“More than 30 Miles of Trails!”
Once an industrial complex for the fledgling United State of America, today French Creek State Park is an oasis for people and wildlife. Straddling the Schuylkill Highlands, the 7,730-acre park is the largest block of contiguous forest between Washington D.C. and New York City. The forests, lakes, wetlands and fields are a destination for the people of southeast Pennsylvania to hike, fish, camp and bike. Those same habitats are homes to many animals and plants that are rare in this corner of the commonwealth. French Creek State Park is an Important Bird Area and Important Mammal Area as designated by the National Audubon Society and also has Pine Swamp, a State Park Natural Area. More than 35 miles of well-marked trails cover a large portion of the park’s 7,730 acres. Hikers at French Creek have a wide variety of opportunities for quiet reflection, nature study and physical challenge. Trailhead parking is located in many convenient areas. The forest covering the park has changed since Hopewell Furnace began operation, producing iron for a young America from 1771 to 1883. It required tremendous amounts of charcoal to fuel the large blast furnace. Woodcutters chopped wood from the forest and colliers burned it in “hearths” throughout the wooded hills surrounding the furnace to produce charcoal. To sustain the furnace operations, the entire area now contained in French Creek State Park was timbered repeatedly to make charcoal. The original forest of predominately American chestnut was cleared and eventually mixed oak forests developed after the furnace closed in 1883. It is hard to imagine that the thickly wooded hillsides enjoyed by today’s visitors were once barren and treeless. The forest of French Creek State Park played a vital role in America’s industrial infancy. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, the Federal government purchased much of the land used for charcoal production as part of a national project to reclaim marginal lands. This project provided jobs and improved local economies by developing recreation sites called recreation demonstration areas. Two Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps were built at French Creek and operated until the early 1940s. The camps built two dams, two group camps, several tent camping areas, beaches, roads, picnic areas, and started the restoration process for the historic core of Hopewell Furnace
Reviews of French Creek State Park
25 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 8 users | Last reported on May 20, 2023AT&T 4G/5G
Confirmed by 8 users | Last reported on July 13, 2023T-Mobile 4G
Confirmed by 5 users | Last reported on September 25, 2022Good campground for beginners. Nice hiking, birding, boating, biking and fishing opportunities. That said, avoid the pool at all costs. Overcrowded, filthy, and attracts an unruly crowd. Boating can get rowdy over the summer. Still, it is a very enjoyable park during the off-peak season.
Beautiful secluded camp ground. Woodsy but well kept. Clean facilities. Reserve online! Would love to stay again. Tent spaces on the D loop were nicely surrounded by brush providing privacy. Amazing symphony from the night insects!
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.
Nightly Rate: $35.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: C10
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.
Nightly Rate: $21.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 33B
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.
Nightly Rate: $29.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: B29
Cell Coverage Rating
T-Mobile 4G
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.
Nightly Rate: $31.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: B047
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.
Nightly Rate: -
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: Loop A site 13
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
Nightly Rate: $24.00
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: A13
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.
Nightly Rate: -
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: C 20-27
We had to stay in the A Loop which is dry camping but that was fine for 2 nights. Thankfully it was cool enough that we could be comfortable with no generator at night for the AC's. They are super strict about 10pm generator cutoff. The sites are all 45 feet but outside the loop is flatter than the inner sites. Our biggest mistake was taking a southern entrance with our diesel pusher. The roads were very narrow and country curvy. Take the northern entrance to the park if you have a larger rig. Beautiful part of the country and our visit to Philly was only 45 minute drive and Valley Forge was only 25 minutes.
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: A28
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
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French Creek State Park
Hours
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Last Nightly Rate
- 35.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 45.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 21.0
- Max Length
- 40 ft
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Swimming Pool
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Fifty Amp
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Full Hookup
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Rec Facilities
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Pull Through
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Tent Sites
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Dump Station
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Big Rigs
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Open Seasonally
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Age Restricted
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Boondock
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Cabin Sites
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Dispersed Sites
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Firewood
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Fulltime Residents
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Group Tent Sites
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Laundry
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Mobile Homes
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Permit Required
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Potable Water
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Propane
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Public Water
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Showers
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Standard Tent Sites
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Water Hookup
Campground
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