Campus Park & Ride

Out of all places we have ever paid to stay at, this may have been the worst. It is a noisy, dirty, fenced in parking lot right up against a Border Patrol building, that has some 7000 volt fences. It is not a great place for dogs, if you walk out of the lot you can find a little grass. Bathrooms were ok, the shower wasn't great, and the dump is a barely usable due to its height and location. The WIFI in our site wasn't usable. You want to stay close to the office for better signal.

The only reason to ever come here is if you want to be close to Philadelphia. We rode our bikes into Philly to see the historic sites and get some Cheese Steaks, it was only about a 30 minute ride up Greys Ferry and over on South St. There are a lot of free attractions to see. It is also a short Uber ride to many of the stadiums and entertainment venues.

This is an overflow parking lot for Univ. of Pennsylvania hospital students and staff. Excellent free shuttle service to the hospital and bus services to go to the historical sites. $2.50 bus fare for each way to the historic district. The parking area is next to the homeland security building so is very safe with a 7000 volt electric fence and 24 hour security. No grass. Tight spaces. The $52 per night included electricity, water and my pickup that was considered as an extra vehicle for my trailer! On-site bathrooms and a shower for each bathroom. Water was hot but not much privacy. Staff were very nice and helpful. Not a great spot for kids but worked well for us to park and go see the sights.

Camped here for 4 nights in May. As others have mentioned, it's conveniently located to exploring the city. We didn't use the shuttle service as it will drop you off at the University Hospital and you would need to catch another bus into the city. Instead, we used uber pool, which ran between $4-$8 each way. Not too bad for the convenience of getting more directly to your destination.

Don't be put off by the industrial neighborhood. We felt perfectly safe in the lot even on the weekends and overnight. It's well lit and shuttle drivers are on call, even on weekends, so they can assist if anything comes up. If you're planning on arriving over a weekend, however, it's advisable to call ahead and make a reservation as the office is only open Mon-Fri.

The dump station issue has been addressed, sort of. It's located to the left of the office and bathroom trailers and while it's no longer 2 ft off the ground, it's still raised about 6-8 inches. We were able to dump our tanks though, with just a little added effort.

Due to its location, you can hear noise from the train tracks nearby and the sound of the shuttle buses but it was a small inconvenience for its location. Sites have water and electric connection. There's a bathroom trailer, with toilets and 1 shower stall.

I would agree and repeat virtually everything mentioned by Jeneric Ramblings in their review. There are very few parks convenient to Philly. Our son and family recently relocated to Phila and we could find very few parks convenient to the area for our visits.

The park attendant, Keith, was very friendly and helpful with getting set up and with directions (verbal and handouts) for using the transit system.

The only feature I could criticize is the dump facility. Unless I missed it, the only dump available is a PVC pipe that runs the length of the building, falling gradually to about 18"-24" off the ground at the end. My black and gray will not run uphill.

We moved on and dumped at the next stop. Overall, we had a very positive experience.

Let's get this out of the way up front: this park doesn't have great "curb appeal". It gets 5 stars based solely on its location. We wanted to visit friends in Philly and, until we found the Park & Ride, were faced with staying at an outlying Park and driving 45 minutes one way to their house. This Park is right downtown and cannot be beaten for convenience to attractions.

The Park & Ride is affiliated with Univ. of Pennsylvania Hospital and provides parking for its employees. The facility is located in an industrial area of town but is gated and fenced. It is open year-round and, while the office is only open during business hours, an attendant is on-site 24/7 to let you in & get you settled if you arrive outside office hours.Reservations accepted.

BASICS: Sites have 30 & 50 amp power and fresh water. There is a dump station on site. There is a restroom with a shower (not the cleanest nor the dirtiest we've seen). Free WiFi. Depending on your location you may need a WiFi antennae. With our antennae we were seeing 30mb down most of the time.
Rates vary by RV length:
less than 30' - $30/night
30-40' - $40/night
over 40' - $50/night
Non-standard rates apply during special events (I assume game weekends, graduation, etc.)
Additional fee of $13/night to park a towed vehicle.
Stay 6 nights and the 7th night is free.

TRANSPORTATION: You can get an entry/gate card for a $15 refundable deposit so that you can come & go as you please. [If you don't get a gate card you can always call the office number and the attendant/shuttle bus driver can let you in, but you may have to wait up to 15 minutes after hours if the shuttle bus is out on a run.] Campers can hop on the shuttle bus at any time at no charge and get driven to the U Penn hospital. From there you can access the City bus system (office can help you with schedules & such). Shuttle buses run on a regular schedule between 6 am and 10 pm. After 10 pm they will run on request.

THE GOOD: Convenience. Power, water & dump. Safe place to park inside the City (I think you can pay the $13/day fee just to park here if you're just coming to the City in your car for the day). Staff is super nice and helpful. A standard "site" is 2 parking spaces wide, so you aren't jammed in too tightly (although I suspect it's a different story on game weekends & such). Can accommodate any size rig.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD: It's a parking lot in an industrial location, so there is vehicle and highway noise (it's near the Amtrak station too). That being said, we feel perfectly safe here and have stayed in plenty of campgrounds that were next to train tracks too. We don't find this any noisier than a WalMart parking lot. You'll need to take I-76 to get here, and it is a very busy highway, especially during peak traffic hours. You may want to time your arrival for the middle of the day. Bathroom could have been nicer, and there is only 1 shower for women, 1 for men.