We gnomes absolutely adore the camping lifestyle. From coast to coast and everywhere in between, we’ve stayed at lots of campgrounds, but perhaps none more special than one in the tiny unincorporated community of Narvon, Pennsylvania.
Lake in Wood Camping Resort is the one and only gnome-themed campground that I have ever encountered. It’s also a convenient place to stay if you want to see the Amish communities and local shops of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, Strasburg, and Hershey, Pennsylvania are easy day trips from here too.
This is a huge RV and cabin resort that’s packed with amenities including a Gnome Café that serves up burgers and fries, a 9-hole mini-golf course with gnomes scattered around the putting greens, and a gift shop with lots of gnomes for sale to decorate your campsite. One of my very favorite things about this campground was that many of the campers decorated their individual sites with friendly and festive gnome scenes. The Gnome Café was also a real treat with all of its plush gnomes waiting to meet you on the walls and along the floors.
Other campground amenities include modern laundry facilities, a boat launch for taking paddle boats on the small lake, and an indoor/outdoor pool with spa. Events are scheduled throughout camping season with activities like chili cook-offs, laser tag, country music, and bingo. Oddly enough, there are even a few resident goats that live at the campground, which you can watch climb on their rock piles and platform behind a fence!
If “roughing it” isn’t really your thing, a fun way to experience this campground with all the comforts of home is to rent a cabin. There are lots of cute, themed cabins available, but my personal favorite was the Gnome Home, which is decorated with gnomes and sleeps up to two adults and four children. To treat your kids to something special, book the Gnome Playhouse and the staff will deliver it when you arrive! Campground rates vary depending on the season and what you stay in, and you can take a virtual tour on Lake in Wood’s website.
But of course, as a campground connoisseur, no campground is perfect…not even ones inhabited by gnomes. The bathrooms were outdated and only moderately clean, golf carts zipping around make roads risky for pedestrians, and the RV sites were very close together. But if you’re as big of a gnome enthusiast as I am, these are all things that you’ll willingly endure to camp among the gnomes.
This all just goes to show that home isn’t just where you park it, home is where your gnome is!
XOXO,
Kamikaze