Tent Camping/Fishing

JWsmalls

JWsmalls

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Sep 8, 2015
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I live in Philly(pretty new to the area) and am planning on heading out after work next Friday to go fish and camp for the weekend. Any ideas on where I could set up a tent on or near a river and fish for a couple of days? I don't mind hiking in. It would be a bonus if I could keep the drive from Philly under 3 hours. Any help here would be much appreciated!
 
Check the state parks and state forests. There are a ton within a 3 hour drive of Philly.
 
Pinchot Trail in the Poconos offers an easy overnight with access to a wild trout stream. Google it. It is a loop.
 
Try Poe Paddy SP and fish one of the best trout streams in the country, Penns Creek. There is Hickory Run SP right up the NE Extension and you can fish the Lehigh, Hickory Run or Mud Run. Worlds End has unbelievable camping and pretty decent fishing on the Loyalsock Creek. Good luck and report back where you end up.
 
As far as hiking in. Note that on State Game Lands you can't camp. On State Forests, you can primitive camp without a permit, but for other types of camping you need a permit. Which is free, you just have to contact the district office for the state forest you are interested in.

primitive camping = no car nearby, no campfire, 1 night only in a location. It's meant to accommodate pass through hikers on trails.

So, basically, if you're interested in camping outside of an established campground, state forests are fine. They're big so options near trout streams are endless. Just if you are gonna be near the car, or want a campfire, or want to make a home camp for more than 1 night, you need a permit, which is easy to get but you gotta go through that hoop.

As for established campgrounds within a 3ish hour radius.

There's a couple options but Poe Paddy is the most obvious. It's back miles of dirt roads in a secluded valley. Very woodsy and wildernessy experience. Tent friendly and not at all RV friendly. Right on Penns Creek, you can fish up, down, or go through the tunnel and get a whole new area of up or down fishing, lots and lots of water on one of the most famous wild trout streams PA has to offer. From one of the loops you can literally keep an eye on the hatches and rising fish while sitting at your fire. It's at the mouth of Big Poe Creek, which itself is a small stocked stream with some wild brookies and browns. It's certainly more than 3 hrs from downtown Philthy, but under 4. Probably 3 and a halfish.

Other options with "walk to fish" from a campground include Hickory Run SP, Locust Lake (trout stream above and below the lake), maybe Tobyhanna SP (not sure what the fishing is like in the streams nearby).
 
JW,

I live near Phoenixville, not that far from you. I recently made the trip out to Poe Paddy "Penns Creek" for the first time and I couldn't recommend that stream enough. It was some of the best fishing I have had in this state, bring plenty of dries because the hatches are crazy.

Like you I plan on doing a camping / fishing trip up there real soon. the three hour drive is worth it.
 
Lehigh River around Thornhurst. You can also fish along the game lands road there, if camping at Tobyhanna SP.
 
Thanks for all of the pointers! I'm going to try to make it out to Poe Paddy Friday after work. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
 
pcray1231 wrote:
As far as hiking in. Note that on State Game Lands you can't camp. On State Forests, you can primitive camp without a permit, but for other types of camping you need a permit. Which is free, you just have to contact the district office for the state forest you are interested in.

primitive camping = no car nearby, no campfire, 1 night only in a location. It's meant to accommodate pass through hikers on trails.

So, basically, if you're interested in camping outside of an established campground, state forests are fine. They're big so options near trout streams are endless. Just if you are gonna be near the car, or want a campfire, or want to make a home camp for more than 1 night, you need a permit, which is easy to get but you gotta go through that hoop.

As for established campgrounds within a 3ish hour radius.

There's a couple options but Poe Paddy is the most obvious. It's back miles of dirt roads in a secluded valley. Very woodsy and wildernessy experience. Tent friendly and not at all RV friendly. Right on Penns Creek, you can fish up, down, or go through the tunnel and get a whole new area of up or down fishing, lots and lots of water on one of the most famous wild trout streams PA has to offer. From one of the loops you can literally keep an eye on the hatches and rising fish while sitting at your fire. It's at the mouth of Big Poe Creek, which itself is a small stocked stream with some wild brookies and browns. It's certainly more than 3 hrs from downtown Philthy, but under 4. Probably 3 and a halfish.

Other options with "walk to fish" from a campground include Hickory Run SP, Locust Lake (trout stream above and below the lake), maybe Tobyhanna SP (not sure what the fishing is like in the streams nearby).
Click to expand...

Some state parks also have primitive camp sites where you can park and stay a number of nights. They require a registration but they are free. There are a couple in BESF along Old Mingle Road near Penns and also some along White Deer Creek.
 
You mean state forests, not parks, right?

JWSmalls, did you reserve online?

If you don't, there is a system to reserve once you get there. But you risk it being full (it's a small campground that caters mostly to fisherman and it's May). It's also a bit of a runaround, as Poe Paddy doesn't have a park office. The office is a few miles up the road at Poe Valley State Park, that office covers both parks. Even then, it's not always easy to find someone in.

Just much easier to reserve ahead of time then no worries, drive right to your site and start setting up. A ranger will have put your reservation on the site marker prior to your arrival.
 
pcray1231 wrote:
You mean state forests, not parks, right?

JWSmalls, did you reserve online?

If you don't, there is a system to reserve once you get there. But you risk it being full (it's a small campground that caters mostly to fisherman and it's May). It's also a bit of a runaround, as Poe Paddy doesn't have a park office. The office is a few miles up the road at Poe Valley State Park, that office covers both parks. Even then, it's not always easy to find someone in.

Just much easier to reserve ahead of time then no worries, drive right to your site and start setting up. A ranger will have put your reservation on the site marker prior to your arrival.
Click to expand...

Yes, state forests. Had state park on the brain as I'm planning a trip to Hickory Run myself.
 
Another option is Pine Grove Furnace SP in Cumberland Co. There is also a private campground in that vicinity called Mountain Creek Campground. This location is probably less than 3 hours from Phila. and allows you to fish Mountain Creek, Yellow Breeches and Big Spring.
 
Mountain Creek, ok. But the Breeches and Big Spring would require a drive, no? I took the OP to mean camp and fish within walking distance. If a drive is alright, well, then there's campgrounds virtually everywhere, public or private. Pick stream, find nearby campground....
 
pcray: His criteria seemed to be: camp, fish, less than 3 hours from Phila. I lived for many years in Southeastern Delaware Co., so I have a fairly good feel for what is less than 3 hours from Philly. As I recall, Centre County is more like 4 hrs., so I thought Penns Cr. might not be a great option for JW. In those days I made many weekend trips to Pine Grove Furnace SP and Mountain Creek CG, and fished the 3 streams mentioned. The PGF and Mountain Creek campgrounds are both located on Mountain Creek, a trib. to the Yellow Breeches, which is a 10 minute drive away. Big Spring is probably a 20 minute drive. JW said he didn't mind hiking in, but didn't say hiking was a requirement. Travelling from SE Delco, Pine Grove & Mountain Creek were the best options for me. Hickory Run SP was also a good less than 3 hour alternative.
 
Centre Cty is about 3 1/2 hrs from center city Phil. About 3 from NW burbs/main line/VF. So yeah, it's pushing his limits a bit.

Perhaps you're right on allowing a short drive to stream. But that opens up virtually everywhere. i.e. there are campgrounds, public and private, all over the place that you could jump into a car and get to a stream. That's common in PA. We get this question a lot, though, because there's not very many campgrounds right on trout streams.

I took the OP to mean camping next to a waterway where you can fish from camp, without jumping in the car. And I took "hike in ok" to mean hike in to camp, not just to fish.

Eh, anyway, yeah, that's a good option for Mountain Creek.
 
Yeah, trout fishing from the campground is something uncommon in PA, certainly within a 3 hour drive time from PA. A short drive is almost always required. I tend to think in terms of State Parks, and PGF and Hickory Run are the only two that fit the bill. I would add that I would rather fish Hickory Run than Mountain Creek, but Cumberland County also has the nearby Limestoners. I only camped at Mountain Creek CG (private) when my companions insisted on alcohol. Even camping at French Creek SP requires a car ride to get to the fishing.
 
Caledonia SP is another. On a fishable creek. Short drive to others.\

Ole Bull also.
 
So, I reserved a spot at Poe Paddy for Friday & Saturday night. Thanks again for all of the suggestions.

I'll be staying at Loop A. Any advice on where to fish from there?

Also, does anyone know if the sulphur hatch has started?
 
I'm going as well this weekend, staying in Loop C tomorrow through Sunday.

As far as where to go... anywhere. The whole stream is filled with fish. I personally like going through the tunnel and fishing the more remote areas. Probably the most "famous" stretch is from the tunnel to Weikert -- about 3 miles or so of great water.
 
And yes, reports are coming in that sulphurs have started.
 
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