Best Campgrounds near Derby, CT

I've been going to this campground every summer for at least 5 years. Recently they became very stringent about parking to vehicles at the site making it very difficult to visit with a family and 2 vehicles. I usually host group camping trips and the single vehicle rule makes that very difficult.

That aside, this is a very nice campground with various kinds of sites. You can find sites that are less wooded and better suited to group camping, as well as sites that are a little more secluded. This is one of my favorite campgrounds solely because there are platform sites so I can place my tent on a concrete or wooden platform. There is a separate area for RVs vs tents. There is also a store where you can get a cup of coffee in the morning and lots of goodies throughout the day.

There are hiking trails and you can walk to the beach. Note - it is a downhill walk to the beach. The beach is fairly clean and has a small boardwalk.

There are lots of stores nearby as well as orchards to pick your own fruits. I stayed there one weekend and went to Splish Splash waterpark that's not far away. There is also a Tanger Outlet nearby. I've been there during a full on thunderstorm and watched as the trees swayed in the wind.

Lovely campground with lots of activities to entertain you.

This place is the best around for group and family camping. The entire campground is one flat open space where some sites are full in the shade and other sites (lower numbers) have lots of sun. I've been going here every summer since 2019 after it re-opened. Each site has a picnic table and grill. Water is also available near the sites.

You can come here in tents as well as RVs and the staff is very nice. They toilets are cleaned constantly, though they are not immaculate. There is a shop at the entrance to get supplies if you need it and you can rent firepits and buy firewood. The ice cream trucks comes by as well. There is a playground just for the campground.

Bring a bicycle or scooper and you can ride the loop around to the beach; you can also drive to the beach. There is a pool, but it has not been open for many years. There are also hiking trails and a place where you can rent a kayak.

On one visit there was a magician performing for the camp goers. I've even been there while there was a philharmonic concert near the campground.

Park staff and rangers regularly patrol the campground and are diligent about cleaning up.

We stayed at Aces High RV Park for a long holiday weekend to visit with our daughter in Connecticut. We paid$150/night for a‘Premium Waterfront FHU Site’ on the lake. A bit pricey, but really nice site including level concrete pad and patio, clean and well-maintained utilities, and beautiful view. 

THINGS I LIKED: 

• Clean, well-maintained, and level site with concrete pad and patio(I love a clean, level concrete pad!).

• Utility hookups were in great condition and everything worked as it should (other parks should come and take a look at how to do this right).

• Beautiful pond and natural setting with lots of ducks, geese, chickens, and wild birds. 

• 20-minutes drive to Mystic and all the touristy stuff to see and do.

• The whole park is quiet and nicely-maintained. You might say that it should be for$150 per night, but we all know that not all parks are- even at higher prices. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH: 

• This is silly, but I wanted something to improve. The store didn’t stock a selection of stickers so we weren’t able to add to our collection. By the way, doesn’t this really mean it’s a great park if that’s my only criticism? 

WOULD WE COME BACK? 

• Absolutely, this is a nice place with Mystic nearby.

The campground is beautiful and the staff was wonderful! We started our camping season off right with a quick weekend stay at Round Pound. We were very impressed with the playground on site! Unfortunately, due to our early start in the camping season the weather did not allow us to enjoy fishing or the beach or water hook ups, however all areas looked well maintained. We are looking forward to stopping by Round Pond again in the near future.

Just a note to other campers with T-Moblie, we did not have any service on the campsite, however just a hop in the car or a quick walk down the mountain for 5G service near the entrance off the main road. There is also free wifi at the commissary/exchange, which is about 2 miles away.

We generally only stay in KOAs or similar RV parks when we need showers, laundry, or a dump station. This one was in a convenient location plus many campgrounds had not yet opened for the year when we were there. It had rained for a few days before our arrival and that did not help our first impression as we drove on the rutted and muddy road to our site. There was a sign that improvements are underway, but I am not sure what those planned improvements are and when they will be implemented.

On the plus side:

*Friendly and helpful staff. Not sure why when we are given a map an employee escorts us to our site but that is a KOA thing. Later an employee asked if I wanted help carrying our clothes to the laundry.

* Warm showers (but it did take a while for the water to get warm)

*Brand new pool that was uncovered but it was way too cold in April to use*Sites were spaced a decent amount of space apart (although there is little physical separation). This was helped by the fact that there was no one on either side of us during our stay.

*In season, there are many activities to occupy families (pool, playground, mini golf, daily firetruck rides, complimentary shuttle into the town of Niantic); however, we could not take advantage of most of these.

*Reasonably priced laundry, although the washing machines were smal, and it took two to do what should have been one load. However, the dryers give you 60 minutes so although it took longer to dry, I only had to use one. 

On the negative side:

*Unmaintained roadways. The main one was once paved but has not been maintained; others were dirt (and mud after a rain)

*High price for what we received. Not sure if we received an off-season rate but at $87 per night for a water/electric site and not being able to take advantage of amenities seemed high.

*Allowing political flags to be displayed at sites. I understand that on private property, this can be allowed at the owner's discretion, but this was offensive to us. 

Again, this is not our preferred type of camping. Initially, I struggled to give this two stars but once the rain stopped, our stay improved somewhat.