Shawnee State Park Campground

The campground was clean and family friendly. You could hear traffic from the turnpike easily. Provisions are a short car ride away.

There are many trails to hike and boats can be rented for a day on the lake

The yurt wasn’t the cleanest...but it was August. We had a nice time and would go back...with our own tent.


Yurt by the turnpike 

Shawnee State Park is about 2.5 hours east of Pittsburgh, and it has pretty much everything: swimming, fishing, boating, camping, and fairly decent hiking. It's close to some really great hiking--just outside the park--and that's how I ended up there. I was trekking on the very wild Mid-State Trail, nearby, when I opted for a night at the conventional campground in Shawnee. No regrets. I usually avoid car-camping because I don't want to listen to other people's classic rock in the woods. But this place was great. I came midweek, so I had the campground mostly to myself. The showers are hot and clean. The lake is beautiful with a nice swimming beach. The area around the park has all the scenic and historic attractions of central PA: covered bridges, big stone farmhouses, quaint towns. My only complaint is that the PA Turnpike screams a little too close by. Also, the sites are pretty close together, so be sure to look at a campground map beforehand to reserve one of the more isolated ones.

Close to Really Great Hiking

Camped here for a night in April. It is a nice park with good campsites, clean bathrooms, good hiking trails and a nice lake view. The park has lots of activities for the day, including a beach, fishing, hiking, group picnic areas, and if the season is right they allow some hunting in areas. We stayed here on a brisk night and the fog had rolled in overnight. We were planning a breakfast on the lake but the fog hid the lake view. Campgrounds are ok. Each site has plenty of space for tent or camper but the sites are close together.

Lots to see around the lake

The campground is okay, there are a fair amount of awkwardly-placed sites that sit on a hill and are difficult to place a tent, equipment or gear. Our site was essentially a grassy plain, no tree cover which was a bit disappointing. So we ended up putting our tent basically on the neighboring site (which was vacant) in order to string a tarp up to block the rain. Regardless we really enjoyed our stay and the park itself. The trail around the lake was incredible for biking - highly recommend! Everything in this park and campground are extremely well marked and maintained. Nice lake where you can fish, canoe/kayak, etc. didn’t get a chance to swim because of all the rain but there is a beach as well. Will be back, regardless of the grassy plain campsite, maybe will pick a more wooded spot.

Love the park, campsites could be improved

I spent a night here on my way to Pittsburgh one weekend, and I couldn’t be more impressed. it was huge and very well maintained. If you stay here, make sure to travel down the road to see the Flight 93 Memorial.

Huge, very well-maintained & friendly staff

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. 

A treasure to remember, after a long, rough day...

We stayed at Shawnee for 2 nights Memorial Day weekend just after Covid19 restrictions had been partially lifted.  Site 258 on loop D is quiet, but may have been noisy if the yurt and 2 cabins had been rented out.  There is a 20 amp plug and 30 amp service at this site.  The fire ring is at an angle so cooking on it proved to be a challenge (we bring a grill grate with us just in case, and had to use it). Bathroom and showers were clean, bright, and there is a dish washing sink outside.  Showers were push button but pressure was great and the water was hot (make sure you push the button once before you get in so its warm if no one else is showering at that time). Bring shower shoes.  We were able to hear a small bit of traffic from the highway, but nothing that disturbed us.  There are several stores within a 20 minute drive (Walmart, etc) and a mall an hour away.  Camp wood at the entrance is $5 and is tiny; our biggest piece was a foot long, 4 inches wide and 2 inches thick!  It was okay to start a fire, but we went into the woods and picked up dead wood that we cut into manageable logs.  There weren't any roadside stacks of seasoned wood, so be prepared if it rains.  The picnic table was saturated and too heavy to move,  so we ate sitting in camp chairs.  We would stay again.

Pleasant camping

The lake and the trails around it are beautiful. Great swimming and kayaking/small boating. The campground was nice, quiet and clean. There are a few sites that are a bit close together that you can’t really know until you’re there. Overall it was a great time!

Beautiful lake

The sites are Spacious but we only had electric at our site no water.  The bathhouse had a lot to be desired.  The showers are push button maybe 30 seconds of water before it turns off and no temperature control.  Made for a cold shower even in June!

Family Trip

The campground is large. The primary attraction is the lake, which is nice for kayaking. There is also a small beach area for swimming. Some nice trails and a few are available for bikes.

Nice campground, nice lake

Very nice campground. Somewhat level sites. The lake is very pretty. Enjoy the trails

Love the campground

Nice campground. Some of the campsites are a little bit too close together with no privacy. Our site/47 was too sunny. No shade, no privacy. But during the week was not too crowded, nice and quiet. The bathrooms were nice and kept clean.
We had to ride our bikes or walk to get to the beach, that was more then a mile away or just felt like it was more, because it wasn’t mostly flat and for the kids was hard to ride they’re bikes . But when we got there we were pleased. Large,clean beach with sand , no rocks or aquatic plants in the water. I will do more day trips to the beach in the future.

Beautiful 

Shawnee State Park is a very large campground (319 campsites with mixed electric and non-electric, some pet friendly, some not) about 10 minutes off highway 76 and 20 minutes from the Flight 93 National Memorial.

My fiancé and I visited on August 21, 2022- a Sunday. We did not have a reservation and utilized the campground’s honor system envelopes to reserve our site.  We drove all over the entire campground (which is, again, quite large) and decided that sites 22 and 34 were both well suited for our Sprinter van 144 and not too crowded for our reactive dog. 

The park employees were very helpful and accommodating, though we only needed limited assistance with our arrival since we didn’t have a reservation.  A campsite list is posted at the entrance that displays the list of available sites for that night.  

There is a loop that can accommodate larger RVs but most of those were full- the remaining sites are not necessarily level, and only about 1/4 of them appear to have electricity.  Our site, 34, is not an electric site.

The campground appears well maintained, though the $33.50 fee is a little more expensive than we are used to paying.  But the price of the site was worth it for us for a safe and quiet place to stop for the night on our way to the Flight 93 Memorial and Pittsburgh. 

A note that traffic and highway noise can be heard from the campground but it isn’t incredibly loud- you do get nature sounds that drown out the highway noise at times, as the bugs here are very loud, but if the sound of the highway in the background will bother you, this might not be your ideal campground. 

This campground clearly gets very busy during some weekends, so definitely plan a visit during the week if you’re like us and prefer a more private camping experience.

Large, accompdating campground- Quiet on the weekdays!

Booked for 5 nights to have an opportunity to explore the Bedford, PA area. Great access to Flight 93 Memorial, local covered bridges, Fort Bedford Historic Fort, and many other attractions. Loop D was quiet with ample space between sites that provided privacy. Bathhouse was clean and used for showers. Dump and water fill station easy to access on your way in or out. Verizon signal good enough for streaming. 