Little Red Barn Campground, Quakertown, PA - my review

For our test run out, I wanted to a place close to home.  My only requirements were that it was a pet friendly site, and that it had water and electric hook up, since we wanted to test all that out.


I looked through all the brochures that Media Camping Center gave us, and decided on the Little Red Barn campground in Quakertown, PA.  It was about 43 minutes away.  Perfect.

I had to send a reservation request in via the website.  It was easy enough to complete and they called back within 45 minutes to make the arrangements.  She was very friendly and courteous.


Upon check in, I again found them to be helpful and courteous.  She had about 10 spots back to back in one area and she told us to just pick one that looked good to us.  She gave us a map which also had a code for the free wifi. (We had wondered about that as there is no mention I can find on the website).


We found the site easy enough.  Both the water and electric were close to our spot and there was a fire ring and movable picnic table.  The campground was fairly quiet and peaceful.


Unfortunately, we had a lovely view of.... the activities pavilion.

Upon walking around the entire campground, we found that all the lovely wooded spots were given to the all season guests or the tent campers (no electric, or water and a good distance from the comfort station).  The rest of were forced to look at each other's rigs or the pavilion.  The class C's, travel trailers, motor coaches and the single 5th wheel were all basically on top of each other.  Not very "campish" to me.


The pool was still closed but ready to go - it looked like it was very nice and would be fun to hang out in.  They also advertised a hayride at 6:00 with a movie night in the pavilion at 7:00.  The movie didn't appear to run and the 6:00 hayride was a miss for us.  Check in is at 3:00.  By 6:00, we were ready for dinner, and didn't want to wait til after.  I probably would have done the hayride a bit later if it was offered.


The comfort stations included about 4 bathroom stalls, several sinks with plenty of mirrors and plugs to get ready.  There were two enclosed showers as well.  I found them to be clean every time I used them. However, there was only one and the very front edge of the property.  They did have a port-a-potty at the edge of the tent camping area but that was it.


We walked through the pavillion which appeared to be a fun place to hang out when it's open...ping pong, a tv area, movie area, some toys and books.  The game room near the office was appealing to the kids too.  The camp store looked to be fully stocked with plenty of dry goods, as well as a refrigerated case with eggs, bacon, milk etc...

The playground was also nice and big for the kids.  It had this play set, another  bank of swings and a large sandbox - easily 10 x 10.  And a nice open field for the kids to run - a volleyball net was set up on one side.

They used it several times until we had an incident Sunday morning.  Some locals/all season kids were clearly used to this being "their turf" and were unwilling to share.  One little boy ran from swing to swing saying "mine" and would not allow my three year old to get on.  Nothing was said to him.  The 15 year old sent to "watch them" did nothing to control their bad behavior, but rather spent the entire time swinging as high as she could.  


Finally one of the kids got off and my waiting 8 year old could have a turn.  After a few minutes, the boy that had gotten off, about 4-5 years old took a running start and leaped onto my son who was actively swinging at the time.  He leapt on top of him, knocked him off and proceeded to stay sitting/standing on top of him pinning him to the ground.  The other kids including the "babysitter" either laughed or did nothing.   I immediately went over and (loudly) reprimanded the kid and told him to get off my son. Did I yell?  Maybe, but honestly not that loud.  Trust me, I can yell loudly at my children when I want to and this was not it.  I then looked at the other kids and told them then needed to learn some manners.  We opted to then leave the playground.  There was no point in trying to play while those kids were there.


About 10 minutes later, I have the kids settled in the camper taking a quiet  break with a movie when I happen to catch movement outside under our canopy.


I go out to see the naughty kids from the playground trying to play with our toys and an angry grandma. She wanted to know why I yelled at her kids.  I explained what her kids did (the running leap, the not sharing etc) and she then tried to argue with me about how she had adult witnesses about what really happened yadda yadda yadda.  The woman was completely irrational and unreasonable and refused to leave our campsite. She felt her kids did nothing wrong and that I had no right to yell at them.  It did not matter to her that my kid got hurt.


I told her I refused to discuss it with her ( I was actually a little afraid since Rob was gone with the van)  and said I'm going to management.  We walked up to the office, she lingered outside trying to find her adult witnesses and I went into the office.  I explained to the staff what happened, and that this women was harassing me and I just wanted to be left alone.  Then the women comes in and starts trying to fight with me again.  I again say, we just wanted to be left alone and that we would be gone by the 1:00 check out. As I was leaving I said if she came back to the site I would directly call the police.


I didn't bother to stick around to see what they would say to her, but I had a strong suspicion it went something like "don't worry about it, it's all over, they are just weekend people" or something to that effect.  Their own rules say that " Parents are responsible for children at all times. Please do not leave children unattended."  But clearly they do not enforce this.  And I find it incredible that it was OK for this woman to invade our space.


And frankly the morning was ruined.  I was afraid she would come back and do something to us or our campsite.  the kids wanted drinks but I told them no, because I didn't want to have to leave to go to the comfort station.


So while the grounds were clean and the amenities pleasant, the attitude toward not full timers was apparent. Between that and the lousy views, my grade is less than average.  I would not recommend this site for families.


Final grade:  C-