highlighting the importance of checking weather forecasts before arrival.

Utility reliability: Verify the condition of campground utilities. Jennifer K. found Belden Hill Campgrounds offered "Full hook ups and wifi but wifi wasn't working too well. Good enough for web surfing on phone but no streaming on TV. Great AT&T service."

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Thompson, PA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Thompson, PA is Oh! Pear Orchards with a 5-star rating from 2 reviews.

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