Over Columbus Day weekend, my girlfriend and I rented a camping cottage to stay in at Promised Land State Park. This state park is located in the Poconos of Pennsylvania, and the park address itself is within Greentown, PA. We decided to rent the camping cottage instead of using the tent because it made things easier for the long weekend, and things can get chilly in October in the Poconos. The electric heat was a guarantee against the cold weather even though we lucked out with warm weather during our stay there. There is plenty of things for everyone to do at Promised Land: hiking, fishing, swimming, and boat rentals just to name a few.
There are multiple campsites at Promised Land State Park and we ended up staying in the Pickerel Point camping section, staying in camping cottage #1. There are a total of three camping cottages in this area, so you really have to get your reservation in early if you plan on staying in one of them – especially if you want to stay on a weekend. There is also a bear wallow cabin colony that has 12 cabins that are more of a rustic style. These cabins have a refrigerator and stove, and for heat they use a wood burning stove.
The camping cottage that we stayed in consisted of two bunk beds (one has a double bed on the bottom though) which sleep 5 people. There was also a table, two chairs, and two benches inside so you could comfortably sit and eat inside if you wanted to. There is also a small electric heater inside which worked perfectly. There is also a front porch with an overhang for your picnic table, allowing you to stay dry even when its raining. Each cabin also had its own fire ring and charcoal grill too.
The bathrooms at Pickerel Point were in amazing condition and were clean for our entire stay there. They looked very new and we saw the cleaning crew in the bathroom every morning, making sure they were spotless. The showers all had hot water, and each one had a private changing area just outside the shower. That’s something I always like because it makes things that much easier. These were some of the nicest bathrooms we have used while camping so I can’t say enough about their condition.

View more pictures of the Promised Land State Park camping cottage we stayed in.
There are a few little convenience stores, gift shops, bars, and restaurants nearby that are able to provide the basic necessities that you may have forgotten. They also sell ice and some have firewood right outside, as the park itself does not provide any sort of firewood. If you have to do any major grocery shopping, I would recommend going to the Weis in nearby Hawley, PA. It’s about a 15 minute drive, but it’s not too bad as long as you aren’t going to the grocery store everyday. There also seemed to be some ice cream places along the road here, but unfortunately they weren’t open since it was October!
There are plenty of hiking opportunities within Promised Land State Park, with our favorite trails being the Egypt Meadow Trail and Bruce Lake Trail area. The other two areas that we really enjoyed was the Little Falls trail area and hiking around Conservation Island. You can check out a map of all park and all the trails right here. There are also numerous geocaches hidden on various trails and attractions in the park (and nearby), which we took advantage of finding.
If you are someone who is looking for more of a base camp to set up and see what else the Poconos have to offer, all the main attractions are within 30 minutes of the park. You can visit the outlets, Mount Airy Casino, a few of the ski resorts, pretzel factory, cheesecake factory, and the candle factory. It’s good value if you are someone who enjoys camping but still want to take in all the tourist attractions in the Poconos.
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