Not a bad camping trip. We stayed in a tent site with electric. It was pretty crowded. The sites were pretty close together and covered in rocks but level. It wasn't our favorite spot/site but there were a lot of things to do in the park! The young kids really enjoyed the playground and beach.
Site Details: We stayed in the Dragonfly camping cottage (quick weekend trip without the husband, and I’m not quite up for towing and setting up the popup by myself with 3 kids!). It was a standard rustic-type state park cabin, with one double bed, one single twin bunk, and one regular set of bunk beds, so it sleeps 5-6 comfortably. There was also a sturdy dining room table with chairs and an oscillating fan inside. Electricity/lights and heat, but no AC. Very clean inside. The cabin also had a really nice front porch, picnic table, and fire ring, and was situated with a beautiful lake view. The area we were in contained both rustic cabins and yurts (which looked really neat).
Facilities/Overall Park: Multiple bath houses were scattered among various loops, and each one we visited was very old, dim and drab, but they were also spacious and reasonably clean. Showers all had old rust and water stains. However, it was nice that there were so many of them, because this is a very large state park with multiple camping loops. Most tent and basic RV sites were shaded and private, while the newer FHU sites were more open (but still nicely spaced). Hosts and rangers were nice, but not very helpful or proactive when they needed to correct a reservation mistake they made (but it worked out in the end). There is a beautiful lake with a really nice day area in the center of the park, with a great playground and concession stand. The lake is popular for fishing and swimming, although there is oddly no sand beach; swimmers just entered the water straight from the grass.
Surrounding Area/Attractions: Not much going on in the immediate vicinity, but Harrisburg, Amish country, and Hershey are all doable day trips from the park. We were here just for the Hershey RV show, and it was an easy 40-minute drive.
Overall, this was a very pretty park with site options for every type of camper, but certain elements are in need of updating. I don’t think I’d go out of my way to make this park a destination, but it’s a nice option as a base camp for visiting the RV show or other attractions (with a much cheaper price tag than the private CGs closer to the action).
We have camped here several times and love the waterfront sites and the yurts.
I really enjoyed camping and fishing at this campground with my family. The only negative to our campsite was that people would walk through it instead of on the road to get to other sites and to the beach.
Camping on the peninsula (site 116). Absolutely perfect site. Songle car parking spot on the road then a short walk down a hill onto the site. two tent areas and plenty of prime hammock trees. there’s a small deer trail that runs between all of the sites on the water that makes it easy if you have multiple sites with friends next to each other. there is also a little beach area at the site that makes it perfect for landing kayaks or canoes. there’s also a small dock made out of boulders.
There are a few shops a short drive from the park for firewood and camping supplies. exit the park and make a right. Ther intersection with the gas station.
Our trip was slightly let down due to constant rain the entire first day and night.
The camp sites are fairly nice. they do very much range in quality, so picking out a site on the PA DCNR website is strongly recommended. You can get photos of every site before booking.
Our site was in the pet loop and was set back off the road a good amount which kept a lot of the road noise down. It was very large and Iffered gIId trees fIr strIngIng up tarps and hammocks. We could just make out the campsite next to us and had no noise issues.
We did have a fair amount of trash and broken glass at the camp site that we had to clean up.
The rangers were nice and the campground hosts were sweet. I liked the dish washing sinks outside of the shower houses. The site was nice with the tent pad backing up to the trees. I would rather sleep in a tent any night over a motel room but this time was different. Due to my father passing, me and my daughter stayed there 3 nights. I will be back another time to actually enjoy the lake and being between Lancaster and Gettysburg makes both places easy to access. Next time I will be getting a site away from the group area. It was nice that the pet area is separate from those of us who don't have pets or want quiet from dogs barking. Some of the groups can get rather loud especially when there are a bunch of teens. It was nice that the pet area is separate from those of us who don't have pets or want quiet from dogs barking.
We took our 3 yo camping for the first time here. He had so much fun. It was clean campground located in a State Park. Easy walk to the lake with a small beach. There was also a beach location on the state park side vs campground side of the lake. Boat rentals available. Good sized lake for canoeing or kayaking. We’ve already planned our next camping trip here for next month. I like that it wasn’t a commercialized camping experience. We plan to check out the hiking trails our next visit
the lake is quiet and beautiful enjoyed the relaxing weekend. our campsite had trees all around and blocked the neighbors site made it feel private!