Great location! To start off this is a very tight campground that can be a bit confusing to navigate. Luckily they have golf carts that wait for your arrival and show you to your spot. The staff at check in was great. She showed us our spot and gave us a packet of information with a map of the campground, state park, and other things to do in the area. The space was clean and concrete and rocks so you don't have to worry about mud. You are very close to the other campers but everyone was nice and quiet in the evening. We did not take a shower but did use the bathrooms at the shower house and they were clean and have a code entry. We drove over to the other part of the campground on the lake and walked to beach. It felt like two separate campgrounds. So it was confusing to know where the campground events were taking place. I asked someone in the camp store and was told by the playground maybe. We walked around a little bit didn't find it. The location is key. It is right at the entrance to the state park, with a beach across the street, close to the multi purpose trail and restaurants. read more

Cleanest bathrooms, kind staff, those who clean the sites work really hard . The campground is tight close together campsites. But you are so close to Lake Erie it's worth it read more

See all

We pulled in circled around and pulled out. If you don't mind your neighbors sitting in your lap it's for you. Sites are way too close and it's noisy. We like our space and the camping feel. This was more like a bad trailer park. Are you familiar with the fish at Pymutuming Park? Well, expect your neighbors to be that close. The location is perfect for the beach and bike path. It looked clean. read more

I had an amazing experience. I brought my cats not far from much things to do around the area.

Very clean. Friendly staff. Great location on the lake. Very near food and walking/biking. Really liked this place

My favorite place to camp! Get there early if you want a spot on the beach! There is absolutely nothing like camping on the beach. Restrooms are super clean. Make sure you bring quarters for the showers. read more

I've been coming here since I was a child. My most recent visit was for my 11th wedding anniversary, and still having an amazing experience. read more

Sara's Campground - Bayside Camping (tent section) - Campgrounds Near Me - Erie, Pennsylvania

See all

Checked in on a Friday afternoon at 3 got set up in no time! very clean campground and friendly staff that helps you to your site upon check-in. this site number 48 was perfect for us it had the walking path to the beach right across the street right near our campsite. the entrance to Presque Isle state park is right next door to the campground as well. we brought our bicycles and we biked the whole peninsula a total of 13 miles round trip with beautiful stops along the way to watch the wildlife in the water. Sara's campground also has a full restaurant next to the campground they have very good burgers and hotdogs zucchini fries and definitely one of the best ice cream shops I've ever been to. they currently have a walk up tent for the camping customers so it's very quick in and out and take your food back to your camper. I'm definitely booking another trip here for next year! read more

See all

5 stars for their vanilla and orange swirl ice cream. Delicious and well worth it. We have also ordered food her and it is good however a bit pricey for a fast food feel. They have plenty of indoor and outside seating available. Their parking lot can get cramped. They also have a drive thru which we took advantage of on this particular trip. They had an employee taking orders before we even got to the window to keep the traffic moving since the parking lot can be cramped. Highly suggest checking this place out atleast for the ice cream. read more

Spent 2 nights during the week in September. Was very impressed with the cleanliness of the camp ground and the bath house. The only draw back for me was how close all of the camp sides were to each other. All of the sites were very well groomed and appeared to be very recently redone with new concrete pads. All in all I would definitely return for another trip. The staff I dealt with was very friendly read more

I visit Presque Isle and Erie countless times each summer but yet I've never been able to stay at Sara's Campground. That finally changed recently. I attribute some of my success to being able to stay there on a non-weekend day, as the campground does not take reservations for tents. The location of this camp simply cannot be beat and the prices are fair, especially given the prime real estate you get by being there. You are on the sandy shores of Lake Erie, right at the entrance to Presque Isle State Park. Waldameer Park is literally right next to this place; one of the roller coasters dips down along the back RV camping sites which I find to be thrilling because I love the sound of a wooden coaster. However, the park is so close by that if amusement park sounds distract you, especially in the evening (until 10PM) then this could be a small issue. Otherwise the main sound you're going to hear the rest of the time is the sound of waves washing up on the beach and possibly some campers radios and the sound of children playing on the sand. Although the RV section is tucked off the sand under the trees, the primary tenting spots are all on the beach under the sun/stars. There are not designated camp sites -- it's a first come, first serve free-for-all but it seems to work out. If you are looking for a secluded wooded camp site in the wilderness then this is not for you. But if you want to be in your tent and within a few feet of water/swim access and other campers then this is the place for you! From the campground you can easily walk across Presque Isle Drive to Sara's Diner -- an epic and popular summer hangout that serves all of the burgers, dogs, fries and ice cream that you could want all while turning out vintage tunes and decor. There is also Stevo's Pizza and the walking trails start at this location too so on-foot access to the park is right there. The store at the campground is modest but has all that you might need for a few nights of camping. The restrooms are in fair enough condition. Be sure to have a quarter or two on hand, as showers are $.25 for every five minutes. Many businesses and eateries are a couple minutes drive out of the campground up along 837/Presque Isle Drive or along Rt. 5 and 20. Overall this was a great experience and was just as delightful, if not more, than what I always anticipated it to be! Can't wait to go back. read more

See all

We camp here every year once or twice a year ,we line to bring the grandkids one time and bike ride on the bike trail spend the day at the beach and get the great burgers at Sara's restaurant,you have your choice of camping on beach side or bay side ,the weekends the beach is packed but we've come up ourselves and went on the beach side and it was great ,the water and sunset very romantic we had renewed our vows at the light house and camped on the beach side it was wonderful ,when we bring the kids we camp on bay side so we can do more with them or wed never get them out of the lake ,.if you line camping this place is a must !!! read more

See all

The campground is a dump. It's a nasty, unkempt, cramped trailer park. Most of the bay side seems to be permanent sites, and the people are just rude. The office where you check in is across a busy 4-lane road. Maybe the "beach side" camping is nice; I don't know as it was gated off and we couldn't get in. The trailer park side stunk, as it is right behind the restaurant. It was very loud, and the sites were way too close together. Sitting at our table in front of our door, our neighbor's sewer hose was at our feet. We didn't even have our own hookups; the power and water were on a shared pole, so we had to run both under to the front side of our camper. We didn't even use the bathhouse, as we were scared to see it. Oh BTW - you need to pay to use the showers. We will never be back here, and I advise everyone else to stay away. read more

Beach camping at it's finest! I cannot say enough good things about this experience. I was not able to camp directly on Lake Erie, as I had my dogs with me, but my dog friendly camp site on the bayside was just as awesome. It was still "Beach" with a fire ring, picnic table, and access right on site to water/electric (I just used the water to refill dog bowls). Straight shot across the road to the lake! The staff was super friendly and helpful. There is security at night and while this is both an advantage/disadvantage, the place is well lit. My only complaint is that for a large campground... there is only one bathroom on the bayside. Not easy to walk/drive to after dark. Clean place all around. Nice areas to ride bikes and easy walking access to food/convenience stores. This is where I will be staying every time I pass through on my way to NY! read more

Sara's Campground - Campsite - Campgrounds Near Me - Erie, Pennsylvania

So this campground has a 3 night minimum stay; typically, but the staff was kind enough to give us 2 nights. When we arrived we had no idea that we were in the right location and ended up having to circle back. What is not mention is that the registration office is not on site it's up the street and off the other side of the road. The gentleman who drove a cart helped us get the food delivery trucks out of the way, so that we could even enter the campground. He was a gem and this place is very lucky to have him!!!! The hook ups make zero sense here there are 4 spickets to a pole for water, a 3 way egressing splitter for cable and two power hookups. I don't know about you but most units are on the left so it totally blew that we had to butt up against the end of our site and cram everything into a 6 foot wide space. Thankfully our awning cleared the pole by about a foot. We had to run our electric and water across the pad and underneath our camper to get to the opposite side. We feel bad for the guy next to us who had to use 3 extension cords to get power to his unit from the next closest pole. A fellow reviewer was correct there is no dumping here onsite, we were also told to use an open site "if one is available". We were also told that with our camper we could swing through their location across the road and dump. This place is listed as accepting pets but not a stitch of grass anywhere as everything is hardscaped and by that I mean gravel and rock with mulch a few patches of flowers. So I would NOT call it pet friendly by any means!!! My husband made a great point; for what appears to be 60-100 sites there is only one bathroom location for ALL. All the sites are poured concrete pads wth gravel and you are definitely packed in like sardines. My husband spent A LOT of time planning our trip out here and was excited about staying here from the reviews and you tube videos and he feels totally let down and pissed off quite frankly. Especially after the magnificent place we stayed at last night. But then I asked what we paid for our electric and water hookup site and he told me, I then exclaimed that's where the money difference was between this place and last night. We did not eat at the onsite restaurant or shop at the store so I cannot speak to those, but I will admit that the restaurant smelt great and made me miss fast food. I feel that's enough, our summation is that this place; while staff is nice and all, they are more interested in the bottom line. So I forgot to share the pictures of the place read more

See all

Nice camping at a great spot. Everyone is very friendly and accommodating. Very helpful when you check in . We just started camping it was our first trip, and the crew here were very accommodating to our special needs that included an old dog and a puppy . We enjoyed our visit and will be back . The location is perfect ! read more

The campground was very inconsistent with what their management and employees told us. Almost turned us away after saying they could accommodate us. I called ahead asking about availability for a group of 8 and talked to a guy on the phone who said we could easily get spots, it was the off season. I called back another day to ask for more details about the campground, and said I was bringing a group of 8, and the woman on the phone said they could accommodate us, and gave some more info about campfires, rules, etc. Then, on the morning we showed up, the receptionist said that they do not accommodate groups of our size, they are a campground for families, couples, etc. Not groups. We were kind of stranded because we were hours from home. We asked if we could split into several smaller groups, we didn't have to camp together, and she said that she knows how groups of that size get, that we'd be a disturbance to the people between us. We ended up promising we'd be quiet and hardly even spend any time at the campground because we'd be at the beach all day, and she allowed us to camp there. But overall, the whole thing came off as very rude, and stressful because some of the employees said a group of our size could be accommodated, then we show up and the receptionist tried to turn us away because of our group size (although the campground was half empty that time of day) read more

We had our first stay there this past week!! I cannot rave enough it is everything you could want! Location Location Location The staff is amazing and so helpful with us being first timers. The showers and restroom are kept immaculately. The sites have large concrete pads. Treed spaces but not so dense that no sunlight gets in. The grounds are kept up beautifully. We cannot wait to get back there! read more

It's not everyday you can show up to a beach and pitch a tent. The beach camping is first come first served so if you're traveling on a weekend best to get there way early. I had to leave a day early and they had no problem refunding me the $30 fee per night. Site has electric, showers and even laundry which I used, nice perk. Ravine flyer II flies right behind the site, pretty cool! Word of warning, bring good tent stakes and make sure you're secure if a storm rolls through. The beach has no cover or trees, so the wind is brutal during storms. A few tents didn't last the night on my visit! Staff was super friendly, I'd recommend and return if in Erie. read more

The location by the lake, bay and state park is wonderful. The trail, hiking, walking/bike path through the state park. Amazing wildlife and many beaches. EVERYTHING about the state park is amazing. The only good thing about the campground is it's location near the lake and park. The campground it's self. Is small, overcrowded, dirty and not well kept. read more

I took a road trip here from NJ for the lantern fest at Lake Erie Speedway and decided on this place due to the reviews and their nice website. My boyfriend and I could only stay for one night on Saturday and knew it would be crowded since it was the last weekend in August but kept our fingers crossed that things would work out with finding a spot if people checked out Saturday morning. Tent camping on the beach side is first come, first served. Camping office is off to the left from the main road when you get to the beginning of Presque Isle. When we got there around 11am I was told that the tent camping was full but I explained that we came all the way from NJ. The guy at the office I think felt bad we came all that way and went to talk to another person about options. He really helped us out and said to check out the camp area and that if we could find an open spot for our tent we could stay. It was crowded but I saw a group packing up and leaving so we had our spot for the night. Check out is at 1pm so people can leave at anytime the next morning up until 1pm. Spots are super close and fire rings and tables are scattered around so it's not too organized but we were able to put up our tent near the beginning of the camping area which was closer of a walk to the bathrooms and restaurants across the street. We met our neighbors and everyone was very friendly so we had no problems with sharing space. It made me think of camping at a music festival where your in closer proximity with your neighbors than camping in the woods where you have your own marked lot in the trees. The lake was very nice, pretty calm waves when we were there. Mostly smooth river rocks are on the beach when you get in the water but then it changes to smooth sand as you go further in the water. Wear water shoes if you are adverse to stubbing toes. I was very sad we were there for only one night and not able to be there for the sunset, I heard it's one of the best. Overall I had a great experience here and would have liked to have stayed longer. It was a prime spot and only $30 a night for camping. With friendly neighbors being close was not a problem for us. read more

This place is great! Helpful staff, clean bathrooms, and a great atmosphere! I recommend it to everyone! read more

See all

Very bad experience here. We were so exited to stay here because we were right on the beach! BUT after a day at the water park we got back and our site had been given away to someone else. Even though we had our tent staked down in the ground a foot away from our picnic table and were told by an employee that specific spot is ours. We tried to get it resolved that night but there was no one to talk to and the "emergency number" we called pretty much just told us "too bad". Great spot but TERRIBLE management. Needs way more communication and structure. Maybe if they get their sh*t together we would return but they don't seem to be willing to so we won't be staying there again and I won't be recommending it to anyone anytime soon. read more

We love Sara's, have been camping there for 8 years. Gets very crowded during peak summer weeks. The owners remember us every time we return! read more

Saras Campground: A real doody hole. Used to go there many years ago until my husband passed in 2011. Was a much better and happier place back then. I was very anxious and excited to return with my daughter, grandson and her fiancé for Presque Isle Days and to fish. Reserved space for a week six months in advance. Couldn't be more disappointed. The worker that rides around on a cart said we were early. We were (1/2 hr. early). We had to wait to set up as he was cleaning off all the other pads for campers around us who were not there yet. He was rude to us verbally. We couldn't be nicer to him even though he was a jerk. He made us wait on purpose to clean our pad. He could have just done ours as it was very dirty and we were already there. My daughter said all she kept smelling was urine. I should have known then, why! Once we got set up, we tried to hook up to the so- called internet to no avail. It kept kicking us off. Both my daughter and I tried. Finally, we called and the young man in the office said come over, he'll set it up. He was very nice and we had a good conversation I thought. He said at least 10-15 people over there daily trying to set up. Now, what does that tell you? I told him I know how to set up I worked on computers for a living. It was just useless. So that was one complaint. Never got hooked up. Second complaint: We were there two days, the sewage backed up all over our pad. Our physical pad was ruined, had to throw it out. in addition, everything that was in the immediate vicinity was ruined as the man who we asked to come over (and was asked very nicely to clean it) came over with a pressure washer, and blew all the sewage all over our stuff. We had moved most of it, but he was just being a you know what. The picnic table had sewage spray all over it We had to throw our table cover out. All of our kiln dried wood had sewage all over it, many other items. When my daughter's fiancé called over to the office, the "owner" said she'd be right over. She came over stomping and looking all angry and said: "we were not a good fit for her campground" and said, "we had to leave." She gave no other reason. We paid and now we complained twice and that was that. We could not believe it. She was a horrible business woman. She should have apologized and at least offered to take a day off the bill or SOMETHING. There was no reason for her to behave that way or to throw us out. The cable guys were there and they couldn't believe her behavior. They helped us pack. We could not talk to her, she had her mind made up that she didn't want to be bothered with us or with any of our complaints. She said we were not nice to her son over the phone and that was a lie. She couldn't even tell us what we said wrong. My grandson (10 1/2) witnessed and his new friend were upset as we were going to go to Waldemier park the next day. She ruined our vacation totally, but could have cared less. In addition nothing else was available anywhere so we had to go home. A total waste of money, time, expense and all the work involved in getting ready to go on vacation and pack, unpack, pack, unpack, etc. I would not recommend this campground to anyone who has any self-respect or common decency, who wants a clean campground either or who needs internet access. If you enjoy the smell of sewage, enjoy! Quiet time is 10. NO ONE was out and about talking or having a good time at all that I could tell after the sun went down. In hindsight, maybe the smell is why. All the campers around us were stunned as they witnessed what happened also. Don't waste your time, go elsewhere. I would never patronize this establishment again. Nor should you. read more

This place was aweful. Disorganized you have to go to office first, go across street to look at site drive back across to office, then back to your site There are way to many people at this camp I can't see how the reviews are so high, trails beside trailer, beside trailer. Out tent was so close to other people I could hear them role over on their air mattress People forgot what camping is about. I would never camp here again read more

The site we originally got was very tiny full hook up site on the main road in and out of the campground.Not good for children It was sideways and had the sewer hookup in the middle of the pad. Could not get into the space because the neighbors were on half of our site and were no where to be found. Luckily they had a slightly larger a electric/water site next to the busy State Park Road. Loud traffic all day and night till 11:00.pm, We had the view of a permanent campers crap pile. The beach across the street was a filthy mess. They said we could dump on our way out in an open full hook up site. There is no dump station and no open full hook up site to use on our way out to dump. Costing us another $10.00 to dump elsewhere at Flying J. Check out time is !:00 no exceptions not even a broken hitch. It is not their problem and they don't care. They don't care if it poses a safety issue to their other guest either. Just get it off their property. Upside It is right next to the noisy amusement park. But you can take your pets in and you don't have to pay to get in if you don't ride.Unless you go to the water park. No pets in the Water-park They have a busy diner and a pizza in walking distance. As for on the beach camping it is very crowded I mean tent to tent no pets and primitive camping. No fires on parts of the beach. So, if you like cramped camping, paying for hot showers, crappy WIFI, noisy traffic lots of gravel sites. This is the place for you. I will be looking for my next adventure, read more