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The Outflow Camping Area is located on Youghiogheny River Lake in the heart of the Laurel Highlands. The lake spans the Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Clean waters, forested mountains and steep-sided valleys provide an unsurpassed setting for recreational opportunities.
Camping, fishing, boating, water skiing, hiking, biking, picnicking and sightseeing are the area's most popular activities. Boaters consider Youghiogheny River Lake, with its 16-mile length and channels up to one-half mile wide, the best powerboating and water skiing lake in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Youghiogheny Lake's outflow area is renowned for its excellent trout fishing and is stocked from April to September each year. A fishing pier is located in the campground.
The campground contains a variety of sites, including walk-to group sites, RV sites and tent-only sites. Electric hookups are available in many sites. Flush toilets, showers, drinking water and a dump station are provided. The park also offers an amphitheater and children's playground. Hammock Stations have been added to the Bike and Hike and Group Camping sites.
The country surrounding the lake is made up of narrow valleys and high rounded hills with steep slopes. Much of the land is covered with northern hardwoods including Beech, Sugar Maple, White Ash, Yellow Poplar and Basswood.
A variety of wildlife makes its home around Youghiogheny River Lake, including deer, bear, turkey, grouse, rabbit and squirrel.
Some of Pennsylvania and Maryland's finest state parks surround Youghiogheny Lake. Ohiopyle State Park is known for some of the best whitewater in the East and is often the location of national kayaking competitions.
Cyclists enjoy the many miles of bike trails in the area. For the history buff, the area boasts many historical sites and parks. For sheer natural beauty, Youghiogheny Lake can't be beat.
Route 281 South from points north: continue south through Confluence and over the Casselman & Youghiogheny Rivers. Make an immediate left into the campground.
Route 281 North from Route 40: continue north 7 miles past the Youghiogheny River Lake entrance. Make next right into the campground.
Route 523 North from Route 40: continue north 7 miles to Confluence. Turn left onto Route 281 South, over the Casselman & Youghiogheny Rivers. Make next left into the campground.
Nice campground, clean, friendly camp hosts.
Restrooms and showers could be updated but are clean overall.
Open area campground, not many trees to separate campsites so not much privacy. Dog friendly.
The outflow area is a good place to fish. Many species in that area. Bluegill, trout, rock bass, catfish.
Nice playground with large pavilion and nice restrooms. Ample parking.
Right along The Great Allegheny Passage where riders can camp before the next leg of their journey. Solar powered Charging station for devices.
Great camping location next to the river and the bike path, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, located on the Youghiogheny River. Sites are big and level. Our site #55 had 20 amp electric, water and sewer. Unfortunately there is no map and it was tricky figuring out where our site was and which road to take and which direction to back in. Park is unattended. No one works at the entrance booth. View of the dam and river are beautiful! Half hour from Fallingwater and Kentuck Nob.
Nice park! Very well maintained. No litter. Restrooms clean. Maps of area posted at gate. Hammock hangers along bike trail. Handicap pier and blacktopped walkway at waters edge excellent for fishing from a wheelchair.
We stayed six nights in site 36 at Outflow Campground in a 36’ 5th wheel. The road to the campground, 281/Mae West Road has sharp turns with steep uphill and downhill sections. It was low traffic when I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon. It’s a great road for riding a motorcycle but requires careful attention towing a big trailer. The gate was closed when we arrived around 3 pm; I never noticed it being open during our stay. There are no signs whatsoever in the campground. I passed my turn and was able to turn around in a parking lot. I stopped so my wife could check out our site location and the camp host drove over in his truck and asked if I needed directions. He said he was getting ready to leave but he would check me in. I didn’t see him again for about 3 days and several other campers were later looking for a host for various reasons. After about 3 days we saw him all the time in his cart. Some roads in the campground are paved and some of the loop roads are gravel and barely look like a road. The loop roads are narrow for bigger rigs. There were no low tree limbs in the campground that were a concern for me and the road coming in wasn’t bad that way either. My site was very clean and the lawn care in the campground was the best I’ve seen in any state or federal campground. Our gravel pad was level and with the trailer placed at the rear we had room in front for our unhooked truck. There was enough room on the pad for our trailer and truck to be side by side but it would be snug. There was a fire ring with grate that was poorly placed under the edge of a tree. Our site was a full hook up site and all connections were in good shape and located at the rear of the pad. I received 2-3 bars of AT&T 5G cell signal. My wife got no signal with Ting (Verizon). I saw no TV antenna in use so I don’t think OTA channels were available there. One can hear trains and their horns several times during the day but I didn’t find it loud enough to be annoying. We saw several patrols by park rangers in the campground. In spite of the patrols there were signs in the campground of reported bicycle thefts so campers were warned to lock them up. There was a nice playground at the campground. This campground is smaller than most COE campgrounds I’ve seen. There is a bathroom/shower house at one end and another bathroom closer to the entrance. This was a very quiet campground when we were there. Bring all supplies you need as stores in Confluence are lacking. Firewood was available at Mitch’s Fuel & Food in Confluence for $6 a bundle. We paid $24 a night for full hook ups using a pass. I would return to Outflow Campground if I came back to the area.
