RV Rental Near Long’s Park in Lancaster, PA

Every August I get the same question once the Long’s Park Art Festival posters go up along Harrisburg Pike: “Can I just park an RV in the lot off Route 30 and stay the weekend?” The honest answer is no — Long’s Park, right there at the US-30 and Harrisburg Pike interchange on the northwest side of Lancaster, is a day-use county park. There’s no overnight camping and no RV hookups. But a Long’s Park RV rental still makes a ton of sense, and I set up exactly this kind of trip all summer long: I deliver a rig to a full-hookup campground a short drive away, you base there, and you roll into Long’s Park each day for the music, the lake, and the festival crowds without fighting for parking or paying festival hotel rates.

Why Long’s Park is worth basing a trip around

Long’s Park is one of those Lancaster spots locals take for granted until they really look at it. There’s an 80-acre stretch with a stocked pond, shaded picnic groves, a small petting-zoo-style amphitheater area, and the big open lawn that fills up for the free Summer Music Series on Sunday evenings. The Long’s Park Art Festival over Labor Day weekend is the big draw — it pulls juried artists from all over the country and the lawn turns into one giant open-air gallery. The catch is parking. When the festival or a Sunday concert is on, the main lots off Harrisburg Pike pack out fast and the overflow spills toward the Park City Center side. That’s the number one reason I tell people to camp nearby and come in early rather than try to do Long’s Park as a day trip from out of town in a personal vehicle.

Where to camp near Long’s Park (since you can’t camp at the park)

Because Long’s Park sits at the busy west end of Lancaster, you’ve got good full-hookup options a manageable drive out. Here are the campgrounds I send folks to most when Long’s Park is the anchor of the trip:

• Old Mill Stream Campground — Right on Route 30 in the heart of the tourist corridor, this is the closest practical base to Long’s Park, roughly 15–20 minutes east. If you want minimal driving to the festival and easy access to Amish Country, this is my first pick.
• Country Acres Campground (Gordonville) — A quieter, family-run feel out among the farms, about 25–30 minutes east. Good if you’d rather wake up to cornfields than highway noise and don’t mind the short commute back to the park.
• Spring Gulch Resort Campground (New Holland) — More of a resort with pools and activities, northeast off PA-23. Great for families who want a “do nothing at camp, then go” rhythm; budget about 35 minutes to Long’s Park.
• Lancaster County KOA Holiday (Narvon) — Out toward the eastern edge of the county, a bit farther but a reliable, well-run park if the closer options are booked solid over a holiday weekend.
• Pinch Pond Family Campground (Manheim) — Northwest of the city near PA-72, and actually a sensible angle if you’re also planning a Hersheypark day, since it splits the difference.

Whichever one you land on, hookup details and what’s included vary by site and by season, so book the campsite early — especially anything over Labor Day weekend when the Art Festival drives demand. I can help you figure out which one fits your rig once we know your dates.

How my delivery and setup works

You don’t need to tow anything or know how to back a trailer into a tight loop — that’s my job. I deliver the RV straight to your reserved campsite, get it leveled, hook up water, power, and sewer, and walk you through everything before I leave. When you check out, I come back and haul it away. That’s the whole appeal of doing Long’s Park this way: you treat the campground like a home base, drive a normal vehicle the 15–35 minutes to the park, and never worry about maneuvering a motorhome through a packed festival lot. A few of the older Lancaster County campground loops have tight turns and low tree branches, so I match the size of the trailer or motorhome to the specific site — that’s the kind of thing I’ve learned site by site over the years, and it saves headaches on arrival day.

Weather and timing — what to expect at the park

The Summer Music Series runs through the warm months, and Lancaster summers can be genuinely humid — July and August afternoons often build toward a pop-up thunderstorm, which is one more reason an air-conditioned RV beats a tent for these trips. Having the rig parked at a campground means you’ve got a cool place to retreat to before an evening concert. The Art Festival lands on Labor Day weekend, when things start easing toward early fall — still warm, usually pleasant in the evenings, but those holiday-weekend campsites fill months out. If you’re eyeing that weekend, reach out early. Spring and fall around Long’s Park are honestly underrated, too: fewer crowds, comfortable temperatures, and the pond and picnic groves are quiet and easy to enjoy.

Make it a full Lancaster County trip

Long’s Park is a great anchor, but once you’ve got an RV based near Lancaster you’re set up for the whole region. From the Route 30 campgrounds you’re minutes from Amish Country and Bird-in-Hand, the Strasburg Rail Road, Sight & Sound Theatres, Dutch Wonderland, and the Tanger Outlets. Hersheypark is an easy day trip up PA-283, and Gettysburg is within reach to the west if you want a history day. I deliver throughout Lancaster, Lititz, Ephrata, Strasburg, Columbia, Mount Joy, Manheim, and the surrounding towns, so a single RV rental easily covers a week of doing Long’s Park plus everything else Pennsylvania Dutch Country offers.

Ready to plan it? You can browse the fleet to see what fits your group across the Pennsylvania Dutch Country area, and check my guide to campgrounds and RV parks near Long’s Park to pick your base. When you’ve got dates in mind, call or text me at 717-429-6102 or email [email protected] and I’ll get a rig delivered and set up so all you have to do is show up for the music.