Far from roughing it, PA campground has bike park, jumping pillow, fishing pond and more

Located right off Interstate 80, the Bellefonte KOA campground may not be what you traditionally picture when it comes to camping.

There are sand volleyball courts, a pool, fishing pond, a jumping pillow (that’s just what it sounds like, a large outdoor jumping space,) a bike park and more. It’s much more than just a place to park an RV. Even the lots for traditional tent camping are next to an outdoor kitchen with grills, sinks and a kitchenette area to prepare food.

The amenities are part of what led the campground, run by Casey and Autumn Dillon, to be named the campground of the year for 2023 by Kampgrounds of America. There are more than 500 KOA locations across the U.S.

The site was opened in 1970 by Casey Dillon’s grandfather and became part of KOA, a network of independently owned and operated sites. Since then the 100 acres have stayed in the Dillon family, with Casey and his wife Autumn becoming the official owners in January.

“There’s definitely been a demand to evolve into something else and the parks that take advantage of that definitely get more bookings,” Casey Dillon said.

The campground covers nearly 30 acres and includes lots for RVs, tent camping and a variety of cabins for guests to stay in. With an almost 800-person capacity, Dillon said it’s common to have more than 500 people staying there during weekends.

In 2021, the campground opened its bike park, the largest one of all the KOA campgrounds.

“We wanted to have something that was like a unique item, something that was a signature item that separates us,” Dillon said. “...Since I’ve been here I’ve been looking for unique projects that I felt fit the atmosphere and the purpose and the clientele.”

In the ten years before purchasing the campground from his parents, Casey Dillon made several improvements while managing the park including expanding RV spaces, renovating cabins and adding solar energy. Dillon was inspired to add the solar panels onto the property after an event during Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, an annual showcase of the latest technology in agriculture. The panels produce enough energy to power 23 average homes each year and are used to provide energy for the campground.

The campgrounds are open from April to the last Penn State home football game each year, with summer being the busiest season. The average booking window for RV sites is four months, with cabins booking at around six months in advance. Bookings also revolve around fall football season, with the influx of fans coming into State College to cheer on the Nittany Lions.

“About half of the sites are taken up by people that book a site for the entire football season and then they only come for the games but we still have parents weekend and we still have Halloween weekends when there’s not a game going on,” Dillon said.

The campgrounds are mostly comprised of RV spaces, with both regular and deluxe lots, which have more room, a table and chairs and a built in fireplace on the lot. Dillon plans to expand RV areas in the future, putting in more deluxe spaces and a lookout tower on a hill overlooking the mountains. He also plans to upgrade several of the cabins on the lot, upgrading the simple one-room cabins to better serve guests.

Two cabins are equipped with larger bathrooms and features to accommodate those with mobility issues, but not all cabins are wheelchair accessible.

Although Dillon has been managing the park for the past ten years, this is his first summer as an owner. Autumn Dillon never imagined she would one day be a campground owner, but she’s grown to love the campground and its staff, especially during the fall season when the leave start to change and the summer rush dies down.

“It’s way pretty here,” Autumn Dillon said. “People are a lot more calm about their stay and they just use everything and they’re very much self contained.”

But before Casey and Autumn Dillon took the reins, they had one last parting gift for Casey’s father, Rick Dillon, who ran the park for most of his life: a Zoltar fortune telling machine custom made to resemble Rick. The couple surprised him with the machine in September, having a company custom make the figure and box with his longtime nickname “Wildman” and rustic elements to fit in with the campground.

Now, the Rick Dillon figure sits outside the park office, offering to tell visitors fortunes for a dollar and honoring the former owners even after they’ve moved away.

What to bring: Campers must bring their own bikes or scooters to use bike park. A camp store is on premises for any last minute items campers might want or need.

Things to do nearby: Bald Eagle State Park, Penn’s Cave

How to get there: From State College take U.S. Route 322 west toward I-80 before turning onto Jacksonville Road

This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 9:21 AM.