It's honestly kind of perplexing that I'd never been to Little Buffalo State Park before. I live only about 25 minutes away, have spent years exploring Central PA, and somehow this one had completely escaped me. I decided it was time to fix that! On a rainy late-June Sunday morning, I headed to Little Buffalo with a 5.5-mile hiking route I'd found on social media and figured if I was going to get wet anyway, I might as well do it surrounded by nature. One thing that immediately stood out was how much there is to do here. Little Buffalo State Park offers hiking trails, boating, fishing, kayaking, picnic areas, a large swimming pool during the summer, playgrounds, and the beautifully restored Shoaff's Mill, making it a destination that's just as appealing for families as it is for folks looking to spend some time outdoors. It's one of those parks where you could easily spend an entire day exploring. Parking was plentiful throughout the park, and everything I saw was clean, well maintained and easy to navigate. Despite the rainy weather, there were still plenty of people out enjoying the park, which tells you something about how loved this place is. The highlight of my visit was definitely the Middle Ridge Trail. Marked as "Most Difficult," this 2.5-mile section delivered exactly what I was hoping for. The climbs were steep enough to get my heart pumping, and as the rain continued, the trail became even more challenging in all the right ways. I absolutely loved it! It was the perfect way to spend a Sunday morning unplugging from everything else and simply enjoying the woods. By the end of my hike, I was muddy, damp and grinning. My kind of morning! I didn't have time to explore everything Little Buffalo has to offer on this visit, but I definitely noticed the swimming pool while I was there, and that's already on my list for a future adventure. Little Buffalo State Park has officially earned a spot in my regular outdoor adventure rotation. It's close to home, beautifully maintained, offers something for just about everyone, and if you're looking for a hike that will get your legs working, don't skip the Middle Ridge Trail. I'll definitely be back! read more

See all

Easily marked hiking trails, clean restrooms. Nice mix of easy and difficult trails. Plenty of picnic tables and grills.

Beautiful Park, quiet and peaceful surroundings-had a nice picnic with my husband. Exercise walking up steps to get a beautiful view of the lake. Will enjoy visiting again. read more

Visitor center staff was extremely helpful and the park was a perfect spot to picnic and stretch our legs! Pretty garden area as well.

Little Buffalo State Park is a very nice state park. We have been here many times to walk/hike around. I wish they had more actual hiking trails because we love to hike! They have a pool, however there are often areas closed due to staffing concerns. They have picnic tables and grills set up for use, however you have to get there quickly to grab one! read more

Great place to kayak! Two places to launch make it easy to put in. Plenty of picnic tables as well. read more

Little Buffalo State Park - Parks Near Me - Newport, Pennsylvania

Everyone that I have come in contact with that works there are amazing and helpful. Others are helpful and polite to nod, wave or say Hello... Out on the water at sunset is one of the most beautiful places so peaceful and sound. Other patrons on the lake and around are very kind and considerate of everyone around in water or on land. Love kayaking on there lake and just relaxing watching the nature and others around and the sky changing... read more

Little Buffalo State Park - Wildlife all around Little Buffalo Lake, watching the ongoings around the nest in the tall grass - Parks Near Me - Newport, Pennsylvania

See all

what a gorgeous park---the pool looks amazing and I cannot wait until it opens to dip my toes in and get cool. Lots of water for kayakers and fishermen. My husband did see several baby water mocs when he was shore fishing so be on the lookout. Many options for grilling out and enjoying some nature and recreation. read more

(This one is solely about the campground area at Little Buffalo. There are several other things to do at the park like use their large pool, hunt, fish and the eight plus miles of hiking just like their are historical interests as well with a 19th century covered bridge, remains from a narrow gauge railroad and a working renovated gristmill but we didn't have the time to see much of this even though it all sounded great.) I'll start by saying that the idea of camping to me is fairly abhorrent. The thought of being out in the middle of nowhere sleeping on the ground, creating your own fire and living off the land is not my idea of a good time. I put that somewhere between do I want a root canal without a sedative or do I want to meet Jaws when I'm on a sinking catamaran. In the words of the late great John Pinette: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttTmincYe9M So eventually I surrender and agree to camping but only in the controlled setting of glamping meaning of course that there needs to be four walls and a bed in some form. To add an extra degree of difficulty we also wanted to bring the dog with this us for this adventure so to the PA State Park website I went. If we were just camping straight up making a reservation would be easy. But, there are only so many parks in PA this year currently that allow you to bring a dog into a cottage/cabin and out of those parks that allow it, they only allocate a small percentage of their inventory for animals. Add to this situation that most of the parks that do allow dogs are not in the eastern half of PA and this became more work than I thought to find an acceptable place/set of dates. Ideally I would have like to have done this closer to home at Nockamixon State Park but their pet cabin space is booked on weekends for months in advance so whatever. The cottages themselves at Little Buffalo aren't much to look at but they do the job. There are four of them (the website in some places lists five) in a loop which is across the entrance road to the site from the actual camping area which has 43 sites. The cottage has two rooms. One room had a small heater with a table that has four chairs and the other room two sets of bunk beds with singles on the top and doubles on the bottom. There is also a light in each room and a beat up ceiling fan in the room with the beds. Outside you have a small fire pit you can cook with and bathrooms, drinking water and a shower in a fairly new shared building that is maybe a hundred yards away from the furthest cottages. A few quick pointers: * If you need provisions there is a Giant six miles away in Newport. Easy enough drive. * Check in time for the cottages is 3pm at the Visitor Center. If you wanted to check in later say after 5pm, I have no idea what the procedure is. I didn't ask and the state's website doesn't list it. We got there a little after two and had no issue getting the key right away. Check out time is 10am and you either return the key to the visitor center or there is a drop box by the restrooms. * Speaking of the restrooms, make sure you have your own stuff just in case as the night we were there the whole place was sold out and the restrooms were a mess. No TP in any of the stalls, no soap in the dispensers either plus the people using the showers could best be described as 100% pure slobs. * If you're looking for pictures of the facilities on the state's website don't as they do a horrible job with providing pictures as to what the inside of the cottages look like or the camping area in general. * If you want to go full glamp, there is one cottage on site that fits 12 people and is fully stocked with a full set of appliances, heat and AC. * You're supposed to buy firewood from a pile that is kept at the entrance to the campground. The state is not big on people bringing their own from out of the area which is a nice idea except that the wood they sell is complete crap and does not burn well/evenly. I'll be honest, our neighbors bailed us out as they were leaving the next day and brought a ton with them that they didn't want to take with them so they gave us a lot of it. Stuff burned great and I was thankful for the help. Did they break the law? Probably. Did I break the law? Probably, but I don't care. If the state wants you to buy their wood it needs to be of a better quality or else people are going to continue to bring their own. FWIW, the wood we were using looked nothing like what they were selling there and rangers patrolled the area quite often. No one said a word. * If there is a storm and the campground loses power at night (it was out for three hours during our visit) it's obviously dark as hell and the emergency lighting cut out after an hour which also knocked out the toilets. Have a plan just in case and keep your fire going. In the future I think we'll be back. It was a good time glamping and I could definitely see us doing this again. read more

See all

Little Buffalo State park is a hidden gem in central PA! The campground has approximately 35 sites, most with water and electric, which is rare for many PA state parks. The sites are mostly level, gravel, and good sized for averaged sized RV's. Larger rigs may have some issues with site length on a few sites, so check ahead of time, but there are a couple pull through sites. Fire rings and picnic tables are at each site, but no wifi in the campground area. We did have cell phone service at our campsite. The sites along the outer side of the look are more wooded than the inner sites. The bathhouse is modern, very clean and well maintained. A playground is near bathhouse in the campground, along with several hiking trails. The dump station is easily accessible. Firewood is also available for purchase at the campground. The campground is located across the road from the actual state park, which is beautiful and well maintained. A large lake is the centerpiece surrounded by multiple hiking trails, picnic areas, and a large swimming pool/aquatics area (in season). The road going to the park and campground is well maintained, with very wide shoulders for easy access, biking, and running. Fishing and boat rental are available on the lake. We had a wonderful weekend at LBSP and plan to include it on our "Go-To" places to visit and camp. read more

Best place for social distancing in the area. Scenic views of water, trees, and walking paths. Explore nature year-round at this beautiful state park. Fishing is not generally plentiful, but it is fun to hang out around and on the lake. Special educational programs are offered and taught by knowledgeable local experts. Walking trails offer a glimpse of wildlife habitat that remains unspoiled by human hands and machines. Enjoy this place, and be sure to leave it as you visited it. read more

Love the campground, most sites have water and electric hook up. Shower facilities are top notch. Enjoyed a walk around the lake. Lake/swimming pool facilities look worn and like they need some TLC but overall a really nice state park. read more

See all

A great place for a gathering whether a few or many! Plenty of picnic tables and grills but remember the charcoal! You can rent peddle boats and canoes too! No swimming in the lake. Huge lake to explore with trails too. The swimming pool is HUGE! $6.00 for adults and they have lifeguards on duty! All day fun for any age. read more

See all

I find the park a nice place for walks, and the pool is decent. Great place for a picnic or family gathering. I have taken my kids fishing in the lake, never really caught much but they had fun anyway. read more

Such a great park! Hiking trails, picnic areas in the sun and shade, water to boat & fish. Dog friendly. Quiet, great for large group gatherings. Open all season long. Great swimming pool in the summer. read more

We stayed last week for 4 days with another couple. Very nice, quiet, relaxing and clean campground. Saw and heard many birds. Close by things to do and easy to find. The old Mill was very interesting and the Park Ranger greeting us there was friendly and very informative. Fishing was awesome! Nice walking trails. Our friends will be planning along with us a reunion during the same week in 2 years. Looking forward to it! read more

See all

Definitely need to drive in to find the pool, and splash pad. Don't take card, SO BRING CASH!! Other than that, amazing family oriented place! Very clean from what we could see. I went way back in the day when I was a kid. So to bring my step child here warmed my heart read more

I live 10 mins away, a lovely state park with a little lake for kayaking and trails to hike along with some interesting history and great park rangers read more

Little Buffalo provides great activities for my family to enjoy! Terrific walking areas, the lake is BEAUTIFUL, and it is a great area for training our pup to be more social. read more

Little Buffalo State Park - Little Buffalo Winter 20-21 - Parks Near Me - Newport, Pennsylvania

We go here a lot with our family! Nice quiet park with playground, pool, trails, covered bridge and they have many events throughout the year! They also have a day camp in the summer! read more

See all

Im going to agree with Mia here, this is a cool place to go, especially if you have nothing else to do. It does have a super new swimming pool that was put in about 5 years ago. It replaced an older one that had been around for decades. This swimming pool has a fee of like 4 dollars per person, which is strange, as being the only state park I can think of That charges a fee for the use of anything, and the only one that has an in ground swimming pool. The park also has a large lake and a covered bridge. read more

Very nice, clean park. Plenty of tables and places to BBQ. The pool area is great for kids because it has an area that seems like a mini waterpark. Also, there's a nominal fee you have to pay to get to the pool area. read more

Little Buffalo State Park - This was a picnic area right outside the pool area. - Parks Near Me - Newport, Pennsylvania

As a camp counselor this past summer, I have to admit I was a little nervous when they put us on an hour long bus ride to a pool an hour away. I had no idea where Little Buffalo was, and after taking the kids swimming 3 days a week, I wasn't sure why we would take a field trip to a pool! When I lost cell phone service I got more nervous. When the clouds unleashed a brief rainstorm I was terrified - just what I needed, thirty 9-year olds sitting on their towels in the rain. Even though it was a little cold and overcast the day we went to Little Buffalo, everyone had a blast (including me). They have all sorts of spraying fun stuff with water that you can run through, pour water on people and shoot. They have 2 fun water slides and the pool is enormous. This place is definitely a great day trip from the Harrisburg area! read more

My favorite place to get a good run in! Also great creek for kids to play in by the playground. Nice new playground as well.

Great park that is very well maintained. Staff are courteous and helpful. Great mix of history, wildlife, and beautiful scenery. Camping, water park, and well maintained trails read more

Great little gem of a park. We loved hiking around the lake and seeing all the wildlife. We saw a loon! Super kid friendly park with a splash park and pool in the summer months. read more

Beautiful state park, large lake for boating fishing, public swimming pool, hiking, enjoy this piece of heaven.

I'm giving a two star review because of the pool. There is no deep end .....therefore no diving board. But what we disliked the most were the lifeguards. My husband went with me, my mother, sister, and our two kids ages 10 & 12. Every single one of us got whistled at at least once. My mom got whistled at for being too close to the rope. Her back was touching it. The campground and the boating area are really nice but the pool was very disappointing. If not for the hawk eyed hard*ss lifegaurds we would have had a much better time. Water deeper than 5 ft would have been nicer too. It was definitely a pool better suited for really little kids 5 and under. read more

We have stayed in this park before. Lots of things to do. One complaint is with campground, the rules need to be enforced. We had a very loud group two sites down from us, well past 9pm cut off. Host was unhelpful as was report to ranger on first night. Tonight is second night of loud laughing, screaming, walking thru our campsite and just rude behavior. read more

Great place to visit with the family and to walk the dogs. It's always very clean and there are plenty of picnic places for an affordable afternoon out with the family. The pool and fishing is great too. read more

My friends and I made our first foray into State Park camping by renting a camping cottage at Little Buffalo. We had so much fun! The cabin well exceeded my expectations. Not only was it adorable but quite spacious with 2 bunk beds, a large kitchen table and 5 chairs, and a small heater. We had a BBQ with family and when it started to downpour we were able to fit the whole party of 10 adults in the cabin comfortably. The bathroom facilities were extremely nice and clean. There was a lot of stuff to do even though we came in the off-season. There is a super nice pool but it closed for the winter. I absolutely loved my stay at Little Buffalo and I can't wait to go back again! read more

Great pool very family oriented. Picnic area is awesome tho over crowded on holidays. Great way to relax with. Family and friends,

As a California native, I really enjoyed the clean park, lake, and forest. There is a large pool area, fishing areas, hiking trails, picnic tables, and a butterfly garden. Beautiful park and fun to explore with friends or family. read more

We loved the 12 person modern cabin at Little Buffalo! It was a delight to see since there were no pictures online and we really didn't know what it would look like inside. The cabin was large, clean, fully furnished. The high ceilings, polished hard wood floors, and open floor plan made it look as nice or nicer than any Pocono mountain house. The kitchen had everything we needed: microwave, dishwasher, coffee maker, utensils. You really do only need to bring sheets. There is a brand new washer and dryer. The view is nice, a pond right outside. The price was fantastic. Book early though as it gets booked very quickly. read more

This place is a little hidden gem. The lake is beautiful. The trails are perfect from beginner to a difficult trail that is not that bad. Always clean. It just seems the air is fresher there. Oh ya and they have a pretty cool pool. A great place for a bbq and a dip. read more

We have a cabin near little buffalo state park, so I've pretty much grew up there. They have everything you might want to do there...paddle boats, fishing, swimming, hiking, sight seeing, etc. The old pool was pretty run down but since they replaced it, it is awesome. Actually I don't know of a nicer, cleaner pool around! There is a "fountain" area for the little (and big too) kids, there are two twisty slides in a deep pool that is roped off but attached to a more shallow area. There is only one pool that is graded down, so you can actually just walk into the pool which is great for the babies, or elderly. There is a snack bar with sitting area, nice bath house, first aid area, and nice grassy space to lay out near to or far away from the pool, including trees! I give this park an A++ read more