Now, my parents used to take the family camping all the time when I was little, so I've seen some fairly rustic campgrounds (to put it nicely). I'm used to brushing spiders the size of my face aside in order to take a freezing-cold shower. Or, for needing a machete to chop your way through barely marked hiking trails.

On a scale of backwoods tent-pitching (forget about a bathroom, much less an outhouse) to luxury cabin camping (which, let's face it, isn't really camping) the sites at Rickett's Glen were well kempt and cozy. A little too close together, perhaps, but no more so then living in a modern subdivision where you practically do your laundary in your neighbor's garage anyway. While privacy might be an issue, I couldn't complain about the convenience and relative cleanliness of the bathroom and (thank god!) the hot showers.

Our fire pit was missing a grilling grate at the top, so if you're planning on campfire cooking, you might want to bring a grate from home.

There was a nice walking path from the camp groun for beach access to the park's Lake Jean, where you could swim, fish, canoe or kayak (boats were available for rental by the hour or day). The concession stand at the lake sold ice and firewood, which if you are willing to carry it back about a mile to your camp site isn't a bad deal (there's a parking lot if you're not feeling strong). Or, you can head down the mountain to the Red Rock Corner Store on Route 118.

The beach (complete with sand ... reminded me of Pinchot Park) was packed on Saturday and Sunday, and there were a ton of people out paddling and fishing.

The bath house at the beach was, well, gross. But a sign on the door promised renovations starting in the fall.

The main draw to the park is the Falls Trail, on which you can see all of the parks waterfalls, ranging in size from 11 feet to 94 feet. You can either take a 7.2-mile loop or a 3.2-mile loop to see the falls. We did the shorter, but no less challenging, walk. The trail is very steep in places, and can be slippery. The visitor's guide advised wearing hiking boots, and I tend to agree, although I saw people in everything from sneakers to flip flops ...one little girl was even wearing Crocs, which probably a bit ill-advised.

The trip is well-worth the strained leg muscles. The waterfalls are as beautiful as the ones I've seen at Yosemite National Park.

I was really impressed in general with the maintenance of the trails. They were easy to follow, and wide in the less steep places.

Ricketts Glen is definitely a park I'd go back to, maybe with kids one day.