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Dan_Rox · 12-16-2017, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackdog06

Has anybody ever been to Colonel Denning, Fowlers Hollow or Cowan's Gap State Parks in Pennsylvania? If so, what did you think? They're on our list for consideration for next year, but I can't find much information on them. TIA!

We've stayed a Colonel Denning a few times. It is a small park, without modern facilities. That being said, we really like it there. Most all sites have electric and that is all we need. They have a small lake with a beach.

There is good road / dirt road bicycling nearby.

They normally have some pretty decent ranger programs and hikes. We went to an Astronomy program that was really cool. The guy giving the talk was a scientist from NASA. His job was interpreting data from the Hubble telescope. He had a small telescope set up on the beach pointed at Saturn. Neat to be able to see the rings around the planet.

Blackdog06 · 12-16-2017, 03:50 PM

KellyCreek - Thanks for the info. We'll definitely add Cowan's to next year's schedule! The turnpike ride looks really cool although the tunnels are kind of creepy.

Dan_Rox - We like "rustic", so hopefully the campground project won't make it too fancy. Thanks for the biking info also.

We'll check out Fowlers Hollow sometime this winter and report back. It's rustic and has only 12 electric spots and 6 tent spots. It's also in the middle of a state forest so probably has a lot of gravel grinding on the fire roads.

Too tall · 12-16-2017, 06:05 PM

Good info. re. Cowan's I've always wanted to explore the abandoned road as well as road bike riding the area.

Too tall · 01-21-2018, 06:01 AM

Mid-Atlantic Streamers. Starting first week of March I'm going to hit some of the camp sites we've been talking about with the intended purpose of evaluating great bicycling routes from camp. If you are a little nuts wrt riding bikes eg are up for 3+ hrs. at a 17mph pace PM me or make suggestions here, we'll see what develops.

I'd love to organize a mid-atlantic streamers weekend however herding cats is above my paygrade

That said, I'll keep plugging away at this notion.

Blackdog06 · 01-23-2018, 05:29 AM

We're already booked for Lums for the March 24th weekend so maybe we'll catch up with you. We take both the road and dirt bikes there...

Too tall · 01-25-2018, 11:41 AM

BD06 Sounds good. I'll PM you (edit) We are a go

Dan_Rox · 02-18-2018, 05:40 AM

We were hoping to make Lum's Pond in March but it doesn't look like it is going to work for us.

Saturday May 5th is the spring swap meet at the velodrome in Trexlertown. We plan to camp nearby Friday through Sunday. There is a lot of good riding in the area, and hopefully a few bargains can be found at the swap Saturday morning. We will post more details once we decide where to stay.

We will probably try do the same thing later in the summer to catch races Friday night and ride over the weekend.

DewTheDew · 02-18-2018, 08:07 AM

It's too bad we are hikers and not bike riders! However this thread has already put me in touch with some locals and pointed out some campgrounds I'd never known about (which is most, since I am new to this and ignorant!!). We've booked Rocky Gap for June 28 for two nights (grandkids visiting) and July 11 for four nights at Virginia Highland Haven (Airstream park). Probably stay very local for some earlier trips, and look to the mountains of VA for mid summer trips.

rideair · 02-18-2018, 10:31 AM

If you're into hiking, I'd suggest "Crabtree Falls" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crabtree_Falls

There is a campground up the road, and other places to stay,
http://www.crabtreefallscampground.com/

Enjoy,

DewTheDew · 02-18-2018, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rideair

If you're into hiking, I'd suggest "Crabtree Falls" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crabtree_Falls

There is a campground up the road, and other places to stay,
http://www.crabtreefallscampground.com/

Enjoy,

That looks great; thanks for sharing!

Dan_Rox · 02-18-2018, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DewTheDew

It's too bad we are hikers and not bike riders! ...

We like to hike too, so hopefully our paths will cross and we can camp together at some point.

Too tall · 02-18-2018, 02:48 PM

Crabtree Falls is a really nice little hike and the Appalachian Trail head is very nearby. If you want to hike a nice section of the AT check out the trail from the top of Reeds Gap.

Dan, stay in touch. I'm good friends with a framebuilder in T.Town and go there every so often to ride from the velodrome.

Fred L · 02-19-2018, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rideair

If you're into hiking, I'd suggest "Crabtree Falls"

Wow, there's a throw back for me. Its been 40 years since I visited Crabtree falls. Used to backpack most of the AT through that region also. Beautiful area.
For anyone thinking of heading to Highland Haven, I would suggest adding a little time to your trip and routing yourself on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It does get a bit twisty-curvy and some respectable grades, but take it slow and pull over to let others pass and enjoy a wonderful ride.

Too tall · 02-19-2018, 02:23 PM

Highland Heaven booked > Fri May 25 2018 - Tue May 29

The Blue Ridge Parkway is fairly close. We are bringing our tandem and singles for 3 to 4 hr. rides each day. As the date gets closer I'll post some more intel on routes.

Regardless if you ride, walk or lounge this is AS heaven by golly so book it and start planning.

There are a few spots left and it's a holiday. We should do what comes naturally >> a couple beers, ribeyes and a challenging salad

F.Y.I. Highland Heaven is on Reserve America now.

GMCtoAS · 03-09-2018, 11:32 AM

We are newbees to the AS/Argosy (1979 minuet 7.3) family as of last week. We live in Williamsburg, Va and would be happy to recommend Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry county VA. Pretty level spots, good tree cover, and very nice park rangers. Westmoreland State park is another one of our favorites with good trails, but this year our favorite section is closed for restoration, so camping will be limited. Both of these parks are in the VA state reservation system and allow reserving a specific spot.

Muriel 1 · 03-09-2018, 11:44 AM

Chippokes county park,is the hidden Jewel of the historic triangle. Oh by the way,it is the like the 9 mile trailhead to the Capitol bike trail. Heated bathrooms and on the James.
Tom

JayTheCPA · 03-09-2018, 05:11 PM

The Mid Atlantic Unit tends to go back to places that they like. They even do some 'creative' rallies at non-campground locations including back yards and a former school turned into a small Community Center on occasion. One 'creative' location has all its slips that back to the Chesapeake where everybody gets an awesome view!

Consider taking a look at MAU's calendar and tagging along!

One thing to note about Chippokes is that there are fossils, but last I checked it was illegal to remove / disturb them. Or, at least that was what I was told as they were commonly on private property.

Other campgrounds in the Northern Neck and Chesapeake area have sharks teeth along the shoreline and those are Ok to remove.

A couple of other places I did not notice mentioned yet were:
- Westmoreland in VA. Nice place. Some of the slips are a bit of a challenge for 30'+ trailers.
- Jellystone outside of Hagerstown in MD. Very kid friendly.

For the MWR crowd (if you don't know what that means, then you probably cannot get in), there are some places which are better than others. If you are in the MWR 'club', please take advantage of it.

Oh, and there are Courtesy Parking members in the area too

Too tall · 03-10-2018, 04:54 PM

Excellent insights GMCtoAS and Jay thanks.

I'll check out MAU, sounds good.

DewTheDew · 04-22-2018, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Too tall

Highland Heaven booked > Fri May 25 2018 - Tue May 29

The Blue Ridge Parkway is fairly close. We are bringing our tandem and singles for 3 to 4 hr. rides each day. As the date gets closer I'll post some more intel on routes.

Regardless if you ride, walk or lounge this is AS heaven by golly so book it and start planning.

There are a few spots left and it's a holiday. We should do what comes naturally >> a couple beers, ribeyes and a challenging salad

F.Y.I. Highland Heaven is on Reserve America now.

Our schedule is too busy at that time but we are going for four nights starting July 11. Before that we will do some "local" MD places; Greenbrier and Rocky Gap. Next weekend we are going to pull the trailer home for the weekend from the storage and de-winterize/clean/systems check/stock it for the summer/fall season of camping. We are pretty excited to get back out!

Dan_Rox · 04-23-2018, 10:36 AM

We just got home from our first WBCCI rally. The Central Penn unit held a rally at Pinchot State Park. Since we only live about 6 miles away it was an easy decision to go. Had a great time and met a lot of really nice people. They had 27 Airstreams and 1 or 2 other brands attend.

Next weekend is Pine Grove Furnace State park. We are so glad camping season is finally here.