Best Tent Camping near West Finley, PA

Went tent camping with my fiancée. Had a great time other than the loud neighbors. Bathrooms were also a bit dirty.

I enjoyed my stay at this park. We had a tent site for the weekend. It was a beautiful area and I really enjoyed exploring. Looking forward to going back soon!

I had the most wonderful time on my first tent camping at Racoon Creek. We made a fire, hiked by the moonlight and swam at the warm lake at night. There were other campers around but we rarely noticed them and only when walking to restrooms at the daylight. I will be back soon

We stayed here overnight on a trip to Pittsburgh. Tent sites were nicely spaced apart, but were often on inclines, like ours. We saw deer and turkeys, so be on the lookout for lots of animals! Bathrooms were fairly clean! Fun hiking to mineral springs!

It is a very well maintenance campsite most have fire pits a lot of level ground for tent camping pull in parking spots for RVs and campers a bathroom on site and two different trails to hike fishing minutes away the gun rage is also near (the gunshots don’t bother me) must register when you arrive at the box attached to the bathroom building can’t beat it for FREE

Older type bathhouses but very clean, stainless steel fixtures. The campground is in two areas but split into about 5 loops. A lot are paved with electric sites, a couple loops are I paved roads and mostly tent sites but very nice! Pretty peaceful place, well patrolled by park rangers!water access in all loops. Outside of camping area are picnic areas and a lovely swimming beach, nice electric only fishing lake!

Plenty to do with it’s ups and downs. Has a pool but it isn’t the cleanest and with small children you have to be within arms reach of them. Fine for one not so much with two. For 37 dollars a night you have check in at 3 and have to be checked out by 12. 5 dollars per hour before or after those times. The saving grace to this place is the back primitive tent site and the private beach.

I did not stay in the cabins. I tent camped. The tent areas are out past the Vue Bar and Grill. They are spread out and each has a fire ring, picnic table and fire wood is free! The people there are great, easy check in. The tent areas are spread out and there isn’t an actual road to each of the sites. I actually thought this was cool but not if its raining and you have a small car. 

The best part is the Vue Bar and Grill, the food is surprisingly good. Cooked well and is large portions. There is many other things to do there as well. They have an adventure park but we didn’t make it there. Planing to go back.

My girlfriend and I stayed at tent site 40 Friday August 9th and Saturday August 10th. Most of the sites were pretty private and ours was probably the most private and had a lot of space since we were on the very end of the road / cul-de-sac. I would definitely recommend this site if you like privacy but it is a longer walk to the bath house but we didn't mind that at all. The only thing I didn't like about the campground is that there is no wash tub / sink to wash your dishes which made clean up a little more of a chore. Other than that the staff were very friendly and it is overall a great campground.

In the past 5 years, I've made 13 trips to Raccoon Creek State Park and spent 16 nights in a tent there. It is my local state park and I can tell you lots about it.

The D loop is really great tent camping at Raccoon Creek State Park. It's tents only, no RVs. So it gets a really fun, party vibe on Saturday nights during the summer. There's a trail right to the beach near the D loop, so it's a great place for families to go with pets. The sites are big, wooded, and all close to the bathroom.

The C loop, however, doesn't take pets (which stinks). When we have our dogs with us, we gravitate towards the C loop. It's fine, but it's not as fun as the D loop.

When we don't make a reservation and we have our dog, we end up in the F loop. It's not our preference (but--let's be clear--even the worst site in the F loop is better than NO trip!).

There are many tent sites at this location, as well as RV lodging.  There is a pond you can swim and or fish at.  There are both, modern and rustic cabins to rent.  The rustic cabin has a double bunk, stove and fireplace but no running water or shower or sink.  There is a shower house a short walk away.  the modern cabin is 3 bedrooms with microwave, shower, sink, relax room....there is also the Klaer Lodge built by park enthusiasts in the late 60's made of stone and can accomadate over 50 people.  All made of stone, as 20+ bunk beds upstairs -- huge facility.

There are XC trails, an old school house and even a stage for the weekend music series performances.  Dog friendly as long as on a leash and a little shop where you check in and get necessary supplies, wood bundles...etc..very fun place.

Went to Raccoon Creek State Park to camp for Labor Day weekend. We booked campsite F1 since we had 2 dogs and the F loop allowed dogs. This site was great! We could fit two tents and it was nice and secluded from the other sites. I recommend booking a site that is on the outside of the “loops” if you want some seclusion. The inner loop sites are right on top of each other, good for Rvs, not so much for tent camping. The bathrooms were a little bit of a hike, the next loop over, but they where clean and had flush toilets and running water along with a shower and sinks to wash dishes. There was a place to get water across from this site which was very convenient . The dog walking trails weren’t bad, but they where very up and down hill, at points steep and rocky. The spring was a really cool hike (right off the park office parking lot.) Down by the beach they had a place to buy wood, only $5 a bundle and the beach place also sells bags of ice. Overall a really good family campground!

I have been to Raccoon Creek many times as it is one of the closest camping places to the Pittsburgh metro area.  The park it self is large, has over 40 miles of trails, a fantastic backpacking loop setup for beginners, and a nice lake for swimming, fishing, ect.  I would give the park as a whole a 5/5 but for tent camping the campground is mediocre.  It is a really large campground with lots of adjoining loops.  We stayed in the tent loop at the back of the campground.  The area is not wooded at all and most sites look right into the sites next to them.  If you are like me and crave privacy, avoid.  The bathroom was rather dirty also.  There is a trail that leads down from the tent loop to the beach which is cool but very very steep (not for too young or old).  Overall, if you are looking to stay in a camp in this park I'd suggest doing the backpacking loop instead.  Grab your permit at the park office, park at the heritage trail lot in the southern end of the park and hike to the Pioneer shelter.  Sites 4 and 5 are amazing.  Note though that the Pioneer site does not have water so you will need to filter water from a stream on the way, though there are many opportunities.  The Sioux site is overgrown and is not worth backpacking to, though it does have a water pump and is close to the park office.

My family and I had never gone tent camping before together, since my husband and I were kids. I have chronic pain and was terrified to go due to my difficulties. This place was amazing!

PROS:

The shower houses are individual big rooms to use that include a shower with a seat and toilet. They do also have handicap parking&camping spots right by the shower house, no smell even being 89 degrees.

They also have amazing prices for renting out a pontoon, it’s only a max 10 mph. I was able to comfortably fish for 4 hours on this. For the boats we were allowed to park down below right by the docks so I wouldn’t have to walk the hill.

When you book online it needs to be done 2 days out, from where we live (Columbus Ohio) the reception at the camp was very very hard to hear on the phone. It is easier to book online then see them at the office when you arrive, they close at 7 pm. Checkin is at 4 pm and checkout is 2pm for camp set up(you can set up sooner if no one is there)

We were lucky to get a walk up electric spot, although hilly it was beautiful! We were right by the private dock and the residents were very kind, some offered us worms or help with our fire. Even though we were by the public outhouse you could not smell anything until right by the outhouse.

You do need a special plug for the electric, we didn’t realize this and did not bring one. I was panicked at first since I needed a fan to get through the 89 degree weather in a tent but the front office has spares you can borrow! They are a lifesaver up there and so kind, if we could have tipped we would have.

We caught plenty of fish up there for all 3 of us, including my 1 st grader, all we used were worms and was surprised how much we caught.

All in all we were really happy and even convinced my parents to come up with us next year 😊

CONS:

The drive up was very hilly and lots of buggies. Be careful sometimes the road disappeared and you don’t see the buggy until right there; the road speed is 55mph but we only went between 35-45.

There is no cell service up there so be prepared, we lost it for about 20 minutes before the camp site. We have sprint. Make sure to pack a old school map so you can get around, there is a family dollar store in town, about 4 mile drive, if you forgot anything.

Most neighbors you have our yearly members, this is great for peace but limits the spots they actually have open to rent out by the lake and have electric. We were hoping to get a better spot in the future but they only have a couple of non yearly spots available even a year out.

This smaller campground has a mix of equestrian sites and tent/RV sites. There are no showers, but the vault toilets were cleaned thoroughly ever morning. You need to be careful when booking, especially if you are trying to pitch a tent, as some sites are quite sloped. Our site was huge and right next to the water spigot.

Great campground near Pittsburgh. Lots of tent , camper, and cabin sites. Good bathrooms

They have some spots for small trailers, but we’ve only ever been able to tent there. Nice clean facilities, plenty of hiking, fishing and swimming.

Nice simple, small campground sites are for everyone, RV to tent, older bathhouses but clean. Swimming pool and lake for fishing and boating!

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.