Shenango Recreation Area Campground

COE Campground with interagency 50% discounts. Restrooms need renovation, old and crumbly. Need at least a coat of paint. They are clean and plentiful. Really nice lake. Some lakeside sites. Public beach 3 miles. Maybe 50% sites 20/30 amp power. Water available. Boat ramp.

Try Handel’s ice cream shops. Delicious!

Large campground with over 300 sites on a beautiful lake. Some exceptional water front sites where you can tie your boat to. Large 4 lane boat ramp. Decent separation between sites. A variety of different sites some with electric some open some with shade. Bad interior roads need work. Really enjoyed my stay here.

We stayed here in June 2021 in a 38 foot motorhome with a tow.

Campground is undergoing construction this summer, some loops were closed as were the water and dump stations. Our site was long and level, but many in the park are not. Verizon LTE service was good.

Our site had 50-amp service, but many in the park have no service at all. Many sites have trees overhead, ours was open.

When construction is finished, the park should be a very nice stop, but this summer, recognize there will be some inconveniences.

We arrived at 5:30 on a Friday and was not given a map or any information for the campground. When we got to the site, the camper who stayed there the night before was still in our site. After they moved we were able to occupy the site, but it was so un level we got our 24ft trailer as close as possible. While trying to relax at 9:30, our neighbors showed up and proceeded to “try” and get into the site. They also set up camp way past quiet time with the hosts doing nothing. After a frustrating evening we went to bed to awake thinking the day would be better. After my visit to the “comfort station” it was time to leave. I’ve used vault toilets that were cleaner and smelled better. We will never stay here again.

After getting off I80, our RV GPS wanted to take us on a wonky route, so we followed Waze and the campground’s (CG) web instructions that took us across the causeway on N. Hermitage Rd, then a right turn off on Birchwood Rd, which led us to take a left turn back across N. Hermitage Rd to get back to the Shenango Rec Area turn. Once we got to the CG, check in was quick and very easy. Just happened, our next door neighbor/camp host checked us in and told us we could get water off their site so we proceeded straight to site 199 that’s a back in with electric (50/30 AMP) only plus one of the better spaced sites in the CG. We had to maneuver a couple of times to get into the 90 degree site but the road was wide with no obstacles to prevent swinging into the site. We quickly found out that our 50 AMP connection had issues and after reporting it, a maintenance crew came within 20 minutes and fixed a bad breaker. We got 3 bars on Verizon and a handful of OTA channels. Due to the amount of mature trees, satellite would be iffy depending on your site. There are no FHU sites (camp host sites have electric & water). Electric sites are centrally grouped within the loops and spaced closer together than most COEs. The majority of the sites within this CG are dry camping and they too are fairly close together. The sites right on the lake were all dry camping. With all the dry camping sites in this CG, its nice that they allow generator use during non quiet hours. Quiet hours here are 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. There are water spigots periodically located within the loops and the CG map identifies where they are. There’s also a two-lane dump station located near the entrance but there is no potable water. There are signs stating no alcohol in the park, but people were openly drinking. We also noted that the contractors who clean the restroom/shower facilities start early in the morning and close the facility while cleaning, which was inconvenient for the dry campers just waking up. If we were to stay at this CG again, we’d come during the week and get a dry camping site on the water.

Our check in was very smooth and we were given maps of the area. The camp host came to say hello as soon as we got to our site. Our site was mostly level. Our T Mobile worked great. We stayed in Old Duck Loop.
We stayed in our 35 ft motorhome.

Very nice COE park. Each loop as camp host. Site 128 was wide, spacious, nearly completely level all way around. Nice gravel pad and picnic table area. A few trees to give a little shade but not issues with access or height, otherwise this loop on park is open and grassy. Which is also why there is a very huge issue with the Canada geese who walk around the campground all times of day, especially morning and evening. Fun to watch with their babies but they leave a total mess of poop all over your site and the adjacent grassy areas. We suggest NOT leaving down a patio carpet if you are not there using it otherwise it will potentially be pooped on- they are not shy and very used to campers.

Site 128 would be perfect for anyone with Solar needs.

We did use the bath house and showers (free with good hot water and pressure). They were very clean and modern. There is a small playground area but besides that, you really are going here for the reservoir water views and fishing if that's your thing. Clearly this is a hot spot for fishing and you will see many smaller bass type boats all day long on the water.

These sites are no hookups, but water spigots are dotted throughout each loop. We toured the rest of the campground and would say our loop where 128 was located was the nicest albeit sites not as private or screened as some of the other loops. The campers were congenial, abided by rules, no issues with noise, etc.

We had a tent camper in the site nevt to us. their site on the grass for the tent was a challenge due to sloping towards the water. They moved it several times bc the first place they set up was basically 35 feet behind our camper when we arrived. That site clearly would have been fine for an RV since the back in drive was level and fine.

We have NPS Lifetime Senior Pass so we paid only $13 per night. Dry camping but you cannot beat the view AND a level site!

Check-in was straightforward. We spent one night in Site no 4 as part of a transit through the region. GPS may try to optimize the route, but recommend using SR 18 if you're coming up from I-80. Also, this area has a road feature called "jug handle" where you exit to the right to turn left. So if you're coming north to access the campground, stay to the right as you cross the reservoir and look for the "all exits from right lane" sign.

This is a campground of two areas, one beautiful and the other cramped. The electric sites are close together while the more desirable, higher numbered sites are without electric. We stated in site 4. It was level enough we didn't even unhitch since this was an overnight stopover.

The reservoir is huge and many people had boats with them. We heard a lot of children having fun, so seems like a great family place.

The sites are electric only, or no hookups. If you drive past the first loop, there is a water spigot with a parking area to fill up tanks. We found this after we hauled a bit of water from a few campsites away.

We had site # 9 which had electric hook up and you fill with water. To fill with water you have to pass the entrance for this loop and it's down a little on the left. Our site was waterfront which had a nice view. It was a steep slope down so we couldn't access the water from our site. A few sites you can. Out site was a nice size and shaded for the most of it. There is a dump station onsite.

We saw big Blue Herons, Oriels, Robins, and lot's of little song birds. There are some groundhogs there too.

The lake is big and you can boat, fish, kayak & canoe in it. There is a boat launch onsite. There are several playgrounds, lakeside picnic shelter an Amphitheater and a nature trail onsite. The town is close so there are places to eat and stores of all kinds.

Our favorite sites in the Golden loop are #6, 7, 9, 12 and 17.

The main loop sites # 72, 66 and 80.

The new duck loop all the sites with electric are on the inside not waterfront.

The NON electric loops favorite sites are:

The Pine Loop # 130, 161, 118, 121, 123, and 128.

The lake view loop sites # 49, 39 and 31.

The Old Duck loop Site # 212 is waterfront and has good water access.

The road going into the duck loops aren't as nice as the rest of the campground roads.

If you are camping with a generator they don't allow them to run after 10 PM during quiet hours.

The reason I gave a 4 star on noise is because someone had a barking dog most of the week.

We had site # 9 which had electric hook up and you fill with water. To fill with water you have to pass the entrance for this loop and it's down a little on the left. Our site was waterfront which had a nice view. It was a steep slope down so we couldn't access the water from our site. A few sites you can. Out site was a nice size and shaded for the most of it. There is a dump station onsite.

We saw big Blue Herons, Oriels, Robins, and lot's of little song birds. There are some groundhogs there too.

The lake is big and you can boat, fish, kayak & canoe in it. There is a boat launch onsite. There are several playgrounds, lakeside picnic shelter an Amphitheater and a nature trail onsite. The town is close so there are places to eat and stores of all kinds.

Our favorite sites in the Golden loop are #6, 7, 9, 12 and 17.

The main loop sites # 72, 66 and 80.

The new duck loop all the sites with electric are on the inside not waterfront.

The NON electric loops favorite sites are:

The Pine Loop # 130, 161, 118, 121, 123, and 128.

The lake view loop sites # 49, 39 and 31.

The Old Duck loop Site # 212 is waterfront and has good water access.

The road going into the duck loops aren't as nice as the rest of the campground roads.

If you are camping with a generator they don't allow them to run after 10 PM during quiet hours.

The reason I gave a 4 star on noise is because someone had a barking dog most of the week.