Every winter, we take our girls on a winter camping adventure to stay in the Oil Creek State Park shelters in northwest Pennsylvania. We have been staying in these overnight shelters since the girls were about 3 years old! These shelters can be accessed from parking lots about a mile away OR you can backpack on the Gerard hiking trail and make this a multi-day adventure!
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Written by Julie Kosker
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Before you report us for child endangerment, read on to discover why we go to Oil Creek SP for our winter outdoor recreation.
Why our family loves the shelters at Oil Creek
The Oil Creek shelters are adirondack style, 3-sided structures. HOWEVER, on the open side, there is a huge stone fireplace! We used an old canvas tent to cut “doors” to the correct dimensions and using rope and the fixed eyebolts on the shelter entrances, we are able to enclose that 4th side!
These adirondack shelters have a few nice amenities! At the top of that list is the firewood! Oil Creek State Park provides the firewood, so before we take our boots off, we make many trips from the wood storage to our shelter and we can keep our shelter as toasty as we want throughout the night. Dear reader, here is my confession: “we” means Jake.
As the mom, I don’t sleep well, waking about hourly to check the fire and make sure the girls are still covered. However, it’s such a fun family experience, it’s definitely worth it!
I will admit, that this year when we told the girls our Friday night plans to go the shelters at Oil Creek, they whined. “Why can’t we be a normal family?” was my favorite question. They kept that attitude up through the packing and mile hike in to the shelters, but as soon as they arrived to our shelter, Voila! The excitement was palatable. They LOVE those shelters! They love to set-up their sleeping areas, hang the twinkle lights, arrange their books and games on the shelves, etc.
Why can’t we be a normal family?
Inevitably it ends up being one of our favorite nights of the year. Also, I’m a better parent as I fully engage in playing with the girls.
This year, for the first time ever, we let them bring their Kindle Fires and watch a movie. I felt conflicted to break our “no electronics while camping rule”*, but it is a LONG evening in the winter and it was nice to sit by the fire, chat with my partner and read my own book for awhile!
*My Kindle Paperwhite is not part of that rule. As a voracious reader, this is the most practical way for me to pack in books! It also is an important element to incorporating rest in all of our adventures. Plus, Jake upgraded me to this waterproof version for our last backcountry canoe trip.
How to reserve the shelters at Oil Creek State Park
You need a Oil Creek backpacking permit in order to reserve the shelters. They are inexpensive, currently $5/person/night. In exchange for that small fee, you guarantee availability of your chosen shelter, have access to a clean, pit toilet bathroom, firewood and use of a shared bear proof storage cabinet. There is also typically newspaper and trail maps in water proof storage boxes on the bathroom.
The permit process is a bit confusing, so we made a YouTube tutorial for you which is chock full of information. We are obviously at the early stages of learning to make/edit videos!
If you prefer printed directions, Oil Creek provides this tutorial for reserving the Oil Creek shelters.
These instructions work for all of the shelters at PA State Parks: including the shelters on the Laurel Highlands Trail at Laurel Ridge State Park and the shelters at Raccoon Creek State Park.
You can also call the park office to make a reservation over the phone. However, please note that the office is NOT near the shelters, so you should take a copy of your reservation with you. It’s never been a problem, but we have had to ask people who have a fire going and are already unpacked to move to a different shelter. I’m sure some hikers don’t make a reservation and/or assume the reservation is good for any shelter. However, I personally don’t want to get moved out in the middle of the night if I’m in a shelter that isn’t reserved under my name! So, we always politely claim OUR shelter.
How to access the Oil Creek State Park shelters
There are two shelter areas within Oil Creek that have the gorgeous stone fireplaces: Wolfkiel Shelters and Cow Run Shelters. We have stayed many times in both locations and I do not have a preference.
Both Oil Creek Shelter areas offer the same amenities and similar lay-outs.
Many people enjoy hiking the entire 30+ mile loop on the Gerard Trail and these shelters are perfectly positioned for your two nights backpacking. Jake has done this a few times!
Here is the Oil Creek State Park map.
Wolfkiel shelters
The Wolfkiel shelters are a little easier to access if you arrive at night because the trail between the parking lot and the shelters is a fairly flat half mile of dirt road. These 6 shelters are situated in a long row (we have never had noise issues, but always travel with earplugs). At one end of these shelters is a huge campfire area which is great when you’re with a group utilizing multiple shelters!
Cow Run Shelters
The shelters at Cow Run are situated in two rows. The first row of 3 shelters are higher on the ridge and closer to the outhouse and the other 3 are slightly lower on the ridge. If you park at the Cow Run Shelter parking lot, there is a trail turning onto several dirt access roads that leads to the shelters.
If it is dark and/or wet, I recommend parking in the lot and then walking along White City Road a short distance until you reach a gated dirt road. THIS road meets up with the official trail about halfway along the trail. The first time we tried the trail at night, we completely missed the trail marker to turn and meet up with the dirt road. The trail also has a lot of muddy areas and puddles!
Other shelters at Oil Creek State Park
There are two other areas in Oil Creek State Park with Adirondack shelters: Wildcat Hollow and behind the cross-country ski warming hut. Each site has three shelters. HOWEVER, these shelter areas DO NOT have the stone fireplace in the middle of the open side. These shelter areas do have centrally located fire pits, an outhouse, firewood and picnic tables. These group areas are available for reservation as a whole but not for individual shelters.
We have personally reserved Wildcat Hollow for large group events because of its a central location to the main park entrance, the shelters are gorgeous, there is a huge campfire pit, and there is a covered picnic pavilion.
Gear recommendations for overnight camping in shelters:
As always, use what you have! While the following gear might make your trip a little easier, it’s most important to simply GO! We once camped in these shelters with friends who carried in comforters! It worked!
Hiking packs
Hiking Backpacks and a very inexpensive, but important addition….
- For Adults
- Jake has used the Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor pack for the past few years. He kindly enough got one for Julie this Christmas, so now the family is ready for epic adventures with coordinating packs!
- Jake has used the Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor pack for the past few years. He kindly enough got one for Julie this Christmas, so now the family is ready for epic adventures with coordinating packs!
- For Kids
- For their first beginner backpacks, we bought these inexpensive packs from Amazon. The girls could fit their youth sleeping bag, clothes, comfort items (a stuffed animal, or two, or three), their books to read/journals and card games.
- At ages 10 & 12, we just upgraded the girls to the Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor 25-40L. Santa delivered these and to be honest, the girls weren’t thrilled with that as their big gift, but we know they’ll be using and loving these packs for the next 10-20 years! They’ll thank us someday 🙂
- For their first beginner backpacks, we bought these inexpensive packs from Amazon. The girls could fit their youth sleeping bag, clothes, comfort items (a stuffed animal, or two, or three), their books to read/journals and card games.
- IKEA bags.
- These Ikea bulk bags are EXTREMELY important! Initially these help us to carry some of our extra comfort items like a fleece throw blanket for the girls and our prepared dinner.
Once you unpack the bags, they make the PERFECT FIRE WOOD retriever bags! Each shelter area has a generous covered wood pile, but it’s a few minutes away from the shelters. When you’re winter camping, you will need A LOT of wood! It gets dark early so you will want a fire from the time of arrival (for us that’s typically around 6pm on a Friday night) until you leave the next morning (for us that’s typically around 10am).
- These Ikea bulk bags are EXTREMELY important! Initially these help us to carry some of our extra comfort items like a fleece throw blanket for the girls and our prepared dinner.
Sleeping Pads
- For Adults
- The grown-ups use these Sea to Summit Ultralight Insulated sleeping pads. *insider tip: find out the dates of your local REI store’s Garage Sales! We often plan our trips to Pittsburgh to coordinate with these sales! This is where we’ve purchased A LOT of our gear!
- In winter camping wheher in a tent or shelter it is helpful for adults to employ two sleeping pads each. Why? An inflatable air pad while very lofty can almost act like a hammock with a lot of dead air space below you in the air pad, air that will be susceptible to conduction from your body and then to the surrounding air. It can be like sleeping in a hammock in cold temps: your back gets cold. We like to layer an old closed cell foam mat over (not under) our insulated inflatable mats and it makes a world of difference.
- The grown-ups use these Sea to Summit Ultralight Insulated sleeping pads. *insider tip: find out the dates of your local REI store’s Garage Sales! We often plan our trips to Pittsburgh to coordinate with these sales! This is where we’ve purchased A LOT of our gear!
- For Kids
- The kids are happy with the foldable closed cell foam mats. We love that these are INDESTRUCTIBLE! They can sit on them on the bottom of canoes without worrying about moisture or puncture holes! They’re also nice strapped to the outside of a pack for mid trail naps 🙂
- Similar mats on Amazon.
Sleeping Bags
- For Adults
- Jake’s bag of choice is a SeatoSummit down bag. He also has a Marmot 15 degree bag, but he rarely uses it, especially since we have a fire in the fireplace all night.
- Julie’s bag is a Marmot 15 degree down mummy bag, but I sleep with the zipper part open and under me. I DESPISE being zipped into a mummy bag! I’m not a back sleeper! I find that paired with the insulated SeaToSummit pad, I’m able to stay warm. Granted, last time I also slept in my down Marmot jacket!
- Similar jacket. I have had my jacket for probably 8 years and while I need a new one, I haven’t found one that I like as much as the old one! Last year, Marmot replaced the zipper for me (for free!), so the jacket has new life again!
I remember buying the jacket for around $300 and feeling guilty for spending so much at that time. However, in retrospect, you get what you pay for!
- Similar jacket. I have had my jacket for probably 8 years and while I need a new one, I haven’t found one that I like as much as the old one! Last year, Marmot replaced the zipper for me (for free!), so the jacket has new life again!
- For Kids
- The kids use the REI Kindercone sleeping bags. Santa brought these bags with the girls were about ages 2 & 4. Again, SO worth it for all of the years of use these bags have endured!
For these winter camping trips, we also make sure they bring a fleece blanket which helps fill any cold air pockets inside their sleeping bags.- On our recent trip, I took my summer Marmot bag and also layered it over them (the green “blanket” in the photo).
- On our recent trip, I took my summer Marmot bag and also layered it over them (the green “blanket” in the photo).
- The kids use the REI Kindercone sleeping bags. Santa brought these bags with the girls were about ages 2 & 4. Again, SO worth it for all of the years of use these bags have endured!
Easy winter camping meals
- Take-out! Oh yes we do! Since we always hike into these sites at dinner time, we often swing by our favorite Mexican restaurant and order the food to go! It can be a little tricky to pack it in, but remember those handy IKEA bags that we mentioned!
- Canned Soup! This is another easy alternative that we enjoy for these dinners. Since the hike in is usually about a mile, we don’t mind the weight.
- Wrap refrigerated biscuit or croissant dough around a wide stick to cook/ toast the bread.
- It’s hard to clean the pot on these one night trips, so we often bring 2, one for dinner and one for breakfast! Again, refer to the indulgent space with the IKEA bag perks.
- There is a hook over the fire and we have hung a pot there, but we really prefer to bring our lightweight backpacking stove and fuel for better control over cooking to avoid scorching.
- Wrap refrigerated biscuit or croissant dough around a wide stick to cook/ toast the bread.
- We use the MSR PocketRocket (I always feel dirty saying that!)
Snacks
- Since the evenings are LONG in the winter, we also bring a second warm snack to enjoy.
- Backpacking popcorn
- Toasted soft pretzel bites w/nutella dip
- S’mores
- Chocolates, chips and jerky are also nice winter camping treats!
Breakfast
- We like to have prepared oatmeal packets. THESE are our favorite. Simple, fast, warm. No mess!
- For mom’s coffee, this mug is SO worth it’s price!
- For mom’s coffee, this mug is SO worth it’s price!
- When I’m really on the ball, I prepare these Pioneer Woman Breakfast Burritos. Simply warm the foil packs on the hot coals.
Upgrading your adirondack shelter
- Canvas Doors. It seems that most people use traditional poly tarps at these shelters. We used one for our very first winter trip! However, the shelters are on a ridge line and it can get really windy. Listening to tarps slapping in the wind isn’t my idea of a peaceful night!
We happen to have some OLD canvas tents and a grommit kit and so Jake made a set of custom canvas walls/doors for the shelters. There are big eye bolts to tie your tarps to at the top of the door openings. We also bring small tacks so that we can use a flap to seal the door along the slanted roof line.
If you live in NWPA, feel free to contact us to borrow ours! Otherwise, head to summer yard sales and snag an old canvas tent!- A canvas door tutorial will be coming soon!
- Interior Lights
- After our last trip to the shelters, Julie came home and ordered this lantern!
- LuminAid Lantern. (or order directly from their site)
- After our last trip to the shelters, Julie came home and ordered this lantern!
Easy Lantern Hack:
We have ALWAYS used a headlamp shining into an opaque Nalgene as our lantern.
That works and is practical, but it is a little hard to play card games! Plus, the LuminAid lanterns will charge our cell phones which we use as our only cameras on these trips!
- LED String Lights Jake got a similar set of these a few years ago and they now go on EVERY backpacking trip with us! They’re so lightweight and dependable. Perfect for giving just enough light to see where you’re going! We like to use them outside of the tent to ensure that we don’t trip on a tent stake when moving around our tent at night. In the shelters, they don’t give enough light to read or play games, but make it feel cozy and help us to easily see each other and our gear.
- Sit-upons These are the exact sit-upons that we use. These are often known as butt pads or stadium seats. We love them so much, we’ve purchased this set twice!
These may seem redundant since you have your sleeping pads, but hear me out! First of all, the adults ensure that their pads are pushed as far from the front edge/ fire area as possible. They are insulated, inflatable sleeping pads (not indestructible and not cheap).
The girls’ foam pads can be used closer to the fire, but they don’t want to mess their sleeping area once it’s set-up.
We all enjoy sitting along the edge of the shelter, toasting our toes or eating. Yes, we COULD just sit on the wood floor, but why? These little pads are inexpensive and lightweight. We often throw them into our day packs and use them for snack breaks!
Favorite winter clothes
- Insulated pants
Without going down the rabbit hole too far on winter clothing, I did want to share the insulated pants that Jake and I wear. We are still looking for kids pants that are comparable, so if you have suggestions, please email me!
- Smartwool socks
- Men’s Kuhl Klash Pants. Jake found these awesome pants and they look SO good! He can use them for running, but mostly they’re for winter hiking.
- Women’s Insulated Pants. Everytime I wear these pants, I spend the entire time telling people about them. As a tall woman, rarely can I find Tall/Long pants that are actually tall enough. Finding these rather inexpensive pants felt like a major achievement!
- Men’s Kuhl Klash Pants. Jake found these awesome pants and they look SO good! He can use them for running, but mostly they’re for winter hiking.
I feel like the worst mother, but it took me till THIS WINTER to think/remember/purchase Smartwool socks for our girls. They are worth every penny, last forever, and can be worn for days without a stink (I’m admitting too much).
We would love to hear about &/or see photos from your PA State Park shelters camping! Be sure to tag us #morewildlessidle on IG.
