Visit dates: 8/7/14 – 8/10/14
Cost: $25 per night elec/water ($20 primitive) they also have 5 cabins and several trailers which can be rented, all are supplied with linens.
The campground sets on the shoreline of the Susquehanna river along St Route 405 near Milton PA.
The follow that welcomed us is Bob (owner) and quite a presence he makes, big guy lumbering all campers there that weekend. Burly and bearded, long hair and looks like a dare I say “typical biker”, but don’t let looks fool you. This man is kind and friendly to all, my wife likened him to the lion on the Wizard of Oz (big and scary but kind heart'ed and willing to help anyone with anything). Since the campground is on the river it’s in a floodplain so everything is mobile. There are two shower houses (both re-purposed campers/trailers) which were clean and kept, the camp store was once a camper also. Fire wood, ice, bottled water and soda are all available at a reasonable price too, all items including the patches/pins/clothing at the camp store can be purchased on the honor system with conveniently placed containers (plastic coffee cans w/lids) and you can make your own change is necessary.
There is a community camp fire ring which is more like a 6’ wide wok (see photo below). The fires that Bob got started in that thing were huge!
There were weekend campers there who were retired traveling from both Maine and Florida, youngsters (in their 20’s) in tents who lit and set a flight luminaries Friday evening and a mix of others anywhere from 20-60 in tents, cabins and rental trailers.
The site we were placed on was to have both water and electricity but the water faucet was not working, I didn't bother to say anything as I knew our water needs were minimal at best so we just carried water from another location when needed. No problems with the electricity at all. Site was mostly level and easy to set up and level out Time Out. Bob made sure we had a fire ring and table also. There are about 15-20 seasonal campers set up there and they were friendly as well.
Our first night was Thursday and nearly all noise was gone by midnight, Friday morning we were entertained by the fact that quite a few campers (both seasonal and transit) were holding/consuming beer by 9:00 am. This by no means was offensive to us, we enjoy adult beverages as well so we were not judging it was just an observation which we found funny.
The neighboring property is a tavern which is biker friendly and they had an outside D.J. Friday evening, the music he played was rather enjoyable as the entire campground could hear it (not too loud either). The D.J. was done by 10:00 PM and again to the most part the campground was quiet by/around mid-night.
Saturday morning the “early beer holders” didn't disappoint as they continued the tradition of starting early and going all day long. One fellow who obviously had far too much to drink got on his Harley, cracked the throttle a few times as to announce his presence and begun to ride up Sleazy Lady Lane (the camp road our site was on :o), his significant other began shouting at which time he turned his head to see her and dumped his machine in the grass and gravel. He stood up and yelled see what you made me do. Mounted his bike where it laid, picked it up, she got on the back and off they went at a high rate of speed. Did I mention that had he not dropped it when he did it would have become a hybrid Harley/Bass boat as it was inches (seriously inches) from hitting a parked boat and trailer across from our site. That evening the tavern had a band which played classic rock, again to our pleasing as the sounds were not too loud and at the same time loud enough to enjoy right from our camp site. Why not walk up and enjoy music and fellowship at the tavern you may be thinking! Well because the parade of campers walking past our site (with beer in hand) was slow but constant in both directions for nearly 2 hours, the level of intoxication was beyond legal by most. The band was done performing at 11:00 PM and at that time the pavilion behind the bar was quiet. The parade subsided as tavern goers slowly meandered back through the campground. Some much more entertaining than others.
It is at this time that I must warn you, This is an Adult campground! No children should ever be there and Bob even tries his best to redirect folks with kids to another campground down river as he knows the mix of bikes and the bar may create a less than family friendly atmosphere.
Back to the events of Saturday evening. Some of the bar goers proudly announced plans for consummating there relationships that evening while others loudly and proudly proclaimed that their options were shot for the night. A large number of these inebriated campers felt it necessary to share far too much with everybody. I mean to tell you, folks ¼ mile away wouldn't have had trouble hearing them as they shouted and screamed at one another. These “less than pillow friendly” types of conversations continued till no less than 2:30 AM Sunday morning. Why on Gods good earth would someone want to carry on conversations with others 100 yards away while trying to juggle beer cans and lit cigarettes between coughing and screaming I can’t think that their throats felt too good Sunday morning.
Was I comfortable there? YES
Did I feel out of place? NO, but my wife did!
I've tended bar before so a few drunken folks don’t bother me. I also have relatives who are/were “typical bikers”, so that didn't influence/startle me either.Did I enjoy my stay? YES, until after mid-night Saturday evening when I wanted to get some sleep.
Would I recommend this campground to others? YES (as long as they understood what could and most likely would happen) to some, NO to others.
Will I ever return? NO. I won’t say never because anything could change at any time but for now NO.
wok fire ring
Bath Houses
Camp Site
