We left Briar Point traveling north on Route 79 into Morgantown to drop off the rental car. It was a quick stop (this time) since we spent last night cleaning the car as best we could, and with the pre-paying for the gas we didn’t have to find a gas station to top off the tank. The guys at Enterprise were great, as usual, which is why I use them or National when I rent cars. After a quick lunch at the local Ruby Tuesday’s, we headed east on Route 68 into Maryland and after an hour turned north on Route 70/522. The good roads made it a very easy ride to our next stop.
Cowan Gap State Park is a 1,085-acre park in the beautiful Allens Valley in Fulton County Pennsylvania. It has a 42 acre lake, two large campgrounds, ten rustic cabins, and 11 miles of hiking trails. It’s also our first time staying at a state park.
Conway Gap was not our first choice for the one night stop on our return trip. We made reservations with the manager of Twin Bridges campground in Chambersburg PA back in January. He had given us a nice back-in site right on the river, but in April a staff member left us a message saying they were changing our site to a pull-through in the “parking lot” next to the pavilion, since we were only staying one night. Needless to say we weren’t very happy. Yea, I know, it’s only one night and they probably had someone who wanted to stay longer and needed the site. Still, even for one night we weren’t interested in a parking lot space next to a pavilion.
Actually it worked out for the best because staying at Cowans Gap was good training for us. When I made the reservations I never noticed that the site was electric only. When we arrived I backed into the site and must have walked around the RV for them minutes looking for the water connection before I gave up and after looking at the campground map realized there wasn’t a water hook-up. A water hose connection wasn’t too far away so we started the RV up and drove over to it. Since I didn’t know if Scott’s sanitized the tanks (they didn’t de-winterize the coach before I picked it up) we’ll just use the park’s water for showering and the toilet, and use the bottled water I brought for drinking and coffee. While I was filling up the holding tank, Debbie used the facilities in the adjacent shower building. She said the facility was “extremely clean” . So hats off to the Camp Hosts of Campground B.
A quick drive around the loop and we were back at our site, connected up, slides out, grill started, and enjoying our favorite “beverages”
Beside us, and the camp host (who passed by and said hello), there’s only one other camper in this area tonight. The Park Ranger drives past at least once every hour, and other than that it’s peaceful and very very quiet. The only sounds we hear are the birds chirping.
Now we’re not “boondockers” and I prefer having at least water and electric at the site we visit, even if it’s only for one night. However, I would give this park a 4 star rating for it’s cleanliness and being so quiet. I would definitely return here or try another state park, for a night or two, to get experience with the 12-volt system. But that would be long enough because after two days I need my creature comforts.
We’ll be leaving in the morning for the final leg back to the home base. We’re only about ten miles from the Pennsylvania turnpike and then it’s straight east for 200+ miles. It’s been a great trip, full of great memories.
Daily Expenses:
- Gas $125.00
- Dining Out $29.00
- Campsite $27.50
Cowans Gap State Park, Fort Loudan, Pennsylvania
- 201 campsite in two areas
- Electric – 30-amp, (2) 50-amp sites for camp hosts.
- Water – six water hose connections in Area A, and two connections in Area B
- Sewer – one dump station in Area A
- Cable – No. (too many trees for satellite)
- Cost – $27.50 / day
- Rating: Four Stars.