Presque Isle State Park

301 Peninsula Dr #1, Erie, PA 16505, USA

Address:	301 Peninsula Dr #1, Erie, PA 16505, USA
Phone:	+1 814-833-7424
Site:	presqueisle.org
Rating:	4.8
Working:	5AM–9PM 5AM–9PM 5AM–9PM 5AM–9PM 5AM–9PM 5AM–9PM 5AM–9PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

J Holl

Let me start by saying this place was very nice. Very clean and neat. Very scenic. My family enjoyed the beach, while I fished from the bay side. Fishing was tough. When I wasnt fighting wind, I was fighting vegetation. I didnt expect great fishing conditions this far into the season, but I expected something. Fortunately, the pond just before the ranger station obliged with a Northern Pike. Alas, nothing from the bay, though, except a huge Freshwater Drum who broke off. Now, the biggest downside. I got up, early one day, to try and hit the morning bite. The brochure I had for the park advertised night fishing, so there was no question that I could get there early and fish. I got there, and there were gates down. To the right, a paved walk path. There were no signs giving hours or rules saying you couldnt walk in. Google said it opened at 10. Huh?? I knew that was wrong, so I parked off to the side and with my rod and reel, walked in via the path. 5 minutes of walking, I found an entrance sign (lot of good THAT does, not at the gates!). Opens at 5. It was now 4:55, so I decided to walk back and wait. Imagine to my surprise, I was met by a very agitated and rude ranger, opening the gates. She treated me like I was some common criminal and copped a serious attitude. Apparently, this is the norm, cause I was warned by two separate people about the demeanor of the park rangers. You want people to know the hours and that its closed to ALL TRAFFIC? Put the damn sign where we can read it AND let us know that ALL traffic is prohibited during off hours. Were not mind readers. Best of all, give your employees a lesson in manners and interfacing with people. That could very well be the choice as to whether nor not people choose to come here.

Kyle Hall

Presque Isle is a jewel of Northwest Pennsylvania. It is such a fantastic park. It has miles upon miles of incredibly nice beaches. A few of the beaches have food stands and stores that sell beach related gear and toys. Some beaches are lake side with higher wind and waves, and some are bay side with fewer. Im partial to flying kites on the lake side myself. The peninsula also has an asphalt trail that wraps around the entirety of the peninsula which is great for walking, biking or rollerblading. There is also a place to rent bicycles, Yellow Bike Rental Co which rents 1 to 4 seat bikes. I believe there is also a Segway rental now if youre into that! In a addition there are many nature trails if youd prefer walking through the woods. Both types of trails have great scenery to appreciate. Presque isle also has some pretty good playgrounds which are close to pavilions that can be used for picnics. They are well maintained. The best feature is probably the giant rope bridge. If you have kids, the playground near the Water Works is probably the best. There are also fishing ponds here for catch and release fishing! All in all, an amazing place. It would take a person days if not a week or more to seriously experience everything Presque Isle has to offer.

Doug L.

Absolutely WAY BETTER than I expected. Very very clean, safe, fun place. You MUST take your bikes and picnic food (unless you dont mind concession stand food at the beach side) as there is an amazingly nice wide bike path that takes you around the entire park (13miles!!). Its a huge park and I suggest an Early arrival. You got the CLEAN and mostly private Beaches on one side (with waves just as high as florida) and the Presque Iles harbor on the other where you can fish or watch sailboats!. We road bikes we brought for hours then walked everywhere after till exhaustion then got back in the car only to realize there was an even cooler area way in the back (where lots of people were flying giant kites near the lighthouse). While there were lots of cars making there way in you can very EASILY find totally empty sections of beach where you can grab use of a picnic table and have a private picnic lunch AND not see anyone. Its so nice I cant believe its FREE admission. Its now my favorite getaway!! And we drove over an hour from Cleveland to get there. Doesnt matter- well be back time and time again!!

A Private User

Be careful there. I know a guy that used a restroom there, and while he was in the stall, he felt something grab his leg. He looked down, and realized that a human hand was grabbing his leg from underneath the stall that he was in. He yelled and struggled with the assailants arm for a while because the individual wouldnt let go. He was then finally able to pry the hand off his calf. There was no other people in the facility at the time of the assault either. By the time he got his under garment on, all he could hear was running foot steps echoing in the restroom facility along with the entrance door being violently swung open. The victim then ran as fast as he could to subdue the "Presque Isle Bathroom Stall Calf Grabber" but when he got outside the facility there was nobody in sight. This is not a joke or a funny story. There are a lot of sick individuals at Presque Isle during the summertime. Please be observant. Fortunately the victim was unharmed during the assault, but maybe next time the next victim might not be so lucky.

mizz o

I dont know whats so great about this place, other than the fact it actually has sand on the beaches, lol, it looks tired. a lot of work needs done to clean it up of weeds , and the parking is tight. theres no color, its drab and over grown, not one flowering plant. youd think the lighthouse would have some flower gardens around it, but turns out they are trying to get funds to renovate it. really? where is the funding going for our state parks? the monument was boring, no flowering plants nearby to make it nice. the streets around erie, like those going past all the maritime museum and restaurants are terrible. its an old falling apart tourist attraction. we seen they dont know what a left turning light or lane is, few stop signs where they should be, and just an all around dirty looking town. [we went to visit some wine cellars out of town and that was much better. vineyards as far as the eye can see.] the place is small and too busy [.if this is supposed to be the best lake, its a sad time for the US, LOL.]

Kris Z

Plenty of things to do. Even if youre bored, theres always something new & neat to discover. Quite a few different beaches. Some are a nice long walk, that even if there are a lot of people on one part of it you can just walk to another part where its nice and quiet as well. The sun sets here are absolutely beautiful and nice to watch. Theres also quite a few Trails that you can walk or run on that go in different directions. All of them offer a variety of views and everything that the park has to offer. Upon visiting this park for the 1st time, I did have someone who showed me where to go to find the trails and a few other areas however, we didnt find it necessary to have a map at all. Another words, this park does not make you feel like you need a map in your hands at all times just to figure out where youre at, where to go and what you need to do. I still recommend getting a map you just wont necessarily need it for everything. This made my visit much more comfortable and able to enjoy everything around me.