Family Glamping at Airydale Retreat

This past weekend the members of my immediate family went glamping!!! Honestly I had no idea this was even a thing until just about a year ago when my younger cousin opened Airydale Retreat.

What is glamping?

Glamping is what we call “glamorous camping”. It is camping at an elevated comfort level. It’s perfect for families who love camping but want a more laid back simple approach for a change AND for families who like the idea of camping but don’t want to leave the comforts of home.

My husband has been an avid camper his entire life, and had a blast on this weekend getaway. My mom, who has never camped before in her life, also enjoyed it and said she’d do it again! (In fact, this was actually her second time enjoying Airydale in the past year!)

Airydale currently has three glampsites and a really unique site that I will tell you about in a little bit.

The first three sites are a fancy tent that comes with:

a bed including pillows, towels and washcloths
a bucket of items to start your fire like kindling and newspaper
all the split firewood you’ll need at no extra cost
a fire pit
first aid kit with medical supplies
a fire extinguisher
a picnic table
your own fresh potted herbs
cast iron skillets and a dutch oven
a camp stove
dishes and utensils
salt/pepper
a coffee percolator and some fresh coffee
drinking water
an Igloo ice chest for you to keep your cold items in
The family site even has an attached slide!!

The fourth site is still glamping, because many of the above items are included, plus two camping chairs—but it’s in a tree tent! It is a Stingray tent strapped between three trees and does not touch the ground. How cool is that?!

Here are photos of the inside of the tents and some of the items you’ll find included on your glamping trip as mentioned above.

One site has its own shower, and there is another larger shower that the rest of the sites share. Each shower has cold and hot water. There are also two porta-pot outhouses on the premises for visitors to use.

Family Glamping

My extended family (8 adults, 6 kids) spent the weekend at this retreat and shared about our experiences in Instagram stories all weekend long—even in the rain! We shared what you can do on the premises and in the Big Valley region like Raystown Lake, Greenwood Furnace, Lincoln Caverns, Penns Cave, and visiting local hiking trails or authentic Amish shops.

Would you believe we saw deer, caught a toad, almost caught a lizard, and saw countless birds including catbird, woodpeckers, and a phoebe with a nest right where we spent most of our time?! This is the perfect spot for avid bird-watchers! The kids also did a ton of adventuring, nature scavenger hunts, photo scavenger hunts, making pet rocks and playing yard games together like badminton.

I saved my Instagram stories in a story highlight in my profile, so be sure to head there to check all those sneak peaks and inside ideas from our family glamping experiences. Feel free to message me questions too, as I would be happy to answer them.

I really think this is the perfect idea for vacations this summer (after this quarantine time) that’s outside, socially distanced and not too far from home, yet close enough at just a two hour drive from Lancaster County, PA.

Earth-Friendly Camping

One thing I really noticed about Airydale Retreat, was their encouragement of “green living” and staying environmentally friendly. You’ll notice a fresh herb planter at each glampsite that you can use in your cooking.

You’ll also find recycling containers as well as compost buckets for your fruit and veggie scraps!

Learn more about Airydale Retreat

Airydale Retreat is located at 10272 Big Valley Pike, Mill Creek PA 17060.

It’s a great place to stop on your way to a Penn State football game or for anyone visiting from Ohio and on their way home, or families wanting to visit Raystown Lake or just get away and enjoy the outdoors!

You can see on this map that its between Altoona and Harrisburg and just south of State College, in the heart of Amish country with yellow and white buggies. 🙂