Ohiopyle State Park Camping, Pennsylvania

Enjoy Ohiopyle State Park camping, hiking, and whitewater rafting. Ohiopyle is located about an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh.

Yough River at Ohiopyle State Park

Ohiopyle State Park is one of Pennsylvania’s top-rated state parks, featuring numerous waterfalls and scenic overlooks. We also visited Hocking Hills SP in OH and Tomlinson Run SP in WV on this trip.

This 19,000-acre recreation area is best known for its whitewater boating on the Youghiogheny River, which happens to run north through the region.

Ohiopyle Falls

This beautiful state park also features camping, hiking, and biking.

We discovered Ohiopyle when we Googled whitewater rafting near me. We saw what the area had to offer, so we planned our two-week summer vacation around this destination.

Yough RIver view from bridge

Ohiopyle State Park Camping

We stayed in the Ohiopyle Campground, which is located on a high ridge above the Youghiogheny River.

Ohiopyle Camping

Warning: Map software will likely direct you to get to the campground via SR 2019 from the town of Ohiopyle. This is extremely steep. If you are towing or driving an RV, it is best to take PA 40 to SR 2010/Chalk Hill-Ohiopyle Rd.

Ohiopyle State Park Kentuck Campground

The Ohiopyle Kentuck Campground features 200 campsites. There are also camping cottages, walled tents, and yurts for rent.

The Ohiopyle State Park Campground is laid out in 10 camping loops, each named after a tree.

Ginkgo and Cherry are the two electric loops.

Ohiopyle State Park Camping

We stayed at the end of the Ginkgo Loop on site 135, which has quite a slope to it.

We walked through the entire campground and decided that site 137 is the best spot in the entire camp area.

Please note that dogs are only allowed in certain sites in the campground. Only 11 of the electric sites allow dogs, so it is important to book early.

Ohiopyle Yurts for Rent

The Cherry Loop has four yurts for rent by the week.

Inside of Ohiopyle Yurt

Each yurt includes a full kitchen and bunk beds, in addition to a fire pit and picnic table outside.

Ohiopyle Hiking and Waterfalls

Popular destinations within Ohiopyle State Park include Cucumber Falls, Meadow Run Natural Waterslides, Ohiopyle Waterfalls, and Ferncliff Peninsula.

Cucumber Falls

There are over 100 miles of Ohiopyle hiking trails within the park’s borders.

Each trail is well-marked with colorful blazes, which are painted notches in trees.

Ohiopyle Rafting

The most popular thing to do at Ohiopyle State Park is white water rafting.

Rafts on the Lower Yough River

There are three levels of rafting available; mild rafting on the Middle Yough (short for Youghiogheny), intermediate on the Lower Yough (the most popular), and advanced on the Upper Yough.

Lower Yough White water rafting Ohiopyle, PA

We went on a guided Lower Yough tour with Ohiopyle Trading Post. It was a 7.5-mile float over class III and IV rapids.

The rafting company is focused on safety. We received instructions before we got on the river on proper paddling techniques and on how to stay in the boat.

Only one person fell out of our boat during the trip, and that was me (Eric).

My fall happened in slow motion. I fell out backward and was unable to grab anything from my boat.

Man on rocks in river

I ended up perched on a rock two-thirds of the way down the rapids. The last raft in our group hauled me in.

It really was not traumatic as it seemed but has made for a good story.

We all had a blast on the whitewater rafting trip!

The GAP Bike Trail

The Great Allegheny Passage Bike Trail runs through Ohiopyle State Park.

Bikers on a GAP Trail bridge

This rail to trail path goes from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, where you can catch an extension down to DC.

Ohiopyle Campground Trail off the GAP

There is a quarter-mile trail that descends 650-feet from the campground to the GAP that we rode down.

I was able to ride part of the way up but had to push my bike up the rest. I helped Diana push her bike all the way up.

collage of images from Ohiopyle State Park in PA

We camped at Ohiopyle State Park for 6 nights, which was more than enough to check out the recreation area.

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