1889 Park Campground

Not much more than a gravel parking lot but it does have full hookups! Probably not a destination campground, unless you really want to visit the Johnstown flood memorial, but great for a traveler looking for a place for the night. It is right next to train tracks. I was there from 3pm until about 11am the next day and only one train went by. It's less than a mile from the Johnstown flood memorial and within a reasonable drive of the flight 93 memorial as well. Easy access to town with gas and a couple of eateries. Moriss' Tavern has pretty good pizza and really cold beer.

The coordinates on Compendium are a little off. The coordinates should read
40°20'08.62" N 78°45'42.06" W or 40.335556 N, -78.761667 W

The phone number should also be changed to 814-495-7281, however you will need to discuss your reservation by email by emailing 1889park@gmail.com.

The number on Compendium gets the town that owns this park. The girl who answered, only knows how to rent pavilions. You must call Jeff, who is the grounds keeper, to make your reservation. Jeff will also be the one who takes your money, either cash or check. No credit cards. No down payment, he will come and visit your site and take payment after you arrive.

We visited August 2022. I am told that, probably when the last reviews were written for Campendium, there was a different guy here, who had a trailer like a Camp Host. That guy has left, and Jeff is the new person, and lives in a house nearby, and will come to you by ATV when he notices you are here. Jeff is very nice.

Pricing. $25.00 /night, with full hookups. No taxes, just $25 cash or personal check. $150 / week, and I was told $450 /month, but you should check that monthly rate if you want to stay here a month.

Access, Location, Cleanliness, Site Quality, all 5 stars. No playground, no pool, no laundrymat, just a bunch of nice places to park your rig on gravel. Has 15, 30 and 50 amp available.

Noise. It is quiet here. I like trains, and a previous review complained about a coal train in the wee hours of the morning, and this campground is easy walking distance to a crossing, so I was looking forward to seeing trains.In the 4 days I have been here, there have been zero trains. EDIT >> So after I wrote this review, the train traffic started, and it is about 3 trains, mostly between evening and morning, includes early morning. So beside the campground is a side track, where loaded coal cars are placed, and then removed, thus you not only get to hear the nearby crossing, you also get to hear them switching. For instance, the train went by at 12:30 night. Then came again with it's horn at 4 am, then between 4 and 5 it did switching operations. Since I like trains....
This park is mostly a day park with pavilions, and it seems to be used, almost daily by small groups for short periods. Not rowdy groups, seems like families simply looking for a place to get together and have a picnic.

I count 9 sites, and including me, currently there are only 3 of us. No seasonal campers.

If you are railfan, there are 4 railfan places to watch trains in this area of PA. There is also the Johnstown Flood park, and Altoona's Horseshoe Curve is nearby. And there is the Alleghany Portage RR which existed when the canals crossed PA, but is now another National Park.

Named after the disastrous 1889 Johnstown Flood, this park is at the site of the dam that burst. I need to remember that my definition of a campground is different than what others think of as a campground; this is more of an RV Park. There are ten sites located on a large gravel lot and would definitely not be suitable for tents. There are five sites on either side of the lot. All have full hook-ups for a very reasonable price ($25 cash or check only). The biggest plus to this campground is the host, Wayne. He immediately greeted us as we arrived and spent time orienting us to the campground and the area, as he is a lifelong resident of the area. He even offered to give us some firewood but when we returned from dinner, it was raining. He showed us that the restrooms were located across the street. Although they were unlocked, when we went to use them at night, we discovered the water had been turned off! It was too late to let Wayne know but he was very surprised to learn this the next morning; he had no idea who had turned the water off. The other downside is the VERY loud coal train which woke us up at just after 5 am. Normally for the restroom issue and loud trains, I would give this two stars but Wayne was very welcoming and apologetic about the restroom issue.

This is not our typical type of campground, but we chose it for its proximity to the Johnstown Flood Memorial which is about a mile from the campground. If you are at all interested in the history of Johnstown, this is a must-visit. There is also a museum in the city of Johnstown, about 12 miles away.

This CG is a small 10 site county park with full hookups. It’s gravel, very level and easy to get into. The camp host was super nice and helpful. It is a very quiet CG off the main road. We stayed here while we did a couple of National Park Sites in the area. The Johnstown Flood Memorial is only 1.5 miles down the same road as the CG. The CG itself doesn’t offer any extra activities, but its great for a couple of nights.