Updates from our visit in October 2015:
We were so sad to hear of the passing of our favorite magician at Spring Gulch,"Harry Who." Thank you to the Spring Gulch staff for organizing a small memorial for Harry during the time he would usually perform. According to my son, "He was a great magician and he never failed." We will miss him.
I'll quickly break down a few changes I noted from last year:
PROS: This year we brought our camper to the Gulch instead of staying in a rental. The site itself was roomy and grassy. We heard from others that the disgusting flooring of the cabin we stayed in last year (as mentioned in this blog post) has been replaced. We also noticed that the bathrooms near the playground have had a make-over and are looking a lot better. Hopefully Encore will continue to make improvements. There is a lot of potential- the property is huge.
CONS: The game room was still closed. A few activities were available and we did attend several but found them to be hastily thrown together. The exception to this would be the Haunted House- that was great. The scavenger hunt was painfully disorganized- not enough copies of the list of items, and it took 40 minutes for the woman to check the lists when we returned. The woman running the events could have been friendlier. The cost for what you are getting here is too high compared to other campgrounds in the vicinity. Spring Gulch costs more AND charged a fee of $4 for children and a $12 resort fee. I have no idea what those charges bought me. For a lower price you can get much more for your money elsewhere.
Review of Spring Gulch Campground
New Holland, PA
October 2014
Honestly, I'm torn here.
This is the first time I'm going to write some pretty ugly things- about a campground where I have so many fond memories. If you only care about the bad things, scroll to the bottom for some gruesome photos. If you want to hear a more balanced story of the Gulch, read on...
Every October for over 10 years our extended family has rented a large home at Spring Gulch. We have a blast EVERY year. This year was no exception. We are the type of family that will have fun anywhere. Yeah- we bring the party. The Gulch is special, we think of it fondly. We have embroidered hats that say I (Heart) Spring Gulch. We own all the Gulch sweatshirts they make. We have painted pictures of our favorite rental unit. We hate to see it fall into disrepair. We are rooting for the Gulch to make a comeback.
October 2014- kids having a ball trick-or-treating
Over the years we have participated and won MANY fun contests run by the campground- site decorating, pie eating, pie baking, costume contest, scavenger hunts, bingo, pumpkin carving, you name it- we won it and had a ball. But as years have passed and activities managers have come and gone, the activities just don't have the pizazz they used to. It gives the appearance that they are just phoning it in. This year the Saturday night DJ was a no show. We couldn't believe that there was no way the Gulch couldn't hook up a cd for the kids to dance to? Instead the lights were flipped off on us. It was sad.
October, 2014- Harry Who- family friendly magician, a Gulch staple we love.
Spring Gulch was purchased by Encore several years ago. This may be where things started to go wrong. Talking with several other campers, the thought is that Encore is no longer putting money into this property. What a shame. The grounds have the potential to be amazing. It's huge- and there are lots of lovely wooded sites, a swimming pond and a fishing pond. The location is perfect, down past many rolling farms, nestled in the Amish countryside. The potential is endless.
October 2014- Costume contest in the Dance Barn.
Here were the main highlights and issues for our stay in October 2014. I will note specific issues with our rental unit towards the bottom:
Great/good things:
1. Trick or treating for the kids.
2. Bingo.
3. Generous prizes for contests
4. Good band Sunday night.
5. The craft show (which was mainly home demonstration type vendors but still very nice and raising money for Relay for Life).
6. Great ice cream- and my son won an ice cream for doing a scavenger hunt.
7. Rental units updated with new TVs- they do NOT play any TV stations, just DVD's (which you need to bring).
8. Proximity to Shady Maple.
9. Quiet and peaceful weekend with nice walks through the woods.
10. The Haunted House and Harry Who the Magician.
11. Check in staff is very nice.
12. All the stuff we did on our own that made it awesome- campfires, games, good food, family time, crafts, decorating, naps. Enjoying spending time together, unplugged.
Here are a few cruddy things:
1. Saturday DJ cancelled- no back up plan.
2. No music during kids Halloween parade/contest. Sounds nit-picky I know, but how hard is it to turn on the Monster Mash while the kids parade around?
3. Game Room closed all weekend?
4. Bathrooms- very, very poor shape and very dirty. Luckily we were able to use the shower in my in-laws rental unit.
5. Activities manager seemed to hate her job. It was uncomfortable.
6. Trash/litter around the park.
7. THE COST!!! I'm so upset that we spent over $350 for the rental unit this weekend.
Here are some issues with the rental cottage. We have never stayed in one of these cottages before but it was getting a bit crowded in the big rental house with our family so we decided we would rent the small unit next door. We had to book a year in advance and would lose money if we cancelled and brought our pop up. In hindsight we should have cancelled, paid the fee and returned with our pop up once we saw the interior of the rental. Here comes the scary stuff...
1. The heater was covered in dust and when plugged in smelled like burning hair. We discovered frayed wires.
2. The unit was very old and very dirty. I don't think the floors have been mopped in ages. Crud everywhere. The ceiling fan was layered in dust.
3. Hole forming in the bathroom floor. Covered by a dirty rug which I tossed outside and replaced with a rug of my own.
4. Brown footprints on the ceiling above the bunks, things spilled and splashed onto the mini blinds and the back of the front door.
5. Very, very dirty cushions on the small couch and chair. We removed the cushions and sat on the wood.
6. The cost. I feel horribly ripped off.
Ok- the photos.
Fan
Heater
Bathroom Floor (my rug)
Something splashed on the door?
Footprints on the ceiling above the bunk
Cobwebs (not a Halloween decoration)
Summing it up...
So, will we be back? Yes. We will. We keep hoping things will change for the better. We cherish our Gulch memories. We have hope. Will we rent another cottage- NOOOOOO!!!! If you have never stayed at the Gulch I'd say keep your eye on it. We will update next year. But at this time I cannot recommend Spring Gulch campground. Within a ten mile radius you will find the following campgrounds which are much nicer: Oak Creek, Lake-in-Wood, Sun Valley.
