Best Tent Camping near West Finley, PA

Just a few miles from the Ohio Covered Bridge Scenic Highway, this lovely tent-only campground offers a pleasant get away. There are 6 spacious “walk-in” campsites, a small pond, and vault toilets. Each site had a picnic table and campfire ring, but there is no privacy between sites. There is no water available, other than the pond, so plan accordingly. The group picnic area is great for bigger families or groups, with a campfire ring, grills and a covered picnic area.    

The area is great for hiking, with the North Country Trail going right by the campground, cycling through the rolling hills of the backroads, and canoeing on the Little Muskingum River.

The closest town is Woodsfield, OH, about 13 miles from this campground and has most of the supplies you may need.

More Information: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/wayne/recarea/?recid=6214

Electric Site 37 - pad is pretty level, plenty for our small camper and truck, on a slight hill to get to fire ring but lots of space to spread out. You could tent but not really a flat spot. We were near the non-electric cul de sac and a neighbor right across but not on top of each other. Trees are everywhere and wonderful during the fall season. We had a big night of rain and with the wind it dried up pretty quickly.

Camp store - small, not a lot in it but may be end of the season items only. Mostly shirts and mugs and very little snack food. The camp store staff were all very friendly and helpful and the store has limited WiFi if you stood in the right spot. There is a laundry room available there as well.

Dump station- 2 way and potable water on the other side of it. The only place to drop your trash too.

Trails - lots of trails to choose from. Some were pretty easy some were a little hilly. My favorite was the fern trail - lots of ferns and a very pretty stream. Hiking poles are recommended especially if it rains.

Playground - is available for kids and a huge shelter house too.

Firewood is $6 a bundle and burns well, no slab cut.

Water - have to go up to entrance as the water spouts are still shut off.

Showers - in womens the shower on the left never got warm, other two were fine. There are 4 flush toilets.

This tiny gem of a campground is actually quite decent. Each site is furnished with a small fire ring and picnic table. The fire rings do not have a grill grate. The pit toilets in the restroom are "fragrant" when you enter the women's side of the building but not so terribly that they can't be used. My friend did gag upon entering the men's room. There are designated wastewater areas to dump grey water, but you'll have to bring your own water for drinking, washing, etc. There are no electric hookups.

As others have mentioned, there is a gun range nearby and you can hear occasional firing. Helicopter traffic at night was a slight distraction from the otherwise quiet night I spent here.

There is an easy orange-blazed trail behind site 10 but as of this writing, a there are several downed trees blocking the trail a good distance in.

I'd definitely stay again.

5/3/2021 Edited to add:. Well, our second stay here is decidedly less positive. We are at site 9 this time. No fire ring here. The women's bathroom is filthy and it made me gag (there is feces all over one toilet seat and the other smells so bad that I just peed in the woods). It's turkey season so lots of noise in the woods.

Booked 2 sites online using website. Upon getting to our sites the numbers listed on the site posts did not match the numbers on the site map used for booking. Section 4. Seasonal campers verified the campground constantly changes site numbers around.. It is very misleading. Should not offer booking online or should make sure all online booking locations have the site numbers and pictures accurate. The site we had was NOT the one pictured on the map online. Very small, muddy, and could not even have a fire on it. Got lucky no one was across from us. We used that site to build a fire. Make sure you don't forget anything or need gas, not much around.

Spent the first camping trip of the summer here on Memorial Day weekend and it was a beautiful spot. There are a number of sites set up in a circle, the initial sites are better suited for RVs while the sites along the back of the loop are flatter and can accommodate a tent. This was our first car camping in an actual campground experience in a while - our last few trips were all backcountry sites - and it felt very luxurious. The campground is situated near shooting ranges so the gunfire lasts late into the evening and begins early in the morning disrupting the serenity a bit.

The best part - it's free! Just register at the box. There are vault toilets and each site has a fire ring, picnic table, garbage cans, and there are spots to dump waste water. It's very well-organized and well maintained.

Round Bottom Camping Area at Slush Run is a free camping area directly on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail around Mile 99 (East of West Newton roughly 15 miles).  For those not familiar with the GAP Trail, it is a Rails-to-Trails initiative that travels from Pittsburgh, PA to Cumberland, MD…meandering through numerous Trail Towns that were former thriving railroad towns at the end of the 1800's.

Round Bottom Camping Area at Slush Run can only be accessed by the GAP Trail, which means on foot or bicycle…or paddlers on the Youghioheny River. Being positioned directly off the GAP Trail grants easy access to those traveling the trail. 

Amenities:

• Raised Tent pads (4)
• Vault Toilet
• Adirondack Shelters (2)
• Firepits
• Picnic tables

No potable water…there is hand pump but the water was discolored.  It is a short walk down a trail to the river's edge, where I filtered water for drinking.

There is plenty of grassy area for scores of tents in this area.   So if you are not fortunate enough to secure one of the two Shelters or tent pads, you can still set up a tent in the nicely mowed areas, which are still level.

We were bikepacking the GAP Trail east from Pittsburgh and arrived on a Sunday evening mid-June. We secured the only open Adirondack Shelter and were able to set up our tent inside, along with keeping our bicycles inside and out of the elements. Which made it wonderfully convenient when it started to rain. Sites and shelters are first come, first served.

Usually the vault toilets along this trail are clean, maintained and stocked…but on this visit, piles of trash were inside likely from an overly busy weekend.

The only negative was the train traffic on the opposite side of the River…it is loud when they rumble through. If you don't sleep with ear-plugs, you will wish you had.

Bicycle traffic was fairly light during the week, so not only did you have the GAP Trail mostly to oneself, the camping areas were either sparsely filled or empty. Although, things just did start opening up from the Covid-19 shutdown.

Apart from the train noise during sleeping hours, Round Bottom Camping Area is very peaceful and though you can still visually see the GAP Trail, you are not disturbed by passing cyclists.