Crooked Run Campground — Prince Gallitzin State Park

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.

If you're looking for a quiet place, this is not it.

2 night stay in a tent site. Sites were small, but doable. Very clean and spacious showerhouses/bathrooms in each section. Some sections do not allow pets, even for walking. Lake was large with 26 miles of shoreline. The lake was virtually empty, especially for a holiday weekend. There is a swimming area, also empty. The only boats we saw were pontoons and kayaks. Check their website, maybe that is all that are allowed. We don't have a boat, so didn't ask. Some hiking trails around the park. Surprisingly, we saw NO wildlife, and had no campsite "visitors". The park offered many family friendly programs.

Labor Day 2017

So many trails so little time.

Very nice state park in PA. Huge lake for water sports, scenic trails, small dirt bike oval track.

Natural beauty!

We used the group tent sites for our Girl Scout weekend. It was a fun weekend. We participated in the Outdoors for Everyone event. The site was clean, decently level area for tents, accessible to potable water and bathrooms with showers. Rangers were wonderful to work with in setting up teaching opportunities for the girls. We will definately go back.

Clean sites with nearby water and bathrooms.

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.

Great campground

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. 

Family friendly

Great Camp Sites

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&amp;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. 

Depends what you’re looking for!

A huge park and packed to the brim with campers. Even on a Sunday evening. Parkee told me that normal summer get about 90 to 95% capacity, but with Covid they are surpassing that even during the week. Lucky to get a spot.

Fairly level, shaded sites, ours with electricity. ATT &amp; Verizon signal were usable. Big lake for water sports &amp; fishing. Would return again when it is less crowded. Easy to maneuver roads even for larger rigs.

Prince Gallitzin SP

I went here for the first time with 3 other family members for the last camping outing of the year. We went during their trick or treat weekend, it was very entertaining and enjoyable. Almost every campsite was decorated for Halloween and there was plenty of Trick or treaters. If you are into Halloween then this is the place to go. Overall the park was clean and well taken care of. Staff was helpful and pleasant as well.

Halloween party 

We stayed in one of the pet friendly loops of the park. We had a great time in our PUP....bathhouse was clean and well maintained.

Great Campground

This was a comfortable one night stay for us. The walk from our site to the lake revealed a larg variety of mushrooms. Sometimes it’s the little things that make a place interesting. All else was comfortable. Some how though we never saw the actual name of the campground. Enter Crooked Run campground or you may end up on the wrong side of the park like we did. 