“Enjoy the Serenity of the Mountains!”
Blue Knob State Park offers year-round wilderness adventures on 6,128 acres of woodland. The park is in the northwestern tip of Bedford County, west of I-99. Altoona, Johnstown and Bedford are within 25 miles of this scenic park. The elevation of the park can cause air temperatures to be several degrees cooler than the surrounding cities. The annual snowfall averages about 12 feet. One of the unique features of the park is the solitude it provides the visitor. There are many opportunities to enjoy the quiet and refreshing serenity of the mountains and streams. The first European settlers to Blue Knob arrived soon after the American Revolution. These Pennsylvania Germans moved from eastern Pennsylvania and cleared and farmed land near the fledgling town of Pavia. Early industries were several distilleries in 1812, followed by a log mill in 1833 and a gristmill in 1843. In the late 1800s, logging companies, based out of South Fork, clear-cut the forests of hemlock and hauled away the lumber on steam railroads that snaked up the steep hillsides. The lumber company closed from November to March because the railroad could not operate in the severe winter weather. One railroad followed Bobs Creek and needed six switchbacks to descend the rugged grade. A State Game Land 26 service road now follows this old railroad grade. Another steam railroad followed Wallacks Branch through five switchbacks. Lost Turkey Hiking Trail follows this old railroad grade. In 1935, the National Park Service created the Blue Knob National Recreation Demonstration Area to provide recreation to the people of Altoona and Johnstown. The Works Progress Administration employed local workers to build cabins, hiking trails and roads. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (CCC) Company 2327 arrived in October of 1939. After building Camp NP-7, the young men aided in creating the park recreational facilities. World War II ended the CCC. On September 26, 1945, the National Park Service transferred Blue Knob to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and it became Blue Knob State Park.
Reviews of Blue Knob State Park
7 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 5G
Confirmed by 3 users | Last reported on April 30, 2022AT&T 4G/5G
Confirmed by 2 users | Last reported on August 23, 2023T-Mobile 4G/5G
Confirmed by 3 users | Last reported on August 23, 2023Up near the top of the 2nd highest peak in Pennsylvania. It is out in the wilderness. Camping area is a huge clearing with lots in the middle, surrounded by lots on the edges on the wood line. They do have dog friendly area. Showers are OK. Dump station. Not much at the camp ground other than hiking trails and a playground. Pool at bottom of the road about 2 miles away. Blue Knob Ski Resort is a short 5 minute drive away and offers amazing views from the top of the mountain.
There is much of anything near this camp ground store wise so make sure you have what you need before you head up the mountain. Cell service is poor in this area but I liked that. There is no wfi. It is a "country" campground and if you're looking to getting away from it, then this is a great place to go relax at.
Sites have lots of room and are not smashed up against each other. The center lots can be pretty big and there are a couple drive thru lots available. You can drive in and find a spot and pay at a drop box at the entrance without making a reservation.
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: -
Small campground. Bring firewood and everything you need. Closet supplies are about a 20 minute drive. Plan your route in carefully, lots of roads in the area aren’t overly friendly for larger rigs. Had typical noisy kids as neighbors but to be expected for a holiday weekend. The cell service is sketchy at best. Otherwise it’s a nice quiet campground.
Nightly Rate: -
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: 17
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon
The dealer of our new Airstream suggested we camp close to the dealer in case we needed to return if something wasn't working on our first trip out. (Everything was great). Blue Knob is a lovely, well maintained campground. There were only six other trailers spread over the 50 or so sites while we were there. The previous weekend was Labor Day, and Dan, the very nice Camp Host, told us the park was full, but said it is typically pretty quiet most of the time. All of the perimeter sites are gravel and appear pretty level, and I would have been happy with any of them. Wifi is screaming fast, so working remotely was effortless.
There is a nice playground. The bathhouse is nothing fancy, but clean and adequate with plenty of hot water. Dump station has easy access and was tidy. We will be coming back for quick getaways!
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 22
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon
T-Mobile 4G
Blue Knob SP campground is a well maintained, very pretty campground that offers plenty of room in each site, with comfortable spacing between sites, a playground, and direct access to several hiking trails of varying difficulty, and is handy to the Blue Knob ski and recreation areas. It's probably best to do a little map recon before coming in if you're towing a longer rig as some of the roads and turns might be tight if there's oncoming traffic, but I had no issues. Sites are both outside/forest side, and inside/park side of the park road. Site 46 is the northern most site, on the outside/forest side of the park road, provided stable 50 amp power, and gave access to Lost Turkey Trail literally right out my door and down a short embankment. The site was a back in, and had room for my 30 foot TT with two driver's side slideouts, my truck and not much more. All sites had picnic tables and fire rings. There were two water points, one dump station, firewood available on premises, and one bathhouse. The showers in the bathhouse provided adequate hot water, even during the weekend with high volume. The only thing I'd suggest to the hosts/park management would be to replace the shower curtains as they were a bit mildewy and looked like they'd seen a few seasons of campers. Surprisingly, there was relatively good cell coverage in the campground, though further in the park (down the mountain) you may have less reception. I will surely return to Blue Knob.
Nightly Rate: $28.00
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: 46
Cell Coverage Rating
T-Mobile 4G
It was a nice campground, but we didn’t stay long enough to really experience any of the amenities. It was a bit of a challenge to get to between the twisty roads and the hills we had to get our rig to climb. One thing, if you have Verizon, then your phone or other device will be a glorified paperweight.
Nightly Rate: $33.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 49
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon
Quiet, peaceful and remote. Supplies are about 20 minutes away. I highly recommend Claysburg Pizza for monkey bread or
cinnamon rolls. It was a pleasant surprise. Pizza wasn't bad either and it was spotless.
The campground was quiet, which we prefer. Bring board games, outdoor activities, hiking gear and mountain bikes.
This site allowed us some privacy. It was in the edge of the forrest. We enjoyed deer, hummingbirds and other wild life.
It is a quiet "Country" campground.
4 stars only for the lack of cell service.
Nightly Rate: $33.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 48
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T
As others have mentioned the road to the campground is curvy and steep. I was booked into site 48 but moved to 29 as it offered more shade and privacy and a better cell signal as well. The ranger who handled my move was very friendly and professional. The host was also friendly and helpful. The campground is surrounded by trails. I loved how quiet it was (though there were few campers anyway). The bathhouse could use some updating. I actually decided against using the showers due to their shabby condition. Plus there was no bench in the shower stall; just two hooks to hold towel and whatever. I was happy to see I had a decent cell signal with t-mobile. With my AT&T hotspot with booster i got erratic but usable cell signal good enough for streaming video. Wood was only $5 per bundle!
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 29
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
T-Mobile 5G
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Blue Knob State Park
Hours
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Max Stay
- 14
- Max Length
- 40 ft
- Season End
- mid Oct.
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Season Start
- mid April
- Last Nightly Rate
- 30.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 28.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 30.0
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Laundry
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Propane
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Showers
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Big Rigs
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Boondock
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Firewood
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Fifty Amp
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Tent Sites
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Cabin Sites
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Full Hookup
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Dump Station
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Mobile Homes
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Public Water
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Pull Through
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Water Hookup
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Potable Water
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Swimming Pool
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Age Restricted
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Dispersed Sites
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Open Seasonally
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Permit Required
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Group Tent Sites
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Fulltime Residents
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Standard Tent Sites
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Pull Through RV Sites
Campground, Restrooms
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