Crooked Creek Lake
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 16:49 UTC
- A night
- $15When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 45In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Authorized by the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938, Crooked Creek Lake is one of 16 flood control projects in the Pittsburgh District. An important link in a system of flood control projects, Crooked Creek provides flood protection for the lower Allegheny and Ohio rivers. The construction cost of over $4 million appears small when compared to the giant saving which have resulted. Since its completion in 1940, the project has prevented flood damages estimated to be in excess of $548 million. Crooked creek also stores water and releases it downstream during dry periods to improve water quality and quantity for domestic and industrial use, navigation, recreation, aesthetics and aquatic life. Keep reading
Recreation
The lake and its miles of scenic shoreline provide unlimited opportunities for water-based recreation. A boat launch with ample trailer parking is available for boating and waterskiing enthusiasts. Swimmers and sunbathers will especially appreciate the lake's sandy, peninsula beach. The great variety and abundance of fish found in the lake have lured many fishermen to its waters. Crooked Creek Lake has yielded many fine catches of bass, muskie, sunfish and crappie. Picnicking is well liked at Crooked Creek. There are several picnic areas maintained by the Corps that are provided with tables and charcoal grills. There are six picnic shelters with picnic tables and grills, along with a 46 site family campground Crooked Creek Lake also offers a 9 hole disc golf course located at the Justice Pavilion.
Facilities
Independence Pavilion is located on the beach road and offers a ball field, and horseshoe pits. Across the parking lot is a flush restroom. Heritage Pavilion is located on Overlook Rd and offers a beautiful view of the dam and control tower. Horseshoe pits and a ball field are in close vicinity. A flush restroom is within walking distance of the pavilion. Justice Pavilion is located behind the park office and offers a private area with a small pond, and access to the disc golf course. A vault toilet is within a short walking distance.
Natural Features
Nestled among the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania, Crooked Creek Lake is an ideal setting for year round outdoor activities. Located only 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invites you to discover the scenic beauty of the lake and surrounding countryside at the Crooked Creek project.
Nearby Attractions
The long distance hiker will enjoy the 141-mile Baker Trail which crosses Crooked Creek Lake on its course through western Pennsylvania. The Crooked Creek Outdoor Discovery Center is operated by the Armstrong Center for Community Learning. It is used by groups and agencies interested in environmental stewardship and offers a variety of educational programs. To learn more, please visit: www.armstrongcenter.org/environmental-learning-center/ . Approximately two miles away from the park, Crooked Creek Horse Park, operated by the Fort Armstrong Horsemen's Association, offers horse staging facilities, stalls, and miles of horseback riding trails. Charges & Cancellations
What the agency tells you
Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations governs the public use of Crooked Creek Lake administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers. These regulations are posted throughout the Day-Use Areas and are available at the park office or by contacting a park ranger. All visitors must follow the regulations for their safety and enjoyment.
Please wait until 8 a.m. to set up to allow time for scheduled maintenance and janitorial services.
Driving off the roadways to load or unload and parking in the grass at the pavilion is not permitted. Contact a park ranger for designated overflow parking area locations.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Pavilion reservations are for the pavilions only. Restrooms, ball fields, playground equipment and game courts located near pavilions are not included in the reservation fee.
Horseshoes, basketballs, volleyballs, baseballs and bats are not available to rent. Visitors must furnish their own equipment.
Posting of personal signs and/or balloons on park signs is not permitted. Personal signs may be placed on stakes or boxes at key intersections. Any personal signs placed must be removed at the end of your pavilion rental period.
Pennsylvania state law requires children under 13 to wear a personal flotation device; all people on boats less than 16 feet in length and all canoes and kayaks must also wear a PFD.
Alcoholic beverages are prohibited. If you have any questions about the rules and regulations for the Campground or Pavilions please call the Ranger Station, 724-763-3161
Camping at one or more campsites at any one water resource project for a period longer than 14 days during any 30-consecutive-day period is prohibited without the written permission of the District Commander.
For reference, these are the rules and regulations of our facility: https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Portals/48/docs/Recreation/ODS/Regulations/RulesandRegulations.pdf We hope your visit is safe and enjoyable!
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 45 · 29 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Vault Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE FLUSH TOILETS on 2 of 51 campsite records / VAULT TOILETS on 2 of 51 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Beach
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Disc Golf
- Environmental Education
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hotel/Lodge/Resort Privately Owned
- Hunting
- Jet Skiing
- Kayaking
- Picnicking
- Playground Park Specialized Sport Site
- Fall color · reported 2 days ago, in Armstrong County
- Peak color
Nothing to book until it reopensread 16:49 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 4
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at Crooked Creek Lake closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 150 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Hearts Content Recreation AreaAllegheny National Forest · 69 mi · 27 sites
- Morrison Boat Access CampgroundAllegheny National Forest · 82 mi · 4 sites
- Pine Grove Boat Access CampgroundAllegheny National Forest · 85 mi · 4 sites
- Evitts Creek Hiker-Biker CampsiteChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park · 86 mi · walk-up · 1 site
recreation.gov availability, read 16:49 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
51 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 45 mapped sitesAll 51 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 45 of the 51 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| 1 | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 27 ft | 348 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 27 ft | 322 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 29 ft | 297 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 005 | rv nonelectric | 41 ft | 275 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 006 | rv nonelectric | 39 ft | 277 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 007 | rv nonelectric | 38 ft | 279 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 008 | rv nonelectric | 37 ft | 284 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 009 | rv nonelectric | 37 ft | 294 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 010 | rv nonelectric | 33 ft | 303 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 011 | rv nonelectric | 33 ft | 311 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 012 | rv nonelectric | 34 ft | 318 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 013 | rv nonelectric | 44 ft | 291 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 014 | rv nonelectric | 44 ft | 290 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 015 | rv nonelectric | yes | 23 ft | 292 ft | $15 |
| 1 | 016 | rv nonelectric | yes | 23 ft | 295 ft | $15 |
| 1 | 017 | rv nonelectric | yes | 27 ft | 295 ft | $15 |
| 1 | 018 | rv nonelectric | 42 ft | 299 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 019 | rv nonelectric | 36 ft | 301 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 020 | rv nonelectric | 28 ft | 300 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 021 | tent only nonelectric | 28 ft | 303 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 022 | tent only nonelectric | 30 ft | 308 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 023 | tent only nonelectric | 30 ft | 328 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 024 | tent only nonelectric | 27 ft | 362 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 025 | tent only nonelectric | 24 ft | 387 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 026 | tent only nonelectric | 24 ft | 401 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 027 | tent only nonelectric | 31 ft | 413 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 028 | tent only nonelectric | 37 ft | 426 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 029 | tent only nonelectric | 39 ft | 436 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 030 | tent only nonelectric | 38 ft | 443 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 031 | tent only nonelectric | 38 ft | 445 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 032 | tent only nonelectric | 39 ft | 443 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 033 | tent only nonelectric | 39 ft | 440 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 034 | tent only nonelectric | 42 ft | 426 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 035 | tent only nonelectric | 36 ft | 410 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 036 | tent only nonelectric | 36 ft | 397 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 037 | tent only nonelectric | 37 ft | 385 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 038 | tent only nonelectric | 36 ft | 373 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 039 | tent only nonelectric | 36 ft | 361 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 040 | tent only nonelectric | 32 ft | 350 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 041 | tent only nonelectric | 32 ft | 343 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 042 | tent only nonelectric | 35 ft | 335 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 043 | tent only nonelectric | 32 ft | 326 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 044 | tent only nonelectric | 32 ft | 321 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 045 | tent only nonelectric | 34 ft | 319 ft | $15 | |
| 1 | 046 | tent only nonelectric | 42 ft | 316 ft | $15 | |
| Crooked Creek Lake | Heritage AM | day use | yes | |||
| Crooked Creek Lake | Heritage PM | day use | yes | |||
| Crooked Creek Lake | Independence AM | day use | yes | |||
| Crooked Creek Lake | Independence PM | day use | yes | |||
| Crooked Creek Lake | Justice AM | day use | yes | |||
| Crooked Creek Lake | Justice PM | day use | yes |
The agency files 6 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
25 of 51 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Crooked Creek Lake Pavilions0.2 mi
Damsite and Spillway Recreation Area0.5 mi
Bush Recreation Area19 miMilton Loop Campground20 mi
Loleta RecreationAllegheny National Forest · 53 mi
Outflow Recreation Area (PA)53 miAddress: 114 Park Main Rd, Ford City, PA 16226
From Pittsburgh: Head northeast on Grant St toward Sixth Avenue. Turn right onto Seventh Ave. Use the left lane to keep right at the fork, follow signs for PA-380 E/Bigelow Boulevard/Interstate 579 N and merge onto Bigelow Blvd. Take the ramp onto I-579N/Veterans Bridge. Follow PA-28 N to PA-66 S in Manor Township. Take exit A from PA-28N/US-422 E. Continue on PA-66 S. Turn left onto Crooked Creek Dam Rd.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lenape Heights, PA
Typical weather
Typical October night 39°F, day 64°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 17°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Crooked Creek Lake is in Pennsylvania’s 15th congressional district. Its representative, Glenn Thompson (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →