Camping in Gettysburg Pennsylvania

Since traveling, we have stayed at many different RV parks.   Our arrival to Gettysburg made our 40th campground stay.   At each new place, there is always the anticipation of what it will be like.   Will the camping site be as I imagined?  Will it be large or small, easy to get into with our trailer or difficult?  Will the park be in a scenic area with tree cover and greenery?   Will the campsite be in a country setting, quiet and peaceful but still close enough driving distance to area attractions?   This is important to me, as I want to be able to see all that the area has to offer without too much unnecessary driving.   Upon arrival, my first impression of an RV park is often the one that sticks, but occasionally I have grown to enjoy a park more than I thought I would.   Gettysburg Campground was even better than I imagined, a beautiful green, tree covered park with a lovely creek running through it.

We were looking forward to Gettysburg, the crown jewel of all the Civil War historic places we had visited so far.  The battle at Gettysburg is probably the most famous of all the battles that have been fought on U.S. soil, so it would be a highlight to finally see it.   There were two things I was most looking forward to at Gettysburg Campground – camping with our son Matt and daughter-in-law Emma and a spot right next to the creek.  There have only been a few times while RVing that we have been able to camp right next to a body of water and I love it when we can.  Above is a picture of the view of Marsh Creek from our site.

Matt and Emma along with their adorable pooches and our grand pups Harry and Zida were able to join us at Gettysburg after spending a week camping in Richmond, Virginia for a Vespa Rally.  After so many months apart, it was wonderful to be together again!   We spent ten nights at Gettysburg but they were only able to stay two nights as they have many places to go and things to do while traveling the U.S. for a few months.  But we would be camping again with them at two other places in the weeks ahead!  Above is a picture of the group relaxing at our site.

One of my favorite things about this camp besides the creek was the wildlife.  I always hope for good bird sightings at every campsite we go to and this turned out to be great.   While camping in February at St. Augustine, Florida, we got a bird feeder and since then have put it up at many of our sites.   It is always fun to see what birds are in the area and come to the feeder.   At Gettysburg we had Cardinals (above), Brown-headed Cowbirds, White-breasted Nuthatches, Chipping Sparrows, Tufted Titmouse and Chickadees (below), enjoying our feeder.

We also put a clay dish on the ground with seeds for those birds like the chipping sparrow that like to feed on the ground.  One of our most frequent visitors to the dish were the mallard ducks who came up the bank from the creek and hung out at our campsite.  We saw groups of mallards with their offspring from time to time, but the funniest sight was when a mallard after hanging out at our site waddled back down the bank and got in the creek when the current was moving very swiftly.  It got caught in a rapid and shot down the creek so fast it looked like it was on a thrill ride!

One day when I was sitting outside I saw something slowly emerge from the bushes and a small turtle ventured out to hang for awhile.   He left and came back again later in the day.   As darkness fell, to my delight fireflies started flashing.  In our travels through the Western U.S., I never recall seeing fireflies until we came to Pennsylvania.  I assumed that fireflies out east had something to do with higher humidity levels since fireflies are prevalent when it is warm and humid.   But in doing some online research, I discovered that there are fireflies out west but not the flashing kind.  They stay closer to the ground and therefore are more difficult to see.   The flashing kind tend to be no further west than Kansas.

We had a bit of excitement after staying here for a week.  One night we had steady rain and at dawn were woken with a knock on the trailer door.  One of the park staff told us that the creek had risen significantly and there was concern the sites would flood.  Some of the other campers at lower levels had already moved or were in the process of moving to higher ground.  We were able to wait it out for a bit to see if the water stopped rising.   Above is a picture from our trailer door of our bird feeder pole surrounded by water as the creek had risen out of its bank.  Pictured below is the swollen creek next to our trailer.

As the rain lessened, the creek level stabilized and by mid morning, the threat of flooding seemed to be past.  This was the day that Matt and Emma were supposed to check in to their site along the creek, so we were glad they were not coming to a messy situation.  Being from California, it seems to rain a lot in the Eastern United States.  Back in Modesto and the California Central Valley, we often would not have rain for six months, from early spring to later in the fall.  But on our trip, we have had rain at just about every camp site and it seems there hasn’t been a week without a good storm or two.  Although the rain has not always been appreciated, I do appreciate all the beautiful green scenery we have seen in the Eastern U.S.!  Below is a view of Marsh Creek from another area of the campground.

I thought I would close with a picture of Sachs Covered Bridge that spans Marsh Creek a few miles down the road from us.  This bridge is very historic as it was crossed by both the Confederate and Union armies during the Gettysburg Battle in 1863.  Today it is only used as a pedestrian bridge.

Thanks for checking in.  Welcome to new subscriber Cyndi and everyone who has found us through Facebook!   In my next blog I plan to write about exploring the Gettysburg Battlefield.