Adventuring for the 4th of July at Laurel Hill State Park
Laurel Hill State Park has alway been close to my heart. When I decided that I would write about this past summer’s adventures, I knew that I could never truly review the parks that we visited because my judgement would always be clouded by my emotions surrounding the places. It would be influenced by previous visits. I would not be writing about the places an impartial observer. I am not a stranger to some of the places that I planned to write about.
Laurel Hill State Park is one of those places I knew I could never really separate from my past.
Laurel Hill State Park is like a family member to me.
During my childhood I swam in it’s lake, picniced in it’s day use area, hiked, and went to the occasional park program. My family hosted birthday parties and family reunions in its pavilions. My father’s school’s yearly employee picnic was held in Picnic Area 1 on one of the first Wednedays in September at the stone pavilion for a number of years.
In the spring of 1993, I performed a monologue in the camping area of the park as part of a nature play my 8th grade science teacher wrote for our school’s environmental club. I played “Mother Earth” and wore a green dress and forgot most of my lines.
I remember participating in a “Haunted Halloween” walk there as a child and falling asleep in the car on the way home after swimming in the lake many times.
Also most importantly thought, my father was a seasonal park ranger at Laurel Hill State park from 1985-2008 and a full time ranger there from sometime in 2010 till early 2013. Needless to say, I know some of the dirt about the park too.
I have heard about the missing, quarreling, and inebriated park users. Numerous times my father told us about how once a drunk woman threw a freshly grilled hamburger at my father when he came to speak with her at a campsite about noise issues. I also heard about how he had a very hard time getting the grease stain out and how that was his last night working before his week of vacation. I have heard about the silly things that people do at the park and the occasional scary things that happen.
Throughout my childhood, my father almost always worked on the 4th of July. It was often the busiest and sometimes that most raucous weekend of the year at the park. He sometime ended up having to stay later than he was scheduled to work to deal with one situation or another.
So we knew that the park might be very crowded when we made a reservation for the three nights surrounding the 4th of July holiday. In our defense though, Mr. Katie’s workplace seldom closed for both the Friday before and the Monday after the 4th. We felt like the two free vacation days seemed plus the weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit family and take a trip.
As soon as we purchased our pop-up camper in June we quickly made a reservation at Laurel Hill State Park. On July 2nd we traveled 230 miles away from home with our pop-up camper.
How Was the Drive?
The trip to Somerset County, PA, where Laurel Hill State Park is located was uneventful. It took us a little over 5 hours to get there. We stopped twice at rest stops and broke for lunch in Carlisle at Arby’s . Anytime we visit Somerset County we have to stop at a fast food restaurant per instructions given to us my Mr, Man, our resident five year old.
Usually we stop at the Arby’s (or sometimes McDonald or Wendy’s) in Carlisle, even if it is only 11 am when we get there because if we waited until we were actually hungry either:
A) We wouldn’t be near any restaurants (because there are section of the Pennsylvania turnpike where there aren’t food places to stop at. OR
B) This is the more likely scenario: Mr. Katie and I wouldn’t be able to put up with the constant barrage of questions like “Are we going to stop for lunch soon?”, “When are we going to stop?”, and “What kind of toy do you think they have in their kids meal?”
But seriously, Arby’s is great. They had a drive-thru window and since Covid has started we unusually eat in our car or we park at an outside picnic table at a nearby by hotel.
The drive was good though. It rained a little once we got past Bedford. The boys slept some of the way there. All and all they were pretty good car riders.
What Campsite Where You At? Was it a Nice Campsite?
We were at campsite 197. It is located in the woods. The area surrounding out campsite was very wooded. I woke one night to use the bathroom and I noticed that the area near our campsite was very dark. I liked that. Not often in life do you get to be in a place where you see very little artificial light. I also thought that I heard coyotes, which was a little scary but cool. Don’t quote me on that, the sound might have been dogs or another animal.
I also liked that our campsite seemed to be in a quiet area of the campground. We didn’t see a ton of traffic, which was good because for some reason Preschool Nugget is attracted to traffic like a moth to a flame. There was one driver who kept doing laps around the campground on the last day. I don’t know why he was doing that. Every time he drove past we had to say, “Henry stay out of the road.”
Our site fit our camper and car. Unfortunately, the week preceding the weekend that we visited was a very rainy week. Our campsite had a bit of a mudslide that covered part of the paved pad for our camper and pad. The grass in our campsite was very muddy and since the camper and car took up much of the paved area, there wasn’t a lot of room on our site to walk since it was also on a bit of an incline.
We will camp at Laurel Hill again with our camper since it is a nice park and I have family in Somerset County and the surrounding area. But I would not choose site 197 again.
While we were there, we made a list of other great sites. There were many other nice sites.
Tell Me More About the Campground
The campground is large with 270 sites. It has wooded areas and more open areas. We enjoyed taking a walk down the campground roads and looking at other people’s campsites (of one my favorite things to do). The campground was pretty full because of holiday weekend but honestly it wasn’t the mad house I expected it to be. When we drove back to our campsite at night after visiting area family, we noticed that people where either in their campers or tents or where watching movies projected onto blow-up movie screens. Glamping, I guess. Camping has come a long way since my childhood.
From what we saw the evening, the campground was pretty quiet after dark compared to the communal, town-like atmosphere that we experienced just a week prior at Promised Land State Park in the Poconos.
At dusk though, the playground was a little raucous. My boys and their cousin liked the energized atmosphere very much. At one point they were on a wide teeter tooter with about ten other children.
What Is The Best Part About the Campground?
My children’s favorite part of the campground is that it has three playgrounds. I will say that again, three playgrounds. We visited five PA State Park this summer and that is the most in any state park campground we visited by two. I also like that the sites in the campground were spread out so you didn’t feel like you were on top of your neighbors.
One morning my husband and I walked while the boys all around the campground. That is the only way Mr. Man would agree to a campground walk. We saw that the campground covered a large swath of land. That’s how we saw all three playgrounds. Our favorite one was the one furthest away near the camping cottages. It has a shuffle board court. I have never played shuffleboard before in my life. Mr. Katie had to teach us all how to do it.
There is a Park Museum and Gift Shop Right Near the Campground
One more thing to note is that just before you turn into the campground there is a park visitor center that also houses a gift shop. While we were there, the visitor center was open but the gift shop wasn’t open. A sign said it would be open in August for some reason, but not for the 4th of July. I was disappointed that it was not open but I was also excited about the fact that the park had a gift shop. If you would like to visit its webpage, click here.
We visited the visitor center and talked to the educator. It is center housed in an old house. We called this building the Nature Center when I visited as a child. Preschool Nugget really liked their train exhibit where you could press a button and see how a train went over the mountains during olden times. Mr. Man peppered the educator with questions and his own observations about things we saw in the park. I do not think she knew quite what hit her.
The museum has an exhibit about Civil Conservation Corp (CCC) and a statue dedicated to the CCC across the road from the Visitor Center. The week prior to this trip we visited Promised Land State Park which has fairy large exhibit dedicated to the CCC. It is called the Masker Museum. After these two park visits I know feel like I know most things about the CCC and how the young men who worked for it conducted their lives.
What Else Can a Visitor To Laurel Hill State Park Do?
Visit the beach
Laurel Hill has a great lake beach. We didn’t go to the beach on this trip. The weather was a little cool for early July. At Laurel Hill that weekend, which might be a little cooler than the surrounding area, the high temperature in the low 70’s. I wore pants for much of our trip and a sweatshirt some of the time.
However, last summer the boys and I visited the beach on a hot day and he had a great time. If you do get to the beach. Don’t forget to visit the snack bar. It is a pretty great snack bar that has more than just ice cream. It is like a small restaurant really. You walk inside a screen door to place your order. You can buy walking tacos and other real food items there. I am told that it has its own Facebook page.
Also of note, the beach area has three pavilions that are reservable, a horseshow pit, a volleyball court, and yet another playground.
Here is a picture from out visit to the beach last summer.
While at the beach, you can rent a boat. I have not done that in my many years but it seems to do brisk busniess. Read about it here.
Take a Hike
On this visit, we hiked on two trails. We took the Tram Road Trail and the Pumphouse Trail to visit Jones Mill Run Dam, then we turned around and hiked back. It was a pretty and very doable hike for small children. The boys enjoyed walking on the boards on the Tram Road Trail. Boards and bridges keep them interested in hiking.
I have taken this hike many times, including in the winter and always find it to be very peaceful. On the day we hiked, July 3rd, we saw a few other groups but it wasn’t very crowded. I highly recommend it. The focal point of the hike is the dam that is pictured behind me.
Here is a picture of the creek that runs alongside the Pump House Trail. Also from January 2015
Other Activities We Engaged in While at Laurel Hill
Campfire Cooking
We had a dickens of a time getting a fire going during our visit because it was quite damp while we were there. So on the morning of July 4th when we finally got our fire going strong, we spent some time working on our campfire cooking.
Bug Catching
Just before we left for our trip. I purchased a butterfly net and bug catching container at the Dollar Store. Mr. Man and Preschool Nugget really had a great time with these items.
Biking
We brought both of the boys bikes, but left our adult ones at home. For right now, it works fine for us to just walk alongside the boys when they ride. Toddler Nugget especially had a great time in the campground on his bike. True to form, Mr. Man made friends with the young boys a few sites away from ours and spent much of the time in the playground hanging out with his new friends.
We Also Were Blessed to Spend So Much Time With Family On This Trip
One of the most important activities we engaged in on this trip was visiting with our family. It was amazing. It really was. It really filled all of our buckets, so to speak. Some of the family we saw on this trip we had not seen in-person since last summer due to traveling instructions given because of the pandemic.
We attended two picnics thrown in our honor in addition to having family come visit our campsite on Friday night. The food was wonderful and it was heavenly to see everyone and spend time with them. Mr. Man and Preschool Nugget had a great time playing with their cousins and visiting with their aunts, uncles, and grandfather.
What Other Local Attractions Are Near Laurel Hill State Park?
- Moo Echo Dairy: It’s a Country Store on Route 31 close to the park that sells homemade ice cream and other specialties
- Glades Pike Winery: Also on route 31 in the direction of Somerset.
- Kooser State Park: It is another state park that is very close by. It does not have swimming but has plenty of hiking trails and lovely scenery. Check it out.
- Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation: Nine Local miners were rescued from this site in July of 2002, all made it out alive
- Flight 93 Memorial: Visit the National Park Service Memorial to the victims of crash of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001
If you decided to visit Laurel Hill State Park, you will love it 🙂
What adventures did you take this summer?
Comment below
