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Best Tent Camping near Gales Ferry, CT

619 Reviews

Tent camping near Gales Ferry, Connecticut centers around the Connecticut River corridor, with several notable tent-only sites within a 30-minute drive. Selden Neck State Park Campground offers a unique island tent camping experience in the Connecticut River, requiring boat or kayak access to reach its four primitive tent campsites. Chapman Pond Preserve provides walk-in tent sites with platforms overlooking the Connecticut River. Hidden Lake Farm, though small with only two tent sites, offers a more developed camping option with basic amenities. Gillette Castle State Park Campground and Hurd State Park also feature tent camping areas accessible from the river, making them popular with paddlers seeking riverside tent sites.

Access to tent campsites varies significantly across these locations. Selden Neck State Park requires a 20-minute paddle from Deep River Landing, where parking permits are required during summer months (Memorial Day to Labor Day). Waterproof bags for gear are essential due to boat wake on the river. Most tent sites include fire pits and picnic tables, though amenities are limited. Chapman Pond Preserve features tent platforms but lacks drinking water and has minimal facilities. Hidden Lake Farm provides more amenities for tent campers, including drinking water, showers, and toilets. Weather conditions along the river can change quickly, with morning fog common, potentially affecting paddling conditions for boat-in tent camping.

The riverside tent camping experience offers distinctive features not found at standard campgrounds. According to reviews, Selden Neck's tent sites provide exceptional sunset views over the Connecticut River, with Site 2 (Hogback) offering "plenty of flat area to pitch a tent" and a private outhouse. At low tide, small beaches emerge for exploration. Campers noted that while there is some noise from boat traffic at night, it generally doesn't disrupt sleep. Chapman Pond Preserve is described as a "middle of nowhere site" with good tent platforms and an outhouse, ideal for primitive tent camping enthusiasts seeking solitude. For those camping at Gillette Castle or Hurd State Park's riverside tent sites, visitors report that "watching the sunrise and sunset" over the water creates a memorable backcountry tent camping experience.

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Best Tent Sites Near Gales Ferry, Connecticut (13)

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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Gales Ferry, CT

12 Photos of 13 Gales Ferry Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Gales Ferry, CT

619 Reviews of 13 Gales Ferry Campgrounds

  • Jean C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Mar. 1, 2020

    Burlingame State Park Campground

    Huge campground, not many level sites.

    I've never camped in Rhode Island, so I was curious to see what a state park campground had to offer. Rates are reasonable for state residents, but quite high if you are out-of-state, given the amenities. There are no hookups, but dump stations are available. Bathrooms have flush toilets and coin-operated showers. There's a small beach at the pond, a boat ramp, and proximity to wildlife refuges and the ocean. It's a HUGE campground, with 700 sites and 20 cabins. Canoes are available to rent.

    There's a nice playground, a camp store, and a naturalists cabin. Trails are available for hiking and biking. The beach is sandy and there's a small parking lot there, but I suspect most people walk to it. No alcohol allowed. 

    I didn't see more than a handful of level sites, with varying degrees of slope, but many are quite large. If you have an RV, plan to level; if you have a tent, be sure to bring good mattresses to protect you from the roots and rocks and orient your head to the uphill side. Most of the sites have some degree of visual separation from their neighbors, but there are places where it's hard to tell where one site ends and the next one starts. Site have fire rings and picnic tables, but if you plan to cook over the fire, bring your own grate or plan to use sticks and/or aluminum foil. 

    If you don't have a tent, consider reserving one of their rustic cabins. These offer two sets of bunks (no mattresses) and a small porch with a picnic table and fire ring outside. Some are located along the pond.

    3-4 bar cell phone coverage. No road traffic. East Beach is nearby, but parking fills early.

  • K
    Aug. 20, 2022

    Fort Getty Campground

    No shade no rule enforcement. Great place for a big group to party if that’s what you want.

    Loud campers in large groups.

    Rules regarding quiet hours, no generators, number of tents per site and late arrival and setups were not enforced.

    People next to us crammed 8 tents on 3 sites. I counted a group of at least 20.

    There is no privacy, people were constantly walking through our site and stepping over our tent guy lines.

    People partied until 2:00am and woke up at 5:30am shining headlights and idling cars.

    Bathrooms were dirty, sites boundaries not marked and crammed together. No shade.

    Beautiful location, rangers were nice.

    RV folks were surly, seemed like a lot of them stay there for the entire season. One said hi, the rest stared when we drove by.

    We booked and paid for two nights and left first thing after just one night.

  • John D.
    May. 3, 2015

    Rocky Neck State Park Campground

    Great park in a great location

    I have been camping at Rocky Neck State Park for decades, both tent camping, and now In a 30' camper. Located right off I95 ( which you can hear at times), the park is convenient to all the major interstates and state roads. If you can, stay away from the front gates during the typical peak arrival / departure times. Traffic jams occur, partly because you're also in-line with the car loads of beach goers. The beach and beach parking lots fill to capacity. Week ends are the worst.

    The campgrounds are located within internal loops. Most sites are quite level. Park-like settings surrounding a large lawn. Bathhouses are being rehabbed, deemed adequate; can be seedy towards the end of the season. Park is routinely patrolled by State Conservation Officers who will put you out if needed. CT State Police and local officers also patrol. Camp roads are paved, and lots and lots of kids spend time riding bikes, coloring with chalk, skateboarding, roller blading.

    No electrical hook-ups; potable water spigots located within the camping circles. Generators allowed, but there are quiet hours. Dump upon exit; its up top by the entrance booths.

    There is a "tent-only area" which is nice and abuts a paved road for campers to walk / bike to the beach. Use this. Stay off the main road to the beach if you can. The speed limit is enforced, but sporadically. The fines are very stiff (you receive a State traffic ticket from the Officer).

    This beach road leads you to a wonderful overlook where lots of people take their kids crabbing for Blueshells. There are size regulations so be careful. The regs are posted. Bring some raw chicken wings and kite string and have some fun. You can also follow the signs that will lead you to nature walks. Amazing.

    During inclement weather some campers leave the park. We always recommend taking a right out of the park onto east bound Route 156. Follow into downtown Niantic for restaurants, an Irish pub, or a movie. Nice village area, and pedestrian friendly.

    Rocky Neck is a very nice park, and if I had to list one complaint, it is that the State is in a financial tight-spot, and has been cutting services and personnel. Entrance booths go unmanned and that leads to traffic jams that extend out and onto the main road. Very , very messy. Life guard towers at the beach are empty at times. Bath houses can be filthy.

    All things considered, I would recommend this park..

  • Ryan A.
    May. 21, 2024

    Devil's Hopyard State Park Campground

    Good Location for Hiking, Lots of Garbage, Not Recommended

    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.

  • Laura M.
    Aug. 25, 2018

    Burlingame State Park Campground

    Nice campground

    Super large sites, store is adequately stocked, nice lake/pond. I came here because of the location. Super close to the beach. This is a state park, no alcohol is allowed, quiet time strictly enforced. Nice family campground. No hookups.

  • Lee D.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 7, 2024

    Burlingame State Park Campground

    HUGE state park

    General: HUGE state park with over 700 sites. It does not fully open for the season until May 1 and when we were there in mid-April, only two sections, Fish Camp and Mills Camp were open. The Ranger station is staffed 24 hours a day, with a ranger on site until 11 pm. You need to show your pass to get inside the gate leading to the campsites. There are no hookups in any site (as far as I could tell). Sites are designated for tents, small trailers, large trailers, and RVs. As with other RI state parks, non-residents pay double the price of residents which kind of ticks me off (I don't mind a nominal upcharge but double is excessive IMO).

    Site Quality: The site numbers throughout the park are painted on rocks but the sites themselves are not very clearly defined. There is no designated camping pad. Our site (114) had a water view but was not level. It was large enough for us to park horizontally and make it work for one night. Some sites had excessive roots and also were not level. Some picnic tables have been replaced with new ones, but others badly need it.

    Bath/Shower house: The one in Fish Camp was adequate and clean. There is hot water, but you need to run it for a while before you get any. There was no garbage receptacle, and the toilet paper is so thin, that you can see through it. Showers are $.75 to get it started for the first three minutes. After that, the amount per minute increases to $1, $1.25, $1.50, and so forth. Machines take up to 22 quarters. There is a change machine at the Ranger Station. I did not use the shower so I cannot comment on how well they work. 

    Activities/Amenities: There is a camp store that offers wood, ice, coffee, basic groceries, propane, and canoe rentals. It was open with limited hours during our stay. Fishing, boating, swimming - all in season. Even though the park was only about 10% occupied, there was a strong Ranger presence. He circled our small loop three times just before check-out time and wanted to make sure we were leaving not a minute past the designated time. 

    This was just an overnight stay for us in a convenient location but there is no way I would stay at the height of the season!

  • D
    Jun. 7, 2019

    Green Falls Campground

    Small but cozy

    Great off the beaten path place to camp. Sites are large but close together. Each contain a rock built fire ring. There are toilets but no showers. Good parking for camper but limited for guests. Reservations are required in advance. Stones throw to beach/pond area

  • Jean C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Nov. 1, 2020

    Wolf Den Campground — Mashamoquet Brook State Park

    Basic campground with hiking trails in the area.

    This small state park campground offers basic campsites with running water and showers, open Memorial Day to Columbus Day.  This is NOT Wolf's Den Family Campground in E. Haddam, CT. Also, be aware there are 2 campgrounds at this State Park; the other one, Mashamoquet Brook, does not offer running water/showers, so if you want these amenities, be sure to select a campsite 1-35.

    There's a small playground in the middle of the loop, a number of hiking trails throughout the park along with a few geocaches (download details for offline use a phone connection is spotty), a swimming pond, and a small brook with an old mill and blacksmith shop that is sometimes open on weekends for tours. It's a nice place to explore and have a picnic. In 2020 with Covid, there were restrictions on visitors to the campground, reservations required, and swimming was not allowed. 

    The parking pads are paved and a few have overhanging branches, but the trees provide  separation and some shade on largely open sites that tend to open up toward the back with open areas for pitching tents. Sites have fire rings with grills and picnic tables. Site 20 is the only one with electric. The ones toward the back of the loop back up toward the woods and give you some more privacy. 

    They don't allow hammocks in the trees or pets. For some reason, silly string also makes the list of prohibitions.

  • Alex S.
    May. 13, 2020

    Rocky Neck State Park Campground

    Best New England beach campground!

    The beach is about a 1 mile walk or drive from the campground.  The walk is lovely and I have seen deer, turkeys, many birds, skunks, raccoons, and other wildlife along the way. There are several osprey nests too. Many families bring bikes. 

    There are several camping areas at Rocky Neck - I think Crane is the best because it is quiet and the bathrooms are updated. 

    The tent camping area is in a field without much privacy or shade. I recommend setting up your tent at a traditional site.

    The beach is great for relaxing and beach combing. The water is warm and shallow, very calm. No floats or toys are allowed in the water, not sure why. Don't bring your kite either as the Amtrak is next to the beach, it's interesting when it goes by!

    Sometimes generators are an issue, but there are limited hours at which they can run.

    Lots of dumpsters for easy trash disposal. Firewood available for a low price on site, don't bring any outside wood. 

    Campground is not too far from a Walmart if you forget something. There's a gas station close by too for ice.

    This campground books up FAST, I usually book in the wintertime. I stay for a week at a time.

Guide to Gales Ferry

Tent campsites near Gales Ferry, Connecticut concentrate along the Mystic River watershed in addition to the Connecticut River corridor. This coastal region experiences moderate temperatures, with summer averages between 75-85°F and frequent morning fog, particularly in riverside campsites. Winter camping options remain limited, with most sites closing after October due to freezing temperatures and limited facilities.

What to do

Explore riverside fishing spots: At Hurd State Park River Camping, campers can fish directly from shore near tent sites. The Connecticut River here contains striped bass, catfish, and smallmouth bass, particularly in summer months.

Paddle the river channels: Campers can navigate the small channels between river islands, particularly north of the main campsites. The current remains gentle enough for beginners except during spring runoff periods.

Visit nearby historical sites: The tent sites at River Highlands State Park River Campground offer access to hiking trails connecting to historical points. One reviewer notes, "the campsite was absolutely beautiful—especially with its location right by the river." Hiking trails range from 0.5 to 2 miles and connect to Revolutionary War-era sites.

What campers like

Private sites with water access: The Hogback site at Selden Neck State Park Campground remains a favorite for its isolation and direct river access. According to one camper, "There was a little noise at night from boat traffic but it didn't keep us up. In the morning, we were completely socked in with fog."

Basic amenities in remote settings: Campers appreciate the balance of wilderness with minimal facilities. One reviewer at Chapman Pond Preserve described it as a "Middle of no where site" with "Good tent platforms, picnic tables and outhouse. CT river within view."

Wildlife viewing opportunities: Early morning hours provide optimal wildlife viewing, particularly water birds. Multiple reviews mention deer sightings at dawn near campsites, and osprey nests visible from water-adjacent tent sites.

What you should know

Weather patterns affect river access: Morning fog frequently delays water travel to island campsites until mid-morning clearance. Water levels fluctuate seasonally, affecting beach areas and dock access.

Limited facilities require preparation: Most riverside tent sites lack drinking water sources. Campers must pack in all water or bring filtration systems for river water, which contains sediment.

Permit requirements vary by season: Summer access (Memorial Day through Labor Day) to boat launches serving Gillette Castle State Park Campground requires parking permits. One camper shared: "We have camped on the south end of Hurd Park several times via boat access. It is amazing with the views of the CT River and being able to watch the sunrise and sunset."

Pest awareness: Some campsites have significant arachnid populations. A visitor to River Highlands noted, "As a heads-up, the outhouse did have quite a few wolf spiders (which might be expected in a natural setting like this)."

Tips for camping with families

Pack extra waterproof gear: When boat-accessing campsites with children, double-bag all clothing and sleeping gear. Morning dew combined with river humidity affects tent interiors, particularly in summer.

Plan for limited beach access: Low tide reveals small beaches for children to explore safely. Sites at Selden Neck provide the most reliable beach areas, appearing for approximately 4-5 hours daily.

Select sites with natural boundaries: Hidden Lake Farm offers family-friendly tent sites with natural boundaries keeping children within sight. A reviewer described it as "Quiet and Private" with pet-friendly options for families traveling with animals.

Tips from RVers

Access limitations for larger vehicles: Parking areas serving tent campsites have size restrictions, typically accommodating vehicles under 20 feet. Longer vehicles must park in overflow areas, adding walking distance to boat launches.

Alternative base camping options: RVers can use commercial campgrounds as bases while accessing tent-only riverside sites for day use. This provides shower facilities and electrical hookups while still experiencing the river environment.

Seasonal road conditions: Access roads to boat launches serving tent campsites deteriorate after heavy rainfall. Spring access particularly suffers from washouts and mud, potentially limiting larger vehicle access before Memorial Day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Gales Ferry, CT?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Gales Ferry, CT is Selden Neck State Park Campground with a 5-star rating from 1 review.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Gales Ferry, CT?

TheDyrt.com has all 13 tent camping locations near Gales Ferry, CT, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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