French Creek State Park

We moved our annual family camping trip from Rothrock Forest to French Creek Park for a variety of reasons. Most sites are better for RV's/Trailers than for tenting, but if you take a spin through you can find some that are pretty decent for tents as well. There are typically anywhere from 12 to 20 of us who camp together one weekend a year, and this grouping of sites allows us all to be nearby but have our own spaces also. We've had this set of sites for the last three years.

Sites 22 and 24 are open to each other and typically serve as our communal area because of the amount of space available. All sites are wooded to some degree. 25 is slightly slanted but has enough of a more level area to place a tent. Site 27 is off the road more and a bit more secluded but is also right on one of the trails, so you do get some traffic. We even had people cut through our campsite to get to the trail a couple of times. All sites tend to have a foot path from one to the next.

Sites are usually very clean. Bathrooms can get a bit muddy, but they are cleaned daily. I just saw recently that Loop A has been opened up to pets as well. Some other sites can be very small in size, so be careful when choosing. They're also pretty close to each other, especially loop B, and it can get noisy. But overall, it's a decent campground, with plenty to do. Trails, bike riding, playground, a pool at Hopewell lake, fishing at both Hopewell Lake and Scott's Run. Reasonably priced, too.

Cell service is spotty for TMobile depending on where we are on the site. Sometimes I have two or three bars of 3G or 4G, other times I have absolutely nothing.

Ok, it's important to know pets are allowed in only one loop. We have two house cats and I would like to know what the big deal is. The campsite next to us had young kids, one of whom apparently plans to be a musician. Toy drum and toy guitar music was pretty constant morning and evening. Maybe there should be a no kids loop for people who prefer peace and quiet. Just saying.

Moving on, site A13 is nice for a motor home. It is level but gets too much sun during the day when it's hot.

The campground was very clean, but the bathrooms cost a star in the rating

Nice wooded campground. Bathroom was relatively clean (just a little muddy due to rain). Good hiking and biking trails. Kids really enjoyed the large pool (over half the pool was 2.5 feet and under allowing little ones to bounce around). Our fire pit was too high for easy cooking, but neighboring sites didn’t have this issue. We’ll definitely come back again.

Nice peaceful place on the hill. Electric only, water nearby. No pets in our loop, some loops do permit pets. Campground was only about 1/3 full. Sites are paved back in and on the shorter side. Certain sites could take class a, most are in loop c.
Bathhouses were good but not new. Water safer showers. Each loop has it's own bathhouse.
About 1/3 of sites filled were tents. Very peaceful this time of year - week before Memorial Day
Fire rings and picnic tables on each site.

We reserved our site about a week ahead of arrival, and it was the last available site for the last weekend of April. Because of its proximity to Philadelphia, many families came to camp despite predicted thunderstorms on low temperatures. By Monday there were five of us on the B loop.
The sites are well spaced, with lots of vegitation between them. The hot showers and toilets are roomy, and well maintained.
This year had a cold spring, so the trees are just starting to leaf out. I suspect it will be gorgeous in another few weeks.
Water on the B loop is not at each site, so you may need to tank up as you come in.
Our t-mobile coverage was one or two bars at the site, and no service at the restrooms.

This was our third trip to this state park this season. It is about a hour's drive from our home, which makes it great for a quick get-away. Our space was fairly level. Our three trips were made during the week and found lots of empty spaces. Not sure how crowded the weekends get. The bathrooms have always been clean. This is a great place to hike and there are two lakes close by. Hiking trails can be rocky and steep at times depending on which trail but a great workout. This trip we went to the Hopewell Furnace which we really enjoyed. A little glimpse into history. It is fairly close to Amish country. We will continue to use this state park. We paid $21 (senior discount) a night.

Loop C is open all year if you want to camp in the winter. They were installing sewer hook ups at more sites when I was there May of 2015. There are two large sinks outside the rest rooms where you can wash your dishes, pots and pans and utensils if you need it. There are other sites with no hook ups.You can dump on the way out if needed. There is a lake for canoeing of fishing and another one for swimming. You can go to the state web site to get more information. All in all I love this place.