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Site Evaluation #5: Black Moshannon State Park

RPTM 435

Fall 2021

Aleah Gramling

October 28, 2021

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Facility Description

According to Rachel Eckman, the Park Manager, Black Moshannon State Park was

founded in the mid-1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. This 3,400-acre park sits on what

used to be the town of Antes. Antes was a lumber town back in the early 1800s. Eventually, the

town became abandoned, and in 1936, the CCC took over the land and turned it into a state park.

They started by building a new dam at the lake to replace the one constructed by beavers. Even

though this lumber town is long gone, some of its buildings remain, such as its one-room

schoolhouse. There is also a historical marker by the lake to honor the memory of Antes. Today,

Black Moshannon is one of the most popular campgrounds in Pennsylvania. They are usually

completely booked on the weekends, especially during the college football season. As of October

of 2021, Black Moshannon has accumulated around $245,689 in revenue. More than half of this

money came from overnight stays in their cabins and campground. The majority of their visitors

are families. According to Eckman, they are usually respectful of the park and the surrounding

environment.

Some of the park's major amenities include a 250-acre lake, a large swimming beach,

three playgrounds, hiking/biking trails, a bog, thirteen rustic cabins, six modern cabins, two

deluxe cottages, eighty campsites, and forty-one dog-friendly sites. One key program at Black

Moshannon is their boat rental service. Visitors can walk down to the boat shack at the edge of

the lake and rent out canoes, kayaks, and other types of water sports equipment.

When it comes to Black Moshannon’s support features, the park includes two

restroom/shower houses, eight pavilions, dozens of picnic tables, water fountains, trash/recycling

drop-off sites, and twelve full hookups with sewage, water, and electricity. Furthermore, their

restrooms include all the necessary amenities covered in class, such as toilets, soap dispensers,
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faucets, urinals, hand dryers, changing tables, and showers (Mowen, Facility Support Features

Lecture, 2021). Lastly, one special form of equipment we saw at the park was a large leaf blower

attached to the back of a tractor. They use this to clear leaves and pine straw off of their major

roads.

Some key maintenance tasks performed at Black Moshannon include cleaning and

stocking the restrooms, painting buildings, picking up litter, power washing buildings, mowing

the grass, raking the beach, and fixing breaks in the water lines. They also mow the lake to help

boats navigate through the lily pads. I found this last maintenance task quite interesting because I

did not know this task existed or was necessary for large lakes. Lastly, all of these tasks are

examples of routine and preventative maintenance because they occur often and minimize the

deterioration of their equipment and facility (Mowen, Facility Maintenance Lecture, 2021).

Good Features

Overall, I believe that the amenities and equipment at Black Moshannon State Park,

along with its design and dimensions, are consistent with standard campground practices. To

start, all eighty campsites at the park include a living area, picnic table, lantern pole, fire ring, a

20-30 amp utility hookup, and a back-in or pull-thru for a camper/RV. As we learned in class,

this is the standard layout for most campsites (Mowen, Campground Lecture, 2021).

Next, the park recently added a turnaround at one of the entrances to the campground. In

the past, visitors had difficulty turning around in their larger campers, resulting in many

accidents. With the addition of this new feature, visitors no longer struggle with this issue. Thus,

the park has done a great job of keeping up with current campground trends. As we learned in

class, larger campsites and turnarounds are becoming more apparent at campground facilities

because campers are getting bigger (Mowen, Campground Lecture, 2021).

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When it comes to their cabins, the park does a great job of making sure that everyone can

experience each of their three different types of cabins by designing a few of them based on the

ADA’s current standards. When we visited one of the ADA modern cabins, I noticed that the

living area included a modified picnic table, lantern hook, and fire ring. There was also a

wheelchair ramp leading up to the porch. By constructing ADA cabins at their facility, the park

is more attractive to a larger group of potential customers. According to an earlier lecture,

designing one’s facility to accommodate disabled individuals can increase revenue because it

opens up the facility to an additional market of consumers (Mowen, Accessibility Lecture, 2021).

Furthermore, “it enhances the reputation and image of the business” (Mowen, Accessibility

Lecture, 2021).

One unique amenity at Black Moshannon State Park is their playground in the middle of

their beach. In my own experience, I have never come across this design at any other

campground. This is an ingenious design because it increases the flexibility of the beach, and it

makes use of available space that has the perfect surfacing material for a playground. As we

learned in class, sand is one of the safest loose-fill materials that playgrounds can use for their

surfacing (Mowen, Playground Lecture, 2021).

Bad Features

Even though Black Moshannon has many positive features, there were a few negative

features discussed during the site visit. First, the restrooms/shower houses, built in the 1970s, are

outdated and are not ADA approved. For instance, the showers do not have benches or handrails,

and they are not large enough to accommodate individuals in wheelchairs. Additionally, the

restrooms do not include any adaptive commodes. Furthermore, one of the restrooms we visited

sits at the top of a steep, rocky hill with no ramp leading to the entrance of the building. This fact
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alone makes this restroom extremely inaccessible. As we learned in class, it is the law for

businesses to design their facilities in such a way that accommodates those with disabilities

(Mowen, Accessibility Lecture, 2021).

Another negative feature is the design of the campground. According to Eckman, the

campground is one big loop. This makes it difficult to keep visitors separated from the different

areas. For instance, some visitors complain about other visitors walking their dogs through their

no-pet area. In fact, I noticed a couple walking their dog through one of these no-pet areas during

the site visit.

Lastly, there are a few negative features I saw at the bog. To start, the path leading down

to the bog is steep, uneven, and not well marked. Next, the boardwalk is very narrow, making

two-way traffic in and out of the bog tight. In my opinion, it is just big enough for a wheelchair

to get through with hardly any room for someone to walk past them. Consequently, these

features make the bog inaccessible to disabled individuals.

Overall Facility Impressions

Overall, I think that Black Moshannon State Park is a beautiful, safe, and well-kept park.

I appreciated the amount of natural shading at the campground and the park’s efforts to preserve

the surrounding environment. For the most part, the forest looks almost undisturbed.

Additionally, I was thoroughly impressed by the number of amenities the park has to offer. This

was my first time at Black Moshannon, so I was surprised by its massive size. For instance, I was

not expecting the park to have a 250-acre lake, beach, boat rental service, eighty campsites, or

twenty-two cabins. Thus, Black Moshannon is far better than any other park I have visited in the

past.
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Based on what I saw during the site visit, I would want to be a manager at this park for a

few reasons. First, the campground is relatively far from civilization, creating a peaceful

environment. Second, I like having jobs that keep me active and let me interact with nature daily,

which is what this job is all about. Lastly, the employees take pride in their work and care about

keeping the park in the best condition possible, creating a positive work environment. However,

if I were the manager of Black Moshannon State Park, there are a few things I would do to

improve this campground. First, I would update the two restroom/shower houses according to the

ADA’s current standards. This improvement would make the park more attractive and accessible

to a larger group of visitors. Lastly, I would create a paved path down to the bog and build a

wider boardwalk to increase accessibility. To finance these projects, I would raise the price on all

weekly, weekend, and weekday rates for both the cabins and campsites since this is where the

park receives the majority of its revenue.