Camping

Pine Grove Furnace State Park has one campground, the Charcoal Hearth Campground, with 70 tent and trailer sites, 45 of them with electric hookups. It is open from late March to mid-December. Every site has a picnic table, fire ring and lantern holder, and the campground has modern restrooms with showers, a dump station, a playground and an amphitheater. Some sites allow pets for a fee. Reserve up to 11 months ahead.

The Campground

The Charcoal Hearth Campground sits in the woods between two ridges of Michaux State Forest, a short walk from the historic district. DCNR describes electric, non-electric and pet-friendly sites, plus:

• Modern restrooms with warm showers
• Sanitary dump station near the entrance
• Firewood sales
• Playground and amphitheater
• A seasonal camp store about a quarter-mile away

The Creek Trail wraps around the campground past vernal ponds and the old furnace raceway, and the Campground Trail leads to the Furnace Stack Day Use Area and the General Store.

Reservations

• Most sites can be reserved 11 months ahead, up to noon on the day you arrive.
• Book online through Pennsylvania State Parks reservations or call 888-PA-PARKS (888-727-2757), 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday.
• DCNR adds a non-refundable $6.50 transaction fee to each reservation, and $10 for changes.
• No reservation? Check in at the park office. If it is closed, read the posted instructions and site list at the campground entrance and pay with an honor-system envelope.

Accessible Sites

DCNR lists three ADA campsites in the Horseshoe Loop, each with 30-amp electric: site 32 (gravel, 53-foot driveway, vehicles to 45 feet), site 38 (paved, 44 feet, vehicles to 30 feet) and site 47 (gravel, 71 feet, vehicles to 55 feet). Accessible restrooms are available.

Camping With Pets

Pets are allowed only on designated pet campsites, for a fee, with no more than two non-caged pets per site under DCNR's statewide rules. Walk them in the campground's designated pet areas (Dogs).

Campground Rules

• Check-in at 3 p.m.; checkout by 3 p.m.
• Quiet hours 9 p.m. to 8 a.m.; generators only with the manager's approval.
• One family, or up to five unrelated people, per site, with at least one adult 18 or older.
• Up to two tents, or one RV plus one tent, per site, and one vehicle besides the camping unit.
• No alcohol (the Paymaster's Cabin is the one exception in the park).

Other Ways to Stay

• Paymaster's Cabin: a modern cabin for six, rented year-round.
• Organized group tenting: a rustic area for qualified adult or youth groups, year-round, in six sites totaling 180 people around an open playfield.
• Ironmaster's Mansion: hostel beds for Appalachian Trail hikers, April to December.
• Campground host: one free host site with 50-amp electric and water, in exchange for 40 hours a week of help (two-week minimum).