The best EQUESTRIAN camping near
Van Buren , PENNSYLVANIA

"Camping is prohibited in the park." (That is directly off the DCNR website.)

I am not reviewing Moraine State Park (which is awesome). I am reviewing the CAMPING options at Moraine State Park. Which brings me back to the DNCR website. It says "No Camping" and "Camping is prohibited in the park. Private campgrounds nearby offer camping."

It DOES list cabins, group tenting, and a backpacking shelter, which is available by reservation only.

But this park is not where somebody looking for CAMPING would want to be.

This is a great place just of interstate 79. Been going there since I was a kid. In fact my family used to own property near by. This park has an awesome trail system for walking or biking

I have been camping at Moraine State Park since I was 5 years old (so about 14 years). While I was in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts we used the 5 Points Group Camping Area a lot. It is right next to the bike trail and has access to the lake. I have enjoyed my time at Moraine and will enjoy it every time I visit.

Moraine is a really large state park with a huge lake, nice beaches, and tons of trails.  The north country trail runs for over a dozen miles from end to end.  This review is of the shelter sites, of which there is one, for backpacking along the trail.  There are three shelters which are all very mouse infested.  I believe this is because the site does not have a bear pole or bear box, so I think most people probably don't hang their food like they should and thus the mice move in to forage.  Of the 3, the Hilltop shelter 2, which we stayed in is the nicest and private.  There is a rustic vault toilet but no water at the site.  I asked the lady at the park office if there was water nearby and she said yes, just hike down to the access road and over to the group tenting site to fillup.  I'll tell you, this is not close - easily a 2-3 mile round trip.

• Group Tenting
• Cabins
• Kayaking/Canoeing
• Motor boating 15hp or less
• Sailboats
• Bike Trail
• Great Fishing Spots
• Swimming Area
• Snowmobile Trail

Moraine State Park is beautiful. It offers many camping styles including Group Tenting, Adirondack shelters for backpacking, and Cabins.

The lake is nice for canoeing

I loved this place! We stayed at a group tent camping site. It was very quiet and secluded feeling, yet not far from the restrooms, bike trail, water/fishing area. Looking forward to going back and getting to explore more!

Moraine is a great park, but camping here is limited. As I understand it, this park was created so that Pittsburghers would have a place to go sailing--so camping has never been its primary draw. But it's a scenic park that has a beautiful, meandering lake with lots of coves and estuaries. There are bike trails and hiking trails all throughout, plus a bike rental shop, and two swimming beaches. The North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) has an Adirondack shelter and small tenting area within the park that's reserved for backpackers. But what's to say you're not just a one-day backpacker, doing a small portion of the trail, who needs a place to spend the night? You could hike into the backpacking campground known as the Link Road Overnight Shelter and set up your tent. It would have to be primitive camping; there are no facilities of any kind. The only other way to camp at Moraine is to reserve one of the two rustic group tenting areas--which are actually very pleasant despite the absence of showers. In order to see if your group qualifies to use the group tenting area, go to this website.

Didn't explore much of the campground here, seemed huge with lots of sites, we basically had a whole area of sites to ourselves, and it was a very wooded area. Some lots were large, some were not. Very nice if you are looking for a no frills, quiet place to stay. We came here for a mountain bike race and enjoyed riding the trails!