Ohiopyle State Park in Ohiopyle
Patty W from Brownsville, MN on 09/15/2023 01:12 PM:
Maybe the State Park is .2 mile from the trail but it appears that the actual campground is 3.7 miles out of town. Not that convenient on a bike. Looking for confirmation of this and if there is any camping closer to town and the trail.
Rivnuts from Homestead, PA on 09/15/2023 02:52 PM:
The GAP Trail itself passes through Ohiopyle State Park and the town of Ohiopyle. Ohiopyle State Park is quite large. The Kentuck Campground is also located within this state park and has showers, water and electricity if you choose. However, as you note, it is nearly 4 miles from the town of Ohiopyle via road with the majority uphill with grades up to 15%. The ride up to the Kentuck Campground is not for the faint of heart.
Earlier this year five primitive camp sites with picnic tables and composting toilets were developed for bicyclists directly on the trail itself at mile marker 72.6 near Ohiopyle obviating the need to ride up to Kentuck Campground albeit with no showers. You'll find the announcement of these sites at the gaptrail.org website.
Whichever you choose, you would need to make a reservation via the PA State Park Website.
Note there is also a campground virtually on the GAP Trail in Confluence PA some 10 miles south of Ohiopyle as well as one in Connellsville PA about 17 miles north of Ohiopyle. You may want to consider these as well.
AB Allen from Bethlehem on 09/27/2023 09:56 PM:
I spent a week at the campground at the top of the hill this summer and traveled the trail in support of a youth group doing rock climbing a few miles downstream of the campground. The Hiker-Biker camp is truly right next to the trail and the campground proper is only a half mile away, by a gravel road that should have stairs built in. I made it up on my mountain bike but it took a lot of focused breathing and coming down requires impeccable brakes. I did come down on my recumbent but I won't ever do that again, I will walk my bike down. If you have 45 minutes, you can get a hot shower and a thrill ride back to camp. I think there is a foot path that is less steep but I didn't take it.
JM from OBX on 09/28/2023 09:05 PM:
In my experience, the large campground at the top of the hill was extremely noisy. I wouldn’t recommend it. Granted, I was there on a weekend night. The party-crowd was out in full force and the State Park staff was oblivious to the situation and chose not to enforce posted “quiet hours”. I’d never camp there again. The new hiker-biker sites on the trail sound like a far better alternative.