Stoystown and Ruffs Dale are located in a very desolate area of southwestern Pennsylvania. Our only reason for being in this area was to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial. To get to the Memorial coming from the east, you will have some very hilly / mountainous winding roads. It is not impossible to travel in a motorhome towing, but it will be a challenge. There are not many places to pull off and let people go around you. There are VERY few homes and even fewer businesses in this area. Make sure your fuel is topped off.

We have no idea how first responders got to this desolate area when Flight 93 crashed.

Stoystown & Ruffs Dale Attractions

The Flight 93 National Memorial is the reason to be in the area. The memorial itself inspired the same awe, respect and reverence to the heroes on Flight 93 as we felt when we visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

As you drive onto the Memorial grounds, you will see a large tower to the left. It is the Tower of Voices Tower, and you can hear the stories of the crew and passengers. Park rangers are usually around to answer questions.

You can drive to the Visitors Center and learn about the history and timeline of the crash. There is a quarter-mile, 1-hour, Park Ranger guided tour called 13 Days in September. The tour will take you from the Western Overlook Trail, from the Flight Path near the restrooms at the Visitor Center Complex, to the Western Overlook. You will learn about the hours and days immediately following the crash of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. This program looks at how the nation, responders, investigators, the local community and families of the passengers and crew members came to understand what happened here.

You can walk or drive to the crash site itself. This is where you see the enormity of what happened. Be sure to walk to the wall of names and the large rock where what was left of the plane came to rest.

Food and Drink

No recommendations. There were no local places to eat.

Home Base: The Campground

For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Except for water, electric and sewer rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!

We stayed one night on site 5 at the Madison/Pittsburgh SE KOA Journey in Ruffs Dale, PA. The park is clean and well-maintained. We booked the day of arrival. The staff was very accommodating. Simple check in. Our pull-through site was a FHU (water-electric-sewer) on packed gravel. Most sites have grass between them. 30 and 50 amp service was available. Good Verizon cellphone coverage. We did not stay long enough to hook up our satellite dish, though it does seem there would be enough open sky.

This campground is about an hour from the Flight 93 Memorial. We would return to this campground.

As a side note: Originally, we were scheduled to stay 2 nights at the Boyers Pond Campground in Central City, PA, about 4 miles from the Flight 93 Memorial. We paid in full, in advance. When we arrived, it was a deserted campground, which was suitable for tents, but nothing larger than a 16’ travel trailer. It appears the campground may be owned and operated by the 3 C’s Church. The campground and church share the same address. Upon arrival, I called the “campground” and asked the woman who answered if we were even in the right place! It was NOT as depicted in the pictures or glowing reviews!!!! We unhooked in the church parking lot and drove the Jeep into the “campground”. At 35’ we would never have fit into ANY of the sites. I called back and of course, no one answered. I requested a refund, but as of today, our money still has not been returned.

	Ruffs Dale	Stoystown
Population:	2,991	298
Founded:	1896	1774
Elevation:	1,056 ft.	1,990 ft.
Average Income:	$76,393	$58,750
Average Housing:	$229,000*	$275,000**
Average Age:	54 yrs.	49 yrs.
Crime Score	A+	A

*There are only two houses for sale in Ruffs Dale, one for $55,000 and one for $270,000.
**There are seventeen house for sale in Stoystown.

Summary

While this blog is very short and does not include a lot of information about multiple attractions, restaurants and campgrounds, we felt it was important to include as part of exploring the country.

Our minor, insignificant inconvenience of a poor campground experience is so miniscule in the scheme of life. The people who were on Flight 93 and who died on September 11, 2001 were true American heroes. This is a memorial to be seen and experienced.

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Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn and Dave
RVing Nomads

It’s a lifestyle

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• We have visited each town, attraction and restaurant we are writing about. • No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement. • AI has not been used to write any of the content of this blog. • All the photos in this blog were taken by Dave or Kathryn Harrington.