Camping in Pennsylvania

Camping rules worth knowing in Pennsylvania

Motorized roadside camping takes a permit and a numbered site

Camping beside a state forest road in Pennsylvania is not free-form. Roadside camping is required to be done at designated campsites identified by a name or number, you must hold a valid camping permit and be at that site, and no permit is issued to anyone under 18. A permit is valid for no more than seven consecutive nights, and you must vacate the site for at least 48 hours before reapplying. Roadside, hike-in roadside, equestrian and rustic sites are $10 a night for Pennsylvania residents and $15 for non-residents, reservable up to 11 months ahead. Source 12

The four kinds of camping the state forest rule recognises

17 Pa. Code 21.117 sorts every night on state forest land into four categories and sets a different test for each. Primitive camping without a permit is prohibited if the camper stays more than one night at a site. Motorized camping without a permit is prohibited outright, motorized meaning that a vehicle is used for transportation or storage at or near the camp. Group camping, which the rule defines as more than ten people camping together, needs written permission from the department. Water trail camping is allowed without a permit but is limited to two nights at a site. The section took effect on September 5, 2015. Source 33

Where you may not camp on the Allegheny, road by road

Forest Order 09-19-17-15, in effect since May 2017, names the places dispersed camping is closed. No camping within 500 feet of the centerline of Forest Road 401 between the forest boundary and the stone pit at the Marienville ATV trailhead, or of Forest Road 125 between Forest Road 124 and SR 66/948. No camping or fire within 500 feet of the centerline of Hemlock Road in Glade Township. Designated sites only along Millstone Creek from Loleta and Forest Road 130 to the Clarion, along the Clarion River across Elk and Forest counties, and along Salmon Creek Road. Separate orders keep camping 1,500 feet back from the Allegheny Reservoir tree line and the Tionesta shore except at designated sites. Source 43

Pennsylvania has two fire seasons, not one

The Bureau of Forestry puts the greatest wildfire danger in the state in the spring months of March, April and May, and again in the autumn months of October and November, and says 99 percent of all wildfires in Pennsylvania are caused by people. That is the reason a campfire on state forest land between March 1 and May 25 needs a permit even when nothing else about your camp does. Plan the shoulder seasons around a stove, and treat the autumn danger window as the same problem with drier leaves. Source 16

The full guide to overlanding Pennsylvania