Best RV Parks & Resorts near Darien, CT

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!!

Wonderful weekend visit in the off season. Site was level, pretty spacious and easy to back into. Campsites are located close enough to the beach/marsh. Multiple playgrounds for the kids although they were closed due to Covid. No sewers sites that I could tell, and water was off because we were a week shy of the season opening. Needed to move to dump station prior to leaving (2 night visit) and had to drive to fill the fresh water tank once while there. Nice neighbors. Dog friendly. People obeyed the quiet hours. I have not one complaint. There were hiking trails and geocaching on site. 4 stars bc no sewer at the campsite and we like full hook ups and honestly I’m guessing this is a county rule but the playgrounds could’ve been open. Outside and socially distanced after dealing with Covid for a whole year and most local parks and playgrounds being open since last May... that was upsetting. All in all we had a great weekend. Close to the LI aquarium as well! Many stores and a golf course near by too!

This is a small beach campground.Its all but impossible to get an RV spot there from Memorial day to Labor day. Still, it is a clean and well run campground.Easy beach access.

Nickerson Beach only offers camping for RVs. I do not have an RV so I was unable to spend the night. The beach itself is a great place to spend a summer day and I have gone several times. They recently installed a path that goes all the way down to the beach area so you don't have to walk on the sand for so long. There is also fantastic food in the area as well. The best for freshly fried seafood is a place called Bigelow's (see pictures). Would highly recommend their fried clams!

Be advised that Skyline RV Camp has moved to:

50 Noble St, Brooklyn, NY 11222

The original property location at 2 Oak St was sold and is now private property.

Google Maps coords are 40.730491531436556,-73.9577966772486

There no longer is a waterfront view of the NYC skyline when camping at Skyline RV. The website views are misleading.

This is one of our favorite camping spots. It’s close to NYC and has secluded, wooded sites nestled amongst big boulders. I have camped here in all seasons including early winter when all other places were closed. Cute trails for easy strolls around a pond with beavers.. no hookups and not many RVs. No playgrounds, and kids have to figure out how to amuse themselves in woods filled with chipmunks lots of places to hide. Shhh. Keep it quiet.

My husband and and I camped one night at this newly reopened park over the weekend in Long Island just to check it out and were pretty disappointed by the tent camping area. There are 69 tent/trailer sites(no hook ups). There is no distinguishing separation between each site nor a designated driveway for your car- you merely pull up on the grass. It's basically like camping in your local city park. People park wildly all over the place, which also makes it more difficult to determine which site is which by the number painted on the roadway. Each"site" has a picnic table and an barbecue grate on a post. There is one bath/shower house in the center of all of these sites with no path provided for folks to walk to and fro, so naturally people will walk right through your site randomly rather than around the road. While the bathroom building itself is in decent shape and has a large amount of toilet stalls and about five showers, the condition of women's room was absolutely ghastly inside.

At some point during the evening, a maintenance worker on a golf cart showed up with a mop and some cleaning supplies and cleaned the men's side of the building. I was so relieved when I saw him, but he seemed to neglect the women's side completely, so I resorted to using the men's facilities all night.

There are no fire pits on any of the sites, although I learned afterwards that they do allow you to bring your own metal fire pit as long as it is elevated off the ground. There are large dumpsters located throughout the camping area and a large trash bag is provided (if needed) at the camp office when you check in.

The highlight of Heckscher State Park is the newly constructed heated cottages located on the shore of Nichol's& Great South Bays.. There are currently 11 cottages--- with more under construction. There are cottages suited for two, four, and six people and range in price from$225-$285 per night during off peak seasons and$250- 320 per night during the peak seasons.

The cottages are fully furnished, with a full kitchen and large bathroom with a walk in shower. The cottages are a short walk from the beach and also include a fire pit with Adirondack chairs and an outdoor shower on the exterior each property. I do not have photos of the inside, but they do have them on the Reserve America website if you are interested.

While the cottages are lovely and their location is fabulous  they are quite pricey and  no TLC was spent in the$22 tent/rv camping area, other than a new registration office which is not yet completed as of this weekend. I do hope they invest some funding in the primitive area to add fire pits,more water spigots, clearer site markings and for the continued maintenance& upkeep of the bath/shower house.

* I emailed the parks departement about the issues mentioned above about the camping area and received this reply:

I am sorry that you are upset with the conditions in our recently opened campgrounds. We have replaced all of the picnic tables. Although, they may look old because they are weathered since these picnic tables were put together during the Winter, however, they are brand new. All of the barbeques are also new and were installed during the Winter. We have changed and modernized the light fixtures and we will be replacing the rusted doors that you mentioned. There are also plans to install a playground within the campground beginning this Fall and we are looking for other improvements and additions to the campgrounds. As you probably noticed there is a new building under construction, at the entrance to the campgrounds, and it will serve as a check-in area, as well as, additional comfort stations, including family restrooms. Your suggestion of fire pits is a good one and the Park Managers will evaluate the feasibility of installing these. Lastly, I have spoken to the Park Manager who will review the cleaning operation to ensure the restrooms are appropriately maintained. I apologize for our employee not cleaning the women's room. Again, I am sorry for your negative experience but we are continuing to make improvements to the campgrounds.

Sincerely, George Gorman Regional Director New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

I will check back later this year to see if anything was changed and report back.

Pelton Pond - Clarence Fahnestock State Park Campground: (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer). I rate based on desire for at least a moderate wilderness type experience w at least some camp site privacy. Overall Rating: Some spots: 4 , Some grouped spots: 2 Price 2023: $23 Usage during visit: Light Site Privacy: Some sites good. Some very poor. Site Spacing: Some sites good. Some very poor. Site surface: Grass/dirt/mud Reservations: Required Campground Noise: Quiet at our spot. Road Noise: Pretty load at our spot Through Traffic in campground: None Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Yes. At bathrooms and hand pumps Generators: Allowed Bathroom: Very old and very clean. Flush toilets. Heated. Showers: Very old and very clean. Heated Pull Throughs: Some Cell Service (AT&T): 3to 4 bars Setting: Spread out through a deciduous forest Weather: 50s high Bugs: None Solar: Food in some sites. Host: Did not see a host Rig size: 40’ max. Careful which site you choose. Sites: Pictures are of some of the more private sites which can have a trailer. Some sites are grouped in open areas. These lack privacy.

This hidden gem is located right in Hampton Bays and is the perfect campground for anyone looking to camp off the grid. Tucked away in the woods is a beatiful well kept & maintained campground with spacious sites , a lake with kayaking access , and trails for bike riding and hiking. Each camp site spot has a provided water hook up . This campground does not have an electric hook up but generators are allowed ! It is perfect for a peaceful and quiet weekend / week stay. I have been here so many time and it has always been my favorite . Friendly and helpful staff , friendly locals , and close to stores & great restaurants. If you are in the area please check this place out ! You won’t regret it!

Sears Bellows in New York is a lot of fun. It really does offer a lot of outdoor activities for you and your family. I have stayed at this campsite 1 time, and stayed 2 nights. This campground does offer tent sites as well as RV/trailer sites. When I went with my friends in college, we just stayed in the tent sites and really enjoyed it. The campground is very well kept and clean which I really liked. They do have quite a bit of garbage's to dump your trash in. One thing I really liked about this campground is that there was a river/pond close by (Bellows Pond). The first night I stayed here my friends and I rented some rowboats and went on the water. It was a lot of fun, and the price of the rowboat was pretty cheap. The next morning we got up and did some hiking. The trails were beautiful, and the flowers were in bloom. There were people who were also biking on these trails, which looked like so much fun! We also saw some people fishing in the pond- and it seemed like most people were catching. The people who stayed in the campsite next to us were cooking up some type of fish for their dinner that they caught that day. One thing to note is that there are not any electrical hook-ups, so if that is something you need you might now want to come stay here. I would love to come back here someday, but stay maybe a day or two longer to do more things- I would also bring my bike and fishing pole to do more outdoor activities. I would also advise to rent the rowboats because that was a lot of fun!

A quick 40 minutes north of NYC, Harriman State Park has an eclectic little campground called Beaver Pond. The grounds are just steps away from Welch Lake, offering a lifeguard monitored sandy beach which is open during the summer season for swimming, fishing, and small boat craft further out.

“Welcome to Bear Mountain” grumbles the park ranger as he sits in complete darkness! He is in his ranger hut, checking in the late evening arrivals to the campground. It’s totally dark inside, lit only by the glow of the outside lamps. The atmosphere is complete with spider webs covering the walk up window, and I swear I saw a black widow doppelgänger . He’s nice, but you can tell he’s given this welcome speech too many times to get overly excited about it. He offers us a highlighted map to our site, wishes us a good stay, and gives us the run down on bear activity in the area. I mean, we are in Bear Mountain, what do you expect?!?

The campground offers several different sties, from platform tent spaces to those for 25’ trailers. All sites have a standard picnic table and fire ring. Our site is a trailer site, it’s perfect for the trusty old pop-up, and feels nice and roomy. Although no site offers electric or water hook up, camp amenities include: a moderately stocked store, public bath houses, a laundry facility, playground for the kids and camp-sinks with access to water.

Offering the peaceful tranquility of sitting under the changing oak, sumacs, maples, and poplars, I wouldn’t recommend this site for the quiet hearted. There is a constant buzz in the air of conversation, music, laughter and shrieking toddlers. Quiet time at night is laughable as the enjoyment of being in nature rages on into the early morning. I myself could go either way; I’m not overly bothered by the late nights and chorus of noise, but living in the megalopolis that I call home, it would be nice to not have the ruckus constantly follow you to the great outdoors.

We didn’t visit Welch Lake beach but for a quick walk to the area for a few pictures; it’s past season at this point, and I still have to do some fishing pole shopping. A quick 15 minute drive from Beaver Pond, is Bear Mountain State Park. Here you can find some of the Appalachian Trail, with various smaller trail heads for this historic (Revolutionary Times 1770s) part of the region including the one to Doodle Town. Long since the last resident left, the area is a ruins with markers showing where a house was, but most of the area has been taken back by nature leaving only a stone stair case here or a partial foundation wall there. It terminates at Iona Island Bird Sanctuary, a lovely long grassed marshland. The trails in the area are friendly to hikers, bikers, and the non arthritic kneers, as most are rated moderate to challenging. Don’t fret, trails that are rated easy and accessible to disabled are equally enjoyable and beautiful. They offer stunning views of the changing foliage, quick glances at the Hudson River and the rolling hills of the area. We didn’t take the Perkins Memorial Tower trail, but heard it was amazing. Next Time!!!

The staff greeted with warm welcomes and big smiles. Even when I arrived on a rainy Sunday. Stayed until Friday. And the grounds staff smiled and waved as they went by. The family next to me offered me dinner one night after I spent the whole day working on my RV. Spanish rice chicken the works the plate could barely hold it all. No body bothered me and I was right front and center. Kids riding around on the bikes and lots of laughter from other sites. It was nice. Was able to just relax and do some school work and watch some webinars and get some much needed work done. This was my first of many stops on my countrywide trip. From NJ originally. Spent almost a week here in CT hitting Hartford for the weekend then off to Rhode Island. It was great. No water or electric hookup but I have solar and a generator and they have a wash area for dishes and REALLY HOT showers. Lol I like my showers hot butt my biscuits were burnin lol. They also have a dump station and a place to fill up ur water tank as well. 5 star all the way. Side note...the map online is misleading. I thought site 1 was like away and sorta back by no one...ha noppeeee I was riiiight in the middle where EVERYONE saw me lmao. No tree cover or anything! Lol. All good tho. That was my own fault for not calling and asking lol helped me level up on my social anxiety 😂🫣🤗😅

This was only our second camping trip and the staff here was absolutely amazing and nice. No electricity hook-up on the sites. The second day we stayed the water that came from the water source there was purple instead of clear like day one, but we brought enough drinking water just in case so it was all good! The site is at the end of the campsite road so it might be a little noisy with all the cars driving by though...

TL;DR- Skip to last 3 paragraphs for summary/opinion section 

I booked my site online as I believe is the only way to do so. The online system was not very informational and the camp site map didn’t really give any insight into any differences between sites for choosing one. So I chose the first site on the list, site#2. I’m guessing this is fairly common for a guest to book the first site on the list. This is important later. 

I drove down from Connecticut to Long Island to find the main routes to the campsite all went through New York’s parkways. There are height restrictions on the parkways so RVs and semis cannot travel on them without a high risk of crashing into the bridges and getting the tops ripped off like a tin can. Google Maps doesn’t have an option for large vehicles so I made my way manually and the trip took an extra hour or more to arrive than planned. Not anyone’s fault- just divulging for awareness. 

Arrived at the site, was greeted by a man who said he didn’t have anyone on the list arriving that day and if I could show him the email confirmation. I did, he confirmed, showed me to my spot- site#2- right by the entrance. He gave me rundown on campsite rules- quiet hours, gates closing hours, where to park if arriving afterwards, etc then he helped me back my 5th wheel into the spot. Very nice. 

I booked the site for 1 week initially until 11/2- over the Halloween weekend during a nor’eastor. So much of the first week was rainy and windy. The campsite is flat and open, no trees, no nothing really. 2/6 days we had part sun. It was the last week the site was open for the season and there was only about 15 sites occupied. Not sure how many sites are there but it seemed like 100+. A day ahead of my departure date- Nov 1- I decided to just go ahead and extend my stay until the end of the campsite season, Nov 6. I again went to book online to extend. The site was giving a message saying“partial availability” and it looked as if the site I had had been booked for Nov 3 for one night. It was late at night so I planned on talking to the office the next day Nov 2 to see if I had any options to try and stay on site#2. 

Nov 2- One of the site managers, Bill, knocked on my camper and said someone was coming tomorrow and that I was supposed to move over one site to site#3. I posited the chance that maybe we could contact the new reservation and see if they specifically wanted that site or if they just chose it first on the list and wouldn’t mind having another site, as the park was 90% empty. Bill understood and told me he had no control over that but I should talk to the office manager Michelle. Nov 2 was election day and the office was closed so I planned on speaking with Michelle the next morning Nov 3 before the new reservation arrived, as check-in time is 1pm. 

Nov 3- 930am another camp manager knocks on my camper to tell me to move- I inform him I was going to ask the office to potentially stay, and he said he had no power over the move/stay issue but that Michelle was in the office. 

I went to the office and was greeted by a woman at the reception desk- I asked to speak to Michelle- she asked what it was regarding- I said I was and RV camper at site#2 and would like to ask a question. Michelle came to the desk and immediately had a defensive posture. I didn’t have high hopes for this conversation. I said“Good morning! My name is Matt- I’ve been staying on site#2 for a week now and I believe you had a one-day reservation for my spot and I was wondering…-“ Michelle then cut me off and said“You have to move.” I said that I understood the reservation policy but if it wouldn’t be too much to ask to maybe reach out to the new campers on my behalf to ask if maybe they wouldn’t mind another site as all the sites are the same and they likely just booked the generic website by choosing the first site on the list…she cut me off again and said“You have to move.” I asked if she was interested at all in hearing me finish my question or didn’t care. She said“You have to move.” 

I told her that her not even hearing me out was poor customer service and that I would write a review telling others of my bad experience. She said“That’s okay cause you’ll be blocked from coming back!” WOW. 

Interesting customer service response to block a guest that just paid over a grand to stay at a basic site who only wanted you to TRY and find out if the new campers booked that site specifically. 

__________________________ 

That was my explanation of the circumstances, here is my opinion: The campground is fine but nothing special. There’s industrial stuff going on right near the site I chose and along the whole east fenceline and there is no close entrance to any beach area. The closest fence line to the campground has no beach access and has a huge sign that says STAY OUT- TICKS! Its a good 10 minute walk to the beach through a concrete parking lot and basketball courts. I believe it was around$100/night to stay here. It’s hard to get to with an RV due to the parkways. The online reservation system is clunky and shows no photos or have much detail. The on-site staff has no authority to do anything other than enforce the rules set by the office. Michelle the office manager was curt and uninterested in anything I had to say at all. Then got very defensive and rude. It took me 35-40 minutes to unhook sewer, power, water, attach the fifth wheel to my truck, put the slide-outs in unlevel everything, re-park the the trailer 20 feet away, unhook the trailer, re-level it, hook up up sewer, water, power,& extend the slides- all because Michelle didn’t want to make a call or send an email to say“hey! we had a camper in site#2 extend his stay and was wondering if you wouldn’t mind site#3?”- I believe they would have 100% said yes and 100% believe they booked the site based on it being the first site open on the booking system just like I did. If they said no- I would have been fine with moving per policy- if the campsite had any differences whatsoever between sites(shade, trees, lake nearby, etc) I would have been fine with it- not even a“I’m sorry sir, but we have a policy to…and we are committed to abide by it. Sorry for the inconvenience..”- Michelle did not even care to allow me to finish asking my question before she rudely sent me away and threatened to block me from staying here ever again. 

UPDATE- No one ever showed up and parked in that site. 

I guess as a business owner who was also in customer service industries for over 20 years my philosophy is that if you can do something small or easy to try and help out a customer and make them happy then you should do so. Maybe I’m naive. I approached everyone I spoke with calmly and openly and the response was uncalled for at the least. 

Michelle- Thanks for being a dismissive inhuman devoid of any empathy to remind me that there are people like you out there. Another example of enforcing blanket policies that aren’t really applicable to the current situation to excuse yourself from any responsibility for being a nice person. 

Advice to future campers- stay here if you like- it’s close enough to the beach, train, food, Long Island things to do, etc- a little pricy, but expected in the area- but I hope that you do not need any reason to interact with office staff.

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 🤗

We spent 3 nights here last week. I was in NYC for business and we took our RV. Very convenient location. My wife visited Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The sites had electric and water and were in a fenced off section of tue marina parking area. It was a little loud with city noises, but exactly what we expected being so close. Staff was great. Easy access with our 32 foot RV pulling our Jeep.

We tried this campground without knowing what was safe and where to stay for visit New York City. It is located in Brooklyn and is little removed from everything. The sites are at Floyd Bennett Field which is an old airfield. The atmosphere here is eerily cool at the same time. You basically park and camp on the asphalt by the old hangars. No hookups at all but they do have a camp store and bath house. If you are tent camping, there are some grassy sites.

The campground is located right on Jamaica Bay so there were people fishing all the time from the seawall. At night, you could hear cars doing burnouts right next to us. To get to all the action in the city, we had to take a bus and then the subway. The travel was a headache but better than trying to drive in to New York City in our RV. One way to improve here would be to have some security at night as well as access to clean water and dump station. They remained locked most of the time for some reason.

The best part of this place was the free tour of Hangar B by some guys doing restoration of old planes (HARP). They had some great stories and gave us history of the planes on display.

We love this State Park because it's close to our home for a quick getaway. 

This time we tried one of the sites on the water, and I probably wouldn't choose the same site again.  Site 11, while large, was uneven and had some large tree roots that would be easy to trip over.  It was a walk up the hill to the bathhouse.  No hookups.  

It's quiet, clean, and exactly what we were looking for in a weekend.  Close to Southford Falls for a nice hike and waterfall views. 

Speaking of bathhouse - this one is really just in dire need of updating.  Having visited 2 other state parks in a neighboring state, CT should really invest in better quality bath houses.  This is the only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars.

Most of the camping in Harriman is more backcountry-esque. Hike in, set up camp, move to a new spot and so on. Beautiful area with great hiking trails. Good for all seasons!