walleye, what private campgrounds will you use?  we had friends who stayed at meadow lake, but it was far from the lake.  we have stayed at bay shore, beautiful, but pricey.  we are looking for ideas also.   

mallard landing was nice, but a bit primitive for my wife and daughter.  always wanted to hunt that swamp to the north.  we visited in meadow lake and it was nice.  not sure about the facilities.  camped years ago at shangrala down on 322 but not sure what it is like now.  i didn't care for the big commercial campgrounds.  too much traffic, too much going on.  guess times change.  we once would go up on fridays for fish at the lil bit, but it changed hands a few times, so now we go to lakeside.  there was also a diner in linesville that was excellent twenty years ago, but i think it closed up.  still love the area.  may end up there if i can ever retire.

one of my fishing buddies just retired as an ohio park ranger.  he was from z-town and he had a whole group of folks from there who would  camp at tuttle every year.  they were all fishermen.  kind of a shame.  the area is on hard times, and i think the changing economy and the way people spend their free time has changed too.  i know what you mean about having the place to yourself.  i can remember camping in october on the ohio side and only having a handful of other campers in the park.  kind of nice.  

amen to that.  about six years ago, the ohio parks went to a reservation system that squeezed out a lot of old timers.  some went to bay shore, some to meadow lake, some just disappeared.  it was real sad.  familiar faces became a memory.  and the state shot themselves in the foot trying to make more money.  it was a profitable park for years, but after that, attendance dropped.
 
one place that never hurts is yorkies.. 

meadow lake is only a quarter mile from the lake. also there is white haven in westford, bout a mile and half from the lake.

that is what i was refering to.  it is nice when you can walk from your campsite down to the water or boat.  bayshore is bad in that regard.  you cannot leave your boat at your site.  it is either in the water or across the road in their storage yard.

You to papermouth, Down around them stumps some where, I will be up there starting May 13 through 23rd and June 3rd through 13th. I will either be at mallard which is close to linesville or Meadow I am going to rent a space for the month of May and June. So hope to see you.

wt, we're there from wed. to sun. may 13 to 16 might see you on the water.

That is a load of crap!!! I have camped at that park for over 35 years ever single year. I have seen first hand the Mismanagement of the park by the Management. Mr, H has threaten to close this park for Years , and he finally got his way. The water treatment employee Mr . Steve Retired last September and they had someone to take over that job then. Management has had 5 months to find and train someone from internal and has fail to do so, They knew they where going to close the park last year. They closed the park early last year and run everybody out, myself and the camp host were the last ones to leave.

I have hundreds of pictures of ditches that are full of leaves, mud and debris. Bathrooms not cleaned and sanitized, when it rains the water floods everything out because they won't clean these ditches. Sites that are mud holes from the park mowing grass in the rain and causing more damage then any of the campers. I can go on and on.

I have showed the park Rangers and Dcnr Management and get the same story its built on a swamp, No money, will put a repair order in for that and it never gets fix. Like I have said I have been camping there for over 35 years and under this Management the park has been run into the ground.

You can BS some of the people but not me I know the truth. I seen it with my own two eyes many times over. I don't care about what a good old boy he is I want him to do his Job!!! and server the the people of PA. Dennis sure did. ( He got sick of the crap and retired ) Thats who should be in charge. IMHO.

Now it will sit for two years empty and then it will cost to much to reopen and will remain close for good. What a waste



The bottom line is he is the Manager and its his shift this has all went down on. He may not be 100% at fault be he is 85%.  ( He should of stayed in Harrisburg when he left. )

I encourage everyone to keep calling everyday and voicing there opinion to the park and the Dcnr on this closure and make them reopen it before its to late.

Dcnr Director of parks ( The head Guy ) John Norbeck 717-787-6640
Dcnr Acting Secretary ( Money Man ) John Quigley 717-772-9084
 
State Representatives
 
Robert Robbins- 724-588-1323 or 814-336-2760
John R Evans - 814-734-2793
Brad Roae - 814-336-1136
Michele Brooks - 724- 588-8911
Jamestown Park - 724-932-3141   Ask for Pete or Jason

could not agree more.  bureaucracy and management are the two best ways to create failure.  it is never the little guy.  keep up your fight, walleye...if the locals won't listen, maybe harrisburg will.

Don't hold your breath on that. They don't want to let someone else run the park it might just succeed. And then the Management won't look so good.

The more I stew over this the more it pi$$'s me off. The people of Pennsylvania own that park Not the DCNR how can they shut the park down. I can see maybe no camping or facilities but the park and boat launch should remain open for us to use.

No state park should ever close due to budgeting issue's, Its time to call the Dcnr Director of parks ( The head Guy ) John Norbeck 717-787-6640 And Dcnr Acting Secretary ( Money Man ) John Quigley 717-772-9084 And ask to keep this open at least through the day, say until 10:00pm. Then they can close the gate and have the Rangers open it every morning.
600am to 1000pm daily sounds about right.

I know one thing the parks sure were run a lot different when it was run by DER. The DCNR Should go back and take some lessons from this guy The Goddard Era ,   The Life of Maurice K. Goddard a man that work all his life to found these parks. He is rolling over I am sure at the mismanagement of his PA Parks.

Actually park use increases during tough economic times. More demand, but unfortunately less revenue.

I have been reading all these posts, and I commend all of you for your concerns. I totally agree with the suggestion that if the DCNR is not going to operate Tuttle, then put it out for bid, for a private individual to operate it; like they do with the marinas. I too feel as though there has been mismanagement by the DCNR, but at a higher level than the park manager. One example, was the multi million dollar project at the Spillway, which was done way over board. And, then a year after our tax dollars were spent on that project, the good old Game Commission tried to outlaw feeding the fish bread; instead everyone would have to buy pellets to feed the fish, from them. But because of local public outcry, that decision was reversed. I encourage everyone to continue to flood the DCNR with calls about Tuttle Campground.

The PA General Assembly needs to approve more funding for parks if you want things to remain as they have been.
You are correct ,But its the head of the park to due a capital budget so there is enough funds to maintain the park.

No state park should ever close due to budgeting issues? Are you serious? Exactly how do you expect parks to pay their bills or their employees to stay open if they don't have the funding?
The parks are run and employees are paid, by tax payer dollars (Capital Budget) not the money they collect. If that were the case everyone would be laid off. The money they collect goes to Harrisburg and put into one big fund.

Do some research man, park use drops every year, so does funding. The days of family road trips to parks, and outdoor recreation as the norm, is over. Just a trend in our society. Less Tax money= less money to parks.
In fact the use of State Parks has increased since 9-11 by about 20%
 
And as far as tuttle goes I speak from 100% experience. I have seen and talked to the maintenance staff and crews, Rangers, locals, People that are afraid to lose there job because if they say something about the way things are run. Well as a tax payer and camper he works for us the people of Pennsylvania. And its his job to maintain the parks period!!!. Thats what he was hired to do not close them find a way!!!.
 
As I have stated before I have hundreds of pictures of things that are not done because he will not let people move equipment up to the camp or its being used at Jamestown.This is mismanagement period!!!!. Camp sites that were to be lengthen and graveled, they did a few then stopped and all the gravel has sat out at the hut for two years and hasn't moved. He told me out of his own mouth that he had an engineer lay out the gravel pads. My two nephews could of did the whole camp in a month and there only 12 & 14 give me a break.
 
He has an answer for everything and is a great talker. ( KINDA OF LIKE THAT GUY WE HAVE IN OFFICE NOW ) but very little action.
 
So sonofz3 I am sorry to say he is at fault also. Along with fast Eddy and his crew that have spent us in to massive debt. The park is in **** poor shape and there are some basic things that can be done, that cost very little to improve it. But thats not what he had in mind he knew exactly what he was doing all along.
You will never change my mind and thousands of other camper that use tuttle that it was not mismanagement after spending 35 years from being there when it first open to now. Its a sad , sad, shame. Mismanagement!!!!
 

I really can't understand why the director would want an empty campground?  That doesn't make sense to me.  It is losing money for them sitting empty, which in turn is going to keep them from getting any additional funding.
 
The entire state park system has been under a ton of cuts, which have been pretty public.  It sucks that this has hit the chopping block.  Hopefully it is only temporary.  Like anything government, if those budgetting see a lack of use of the other facilities, then Tuttle will likely be closed permenantly. 
 
My guess would be that the state will retain the land for a day use area, which is a lot less expensive to mantain.  If not, sell to the highest bidder, which is very likely NOT going to be a private campground.  Very likely a developer, putting up condos/homes that most of us can't afford.  If it somehow is a private campground, I'd expect it to be 2-3 times higher rates than the state subsidized camp ground, for similar facilities. 
 
I for one, am going to keep supporting the efforts of the State Parks.  I was raised on them.  I am currently raising my kids to appreciate and enjoy them.  I hope that the state parks are as nice and clean when my kids have kids of their own.
 
I've had many experiences with private campgrounds, most are dirty, boozer friendly and sketchy.  Just how I enjoyed them in my 20s, but not where I want my kids experiencing the fun of camping.  I encourage those that are distraut about the closing of Tuttle to write to the PFBC, DCNR, ect.  But you boycott, is going to do NOTHING except possibly close more of the state land.