Camping in New York

HoBo

Hi everyone! Starting to plan a trip to New York for August. Have the whole month. Curious about Forest Service or Community/County Campgrounds? I have searched the site as well as FB page and I’m really not having much luck. Also any insight into must sees? I am interested in hiking with waterfalls and beautiful views! Obviously I have some things in mind but curious what others think. Thanks for your time!

MischiefBrewing

I just started exploring the norther adirondack region last season.  Can easily say that the adirondack loj is the best starting point for the best high peaks hikes, but their campground is expensive and doesn't allow trailers.  I stayed at a small state-run site up the road between a ford dealership and a bbq restaurant that was good for sleeping, but left A LOT to be desired for atmosphere.  Lake Placid is a great place for wandering/shopping/dinner after a high peaks hike.

Katydid

I can’t answer your questions but Western NY Finger Lakes region is beautiful ! Glacial lakes, waterfalls, and a lot of wineries for after hiking. It’s definitely worth looking into. 

dlb

FYI, Adirondack Park is about the same size as Yellowstone.  The Finger Lakes are gorges, pun intended.  Wine, one of the great regions in the US.  If you are into birds… https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/a-long-awaited-homecoming-for-peregrine-falcons-in-the-finger-lakes/

Camping in the Finger Lakes, check out NY State Parks.

Slackers

In September we visited the Seneca Lake area and stayed at Watkins Glen State Park.   Sites are small, outdated, but well maintained.  There's about 30 wineries in the area, several micro-brews, and a couple micro-distilleries.  As @dlb put it the gorges are amazing especially the Watkins Glen Gorge.  Be sure to visit it early as it gets crowded.  There are a number of nearby waterfalls to see as well.  You may also want to visit the International Speedway and explore the village of Watkins Glen.

ChanW

Yep, Watkins Glen for sure. Amazing gorge.

Also there's a state park right outside Ithaca that's beautiful as well, Buttermilk Falls State Park (Ithaca is a nice little college town - go down to the Commons).

The Adirondacks of course. We camped at a nice campground up there last spring, Nicks Lake State Campground, near Old Forge. I can also recommend Rollins Pond State Campground in the Saranac area. Nice roomy sites. You have to drive through Fish Creek Pond Campground to get to it. The Fish Creek Pond sites are not as nice. There's a trailhead to the peak of St Regis Mountain near there. A nice day hike.

There are tons of trails all over the Adirondack Park. You'll want a trail-guide that's specific to the Adirondacks to find the hidden gems, those other than the "big ones" like Mount Marcy, etc.

There's a nice lakeside campground at Hamlin Beach State Park, near Rochester, overlooking Lake Ontario. Also Chimney Bluffs State Park, east of Rochester, also on Lake Ontario, has amazing sculpted dunes (not sure if there's camping there though...)

As for National Forests/Parks, NYS has exactly one: Finger Lakes National Forest, which has a focus on horse trails, from what I understand. I've never been there.

If you're going in August, you'll want to reserve early. And bring your bug spray.

There you go. Some local secrets. Don't tell anyone else though.

CrabTab

@HoBo I just posted these two links in another discussion and thought you may find them useful too.
The National Forest Service 
Interactive Visitor Map (fs.fed.us)
The Army Corps of Engineers 
www.CorpsLakes.us - Corps Lakes Gateway (dren.mil)

Da_Birds

The Thousand Islands / St. Lawrence Seaway region is nice with lots to do if your looking for something other than just natural beauty. I can't recommend any campgrounds but I always thought it would be nice to stay along the St. Lawrence and watch the big freighters drift slowly by. My family has a cabin on Black Lake. It's about 20 mins from Thousand Islands. There are several campgrounds on Black Lake and the fishing is excellent if that's something you like to do.

HoBo

Thank you everyone! A plethora of info! 😃 ChanW, your secrets are safe with me! 😉 

SLJ

Adirondacks, Finger Lakes, Catskills, Lake Ontario, and the 1,000 islands. We live pretty much smack dab in the middle of them (Northeast corner of the Finger Lakes). State campgrounds cover them all but if you want a site on the water or a site with electric or full hookups you need to reserve months in advance. We have a favorite site in the Adirondacks and haven't been able to reserve it in over three years.

jkjenn

If you want a less traveled campground, Chemung County has a campground at a lake called Park Station, in Erin, NY. The beach gets busy during the summer as many rec programs go here to swim, but it is a pretty quiet park, overall. It would give you relatively easy access to Ithaca, Elmira, Watkins Glen, Corning, and southern Finger Lakes. You will not find much in the way of dining or shopping close by, it is really in the boonies.It has less than 40 campsites, is wooded, and electric, only.

I haven't been there in decades, but I worked at the gate over the summer one year while I was in college and my older brother used to take his family camping there, often.

ChanW

jenn!
That's great. Thanks!
All these years I've been thinking that NYS has no winter campgrounds! It looks like a nice one.
Love the fact that ATV's are kept at bay.