Growing up in an area, you never really understand what you have until you move away. You may have thought that this was so boring to come here. You may think why are we going here. But when you move away, and come back for a visit, you want to revisit the area. First and foremost, nobody from this area ('locals' as the out-of-towners say) refers to this as Prince Gallitzin, Prince Gallitzin State Park, or PGSP. So stop it, it's not cute. We simply refer to it as Glendale. Yes, that is the name of the lake, but it is so much more simply to say Glendale than any form/combination you can come up with. The 'locals' here have it right, and you will not win an argument about it. What is appealing about this place is the many things you can do. Camping, swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, feed the deer, playgrounds, grilling, I could keep going. I spent many weekends here camping (to note: I am not a camper). With that, it was like I memorized a good portion of this park. When you camp, you hike, when you hike, you stumble upon a lot of the park. But, it is nearly impossible to see the whole park by foot, you will need a vehicle of some sort. The shoreline of the lake is 26 miles long. But there are so many more things to do in this area. Headache Hill is a favorite. Nothing more than a water tank tower on top of a highpoint. When open, you can climb the water tower and view the park in every direction. Uninterrupted views. The marina is a highlight. The "beach" is another highpoint. There can technically be a lot of beaches here. Be sure to check out the Killbuck Boat Ramp area. You can rent boats here to go out on the lake. You can also launch your boat here (one of very many places to do so). This is also where you can feed the deer. It is almost like clockwork. But be very aware of your surroundings. Feeding deer can draw other wildlife and a bear or two have been spotted here. If geocaching is your thing. There area a ton in the area. Hungry, check out Pirates Cove for sure, whether you want a meal or sweet treat. There are tons to do here. Not far from towns to grab items, it can serve as a nice little getaway. And please remember, it's Glendale. read more

(To show how much Yelping means to me, our visit here was in January of '21 and I'm just getting around to thinking about this now.  Obviously I forget way more than I remember.) Who was Prince Gallitzin and why does he have a state park named after him? If you're so inclined feel free to skim this wiki on the Apostle of the Alleghenies. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demetrius_Augustine_Gallitzin PGSP is another creation of the late great Dr. Maurice Goddard who aspired to have a state park within 25 miles of every PA resident. He never reached that goal but he did add 45 parks during his decades long stint in state government including PGSP which was formally dedicated in 1965. So what's here? In the trademark of a lot of western PA state parks, not much and that's the beauty of it. I mean sure you can camp, glamp, hunt, fish, boat, hike, fart, etc. but there is also a loooooooooooot of quiet. elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/GetDocument?docId=1737338&DocName=PRGA_ParkGuide.pdf What else do I remember: - We stayed in one of the ten cabins by the marina. Three of them allow dogs and obviously those book fairly far in advance especially on weekends. We stayed over a cold as hell weekend in January but I still needed to make the reservation two months out or else there would have been no availability. On the other side of Glendale Lake there are tons of spaces for camping year round but I don't camp so I can't testify about that. - If you need to pick up your cabin keys after the park office closes, head to the office and inside the foyer there are ten cubbies where they put the keys and a welcome/rules/map packet. Note that unless the process has changed, the email you get after you make a reservation does not mention this. Either you know, you guess or you'll have no clue. - IME, there is zero Internet capabilities in the cabins. Maybe that depends on the carrier but at the time, on T-Mobile, it was zip. - There are tons of houses selling firewood all around the area. I'm sure the park sells it somewhere but we bought a good bit from a stand a few miles away. - If you need provisions, there isn't much in the area. The town of Patton is ten minutes away and it has a Sheetz and one small store but past that you're probably going 30 minutes to Altoona for something more substantive. - The cabins are very, very nice. Full kitchens, good heating, nice enough bathrooms and it's usually a full bed with sets of bunks. - It snowed a few inches overnight and the park had their maintenance staff out salting and plowing the entrance roads very early in the morning which is good as most are narrow and winding. Overall the park is very nice. Lots of space/trails to spread out and explore on and the peaceful quiet is intoxicating. This one is definitely on our radar for a visit in the near future. read more

We went swimming at muskrat beach on Memorial Day. It was crowded but still great. We could walk right in and play in sand and there was a little playground. It was a perfect day. read more

Prince Gallitzin State Park - Just walking right in the water. - Hiking Near Me - Patton, Pennsylvania

Very nice park featuring a nice large lake that offers fishing and boating, plus a campground and hiking. We were curious to check out the vista we had heard about at Headache Hill in Prince Gallitzin. We headed up the hill to the water tower. We've been to several fire towers for their views, but this was the first time for a water tower, and I loved it. It's so large and has two staircases that are easy to head up and down. Once at the top, there's a nice large space to walk around and check out all of the views over the forests and lake. It's a great vista to check out! read more

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We grew up coming here every summer until my senior year. At that time my parents got out of camping for personal reasons. After I had my third daughter my wife and I started camping again, a few years after getting my mother and sister back into camping. My wife and I took my daughters here once and they enjoyed it, and request to return every year. They usually have different programs going on every night of the week. It's out of the way with occasional cell phone reception. Which means more time without modern distractions and more family time. read more

I like it it is good The fish bite The water is cold There are large mouth bass and bluegill Boats are allowed read more

I went here for the first time this past summer and we had such a good time even though it rained the entire weekend. Beautiful swimming area at night with the sunset and there's a nice playground. We got a tent spot on a holiday and still enjoyed it. We will be ret read more

Prince Gallitzin State Park - Swimming area at sunset - Hiking Near Me - Patton, Pennsylvania

Prince Gallitzin State Park contains Glendale Lake which for most locals, is their "beach" in the summer. We came here for a spontaneous family fun day. This park is nestled atop the mountains, is vast and encompasses almost 7000 acres; the lake is over 1600 acres. There is more than enough room for this park to be full and never feel like anyone is encroaching on your space. Visitors are able to rent covered pavilions, cabins, and boats, visit campgrounds and they even serve ice cream at their marina. We set up at one of their uncovered picnic areas and grilled lunch. While our meal was being prepared, we rented a pontoon boat for the day for a relatively inexpensive price. The kids fished and caught SO many fish and then went swimming at the end of the day. Everyone had a great time! The weather was breezy and it made the perfect day even better. read more

Unfortunately we stayed here three nights with near constant rain, however, I would really like to return in good weather. The bathhouses in the campground were very nice and clean, the sites were also well groomed. The campground store was above average (enjoyed the funnel cake!) read more

Nice lake with good boating fishing swimming camping hiking and biking, seemed to be kinda out there as well. It doesn't seem like its usually too busy either. read more

Prince Gallitzin State Park - Hiking Near Me - Patton, Pennsylvania

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Just starting to get ready for my fifth trip to the park. During previous years I have rented cabins, camped in a tent and this will be my second time bringing an RV to the park. The lake is fantastic for boating, kayaking, fishing and just relaxing. The RV campsites have full hookups, and the staff I have met have been very friendly. The location is remote (I love that), but near small towns where you will find supermarkets and several decent restaurants. Rented a pontoon boat last year to take grandsons fishing, and their smiles as they caught pan fish after pan fish was priceless. I have had decent luck catching bass as well, but have yet to hook a muskie. The scenery is fantastic, the facilities are very good, and the rangers and people working in the park have been very friendly. It is a great spot for family fun or just a quiet time in the wilderness. One of my favorites. read more