Tuttle Point Campground reopens today at Pymatuning State Park

Keith Gushard, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·2 min read

Apr. 12—LINESVILLE — Today at noon brings a new era at Pymatuning State Park's Tuttle Point Campground.

It's the first day Tuttle Point will be open for camping since October 2009.

"It's really exciting to have campers coming back into Tuttle," Dan Bickel, the park's superintendent, said Thursday.

Tuttle, one of three campgrounds at Pymatuning State Park, was closed by Pennsylvania at the end of the 2009 camping season in a cost-cutting move. It still left the park with operating campgrounds at Jamestown and Linesville.

Part of the reason for Tuttle's closure in 2009 was the high operational cost of its outdated water treatment facility.

During 2022 and 2023, an $8 million rebuild of Tuttle Point was commissioned by the state which included updating water and sewage treatment facilities.

The project revised the campground by leveling it out and moving some sites closer to Pymatuning Lake, according to Bickel.

However, Tuttle Point Campground is smaller than it was.

It's been scaled back from three loops with 201 total camping sites to a two-loop configuration with 112 camping sites.

The center and eastern campsite loops have been rebuilt with handicapped-accessible sites with water, sewage and electric hookups. The western loop has not been reopened.

The project included new water and sewer lines at Tuttle Point, a new water treatment building, and a new sewage pumping station. The 75,000-gallon water tank at the campground has been refurbished as well.

There's a new main restroom and shower building for Tuttle Point campers. The campground also has a smaller new restroom for the beach area along with a new handicapped-accessible fishing pier plus a new boat launch.

"We need to give a shout-out to (state) Sen. (Michele) Brooks as she was a backer of this project," Bickel said.

Brooks, a Republican from Jamestown whose district includes Crawford and Mercer counties, was a proponent in getting Tuttle Point reopened.

"Over more than 10 years it's been a lot of hard work," Brooks said Thursday.

The senator noted that it was a joint effort by Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Appropriations staff, the Department of General Services, North Shenango Township officials, and Pymatuning State Park officials to get Tuttle Point reopened.

"This reopening should help local businesses and bring more people back to Pymatuning," Brooks said.

Formal dedication ceremonies for Tuttle Point Campground are to be scheduled later during the 2024 camping season.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.