Sinnemahoning State Park — Attraction in Grove Township

We recently camped at Sinnemahoning State Park over the Columbus day holiday. The campground is very nice with many pine trees. The tallest I’ve ever seen. we enjoyed the scent of pine by the campsites. The campsites don’t have sewer or water. Each campsite has a fire ring and lantern pole. The campsites have either 30 or 50 amp service. Theres a playground for kids. Roads are modified stone, except for the paved road that goes from the lake up along Sinnemahoning Creek to the park office nature center. There’s a nice picnic area along the paved road. It has a beautiful lake and many campers were taking advantage kayaking and boating while fishing. There are picnic tables and grills down a short road to the right of the parking lot. Including a small pier for handicap fishing and picnicking.The rest rooms at the lake seemed new and were clean. There’s a humongous dam holding the lake water. We’d go down to the other side of the dam before dark and watch the elk and deer grazing below the dam. One night there were eighteen elk and about ten deer. While the bull elk was bugling. There’s a state forest about five miles down the road from the campground that has some cottages and if you have a four wheel drive truck or SUV. There are miles of single lane roads to drive and enjoy the forest. Along the road there are some lookout sites on top of the mountain with benches to enjoy the view. Surprisingly there was cell phone and internet service at the lookout sites. We saw deer driving thru the state forest. We were also surprised to see a couple gazebos driving along the road in the forest. The down side to the campground is there is no cell phone, internet, TV or radio service. The restrooms are clean and well maintained. But don’t have any showers. You have to drive a few miles to another campground if you wanted to take a shower. Unless you have one in your camper. There’s a small building close to the restrooms that you can rinse your pots and pans. Theres a hose bib on the side to fill your camper with water. The dump station don’t have a black tank flush, but there is a hose setup for rinsing. About forty foot from the dump station there’s another hose bib to fill your camper with water. If you have a longer camper be careful driving to the dump station there’s a small information pavilion. Which has a phone sign sticking out, be careful you don’t scrape you camper. There’s a couple intersections with decorative split rail fence. Be careful turning with longer campers. Didn’t see anyone being harassed by park rangers. The one person we talked to at the park office, nature center was professional and friendly. Campers were also friendly and well behaved. While there is no radio service at the campsites. We did get one radio station driving along the park. At noon every day they played “The Star Spangled Banner as you never heard before”. As a veteran the story/ song brought tears to my eves. If you never heard it, Google and listen to it. I really enjoyed camping at Sinnemahoning State Park and plan on visiting and...

I have been enjoying north central Pennsylvania for nearly forty years. The last eighteen of which I have run Elk County Outfitters, a guiding and outfitting business for the state's annual elk hunting seasons. Through this endeavor, myself, and all the guys that make up ECO, have had continuing and constantly growing interactions with state employees from both the PA Game Commission and the State Forest and Park Agencies.

The elk hunt and the guiding / outfitting business that has sprung up from it are new and evolving entities. With anything that is new and particularly anything that involves a government agency, let alone multiple agencies spread over large geographic areas, there can be hiccups and employees that do not want the added responsibilities that go along with these new endeavors. The State Forest / State Park Agencies in particular are taking on added duties, paperwork, liaising, permitting, ect. that deal with hunting that are not part of their normal scope of work. It would be very easy for the individuals that find this added workload on their desk to be less than helpful or even resentful toward those responsible for their growing responsibilities. After all many that go to the state forest and parks are there to see the elk and enjoy nature in a non-hunting facet.

My interaction with Jeanne Wambaugh from the Elk Stat Forest and Lisa Bainey from State Parks has been beyond exceptional. The extra time and care that these two have taken to walk through new permitting, new season, and constant new issues have been way above and beyond what I'm sure was expected of them.

I was nervous about who would take over the Sinnemahoning State Park job upon Lisa's departure. Would they be as eager to work with something not in their normal scope of work? Would they be as quick to prioritize paperwork that should have been in earlier? Most importantly would they look as favorably on the hunting aspect of the state park grounds and be able to deal with the visitors that don't share a favorable opinion of hunting? With Tracy Zupich, as the new Sinnemahoning State Park manager, all our concerns and worries were dispelled. Tracy has been an incredible liaison between the State Park Department and our group. From all the paperwork, the eagerness she and her staff show to not only us but our clients on visits to the park and center, to even handling the permitting for Kettle Creek State park while they were without a manager she has taken our already positive views of these agencies and their staff to an entire new level.

Great hire in Tracy. Thank you guys for all you do.

Jack Manack Elk...

Sinnemahoning State Park is a wonderful place to camp and learn from their programs. We've been coming to this campground now for years and enjoy bringing our grandbabies along with. Despite some nasty reviews lately the park manager is an absolute dear and always extremely friendly. All the staff members are delightful, knowledgeable, and so friendly. Tracy was nothing but kind to us during our stay and to the naysayers that are bad mouthing her - shame on you! She is doing her job and having you follow the rules since you were breaking them. As my husband and I travel to state parks all across the state in our retirement, the rules are clear. No alcohol in parks. If you want to drink stay home or buy your own camp. As all the negative reviews seem to be from the same time and most likely from the same family, it's a shame they would want to ruin the experience for all. Don't let some bullies who were upset that they couldn't get away with breaking the rules let you sway your opinion about this wonderful park! Sinnemahoning should definitely be explored and stayed at - we always see wildlife including bears, elk, snakes, turkey, and deer. My grandbabies loves to see the big elk in the fall and really enjoys ranger...