River Camping on French Creek: 2-day/ 1-night 19-mile paddle trip

French Creek in Western Pennsylvania

In May 2024, we paddled 19 miles of the French Creek on a 2-day/1-night river camping trip. The French Creek has been on our bucket list for several years and it seemed the right season, with good water levels and air temperature to try it this year. We weren’t disappointed! It was a wonderful trip with beautiful scenery, a flowing river, wildlife and surprising moments! And we found a campground to book as we found it challenging to figure out if camping on the river is permitted in this area.

A quick history about the river…. French Creek was given its name in 1753 by George Washington who traveled along and on the Creek in an effort to dislodge the French from the area. During this period of colonization and west-ward expansion, the Creek served as an important waterway for the French Army and the early American settlers.

Our Trip:
Day 1 - Launched from Cochranton boat launch
Paddled 9 miles in just over 3 hours to our campsite at French Creek Farms outside of Utica.
This section of the river was mostly calm and peaceful, and we saw only a few other paddlers.

Day 2 - Launched from our campsite and paddled 10 miles in around 5 hours to the Franklin Boat Launch on the Allegheny River in Franklin, PA. This section of the river was much more unstable with ripples, a rapid that was tricky for our boards with our fins to navigate. This area was less remote as we paddled through industrial and housing areas. We also had a lot more decisions to make in our river navigation.

Water Level - 3.03 feet
Air Temp - over 80 degrees

We enjoy most of our water adventures on our stand-up paddle boards. This can present a problem when water levels are too low or are full of rapids with large rocks. Our back fins can get stuck and create risk for us swamping our boards. As for the French Creek, a kayak or canoe would do much better on this river and we would not recommend the water be any lower than it was for us if you do try paddle boarding. We were kneeling for a good bit of the trip due to low water sections and ripples/rapids. Enjoy!

Link to Water Trail Guide and Map
https://pfbc.pa.gov/watertrails/frenc...

Link to French Creek Farms Campground - https://frenchcreekfarms.com/

We booked site #14 using their online reservation form.
The campground was on the way to the launch point, so we opted to stop by and unload our camping gear to lighten the load on our boards for our first day.
Initially we were disappointed with the site we chose - perhaps just some bad luck on our part. The site had a broken picnic table, and the fire pit was very close to the seasonal RV’s next to us. But after chatting with the friendly campers nearby, we felt comfortable shifting down a site for more privacy and better amenities. It was a Sunday night, and we didn’t see any other tent campers. The campground is very basic. No bathhouses or flush toilets, which we were aware of, but it was a perfect mid-way spot to camp on a beautiful waterfront property.! We would stay here again but would choose a different campsite.

Our paddle boards:
Evolve - 10’6” Inflatable boom boom series purchased in 2017. https://evolveboards.com/
Funwater - 10’6” Inflatable Tiki purchased in 2020 - https://www.funwaterboard.com/collect...



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#kayak
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Video Contents:
00:00 - 01:50 Intro
02:27 - 03:53 Starting off
03:53 - 06:08 First Island
06:08 - 07:30 Carlton Launch
07:30 - 09:58 Bird Watching
09:58 - 10:30 Anglers Rest Campground
10:30 - 13:18 French Creek Farm camping
13:18 - 15:00 Start of day 2
15:00 - 15:40 Utica Launch
15:40 - 19:15 More islands
19:15 - 19:45 Ripples Ahead
19:45 - 21:28 Ripple #1
21:28 - 22:30 Ripple #2
22:30 - 25:25 Ripple #3
25:25 - 26:43 Island lunch stop
26:43 - 27:56 Ripple #4
27:56 - 31:05 Polly's Rapid
31:05 - 33:07 Ripple #5
33:07 - 34:37 Ripple #6
34:37 - 35:45 Ripple #7
35:45 - 37:35 Franklin
37:35 - 40:10 Trip wrap up
40:10 - 41:21 Franklin Launch