Linesville Campground, Pymatuning State Park, Linesville, PA

Back in September, I took the kiddos camping so Kristin could stay home and get a big writing project knocked out. We had a great time canoeing, seeing sights, biking, and trying new recipes around the campfire while camping at Linesville Campground in Linesville, Pa. The Linesville campground is the smaller of two campgrounds located at Pymatuning State Park, but with a handful of pet-friendly full hookup sites, it may become our favorite close-to-home campground!

Campground: There are about 60 sites at the Linesville Campground, of which only about 30 have electric hookups. There is a newer loop that offers 12 full hookup sites, which are all fairly level and easy to back into. This section of the campground is still gravel, though, so it was a bit rough for the kiddos riding bikes.

Our site, 137, was very nice and if we were to return it would be one of my top three campsite choices. I also liked 133 since it was a bit bigger. Site 166 is private with a view of the lake, but it could be a bit difficult to back into since it is 90 degrees to the road with some culverts on either side of the driveway.

Here’s a little video tour I put together of the campground. (Note: I was not speeding through the campground, I have just sped up the film in places. :))

Bathrooms: The bathrooms were a bit dated and spartan, but were much better than the ones over at the Jamestown Campground. They were at least clean, although it appeared it had been a while since they were deep cleaned.

Amenities: While there are not a ton of amenities at the Linesville Campground they do offer some great RV features such as:

• dump station
• fish cleaning station (stocked with plastic bags and a freezer to hold your catch until you head home)
• cabins
• laundry facility
• full marina with boat launch and slips for rent
• fishing pier
• small playground

Touring: We were only in the area for one day of touring but we hit some great stops. A very popular attraction at Pymatuning State Park is “The Spillway,” a kind of off-the-wall experience where the fish are so plentiful that birds can walk across the water on the backs of fish. Traditionally there are so many Asian Carp (huge ones) that they have to fight to stay IN THE WATER. People bring bags of stale bread to feed these fish and they all congregate to eat. (Yeah, probably not the most environmentally-friendly thing to do, but people have been coming for years to do so.) On our recent visit the fish were not as plentiful because many of the fish caught a virus and died. This made canoeing a bit putrid because portions of the lake’s banks were lined with dead carp. (YUCK!)

Just down the road from “The Spillway” is the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission State Fish Hatchery for walleye and other species. The huge observation tank has some of the state’s best examples of native species.

Pymatuning State Park is located just off the far western portion of Pennsylvania’s Route 6, which we have spent a good deal of time exploring in other parts of the state. Thus I could not resist going to “Mile 0” to get a few pictures! And if you’re in the area, Barney’s Dairy Supreme is a great place to stop for a scoop of ice cream!

Date of Stay: 9/22-24/17

Cost: $44.50 per night pule $5 reservation fee