French Creek State Park — Attraction in Union Township

This time last year I visited this park and loved it. My friend that I typically go with has camped here for her whole life and has made it one of her favorite spots to visit multiple times a year. It used to be relaxing time in nature. However, we visited again this past Saturday and had a totally opposite experience. In the area by the pool and lake, there were multiple different parties happening with multiple different loud speakers playing music along with the unmistakable scent of marijuana filling the entire area. My friend is very sensitive to the smell and got a headache from it. It was a challenge to enjoy relaxing by the lake with both the music and scent.

That evening, things did quiet down around 9pm (when quiet hours start,) but until that point, multiple campsites nearby had music blaring at a loud enough volume that you could hear it from every point of the B loop we were in. After dark, my friend and I were sitting by the fire and suddenly a man started walking down the hill to our campsite. Instead of announcing who he was, my friend had to ask him for his name and who he was. He then introduced himself as a park ranger and said that “he could hear our voices carrying to the road and to respect the quiet hours.” He then shined his flashlight around our campsite seemingly to look for something he could ticket us for. Meanwhile, multiple other campsites still were playing music and screaming. Having a stranger approach us in the dark without announcing his title or name was alarming and put us on edge for the rest of the evening. Needless to say, we researched different campsites after he walked back out of our campsite and will not be returning to...

The park has some beautiful features, but the unacceptable condition of the bathrooms ruined the whole trip for me. We did a Monday thru Friday tent camping trip. I don't believe the bathrooms were cleaned the entire time we were there and they were gross the day we arrived. There was some poop smeared, making one of the stalls unusable for a few days. It disappeared Wednesday or Thursday. Not sure if park staff finally cleaned it (they do show up to change the trash and toilet paper) or if another camper finally had enough and cleaned it. Nothing else was cleaned. The same toothpaste was on the walls and same grime around the sink edges.

Beyond not cleaning the bathrooms, the shower stalls are poorly designed. The floor does not slant to the drain, so it puddles up on you (extra gross since the bathrooms are not cleaned). You have zero control on water temp. Usually starts too cold and is then too hot by the end of the shower. You have to hit a button every 16 seconds for your water because that's as long as the stream lasts. I can't even get my hair fully wet in that time, much less rinse it of shampoo. There is no good place to put your stuff while you shower. There is one small hook for a towel, but it is not situated to remain dry. One stall had a teeny corner bench. The other had a long bench, but again, neither were situated to keep your items dry.

I would probably recommend for camping if you have a camper and are therefore bringing your own bathroom. Don't tent camp if you value a clean place to poop and shower.

There is no place to buy firewood in the park, but drive in any direction and you should find someone selling it...

We camped in a yurt as part of our trip to Philadelphia. The "worst" part of the trip was the narrow interstate needed to get into Philadelphia each day. After the first day, we waited a bit to let rush hour get done and found the trip much more enjoyable.

The yurt was a LOT of fun. I enjoyed having a refrigerator and NOT having to pack and setup the tent. The dish washing sinks by the bathroom were particularly welcome. The showers have a push button faucet much like public bathroom sinks. I wasn't sure about those at first but they actually worked out quite well. They stay on considerably longer than a sink faucet does (thankfully) and the water temperature was just right. I also appreciated the hand soap and hand air dryers in the bathrooms. Many campsites we visit don't stock soap or have any way of drying your hands in the bathrooms. Not having to tote the bathroom basket with us on each trip was appreciated.

We only had a few "cons" and suggestions:

1. As the yurts and cabins are near each other, a water source closer to them would have been nice. The water source was a bit farther than most sites we have visited.
2. The men's restroom on Loop C was very muddy.
3. The showers don't have curtains between the shower side and the dressing side. Those would have been nice as the water splashes quite a bit and made it difficult to keep your dry clothes dry following a shower.
4. A fan of some sort in the yurt would help a LOT with air...