CAMPING SEASON
Owens Creek Campground at Catoctin Mountain Park is typically open from late April until October 31st. Check the reservation website, Recreation.gov, for the current operating dates.
NUMBER OF CAMPSITES
There are 49 campsites at Owens Creek Campground. Three can accommodate disabled visitors.
TYPE OF CAMPING
Owens Creek Campground is mainly for tent campers and those is vans, pick-up campers, and small pop-up campers. Trailers can be no longer than 22 feet. There are three campsites for RVs no longer than 30 feet: campsites 12, 39, and 43. All three have pull-through driveways.
Five people or an immediate family are allowed in each campsite.
Recreation.gov, the reservation website for the campground, claims each campsite driveway has room for one vehicle no longer than 22 feet, but that is not correct. What it should state is that a driveway can accommodate a single vehicle pulling a trailer no longer than 22 feet. Take a look at the photo at the top of this page, Campsite 24 (my campsite). You can easily get two vehicles or one vehicle and a 22-foot trailer in that parking space. In a photo farther down on this page of Campsite 20, you can see that that driveway is just as long.
TERRAIN
The Owens Creek Campground is located in a wooded area, so there is plenty of shade. The terrain is hilly, and thus level campsites are few and far between. However, for those tent camping, each site has a level pad (15′ x 15′) on which you can pitch your tent. The surface of the pad is tree bark, not sand or grass.
Most of the campsites are either above or below the campsite driveway, so you must either walk up or down steps or small hills to the camping area. Campsites 20, 22, 23, 26, 29, 32, 37, 38, 40, 41, and 47 are fairly even with the driveway, as are the campsites for disabled visitors, 7, 8, and 9.
Campsite 20 at Catoctin Mountain Park’s Owens Creek Campground is an example of a campsite level with the driveway
If in a tent, avoid campsites 15, 16, 27, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 49. All of these are farther up or down from the driveway than the typical Owens Creek campsite.
Campsite 27 at Catoctin Mountain Park’s Owens Creek Campground is an example of a campsite high above the driveway
If you want more seclusion, campsites 14 and 30 have tent pads farther from the road than most of the other sites, which have tent pads very near the campsite driveway.
AMENITIES
All campsites at Owens Creek Campground have a level tent pad, picnic table, lantern post, and grill / fire pit.
There is no electricity or water hook ups at the campsites. There are, however, two modern restrooms. The one located in the middle of the campground has hot showers. There are no shortcuts to this restroom building, so you might want to get a site near to it. Campsites 8 through 10 are the closest. There are no lights above the shower (at least not in the Men’s Room), so you’ll need a lantern if you take a shower at night. There are lights in the bathroom, but with the curtain closed it gets pretty dark in the shower.
Firewood is available from a shed, technically at no cost, but donations are encouraged. Do the right thing and leave some money if you take firewood. Campers can also gather dead wood on the ground. No firewood can be brought into the campground from outside Catoctin Mountain Park.
RESERVATIONS
Reservations are required to camp at Owens Creek Campground. Walk-ups are no longer accepted.
Reservations can be made up to six months in advance at Recreation.gov or by calling (877) 444-6777. Information about each campsite, including the current fee, is available on the website.
There is no check in at the campground, so just proceed to your site. The campground host comes around periodically to check which campsites are occupied based on a current list. Your name isn’t even on the list, so the assumption is that if a campsite is reserved and you are in it, you must be the person who is supposed to be there.
CAMPGROUND RULES
- Stay limit is 7 consecutive days, 14 total days in a calendar year.
- Check-in time is 3 PM.
- Checkout time is 12 PM.
- Site limit is 5 persons or immediate family.
- All tents must be placed on the designated tent pad.
- Pets are permitted on a leash that does not exceed 6′, and they must be attended at all times.
- Alcohol is prohibited.
- Generator use is prohibited in the campground between the quiet hours of 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, except when a waiver has been granted for the powering of medical equipment. Persons who require the use of a generator between these hours should contact a ranger for a waiver. The decibel limit for generators is 60 dB as per 36 CFR 2.12.
- Hammocks may be used in areas where tent use would be suitable. Hammocks must be secured to trees using Tree Saver straps or other materials that will not cut into trees. Hammocks may not be set up in areas where natural resources could be damaged.
With a few exceptions, use of any photograph on the National Park Planner website requires a paid Royalty Free Editorial Use License or Commercial Use License. See the Photo Usage page for details.
Last updated on April 27, 2024