Mountain Lake Camping Resort — Hotel in Lancaster

Campground? More like a Prison Camp.

We were excited to take our camper up to somewhere new, taking our kids to storyland and Santa's village. We found this place and despite its extremely high cost, it seems like it had pretty decent reviews. I have been to over a hundred different campgrounds in my life all over the country and this by far is the worst one I have ever been to.

RULES. - there are more rules at this place than a private school. Not allowed to pretty much do anything. The pond has specific docs for certain things, they even have a sign that says no standing on them. They have a strict no music policy at all. I felt guilty just playing my little handheld radio while making breakfast on super low volume. Meanwhile people's unsupervised children are running around screaming most of the day and going down the roads on their electric scooters at 40 mph. The quiet hours are very strictly reinforced, which is fine with me but they have a tattletale system where you can text a number and report a campsite anonymously. Trash is also a joke. There are no public dumpsters that you can use. They have a scheduled trash pickup which is stupid because the birds and squirrels pick your trash apart before they even come pick it up. There are bears in the area but it's not a big deal to have a locking dumpster to keep them out.

COST - THIS PLACE IS A CAMPING MICROTRANSACTION HELL. For the initial cost of the sites. You think that they would include a little bit. Everything that you do cost extra money. You want to go out on a kayak? That's going to cost you every half an hour. You want to have your kids do some activities? That's going to cost you money too. The only thing that is technically free is taking a shower and even that had a sign that said to take 5 minutes or less in order to keep them free but it was like a threat.

Noise - most of the day was kids running around screaming. But once that was over you think you would get a little peace and quiet at night. Just kidding not at mountain Lake. It's close proximity to a well-traveled road means that there were 18 wheelers airbreaking all night. It was so loud that we couldn't even sleep the first night.

Staff - some of the staff weren't too bad, but it was very clear afterwards what this place was about. We left a night early because of all of the crap and we were just kind of over it it wasn't fun for us or our kids. We were completely exhausted from not sleeping at night so when we got home we thought we were just going to unpack and relax a little bit. This is where the fun began.

My wife started receiving a flurry of phone calls and voicemails from somebody at the campground about a $30 charge that we owed. We had no problem paying it but our bank actually flagged it as fraud because whoever was trying to run the transaction did it dozens and dozens of times. There were over 20 separate transactions in a single day for $30 through our bank. It locked our card. My wife was away on a work trip and I didn't have the time to handle it. Within a few days we got a text message from them stating that we had stolen from them and if we didn't pay the $30 they were going to contact the police and press charges. Lets not forget we left a night early and they got a $150 from us for the night we didn't stay.

This place is nothing but a money hungry, dictator style campground. Never in my life have I felt more uncomfortable staying somewhere. I will never stay here again in my life and I have also told my family and friends to do the same. If I were you I would...

Probably the cleanest, most organized, and friendly staffed campgrounds we’ve ever been to. We stayed for 6 nights. We had a pull through site that had a terrific view. All the common areas were meticulously clean, from the restrooms to the pool. From the beach to the store! | Shortly after arriving, we realized our hot water heater was not working so, after asking a staff member for guidance, he had me in touch with a vendor in 2 minutes! The problem was solved and fixed in short order. | The lake is small but big enough for kayaks. The beach area is clean and landscaped every morning with a York rake. Never saw any trash there or items left behind. Kayak rentals and paddle boat rentals are available. There is a fishing dock there for catch and release only. No lifeguard at the beach. | Our site was very good sized and had natural separation with trees, etc from our neighboring site. We have a 27 foot travel trailer and fit very well with room for another on the side and one more across the front if needed! Obviously, that was not the case. The picnic table was in phenomenal shape! We didn’t even need a table cloth. The fire ring was sunk below ground level and worked very well! Full hookups at the site. Did not notice any cable but, we didn’t want that anyway. Water pressure at the hookup was adequate. | The store was very nice and carried all the stuff you might need in a pinch. I kid you not, the staff always smiled and engaged and made us feel like we mattered! They also sell ice cream there, freshly scooped with toppings of your choice for an extra cost. You can also order breakfast muffins freshly baked for the next morning! | The positives. The attitudes of the staff have us already planning a future visit. The camp has been there 23 years and is currently operated by a family consisting of a couple, their 3 children and a grandmother. They absolutely care about and for that campground. They had me realizing that I was making sure that I was kicking stray rocks off the path and trying to make sure I didn’t leave a mess for others to experience. | Free showers! Very clean showers in very clean bathrooms are not the easiest thing to find but, you will at mountain lake. They only ask that you help conserve water and limit yourself to 5 minute showers. They are cleaned twice daily. | Delivery to your campsite for wood, propane, muffins. They don’t even charge for this service. | Trash is picked up twice a day from your site! Just set it out at the designated times and you’re done!| The negatives…… No outside wood! You can only purchase from the campground. However, it did burn nicely with no snapping or popping. It is a premium kiln dried hardwood and we didn’t mind paying for it. Side note; if you buy 3 or more bundles, they will deliver it to your site. | No radios played outside. Inside is fine but, outside is not. The reasons stated are that the camp feels the radios Rob you and others of the sounds of nature. I think it may also have something to do with folks getting carried away with volume discipline. | The pull through sites are angled in a tough direction, making leaving tough on the one way street. They will assist though and stop traffic if needed. We backed out of ours and it seemed the more logical choice for our camper and for safety. | Tree sap! Bring a vehicle cover. | I could go on but, I’m writing a novel here. Bottom line is…. Book a site here! It costs slightly more than most but, so worth it! Thank you so much to the staff for making our...

Site #69 Camper Van and tenting this trip

Booking a site was easy and fast. Extra questions I had were answered very well on the phone by very friendly staff member.

Pulling in this campground has very clear direction through roadways and to office, very well done. The sites are clean and very well maintained. The pool area is excellent condition with no lifeguard on duty but an attendant who makes sure kids go down the slide one at a time without clogging the slides.

The bathrooms are very clean. Touchless urinals, toilets and sinks. I would say the cleanest bathroom/bath house at a campground I've seen. It also has a laundry room and dish washing station on the side.

Our camp site was awesome we were able to fit a camp van and tent with a corn hole area along with our jeep and still had more room. Knowing we had a gravel site we used a camp rug under the tent. I do . not believe all sites are graveled but give them a call.

Other points of interest are the fishing area, kayak, canoe, paddle boats, rec center. This camp is very well maintained. And we will be back again. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

The only negative I found was the radio rule in which is understandable now with the response I read from the camp to other reviews. Mountain Lakes Campground keep up the great work, we cannot wait to see you again.

BTW just down the road from santas villiage. "Nonna" is a sweetheart and made check in fun.

UPDATE: We finally got back to this campground and nothing has changed. It is still a great place to come.

Unfortunately I could not get my favorite site #69 but I got one just as good amd even better if you like a view of the lake. Site # 74. Large with a yurt to the left and a cabin you can't hardly see on the right so your pretty private if you set up right. This site does only have electric and water. We tented but I believe it holds up to a 32' (call and ask). It does has two pull ins across the road so if you got a group excellent area for you all.

We will be back again!!

Oh and sure enough sweet Nonna greeted me in the office again. And a new friend Tayla in the ice cream window hooked my wife and son up to satisfy their...