Best Glamping near Vintondale, PA

We stayed in one of the yurts, and I was perfect for the group of 6 I went with. It dumped rain the first night we were there and the yurt kept us perfectly comfortable and dry. There is fishing, boating, hiking, and all sorts of activities to do around the park. We rented a pontoon boat for one afternoon and explored the lake, which was awesome. I will say the "beach area" we visited was less than clean and quite small. However, the trip was a blast overall and if you're looking for a quick weekend trip, this is a place to go.

I had made plans to stay at SSP-PA as my first stopover spot, post leaving my beach friends on the East Coast. The morning drive started early, had several stops and starts, and I was once again glad that my big dog was along for the ride. Shawnee is a lovely state park and I was really pleased with my brief stay. 'Though we were only sleeping the one night, I found the staff to be pleasant and the site spacious. It might have helped that the doggo and I were about the only ones in our campground loop, aside from the campground hosts but the area felt well-maintained and well-proportioned. We had a good night's rest, after enjoying a post-dinner campfire and getting to breathe in the fresh, woodsy air. While sitting fireside, I got to enjoy the local wildlife, from birds to young deer, around the edges of my campsite. The campground restroom was clean and a fair size. I would definitely recommend it and I will certainly look into another reservation, the next time I roadtrip through Pennsylvania.

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.

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.

Very clean and helpful camp. Too bad the fishing isn’t the best at yellow creek national park.

We stayed in 3 of the cabins for 4 days at Yellow Creek State Park (not the campground). It was beautiful. Right on the water, clean, and private access to the lake. Dog friendly cabins were available. We cannot wait to come back.

So this is a nice weekend lace to camp. Clean bathrooms and hot showers but if you like to pay a different price each time you get there, then have fun. I had 3 different prices when I went there last. Was going to make this a home camp but since they played the different price game I will look elsewhere!

The private island is a beautiful campsite and has enough room for several tents. There's plenty of trees on the island so there are plenty of sticks to find for fires, and even if you want logs you can buy some at the office and they'll dump a truckload of wood that can last you the whole weekend. The creek surrounding the island does make it cold at night so make sure to pack warmly.

Great place to stay! You will not find better campground owners, they are amazing. After office hours they can be commonly found hanging out with their campers. Pick up cornhole games, bonfires, are the norm at the community building. Alot of their sites are along a small creek which the kids play in and can float down. Site 26 is our favorite. It has a huge back yard and easy access to the creek. Close by is Ligonier, Idlewild, and St. Vincent (where the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp takes place.) Check it out you won't be disappointed!

Owners are great, let us in weekend before to look at campground being our first time there. Found a couple spots our camper would fit in. Creek was close and neighbors were great. My only negative would be extra costs.

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.

My family stayed in one of the cabins while friends were in their campers. The cabin was great, very clean and cozy. The campgrounds are very nice they have a pool as well as a community building and camp store. We had 8 kids and 8 adults who all had a blast playing on the playground, floating down the creek, swimming in the pool, riding bicycles etc. All in all we will definitely be returning

This is a beautiful camping area and around Halloween they have a costume parade and a trick or treat at the campsites. Check with park services for dates.

We stayed in the Red Oak section, site 113. The site was roomy enough, but next time I know to try to reserve on the outside perimeter for more room.

Dogs are permitted in this area of the campground and honestly they were all well behaved.

The bathhouse was a bit dated, but clean with a nice size dressing area within each of the 6 shower stalls. I believe there were 10 toilets as well. On the outside of the bathhouse were 2 sinks to do dishes.

The camp store was fairly priced, centrally located and they even delivered wood to your site.

The trails were nice, but I wish we had been given a better map to show where we could walk with our dog instead of discovering no dogs allowed when we arrived to certain areas.

We will definitely return.

I grew up near this park so I’m a little used to it, however, it’s perfect for families. Good trails, kayak rentals, and a private beach for the campgrounds make it a nice vacation spot. I had a good time.

While I understand that Memorial Day is a very busy camping weekend, I was hoping that due to the coronavirus that this spot would be less crowded given the restrictions in place.  Our loop had approximately 50 sites with roughly 200 people on it, minimum.  The concept of social distancing here is a joke and the only evidence of there being a pandemic was the sign in the bathroom that stated to stay 6 feet apart and masks being a requirement in all park buildings… with no enforcement whatsoever.  That said, sites are on the small side with a fire ring and a picnic table.  All vehicles MUST back into the parking spaces, and all parking spots are blacktop.  There is a camp store and a bundle of decent hardwood will cost $6; they do accept cards with a $10 minimum.  The city of Altoona is about 30 minutes away for more extensive shopping.  There is a marina and boat rental on the lake about a 10 minute drive away.  Bathrooms are very clean and the push button showers have excellent water pressure.  Drinking water is dispersed throughout each loop.  Pets are allowed on certain loops.

Spent a week here and had a great relaxing time. Will definitely return. Beautiful place.

Great camp sites and friendly staff.

This campground was our least favorite of the many we’ve been to this summer, in large part because there were so many people! We stayed in 103 RedOak loop because we had our dogs. The site itself was fine, and there were no hook ups - which we knew- in that section. The mix of tents and smaller pop ups was nice. But, if you want to get away and be in nature this may not be your spot. The sites across/diagonal to us started playing movies on their big screen projector Friday and Sat. nights. If I wanted to hear my neighbors movies I would have stayed home. And others in our loop arrived late, close to 11 pm and spent the next hour hammering stakes for their tent. Everything just felt so loud. Because it was pet friendly there was a constant barking festival - our dogs included- because you were basically on the main loop road where everyone walked their dogs with little privacy.

We also hoped to work on Friday during our stay given they advertise WiFi. We paid for WiFi for the day and couldn’t get much work done. We won’t make that mistake again. There was little to no data for AT&T.

We spent a day on the lake on a pontoon that was from 1972. The younger staff were great and all respectful wearing masks. The lake was fine but nothing like Deep CreekMD or Summersville, WV. People were average friendly. The trails were nice enough but they were walking trails around the lake. Our dogs liked that.

If you want to kayak or fish, that’s the adventure you’ll get here. And you will be in campground Americana with 300 other people.