Established Camping
Sinnemahoning State Park Campground
About
State Park
Location
Sinnemahoning State Park Campground is located in Pennsylvania
Directions
Located on PA 872 in Cameron and Potter counties in north central Pennsylvania. The park is long and linear, with the southern entrance 7 miles north of the intersection of PA 120 and PA 872 (outside of the village of Sinnemahoning) or 11 miles south of the town of Austin. The park office, located within the Wildlife Center, is located, 12 miles north of the intersection of PA 120 and PA 872.
Address
8288 First Fork Rd.
Sinnamahoning, PA 15861
Coordinates
41.42000041 N
78.03100075 W
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
- Boat-InSites accessible by watercraft.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
- VerizonUnknown
- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileUnknown
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Tent Cabin
Features
For Campers
- Market
- ADA Access
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Firewood Available
- Phone Service
- Reservable
- Showers
- Drinking Water
- Electric Hookups
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- Sewer Hookups
- Water Hookups
- Big Rig Friendly
Small, Quiet and Beautiful
This a small campground, around 33 sites. The pads are all gravel except for the handicapped pad, which is paved. This campground is alcohol free and upon checking on you are asked if you have any alcohol. The sites are fairly spaced apart and many are shaded by large pine trees.
The park visitor's center has many participatory A/V camping and wildlife exhibits. The law enforcement/ranger was exceptionally helpful and friendly and he provided me with the locations of current elk sightings.
I had no verizon cell service in the park.
- (9) View All
Sinnemahoning SP and Elk SF
Visited early June. Very quiet and clean campground. Check out Park Office/ Wildlife Center, Elk Country in Benezette (Elk Life coffee shop is great). Amazing vistas off Ridge road; great hiking all over. Make your first stop the park office and grab a bunch of maps to see what’s around. The SP itself doesn’t offer a ton of hikes, but lots to explore in the nearby state forests. No cell service at all - a blessing!!!
Peaceful and remote
It was fun trying to use maps along with gps to find our way to the campground. There is zero cell service/WiFi at the park, or for at least 5-10 miles from it. The sites are clean, flat, and spaced nicely on the northwest end, but a little too open and feels crowded on the eastern end. Bathrooms are clean and functional, with one shower stall in each, so there could be a line for the showers. The fire rings are showing their age (and the regular high humidity of the area), but functional. There is not an actual tent pad, so you’re going to need sturdy tent pegs for guy lines. It’s rocky and covered with gravel. Plenty of trees in the northwestern end for hammocks, and from our hang we were able to watch squirrels, chipmunks, fireflies, and a variety of birds. It’s a fairly flat mile-long walk to the park office and a quaint discovery area with benches, streams, and encourages little wildlings to enjoy the forest. On the way out, we saw elk grazing around homes and nicely mowed lawns. Great end to a lovely weekend.
- (15) View All
Nice campground but too small
The park itself is among the best in the entire PA state park system, offering unparalleled opportunities for wildlife viewing, but unfortunately, the campground is altogether too small — only 35 sites wedged between Rte. 872 and State Park Road — for the crowds it pulls. The walk-in sites are just inside the campground entrance and site 17 abuts several private hunting cabins so expect road noise and light pollution at night. Tent pads are of rocky packed earth which makes staking and guying out your tent a bit of a challenge. A decent amount of forest canopy also creates a microclimate that retains/amplifies humidity after it's burned off in other, more open sections of the park.
All that said, this is still a perfectly nice, clean, well-maintained campground probably best visited off-season, mid-week, and (eventually) post-pandemic. You certainly don't have to travel far to get a glimpse of the wildlife: I had a close encounter with a massive bull elk just walking from my campsite to the restrooms at dawn!
- (5) View All
One of our Favorites!
Small, quiet campground. My kids love riding their bikes here. There are a few nice scenic trails that go to the lake and through the woods. Some are kid bike friendly. The nature center is great! Kid friendly and fun! They offer a free pontoon boat tour of the lake, reservations needed because spots fill up fast! During the fall at the nearby dam rangers set up an elk viewing spot with binoculars.
Super friendly staff!
Sinnemahoning is definitely an excellent spot for car campers to enjoy the Elk State Forest/PA Wilds region. It was a quiet sleep(a little gravelly for tents, but not bad) with dark skies for stargazing.The park staff was knowledgeable and super friendly. Tracy answered my sister’s 500 plant identification questions with cheerful patience. Will definitely be back. And we saw a bear!Beautiful area with a nice visitors center. It’s quite a bit further from Route 120 than we thought from the signs, but a nice ride. Wish it had a nicer playground and picnic area for the kids to enjoy. We would have liked to hang around longer but it was soooo buggy(not their fault).
- (9) View All
Come inside to really enjoy all that’s outside!
Adults and Children alike will love the park office / Wildlife Center at Sinnemahoning State Park. Learn about this buildings green construction (LEED)geo thermal heat, rain water harvesting system, recycled materials and more! Step inside to view elk bear birds and other wildlife! Learn about the building of the dam and the early days of the CCC camps. If you can get the children out of the office or bring yourself to leave ... make a souvenir penny on your way out before walking across the parking lot and around the corner to visit the arch tree. This park is a long narrow park with a road running through it that is perfect for a bike ride or stroll. On one end is a wildlife viewing area, the other end offers great fishing and a boat launch. Between is a picnic day use area and a 35 site campground with a dump station, a modern restroom with flush toilets and showers. The restrooms and some campsites are ADA accessible. Electric hookups are available and each pet friendly camp site has its own picnic table, lantern hold and fire ring. Elk, eagles deer and many other varieties of wild life can be seen here on a regular basis! There is much to explore here during any season and even on a rainy day the kids will have the opportunity to learn about the world around them! 5 stars Sinnemahoning! What a treasure in the PA Wilds!
- (17) View All
Small, quiet campground
The campground is very small, and cell service is non-existent, but that's what we were looking for - a quiet getaway. The campground has a small playground, and there is a nice visitors center just up the road.
One of my favs!
Living only a little over an hour away this is one of our "go to's." This park has so much to offer. There's plenty of Trout fishing opportunities. If you enjoy boating the dam is beautiful. There are also plenty of trails. The visitor center is also a lot of fun to visit. This park is very family friendly.