After months of empty fire rings and shuttered bathhouses, camping at Raystown Lake will resume in stages beginning Aug. 15, when Susquehannock and Nancy’s Boat-to-Shore campgrounds reopen, followed by Seven Points on Sept. 5, according to a U.S. Army Corps announcement. The phased comeback follows a federal hiring freeze that left the federally managed recreation area short of critical staff.
The Corps recently filled those vacant positions, a change that area businesses hope will salvage the remainder of the season.
Raystown Lake lures more than 1 million visitors a year and generates about $1.2 million in revenue, making the reopening pivotal to the regional economy, WVIA reported in March.
That mid-March announcement canceled every 2025 reservation at the three main campgrounds, citing staffing shortages tied to federal job cuts. Fees were refunded, many recreation and stewardship events were pared back, yet the visitor center, beaches, walking trails, boat launches, disc-golf course and mountain-bike skills park stayed open.
“Every visitor to our area is a significant economic impact,” said Matt Price, executive director of the Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau, when the cancellations were made public March 14.
“So when you compound that by thousands of visitors over the course of a camping season, it’s a tremendous economic impact,” he said.
For campground and RV-park operators elsewhere, the Raystown shutdown underscores the need for year-round recruiting pipelines, cross-training that lets employees cover multiple roles, work-camping incentives during shoulder seasons and automated check-in systems that free scarce labor for safety-critical tasks.
Early this month federal officials authorized hiring to address “critical personnel shortages,” and the new staff are now undergoing mandatory orientation. “We welcome our newest team members at Raystown Lake as they begin training that will provide visitors a safe and memorable experience for the remainder of the season,” Col. Francis Pera, commander of the Corps’ Baltimore District, said in the release.
Camping inventory returns to the Recreation.gov platform at 10 a.m. Aug. 12, and any reservation still on the books for Aug. 15 or Sept. 5 will be honored automatically. Susquehannock closes for the season Sept. 1, while Seven Points and Nancy’s wrap up Oct. 27, mirroring earlier schedules.
Operators navigating their own phased reopenings can lean on staged email and social campaigns timed to each loop’s availability, risk-free rebooking windows or credit-on-file vouchers, bundled experiences with local outfitters, dynamic pricing that rewards early commitments and messaging that spotlights newly trained staff.
Raystown Lake is the largest lake located entirely within Pennsylvania, encompassing thousands of surface acres of water and surrounding forest, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project also provides flood-damage reduction and hydropower.
“Raystown Lake is a paramount provider of outdoor recreation opportunities in Pennsylvania and our staff is prepared to assist visitors create lasting memories,” Pera said.
Pairing flexible staffing models with clear, confidence-building communication can help sites nationwide avoid the kind of wholesale shutdown that dimmed Raystown’s peak season and curb revenue losses if labor shortages strike again.