It’s getting harder to find campsites on holiday weekends, but we just can’t seem to get ourselves organized enough to make reservations during the early months of the year. Fortunately, we have friends who have their act together, so they booked us sites at Splash Magic Campground for Labor Day weekend this year.

Click HERE to watch a video of our weekend!

Splash Magic is located on the Susquehanna River in Northumberland, PA. Despite being close to home, we’ve never stayed there, but we know many people who have. They have all highly recommended it. After staying there, I would recommend it as well – with a few qualifications.

Whether or not you will like Splash Magic really depends on what kind of camping you are planning to do and what kind of rig you have (or do not have.) If you are looking for a quiet weekend in nature, this is not the place. If you’re looking for a fun-filled weekend of activities for your kids, then Splash Magic is probably the campground for you.

Pros and Cons – 

Pros: 

Activities. There are four pools, water slides, and a hot tub. Fans of fishing have both the river and a pond full of catfish for casting their lines. There is free nightly entertainment, a bike park, and a huge playground. Your dog can get exercise in the large dog park. For a fee, there are bike rentals, paddle and bumper boats, an arcade, and ceramics.  Families can take a free wagon ride through the campground. We hardly saw our older kids, as they were constantly trying new activities.

Sites. We were very happy with our sites. We stayed in full hook-up sites near the office. It was flat and dry, and had a concrete pad. The size was decent, compared with other private campgrounds we’ve visited. The location of our site (near the office) was very quiet, despite its proximity to the pool and playground. There was a bank down to the next row of campers, which created a nice separation between rows. 

Cabins. There are many cabins at Splash Magic, and they look to be in nice shape. We obviously stayed in our RV, but relatives of ours visit every year and they love the cabins. Most of them are equipped with a full kitchen and bathroom, as well as air conditioning. 

Cons:

Lack of supervision. Splash Magic has much to offer and it is reflected in the price. For what campers pay for a holiday weekend, I would expect there to be more staff on hand to oversee the safety of campers. For example, the pool has no lifeguards. “Swim at your own risk” is posted all over, but kids will be kids. Often, there was a human train going down the waterslides, kids running on the deck, and other horseplay that would never be allowed in a public pool with lifeguards. 

Likewise, throughout the campground, we witnessed people partying heavily, using inappropriate language around families with young kids, and one member of our party almost got run over by a golf cart going far above the posted 5mph. Some people are often bothered by overactive security at campgrounds, but I did not feel confident that a serious situation could be handled by the campground staff. Fortunately, there wasn’t one.

Cleanliness. For the first time ever, Jim would not shower in the public showers. Because he barely fits in our RV shower, a campground shower has to be really gross for him to even consider not using it. These were the worst bathrooms we’ve ever seen at a campground.

The pool was cleaned daily and the water was always clear, but the pool deck was often dirty. It would benefit everyone to have the deck hosed down at closing each night, or perhaps prohibit street shoes within the pool fence. 

Overall, we had a very nice weekend at Splash Magic and have chosen to return again next year.