The best GROUP camping near
Van Buren , PENNSYLVANIA

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!

This campground is deceptively big! The nightly RV sites are close to the park entrance and are relatively flat. The campground hosts themed events, game nights and arts& crafts. There is a swimming pool and playground for the kids. It also has a small café that sells baked goods and coffee. On Saturdays they sell amazing Armish Donuts! 

Further into the campground the sites turn to more permanent sites. Further up the hill are more cottages and camping. This campground is steep in parts and too large to walk efficiently. There is a fenced dog run area and a beautiful lake. All sites have fire rings. There is an onsite laundry, WIFI, onsite dump station and propane refill station. 

You can also buy ice and firewood. The campground is gated. Lots to do at the campground and lots to do in the surrounding area. They welcome all furry friends!

A Pennsylvania favorite, Clear Creek State Park is a beautifully maintained, scenic park, right on the Clarion River in the Clear Creek State Park. The Park offers movies on an outdoor screen, regular nature talks and walks and has an onsite museum. The park has tent sites, RV sites and cabins. Clear Creek runs through the campground and is a perfect spot for a BBQ or Picnic. It also has a designated swimming beach with sand. There are multiple hiking trails leaving the campground. There is a general store just 5min from the park, plus multiple private firewood options on the road in. The park also sells firewood bundles. The Clarion is a crystal clear, shallow, rock bottom river perfect for a cool off, fishing or kayaking. There are two kayaking/tubing companies in Cook Forest to hire watercraft to float the river. Both floats don’t go as high as Clear Creek State Park so you won’t float past the campground, with the longest being 9 miles. The facilities are always clean, with large shower areas and always fully stocked with tissue. All sites have fire rings with adjustable grills. The best un-powered RV site is site 40– private and waterfront. The best powered-RV site is 39– private and waterfront. There are also two very private tent sites that are waterfront(classified as Kayak In tent sites) numbered CR-001& CR-002. Both waterfront, shaded with fire rings. Excellent tent sites! Note you can only book them for 1 night at a time. No phone reception at this one! They welcome furry friends at selected sites!

Oil F.C. is a hidden gem nestled in the woods not far from Oil Creek State Park. They have a great playground, a maze, a catch and release pond. Lots of things to do to keep the kids, or in our case the grandkids occupied. They have a well stocked camp store, in case you don't want to make the 4 mile ride into town. Their firewood prices are very reasonable. Rachel is a great in accommodating her campers. We were there 3 times this year. Its become our goto campground that's only an hour away from Erie.

When we went we were one of about 2-3 groups there so my review may not be accurate when busy. It was nice basically having the place to ourselves.

The site we picked was off the beaten path so we had nice privacy. The site was large with plenty of space for 6 people and 4 tents. The views were gorgeous. The bathroom was clean. Only complaint was that the water near our site wasn't working. And there's only one hiking trail in the area so we had to drive to find more hiking. Careful on the Loleta hiking trail, after the overlook, we made a wrong turn and was off the trail for ~1mi. Eventually we realized we hadn't seen a marker in awhile and turned around and found the trail easily enough.

Stayed 2 nights in teardrop trailer, primitive site. Had almost the whole campground to ourselves. We really enjoyed walking around the recreation area constructed by CCC. Beautiful. Easy to get to. Beautiful hiking trail, though I was unable to get my hands on a map and didn’t have solid cell phone signal. Hoping to get ahold of some good maps of the area for next time.

Fantastic service, really kind people and very relaxing place also the campground is very family friendly.

I was here the Friday of Labor day weekend. The woman who took my reservation was great and the grounds were nice. They had several options including tent sites in a large open area, some areas that were a little more secluded, lean-to, RV parking and tent platforms which was where i landed.. The 2 stars is due to the fact i was surrounded by people who were beyond drunk,obnoxious and extremely loud which is fine its all a part of camping right? They were hanging out playing there music when i first arrived about 6 and i can appreciate some good fun and music! (but how much Johnny Cash can one handle?) They then moved onto some less appealing tunes which i do not have children but there were plenty riding their bikes by so I'm sure mom had to explain some words that evening. Nothing was done regardless of the vulger lyrics but i figured what do i know I'm not a parent! I had been traveling for days so i was exhausted and managed to fall asleep only to be woken around 11:00 by several people across the way having a blast laughing and yelling which went until 2am and a couple next to me screaming and arguing at each other until 3am.. Quiet time 10:00? At least tone it down! No one addressed the situation. So if you like to hang out and party it up this is a great place. If your looking for a family oriented camping experience maybe not so much..

Reserved site 30, which was on a corner and entrance to the loop. The back of our camper was 15’ from our neighbor’s camper, so no real privacy. Our fire pit ring was also just a few feet from theirs. It was a very cramped space. While we had full hookup, there was no room or privacy. The campground had a playground that was at the entrance and the creek was nearby. We drove through the loop and noticed nearly all of the sites were close together. We did not use the public facilities, so no opinion there. 1-2 bars of Verizon coverage. It was okay, but we won’t go back.

What a special stat we had! So close to the McConnells Mill trails, gorgeous deck spot above the gorge and low key vibe to the campground overall. I cannot believe it took us this long to stay here!