Gettysburg Farm RV Campground - Thousand Trails

Campground Name: Gettysburg Farm RV Campground
Location: Dover, PA
Overall Campground Rating (1-5): 4
Maneuverability*: No access problems
Campground Notes: Mix of full and partial hookup sites, some sites also had 50 amp while some were 30 amp. Park has lots of animals you can buy food for at the store to feed them and pet them. My son found lots of trees around the campground that were good for climbing if your kid is into that. There is a short trail through the corn field which is nice to walk through. We had water issues with very dirty water. Our standard little blue Camco filter (20 micron) didn’t catch it and we had to buy a bigger Camco with a 5 micron filter to get clean water. They were working on the water as well and had a boil water notice up for over a week. River provided decent fishing; requires PA fishing license. If cell service is important to you, check your speedtest as you drive around to pick your site because it varies greatly from spot to spot. Appearance was in great shape and everything was nicely decorated and maintained.

Site #: 336
Site Rating (1-5): 4
Site Notes: Very large back-in site with gravel pad, enough for trailer and two cars to park at. Very muddy after it rained but we were warned when we checked in it gets muddy here. Picnic table and fire ring were both in good condition with plenty of room around them to enjoy them.

Amenity Rating (1-5): 4
Amenity Notes: Washers in the laundry room were closed; only the dryers were available. Main playground and basketball courts were in good shape. There was a smaller playground near our site that was mostly closed but my son loved the tire swing there. The sand volleyball court didn’t have a net but my son enjoyed digging in the sand. Huge grass field that was fun. Over Labor Day they had free activities and movies with food in the field. Pool was very good and large, ranging from 3’ to 5’ deep. There was also a smaller 1’ deep kiddie pool. The store was commendable and was always well stocked, also serving ice cream and hot food. They charged $4.50 for a bundle of firewood. Mini-golf greens were in poor shape but we had fun anyway, just added to the challenge.

Reason for camping here: Recommendations from other RVers
Miscellaneous Notes: In East Berlin, PA (10 minutes) Rocco’s Pizza had very good pizza and sandwiches, White Dove II Laundromat was the laundromat we used since the campground one was closed, and I had routine maintenance serviced on my truck at L&L Ford. No issues with White Dove II or L&L Ford. Weis Markets and GIANT (both about 15 minutes) were decent grocery stores. A Walmart was about 25 minutes away. Gifford Pinchot State Park nearby had some easy and beautiful hiking trails.

Dates Stayed: 8/30-9/20
Price Paid: 0 with Thousand Trails Membership
Weather: Generally good, hot (mid 80s) and humid when we first arrived dropping to cool (low 70s) by the time we left.
Verizon Cell Quality**: Very spotty throughout the campground. We picked our site based on good signal. Our hotspot (without external antenna) managed 4 bars, 48Mb/s down and 8.7Mb/s up. Cell phones worked fine outside in our site but inside we had to connect to our hotspot. Cell phones walking around campsite would cut out or have no service occasionally. The tower did appear to go down a couple of times, once for about 40 minutes.
Mail: Very good, picked up mail in the office. Accepts packages from all major carriers.

* For reference we are pulling a 33’ long Jayco travel trailer with a 2016 F350 Crew Cab Short Bed 4x4 which is 22’ with hitch giving us a total length of 55’.
**For reference we have two Google Pixel 2 XL on Verizon ‘Play More” unlimited data plans. For data we have an Inseego 8800L on Verizon’s expired prepaid unlimited hotspot plan. In areas of low signal we use a Netgear 6000450 MIMO antenna. Measurements are taken using the “Multi” test on Speedtest by Ookla.

A review by sdplusztravels, a fulltime family of three living on the road in a RV. This review is our opinion and we have not been sponsored or compensated by anyone. Follow us on Instagram (@sdplusztravels) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SDplusZ/). YouTube coming soon!

We had a wonderful time at Gettysburg Farm RV Campground. It is a wonderful property. Very nice, well groomed and the animals were amazing. Verizon Wireless was spotty in the front 1 bar at best but amazing near the river 4-5 bars (I put 2 bars in the notes as an average). Sites in the 100's, 200's, and 300's are gravel and very level. River side sites 600's and 700's are grass and our site 605 was very level as well. We started off at site 249 with full hookups and then moved to 605 no sewer but the honey wagon came by and "took care of business". The Ranger station, Camp Store and all the others that worked there were very friendly and accommodating. They were doing everything to stay open during COVID-19 such as cleaning the pool area, keeping a low number of people inside at one time. Since COVID-19 more things are supposed to be outside, the set up and outdoor theater for movies and spaced the chairs so that many can enjoy while still practicing social distancing. Will return.

We found this to be a great family-focused campground. Our first post-COVID outing and on he whole everything worked out. Arrival was easy, staff consistently wore masks while we were there. They were taking signups for pool times at various times but we didn’t find staff monitoring the pool at any point.

Our campsite was good, 30A full hookup site, very level, easy in & out.

We loved all of the farm animals everywhere, it was fun watching the chickens and roosters stroll through our campsite.

Location was fairly convenient to Gettysburg battlefield sites.

Only gripe was their paid Internet service. Paid for service, which was mostly non-functional after a major overnight rain storm.

Campground was occupied by around 40% seasonal sites

We would definitely come back here again.

Gettysburg Farm RV Campground is unique in that it is a working farm complete with crops and farm animals. Many sites are spacious and the facilities were always clean. We had a 50 amp, full hookup site with no additional surcharge as a Thousand Trails member. Gettysburg National Military Park and the Eisenhower National Historic Site are both located within 35 minutes of the campground. Verizon cell service clocked in at 19.1 Mbps download speed and .025 upload speed. AT&T clocked in at 11.9 Mbps download speed and 0.03 upload speed.

This is a fairly large, well kept campground with several nice features, including a farm, about 30 minutes from Gettysburg National Park. All Thousand Trails campgrounds are first come first served, so the quality of your site is very much dependent on luck. It appeared that a lot of the choice sites were occupied by long term seasonal campers, but we still got a decent one. I would not want to show up here on a summer weekend though since it gets very busy and there won't be many choices left. Our site had a decent amount of space on each side, and several trees nearby gave us the additional feeling of privacy. It wasn't the best we've had, but it also wasn't the worst.

Although the campground is called Gettysburg Farm, it's actually located in Dover, Pennsylvania. It's decent 30-40 minute drive to get to Gettysburg, but it's all very pretty and there's no traffic to speak of, so it's not a big deal. There's a smaller town nearby (East Berlin) where we stopped to pick up a few odds and ends, and the campground was convenient to the local highways.

Overall, we enjoyed this stay. The park is very large and has several open fields we used to throw a ball to our dog. We also enjoyed some lengthy walks through the loops and along a walking trail they've built. Additionally, there's a farm onsite, a swimming pool, a couple playgrounds for the kids, and a creek. Most of the sites are pretty nice, though some are more spacious than others. There are FHU's and W/E's, depending on your needs and availability. As a base for exploring Gettysburg, this is a solid choice.

We had an absolutely WONDERFUL 2 weeks at the Gettysburg Farm RV Campground. There were many, very large, grassy sites with plenty of room to spread out. Full shade was available. If you don't need 50amp, or a sewer hookup (but free honey wagon), there is a huge long side of the campground right on the river that you can practically have to yourself during the week and some light weekends. There is also a great walking trail around the farm fields.

Very family oriented with all kinds of animals, and weekend fun, but also still quiet and relaxing. About 40% seasonal but that is perfect.

The campground wi-fi wasn't too good, but they are looking into getting better service. We just used our Verizon hot spot, and while ATT coverage was spotty, we were still able to do our telecommute jobs.

Two downsides: 1) The shower houses need a little updating. Especially the one by the 30amp/no sewer side. 2) The laundry. Oh dear god the laundry. The 30 min wash load takes about 60+ minutes. Apparently the water pressure into the washers is horrible. Dryers were great though. :) NEITHER of these two downsides affected our stay at all. Just mentioning for the sake of information.

Cannot wait to go back and spend 3 weeks next time. Absolutely a great campground, with friendly staff, and even friendlier goats. :)

This is a former Outdoor World Resort that is now Thousand Trails. The sites are gravel with grass with plenty of space between sites. We had a 50 amp, FHU site and had no problems with any of the hookups. Our checkin was quick and easy, we were told there were two sites that fit our needs, and we went off to decide which we liked. Both sites were at the back of the park, across from the seasonal sites that back up to a corn field.

Many of the buildings look old and in need of attention. This is a working farm and you can buy some of the fresh produce in the office/store. There are animals roaming around, mostly near the office, and some are fenced in. The mini golf looks quite worn, but some kids appeared to be enjoying it. There is a playground and volleyball court, surrounded by a lot of open space. I would think this is a great place for kids.

Getting here was a little complicated, and stressful, as they are working on a bridge and the road was closed. Getting out was a lot easier with the knowledge of a bridge out.

We stayed near the end of the season, but the park filled up on the weekend with lots of kids running around. That said, we didn't have problems with kids running through our site and the noise subsided even before quiet time.

AT&T signal was mostly non existent, our Verizon MIFI had 1-2 bars and LTE, but worked fine with our booster.

Although it is a bit remote, it was a nice park and the location was 30 minutes from Gettysburg, which wasn't too bad. We had lunch in nearby East Berlin, Rocco's Pizza, and I can recommend it. I would consider staying here again if I was in the area.

We spent 3 nights here on our drive north. It is a fun place - a working farm with animals and farm equipment and lots of corn! We had a nice level site with plenty of space. Only issue was cell service (or lack of) and wifi isn't free. (And according to rumor it isn't very good). We drove to Gettysburg (20 mins) and Carlisle (25 mins). Highly recommends going in the late afternoon in the summer to the Gettysburg auto tour as the crowds have died down and the park doesn't close until 10pm. Sunset is beautiful (and haunting).