Best Tent Camping near Botsford, CT

I stayed at Beaver Pond Campground in Harriman State Park for two nights with my husband. We chose this campground because of its close proximity to Schunemunk Mountain. We found a lovely 6.4 mile lollipop/loop route hike that weekend, complete with beautiful rolling meadows, gradual hills, and steep climbs.

Due to some mentally-draining traffic on the way, we arrived to the campground around 9:30pm. The camp office was closed, but we were able to check in at the ranger station across the parking lot. At the ranger station we were greeted by a bunch of spiders in their webs. I'm not going to lie, I freaked out! Once we were all checked-in, the ranger explained the usual rules (quiet hours are from 10pm-7am, check out by 11am, etc.). A rule that he made sure to stress was that no alcohol is allowed in the campground.

Harriman State Park is located in a densely-forested area, and there is very little light pollution, so we didn't notice until the morning how little privacy there is between sites. There are hardly any trees within the campground, and you can see and hear just about everything. We had some rowdy neighbors, so it was a long night.

We stayed in a regular tent site, but there was also the option of sites with platforms. Each site had a picnic table and fire ring. The campground had restrooms with flush toilets and showers. There were a good amount of insects crawling around in the restrooms, including what we think were ticks. The showers were a bit dirty and old-looking. However, the showers were free and hot, so I won't complain. :)

My 3-star rating mainly stemmed from the noise an major lack of privacy.

Fahnestock State Park, Carmel, NY

Busy Campground on Weekends!

This park has a nice open beach on Canopus Lake with a concession area and bathhouse, which we found to be quite clean! They even have boat rentals - or you can bring your own boat to launch! If you are into fishing, there is another lake and two ponds that our neighbor campers said were great for catching panfish - one fisherman said he had caught several bass weighing over 3 pounds!!

Weekends - this park is FULL! Make sure to reserve at least two weeks out. Weekdays? You should be in luck! We stayed in site number 1, and I found it to be just wooded enough. Almost all of the sites offered privacy.... Even when the campground was full. I do feel the campground bathhouse really needed more attention... while it had clearly been painted this past year, it was very “buggy” - and did not appear to have been thoroughly cleaned since spring... (yuck!).

PRODUCT REVIEW: As a ranger for Dyrt.com, sometimes I am offered the opportunity to test and review various products. At Fahnestock State Park in New York state, I reviewed my Gregory Maven 55L Women’s backpack (see accompanying video).

Weighing in at 3 pounds 6 ounces, the Gregory Maven was a nice mid-weight pack for me to take on my yearly 2 1/2 week Appalachian Trail hike.

Normally, I like to save the best for last when I do a review; however, this time I just can’t wait to spread the news about my favorite features! The Maven has a Matrix Ventilation System, which provides exceptional ventilation on the pack’s back panel. This kept my back from being its usual sweaty mess! The second feature that blew me away was how cool my water stayed in this backpack! With other packs, the water gets warmed up from heat radiating off the hiker’s back. This didn’t happen with my Gregory pack! Every pull off my water - from the beginning of the day until hours later - provided me with a refreshingly cool drink. I actually questioned other hikers with Gregory packs to see if I was the only one experiencing this - The other hikers, who had different Gregory models, confirmed that their backs and water were staying cooler too! Added bonus: I was able to pull out the hydration sleeve and use it as a daypack a few times!

The Maven’s pockets helped me keep my pack much more organized than in the past. It has a lower sleeping bag compartment, top pocket with separate zipper areas (one has a place to attach a car key!), side pockets, hip pockets, and even pockets on the shoulder harnesses! I can’t forget the front pocket, which held the rain fly!

The pack fit was great, but do be careful to check your sizing if you are looking at both the 45L and 55L. While I am a XS/S with the 55L, I would have been a S/M with the 45L.

I used this pack for 2 1/2 weeks backpacking over 200 miles on the Appalachian Trail through the states of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The Maven did an outstanding job keeping my possessions organized and dry as well as keeping me comfortable and happy on the trail! This will definitely be my pack of choice for future hikes!

I camped here solo on Friday and Saturday over the Labor Day weekend. Overall my experience was positive.

Camping Sites

Each camping site has a picnic table and barbeque grill. The sites are designated by printing on the roads and do not have clear boundaries between them. My site had good shade coverage and was free of rocks and other hazards. 

I had enough space that I didn't feel like I was intruding on my neighbors and vice-versa. That said, there aren't clear paths to the restroom building so it's not uncommon for people to cut through the edges of sites to get there. In my experience I (and others I saw) tried not to go right through the middle people's setups to do so.

If you're looking for privacy, the sites at the rear seemed to be less-densely packed, even though every site was occupied. Quiet hours are generally adhered to but not enforced - there were some campers that had noise running later.

Amenities

The restroom building is in the middle of the campground and was clean and had plenty of stalls.

Potable water is available at regular intervals, about at the corners of each group of four campsites.

Cell phone reception is limited - I had data but it was very slow which led to my phone's battery draining quickly.

Access

A car is an absolute must for this part - the entrance is directly off of Southern State Parkway with no pedestrian access. Train stations are nearby so you could take the train most of the way and rent a car from there.

We stayed here on a Thursday night in September prior to taking off backpacking. The campground was clean and quiet. RV hook-ups, tent platforms, and rustic tent sites were available. Our rustic tent site had a few good options for pitching a tent, as well as picnic table and fire ring.

Ranger said that during summer weekends the grounds fill up and can be quite noisy, but mid-week during the off-season it was great. Expect to purchase firewood, although scrounging for kindling was possible. Facilities were clean and what you'd expect from a campground.

Would definitely return!!

Camped here on a Friday night in Site 16, yet another campground recommended in“Best Tent Camping: New England.” Overall I was not impressed. The campsites are right next to each other and are marked with posts. The sites are so close that the posts are marked with the site number on both sides which tells me that there has been confusion in the past.

The sites along the creek mostly have worn paths to walk to it but it’s nothing impressive and I wouldn’t want to eat fish that came out of it. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring, some have the kind where the top flips over and others have the moveable grate that goes up and down. There is a large dumpster in the campground and several porta-potties. The old outhouses have been permanently closed and locked shut. My campsite had a lot of trash in it, old tent stakes, plastic bottle caps, plastic fork, broken glass, etc. Not good.

Some of the people there were camping in a group and were blasting music. I didn’t see a single park ranger the entire night so I’m not sure how often they police it. Someone in a pickup truck came into the campground, did a u-turn, and sped out at 30 mph which was really annoying and unsafe.

Across the street from the campground is a trail to Chapman Falls, which will take less than 10 minutes to hike to, but it’s a pretty waterfall despite all the foam and garbage around it.

This is a pretty basic campground and is nothing special. Out of all the sites I think 22 looked the best, it is more isolated and you can hear the waterfalls from it, which would be relaxing. The downside is that it’s right next to the entrance and road so you’ll get car headlights at night.

I woke in the morning to a gray sky and hundreds of birds singing– it was my favorite part of the trip. I delayed getting up to enjoy the moment. I also didn’t see any ticks but I’m sure there are plenty based on other reviews.

I’ve always thought that if states were condiments Connecticut would be mayonnaise– relatively unremarkable and bland. This campground fits that description perfectly.

We stayed here in August 2020.

This is a really interesting campground that's situated on a hill overlooking Rudd Pond in Taconic State Park.  Almost all of the sites have platforms to pitch your tent on, although there are a couple of flatter spots without platforms (although they still have a slope.)

There's space near the platform that is flat-ish with a picnic and a fire pit.  Some of these are better than others, ours was not that flat, but we made it work. You get a pretty decent view of Rudd Pond, and the sunsets are pretty. There is also a trailhead at the end of the campground that connects to the other trails in Taconic State Park. There's a swimming beach and during non-covid times, boat rentals.

The campsites are pretty close together, so if the campground is full, you are rather close to your neighbors. It was close to half full when we were there, and it still felt like a fairly noisy campground, even after quiet hours. 

My one complaint in these covid times is that compared to the NY-DEC campground we stayed at, I felt that the safety measures were less adhered to here. They had signs asking people to wear masks in the bathroom building, but far fewer people were. I also didn't see the staff do any cleaning of the restrooms while we were there - the paper towels ran out at one point and I had to flag the staff down to get them to go take care of that.  

Still, I thought it was a really cute place to stay, and I think we would stay here again.

Everyone come here from newbie camper along side senior campers We been camping for too many years with our children & grandchildrens & now as seniors we still enjoy camping with a few new tricks We’ve an electric air mattress which we hook up to a converter and a separate battery to sleep comfortable on a queen size bed along with nightstand & lamp with timer,we put down rubber tiles for a smooth floor to stand & walk across We’ve our own toilet & sink inside We’ve solar lights around the platform around the table setting and around our tent at night We’ve our chairs & table set up in the back of the tent Incase it rain We’ve hot and cold running water at our sink along with our Coleman stove and portable oven on top our compact kitchen cabinets with our pots and pans utensils cups plates and all the comforts of home we first started out camping with sleeping bag & tent on the ground we was younger than now older & wiser & we give advice to everyone that comes over to see our campsite We’re thinking about a small portable Jacuzzi not sure if were allowed to have one yet but we’ve everything else 🤗

Came in on MetroNorth from NYC then took a pre-arranged taxi ($25 flat rate) to the campground. Check-in was fast at the registration desk, and they sold bundles of wood for$6. The campsite (#040) was private, but was located next to the Nature Center and a water spigot, so it was not a super quiet place. The site was littered with small pieces of trash and there was a folding chair someone left open beside the firepit when we arrived... not ideal. 

However, the site itself was solid- it is surrounded by forest, and is at the top of a small ridge above Pelton Pond, so there was a pretty consistent breeze (few bugs!) and the soft sounds of bullfrogs at night. A tree with a couple medium-size dead limbs was above the ideal place to pitch the tent. The site comes with a picnic table (it was in OK shape) and a fire ring with removable grate, as well as a standing-level charcoal BBQ grill. This site and several others on the opposite (west) side of Pelton Pond had easy access to the 1.5 mile Pelton Pond hike loop. There was plenty of dry kindling around the site, which was a huge help because the wood bought from the Park hissed and didn't really get burning (damp wood? fresh cut?). 

The park rangers told us the plumbing had been re-done in the past year, so the water fountains and water spigots were in great shape and provided cold, clear water. The bathrooms were clean and well-kept (saw toilet bowl cleaner in the morning), no stalls ran out of toilet paper, and there was soap most of the time at the sinks. We did not use the showers, so can't speak to those. There are even dish washing sinks available with hot running water. 

We walked 20 min from our site to the beach across the 2-lane highway. The lake is clear and sandy (some rocks in sand on shore, but standard for imported sand), and many families seemed to have traveled up for a day trip. There are facilities and a small grill (burgers, popsicles, etc.) at the beach. 

Overall, the campsite was pleasant and it was peaceful during quiet hours (10pm-7am) on both Friday and Saturday nights. Removing one star for the lack of care at the site itself (litter, trash around when we arrived) and the poor firewood quality. I would recommend this campground to those looking for a quick trip out of the city, to people new to camping, or to use as a base to explore the Hudson River Valley if you have a personal vehicle.