Lake In Wood RV Resort - PA

[armyhockeynut]

This past weekend we stayed at Lake In Wood RV Resort,Narvon, PA. It had been many many years since we had stayed here, so my memory from that initial visit is very faded. For this trip, we had made our reservations in February for our July trip. Site had to be paid in full at time of reservations, and as we were meeting family there, we wanted to be close and thus made our reservations the same time they did.
Upon arrival, you enter the park to a small parking area with a control gate. A sign telling you NOT to block the gate when registering, which requires you to pull to the side, thus blocking any cars parked in the slots. With a 35 ft travel trailer and Crew cab truck, this is alot of spots I am blocking. When I went in to register, I informed them that I had failed to ask for my Good Sam discount when I made the reservation. She said it was too late, and anyway, since I was only there for a weekend, the discount did not apply. They do honor the discount for Sun-Thur stays only as they are not even a Good Sam Park. Upon arriving at our site, it was a very tight fit and with large boulders lining the street, made negotiating into the site a magic act. At 136.00 for a 2 night stay, you would expect at least on site trash pickup? There was one dumpster near by with a sign warning of "Kitchen trash only - Your on camera". Our last dismay was with their participation with Recycling. Taking the hayride thru the park we only found 2 small recycle bins bear the office. We asked a member of management and they concurred those are the only two spots. We opted to take ours home as it would have filled the tiny bin.
This campground is listed in Trailer Life Directory as 10/10/10.

[Lantley]

kcmoedoe wrote:
You are upset with the park because of these reasons?
1. when you arrive they do not want rigs to block the entrance.
2. They are not a Good Sam park and hence do not give a Good Sam discount on the weekends.
3. The sites are difficult for a large rig to back in to.
4. They have a sign that only personal trash should be put into the waste area.
5. They don't have a robust recycling program

In my opinion I am glad they have rule #1. I don't like being stuck on the road trying to enter or leave the park become some joker decides the best place to park while registering is in the middle of the gate.
As for rule #2, I wouldn't expect to get a Good Sam discount at a non Good Sam park, any more than I would expect my Costco card to get me a tee time at Augusta National.
#3 is a legit concern for me as well, but I do realize the larger the rig, the harder it will be to get into any site. And you do have a large rig.
I can sure see where people bringing outside trash, disposing of old refrigerators and otherwise abusing the trash system could be an issue. That's why you see "no dumping" signs on rural roads. Since I don't transport trash, it sure wouldn't be a problem for me to only put my personally generated trash in the trash containers.
As for recycling, personally it doesn't move the needle for me. They offer it, and just because you feel it is inadequate, I sure wouldn't let that ruin my weekend.

In response to others, there is a whole lot of gray area between having and enforcing rules, and being a prison camp. I can surely see where some video would be beneficial in both preventing problems and justifying any rule enforcement. I wouldn't be surprised if all their video claims are really just a bluff. Fake video cameras and signs that say "this area is monitored by video" are big businesses, since people tend to behave a lot better when they think they are being watched. Sometimes a little paranoia goes a long way in keeping people on the straight and narrow.

I kind agree that the OP's criticism seems a bit over the top.
However the office staff should have given or suggested the OP take a pull through site in the open area to allow easier access to the site.

Recycling,trash bins,entry area parking and cameras are really not substantial issues in my book.

[NEnative]

Ooooo....love Lake in Wood campground!! We have a 40ft fifth wheel and stay in the pull through sites...always a great time. A beautiful clean well maintained place to stay.

[2008Wildcat]

Hopefully, all the negative reviews will keep most people away, that way, I can get my favorite sites whenever I want them....

[kcmoedoe]

armyhockeynut wrote:
I have submitted a review to RV Park Reviews. Thanks for the suggestions. As for the entrance, I agree to not blocking the gate, but then eliminate the parking spots, and mark this area for registration. While I was registering, which was less than 5 minutes, I had 3 people waiting by their cars to get out that I was blocking. Others who experienced longer check ins, would be blocking much longer. We arrived by ourselves, those who arrive in a group, would find themselves stacked out into the road. There is a large field infront of the office, that an additional parking area could be built to provide better access to arriving guests.
Upon further review, I now agree about the discount, I had been informed that they do offer the discount. Disagree still about the recyling. This is a serious issue at several campgrounds, and various communities. It would not be a deal breaker on where we camp. My issue with the sites and the roads, are that the rocks could have been set back further to allow better maneuvering into the sites. I witnessed several others experience similar issues and and spoke with one camper who had the management come move the rock so he could get into his site. Receptionist will ask if you want an escort to your site.

While I will agree parks sometimes get a little carried away with rocks and other items on the sites, they are serving a purpose. If they were not there, you would have driven over that area, which I assume is part of the site, not the road. I have been to way too many parks where the ends of the sites have been run over so many times there is nothing left but hardpan. I have seen people pull out of sites and make a hard turn driving through nearly the middle of the site, leaving nice ruts along the way. Those rocks are serving a purpose, forcing drivers to use the roads and not drive where the heck ever they want. Rocks, bushes, trees, signposts, flower beds and a whole lot of other things serve multiple purposes. They add décor and define the roadways. They aren't put there totally to inconvenience people.

[Flintstones]

We have always had a great time at Lake in Wood campground. They have a section with big rig friendly pull thru sites. The activities crew did a great job running a bingo game in the Knome Cafe while we were there. We would definately return to the campground.

[armyhockeynut]

I have submitted a review to RV Park Reviews. Thanks for the suggestions. As for the entrance, I agree to not blocking the gate, but then eliminate the parking spots, and mark this area for registration. While I was registering, which was less than 5 minutes, I had 3 people waiting by their cars to get out that I was blocking. Others who experienced longer check ins, would be blocking much longer. We arrived by ourselves, those who arrive in a group, would find themselves stacked out into the road. There is a large field infront of the office, that an additional parking area could be built to provide better access to arriving guests.
Upon further review, I now agree about the discount, I had been informed that they do offer the discount. Disagree still about the recyling. This is a serious issue at several campgrounds, and various communities. It would not be a deal breaker on where we camp. My issue with the sites and the roads, are that the rocks could have been set back further to allow better maneuvering into the sites. I witnessed several others experience similar issues and and spoke with one camper who had the management come move the rock so he could get into his site. Receptionist will ask if you want an escort to your site.

[kcmoedoe]

You are upset with the park because of these reasons?
1. when you arrive they do not want rigs to block the entrance.
2. They are not a Good Sam park and hence do not give a Good Sam discount on the weekends.
3. The sites are difficult for a large rig to back in to.
4. They have a sign that only personal trash should be put into the waste area.
5. They don't have a robust recycling program

In my opinion I am glad they have rule #1. I don't like being stuck on the road trying to enter or leave the park become some joker decides the best place to park while registering is in the middle of the gate.
As for rule #2, I wouldn't expect to get a Good Sam discount at a non Good Sam park, any more than I would expect my Costco card to get me a tee time at Augusta National.
#3 is a legit concern for me as well, but I do realize the larger the rig, the harder it will be to get into any site. And you do have a large rig.
I can sure see where people bringing outside trash, disposing of old refrigerators and otherwise abusing the trash system could be an issue. That's why you see "no dumping" signs on rural roads. Since I don't transport trash, it sure wouldn't be a problem for me to only put my personally generated trash in the trash containers.
As for recycling, personally it doesn't move the needle for me. They offer it, and just because you feel it is inadequate, I sure wouldn't let that ruin my weekend.

In response to others, there is a whole lot of gray area between having and enforcing rules, and being a prison camp. I can surely see where some video would be beneficial in both preventing problems and justifying any rule enforcement. I wouldn't be surprised if all their video claims are really just a bluff. Fake video cameras and signs that say "this area is monitored by video" are big businesses, since people tend to behave a lot better when they think they are being watched. Sometimes a little paranoia goes a long way in keeping people on the straight and narrow.

[magnusfide]

nomad297 wrote:
I gave them a scathing review on Trip Advisor and rvparkreviews.com. It might be a nice-looking, clean park, but the management and long, long, long list of rules ruin the stay. There are cameras everywhere -- even in some of the gnomes' eyes -- look closely and you will see what I'm talking about. Camping there is what I would imagine a stay at a Nazi prisoner of war camp would be like. I will never again go to that park. That's a promise.

Bruce

Thank you for posting it over at Trip Advisor. RVers use that site quite a bit and your input won't be censored there.

[mdcamping]

armyhockeynut wrote:
This past weekend we stayed at Lake In Wood RV Resort,Narvon, PA. It had been many many years since we had stayed here, so my memory from that initial visit is very faded. For this trip, we had made our reservations in February for our July trip. Site had to be paid in full at time of reservations, and as we were meeting family there, we wanted to be close and thus made our reservations the same time they did.
Upon arrival, you enter the park to a small parking area with a control gate. A sign telling you NOT to block the gate when registering, which requires you to pull to the side, thus blocking any cars parked in the slots. With a 35 ft travel trailer and Crew cab truck, this is alot of spots I am blocking. When I went in to register, I informed them that I had failed to ask for my Good Sam discount when I made the reservation. She said it was too late, and anyway, since I was only there for a weekend, the discount did not apply. They do honor the discount for Sun-Thur stays only as they are not even a Good Sam Park. Upon arriving at our site, it was a very tight fit and with large boulders lining the street, made negotiating into the site a magic act. At 136.00 for a 2 night stay, you would expect at least on site trash pickup? There was one dumpster near by with a sign warning of "Kitchen trash only - Your on camera". Our last dismay was with their participation with Recycling. Taking the hayride thru the park we only found 2 small recycle bins bear the office. We asked a member of management and they concurred those are the only two spots. We opted to take ours home as it would have filled the tiny bin.
This campground is listed in Trailer Life Directory as 10/10/10.

As mentioned earlier, Post a review on RV Park Reviews. Site is dedicated solely for RVers, over 210K RV reviews in their data base.

Mike

[dblr]

If you still want someplace in that area I would try Oak Creek around the corner, both parks now owned by a larger company bit Oak Creek still seems to be the better choice, good people still run the place and our very friendly, plus I feel the sites are easier to get into.

[dezl_dr]

Please post a review for them on rvparkreviews.com. DW & I recently took a 5,000 trip with no reservations. DW was ALWAYS reading the rvparkreviews when it came time to stop! The reviews from other RV'ers was very helpful in deciding where to stay and when to drive a little further down the road.

[nomad297]

I gave them a scathing review on Trip Advisor and rvparkreviews.com. It might be a nice-looking, clean park, but the management and long, long, long list of rules ruin the stay. There are cameras everywhere -- even in some of the gnomes' eyes -- look closely and you will see what I'm talking about. Camping there is what I would imagine a stay at a Nazi prisoner of war camp would be like. I will never again go to that park. That's a promise.

Bruce

[magnusfide]

Thanks for the HT. Please review them at Trip Advisor which RVers use to decide on campgrounds. Here's the link to TripAdvisor's Narvon PA page
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g53276-Narvon_Pennsylvania-Vacations.html

[Camp-Lite]

Thanks for the info. I was planning on going there next weekend. I will be sure to skip them now.