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The Shenango Recreation Area is situated within the broad, flat, meandering valleys of the Shenango River and Pymatuning Creek. Sharon, Pennsylvania is approximately 7 miles southwest and Youngstown, Ohio is about 21 miles west. Visitors to the area enjoy camping, boating and fishing.
The lake provides an attractive setting for picnicking, camping, boating or simply enjoying nature's beauty. Anglers fish for bass, walleye, muskellunge and a variety of panfish. The lake is shallow and water levels generally drop throughout the summer, especially after the Fourth of July, depending upon rainfall. The Coonie Trail is one-half mile in length. This self-guided interpretive nature trail invites visitors not only to experience the beauty of Shenango River Lake but also to learn about its varied habitats and relationships between plants, animals and humans. Shenango Lake is an unlimited horsepower lake and has six free boat launches for access. The Lakeside Picnic Shelter is located on site and can be reserved for reunions or other large gatherings.
This large campground contains over 300 campsites, many of which have electric hookups.
Flush toilets, drinking water, showers and a dump station are provided. Playgrounds, a horseshoe pit and boat ramp are on-site.
The campground is reservation only. Reservations can be be made on the day of arrival.
Shenango River Lake stretches 11 miles up its namesake river, covering over 11,000 acres. The shore is lined with a northern hardwood forest of shady and colorful trees such as Black Cherry, Beech, Maple and Hemlock.
Deer, turkey and other small game animals are plentiful, with excellent opportunities to observe osprey and eagles in the area.
The Shenango Water Trail provides 7.5 miles of scenic river corridor for paddlers, with three access points between Kidds Mill Park and Big Bend. Personal Floatation Devices must be worn on all canoes and kayaks. The historic Kidds Mill Covered Bridge features the unique "Smith-Truss" design from the 1800s. Remnants of the Erie Extension Canal can be found nearby in Sharpsville below the Shenango Dam. The Shenango and Mahaney Recreation Areas feature restoration chestnut tree orchards that are managed through a partnership with the American Chestnut Foundation for research and education, with the goal of developing blight resistant American chestnut trees. The nearby Bayview Off-Road Vehicle Area provides over 200 acres of riding trails for ATV's and dirt bikes (3.5 miles from the campground) The Chestnut Run Swim Beach is only 3 miles from the campground and offers a great area for swimming and sunbathing (NOTE: no lifeguard on duty) "The Pines" Disc Golf Course in the nearby Mahaney Recreation Area (6 miles from the campground) offers a challenging course that hosts PDGA sanctioned events The nearby Trout Island Trail in Sharpsville is a 5 mile paved trail that accomodates walking, running and cycling The Shenango Hiking Trail, on the east end of the lake, is 7.5 miles through wooded areas adjacent to the Shenango River Boat Rentals are available at the nearby RC's Marina in Clark, Pa. (1.4 miles) An ADA Fishing Pier is available in Clark, Pa. 1.4 miles from the campground.
A $10.00 service fee will be charged if you change or cancel a reservation. If a customer does not arrive at the campground by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by the day before or day of arrival, the customer will be considered a "no-show" and may be assessed a $20.00 service fee and also forfeit use fees. If a customer cancels a reservation the day before or day of arrival they will be charged a $10.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellation for a single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but not be charged the $10.00 service fee. For more information on cancellations or refunds, please visit the recreation.gov site or call 877-644-8777.
Take Exit 4B (formerly Exit 1) off I-80 and follow Route 18 north about 6 miles until you cross the lake's causeway. The park is on the left, but this is a divided highway. Continue north about 1/4 mile, take the Birchwood Drive exit, make the turn-around and go south on Route 18. Before you cross the causeway again, make a right onto West Lake Road and travel approximately 1/4 mile to the park entrance on the left. Shenango Recreation Area address: 492 West Lake Road, Transfer, Pa. 16154
PLEASE NOTE: Only credit cards are accepted for payment. VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express are accepted.
SHENANGO CAMPGROUND, run by Army Corp of Engineers
Great place to take your family and pets. We stayed in the campground with a pop-up camper. Our lot had electric and was under a beautiful canopy of trees, so it was shaded during the day. However, it was REALLY buggy! It must have been peak mosquito season because even with running a box fan outside and using bug spray with deet, we were like their buffet, lol. A lot of our evenings we spent inside the camper and not out by the fire.
The shower house could use a little sprucing up. It was clean, but the showers are in sad shape.
We also spent time on Shenango Lake on the boat. The boat launch is nice, big, and flat at the staging area. There is plenty of pull through parking for your vehicle and trailer. The launch itself is great because of its multiple docking spots. You don't have to be in a big hurry to get out of the way of other boats. We like the many sandy beaches at the lake after a day of playing out on the lake.
We also enjoyed some shopping in the Hermitage area, which is a short drive from the campground.
Easy in/out, sizeable camp spots, kids and adults all having fun without being annoying to neighbors. Nice place to walk around.
Not well maintained. No soap in bathrooms. Then water line broke and they shut the only bathroom down. Didn't open the gate to be able to drive to another bathroom. Not many electric sites available. Too many other much nicer campgrounds to go back.
Restrooms are horrible and need redone.
They need to look at Pymatuming how they redid restrooms and copy. Everything else including rangers are great. Golden loop host are not friendly at all and don't keep up on the restrooms that are there. Thank you,Patsy Renninger
One big complaint is the shower, in one work disgusting at best. We arrived on a Sunday so I expected the showers to be dirty after a long weekend and a full campground. What I didn't expect we to go in on Wednesday morning to find they haven't been touched. Same clumps of grass and mud on the floor from Sunday. The other issue is the water in on off no temperature control. The water was hot but to hot. A child could not stand the temperature, I'm sure they would be burned. On a positive note the campground over all is nice 4 stars. COE just needs to step up on cleaning the public bathrooms.
