Shenango Lake Recreation Area

After much debate we decided to limit our vacation to one other state this year. Since we were going west  to West Virginia we decided to limit our drive time per day and camp near my friend and her family.  When she got married we found a community park near Shenango Lake with a nice rail trail like walk along the canal bed.  That led us to the Shenango Dam but we didn’t have a lot of time to explore that weekend.  We have discussed going back a few times and when we realized that camp sites were less expensive at the Recreation area than at the PA state parks we decided this was a good time to visit.  We didn’t spend a lot of our time here doing typical tourist activities because we are familiar with the area, given that I went to college less than an hour away, at Slippery Rock.  

On our way out we stopped at the Jennings Environmental Education Center and Wendell August Forge. I’ve gone to Wendell August many times as I collect their annual Christmas ornament and have many other pieces from there.  This was the first time I’ve gone to Jennings in spite of having spent many days at The Old Stone House.  The biggest attraction there is their Eastern Prairie and the Blazing Star flower which was in bloom

While at camp we drove around to the different day use areas to see the lake, revisited the community park and went to a local covered bridge.  

Our campsite was nice, but there are many sites that have lake access that we’d choose if we camp here again.  The bathrooms were clean, but felt a little dated and didn’t have soap and hand towels or dryers.  There was also no dish washing area at least in our loop.  

Overall I was pleased with the campground and if we visit during their open season we’d stay here again.  Sunday morning we were West Virginia bound.