Loleta Recreation

About

Loleta Recreation Campground sits in a small clearing surrounded by forested hillsides along Millstone Creek in the southwestern corner of the Allegheny National Forest. The site has rich history as a former logging town established in 1889 that once supported over 600 inhabitants with a large sawmill, shingle mill, and broom handle factory. After the timber supply was exhausted in 1913, the Federal Government acquired the land in 1925, and the Civilian Conservation Corps rebuilt the mill pond in the 1930s, adding the bathhouse, swimming area, and distinctive stone dam work still visible today. The campground offers two distinct camping experiences. The lower loop features 20 electric sites with spacious pads surrounded by mature trees, accommodating RVs and trailers up to 50 feet. The upper loop provides a more intimate forest setting with smaller primitive sites ideal for tent campers and small trailers. Each campsite includes a parking spur, fire ring, and picnic table. The Day Use area centers around the historic CCC dam, which creates a small swimming and wading area closed to fishing between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Millstone Creek is a cold-water fishery with native brook trout and periodic stocking by Pennsylvania Fish and Game Commission. A 2.7-mile loop trail starts near the group camping site and winds through the woods around the upper loop. Nearby attractions include Buzzard Swamp's 9.6 miles of trails through 15 man-made ponds, the Wild and Scenic Clarion River offering excellent canoeing and fishing about 4 miles south, and Cook Forest State Park with its Old Growth Hemlocks and historic fire tower.

Directions

From the west, take I-80 east to Clarion, Pennsylvania. Turn left onto State Route 66 and continue northeast to Marienville. Turn right on South Forest Street and go south 6 miles to the Loleta Campground entrance sign. From the east, take I-80 west to the PA-36 exit towards Sigel/Brookville. Turn right onto PA-36 and take it to PA-949. Turn right on PA-949 to Bridge Road and cross the Clarion National Wild & Scenic River. Turn left onto River Road then right onto Gregg Hill Road. At the end of Gregg Hill Road, take a slight left onto Loleta Road/SR3002 and follow it to the campground entrance sign.