Loleta Recreation

Summary

Loleta Recreation Campground offers a peaceful getaway from the bustle of everyday life. It has both primitive and more developed camping loops with a Day Use area with picnic tables and grills. Loleta is surrounded by mature trees, an array of wildlife, and nearby attractions to explore. Visitors can explore the trails, swim, fish, and canoe in the Creek or the Wild and Scenic River.

Overview

Loleta Recreation Campground sits along the east branch of Millstone Creek in the southwestern corner of the Allegheny National Forest, offering a peaceful getaway that is popular with families.

Recreation

Camping is available in both the primitive upper loop and the more developed lower loop. The Day Use area with picnic tables and grills centers around a Civilian Conservation Corps dam across Millstone Creek, which creates a small swimming/wading area. Fishing the stream is permitted with a legal PA fishing license, but the swimming area is off-limits between Memorial Day and Labor Day. There is a 3-mile hiking trail that starts and ends at the campground, passing a rock outcrop on the edge of the Millstone Valley at its furthest point from the campground.

Facilities

April 2022 *** Water will be turned on May 1st. Electric will be turned on for Lower Loop April 1st***

The lower loop of the campground has spacious campsites that are surrounded by mature trees. The upper loop sites are smaller and tucked into the forest for a more intimate feeling with nature. Each campsite has a parking spur, fire ring, and picnic table. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided in the camping loops while the Day Use area supports the bathhouse with flush toilets, hot showers, and changing rooms.

Natural Features

Loleta is a small opening in the forested hillsides around Millstone Creek. Native tree species in the area include red oak, white pine, black cherry, red and sugar maples, and a variety of others. Millstone Creek is a cold water fishery with a thriving population of native brook trout, and it is also priodically stocked by the Pennsylvania FIsh and Game Commission. Wildlife in the area include whitetail deer, black bear, turkey, raccoon, oppossum, fox, and smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles.

Nearby Attractions

The Buzzard Swamp Hiking Trails, a 9.6-mile network of trails that wind through an area of 15 man-made ponds, make for an enjoyable day trip just north of Loleta, while driving down a dirt road extending south of the campground leads to the beautiful Clarion National Wild and Scenic River. The paved road along the river is popular for bike riding, and the river offers access for canoes, kayaks, and tubes as well as fishing opportunities and large boulders for picnicking or just watching the water roll by. Cook Forest State Park is an easy drive for hiking, marveling at the grove of Old Growth Hemlocks, or climbing an old fire tower for a view of the river.