Creek at Bushkill Falls
Lake at Promised Land State Park
So we just came back from our THIRD camping trip this past weekend. We went to Promised Land State park and loved it! It was my first time going camping at a State Park vs. a privately owned facility and I definitely prefer it. Everything at the campground was well maintained and the bathrooms were spotless. We stayed at the Lower Lake campground which has walking access to a fishing lake, which was really nice. You have to drive to the swimming lake, which is about a 10 minute drive. The lake, park, playground and surrounding areas are really well kept. There is also a Conservatory Island, which (I believe) is a little over a mile. It was a nice, shady, hiking option before dinner, when the campsite got too hot.
The campsites at Pickeral Point are along the water, walking distance to an unguarded swimming area.
And my favorite thing about this campground? IT’S SO CHEAP! I looked into some other campgrounds that offered more activities, and it costs double. Without electric, the campsites are $23/night. With electric, they are $31/night. Most privately owned campgrounds start around $45-$50 and is based only on DOUBLE OCCUPANCY. So if you have 2 or 3 kids @ $5/head, it comes out to around $60-$70/night.
So yes, we really enjoyed this place and will definitely be checking out other Pennsylvania State Parks, hopefully before camping season ends. Camping season for Promised Land is between Memorial Day and Labor Day, not sure if that’s the case for all Pennsylvania State Parks.
Few things:
– bring bikes or scooters. The road is smooth and paved, the kids loved getting on their scooters as soon as they woke up in the morning
– bring a lantern
– the firepit at some of the campsites are pretty cramped. Before booking next time, I plan to find out whether there’s any way to make sure I don’t get a campsite that feels cramped around the firepit. i.e. ground around the firepit is uneven to put chairs OR the firepit is tucked away near a bunch of trees- not an open space.
– make sure to check whether the site you reserve is shaded
Some other parks I considered:
State Parks:
Locust Lake
French Creek
I wanted to go to a park that had access to a lake, since it was 90 degrees while we were there.
Private:
Otter Lake
Ringing Rocks
I used the website http://www.pacamping.com to help filter through the crazy list of campsites nearby. PA camping has a nice website with an interactive map, to help you easily navigate the best campground within the area you are looking for. This site has public and private campgrounds.
This site is for Pennsylvania State Parks, and you can make camping reservations here: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/staythenight/camping/