By:
Submission
The Nancy's Boat to Shore Campground, in the central region of Raystown Lake, is the perfect secluded getaway camping spot accessible only by boat. Located near both James Creek and Aitch Boat Launch areas, the campground is situated on the shoreline of Raystown Lake away from public roadways. [Nancy's camp map](https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/siteimages/Recreation/Raystown/Nancy-Campground-Map-4-9.jpg)
Fishing is excellent with small and large mouth bass, muskies, striped bass, and brown trout, abundant in the lake. Trough Creek State Park is nearby across the lake; Seven Points and Lake Raystown Resort are both within 8 lake miles. Nearby trails, including Lower Trail (Rails to Trails), Terrace Mountain Trail, Old Loggers Trail and Mid State Trail, attract plenty of traffic.
Campsites are accessed by boat only. Although remote and primitive, each campsite offers a picnic table and campfire ring. Maximum of two tents permitted per campsite. There are no electric hookups. Vault toilets are available. Some of the campsites are located in open, grassy areas while others are tucked into wooded areas. Potable water must be brought along to the campground as no water is currently available.
Raystown Lake is in the ridge and valley province of Pennsylvania. The lakeshore is lined with an old oak-hickory forest giving way to mountain ridges and cliffs. The man-made lake is fed by the Raystown Branch tributary of the Juniata River and is the largest lake completely in the state of Pennsylvania.
Aitch Boat Launch, James Creek Boat Launch, Seven Points Recreation area, Raystown Lake Visitor Center, Lake Raystown Resort & Conference Center and Trough Creek State Park are all nearby.
The campground is a boat to shore facility and therefore is not accessible by driving. Nearest ramps for launching are Aitch and James Creek at Raystown Lake. Aitch is accessible from PA26 in Marklesburg and James Creek is accessible via PA994 near Entriken.
April-October $15.00/night. Off season free.
Always a great vacation with the boys, girls or the whole family.
The campsite is fine. Picnic table and fire ring at our site, a few trees for shade, and pit toilets. The view of the lake is nice. However, don't go there if you actually want any sleep.
There was a group of sites reserved by the same extended family and they stayed up drinking, cursing, and yelling until at least 1am when we finally packed up and left. Several other campers asked the partiers to quiet down a little but that worked for only a few minutes each time.
When we called the rangers in the morning, they said it's a known party site. They should add that to the description when you reserve a site.
Also, there isn't a mooring post for each site so it's first come first served and if you don't have one of the water front sites, you could potentially be walking through someone else's camp to get to yours. On top of that, there was a tree down in the water just off shore that blocked 30 or 40 feet of shoreline for mooring.
Seems like it should be patrolled after 11pm when it should be quiet and they should make sure all available shoreline for mooring is clear of debris since boating in is the only way to access the camp sites.
Got caught up with pretty bad lighting storm this year. Was thinking a pavilion would be nice to huddle under for the rare and more saviour storms. But we all know some idiot or group of idiots would graffiti, catch it on fire and ruin it for everyone.
Stayed at site 1. New fire rings and new shore wall have been installed. 3 bars on my xfinity cellphone. Doug and several other rangers came every afternoon to check on campers. They are very courteous and helpful. If you like no frills camping with very few others around I would recommend camping here on week days.
I will definitely come back. Thank you Army Corps of Engineers.
