Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Greenwich, CT

I have camped here many times. There are three campsites; two that require short hikes (.5 miles and .75 miles, respectively) and a third that can be driven to. Each one is far away from the others. The two that are closest are still divided by several hundred feet of wooded area; you can hear if someone at the other campsite shouts loudly enough, but you can't hear normal conversation or see any lights.

There is no cell phone coverage at any of the campsites (if you care about that while camping).

All of the campsites are right next to the Shepaug River. There is a very crude outhouse between campsites #1 and #2, but none at #3. Each campsite has a designated fire pit, and the Steep Rock Association provides ample firewood. SR 1 and SR 2 both have picnic tables at them; SR 3 does not. Pets are welcome; there are many people hiking and camping with dogs, and people ride horses down some of the trails.

On 9/2/17, when camping at SR1, we saw a Dumpster on the side of the trail that leads from campsite SR1 to campsite SR2. I have never seen a Dumpster anywhere at Steep Rock before, so I don't know if that is a permanent new addition or if it was there temporarily.

Reservations are required and can be made by contacting the Steep Rock Association office during the week.

Camp Gateway in Brooklyn New York is one of my favorite places to visit. I went to college in New York, and loved to get out of the busy city and go camping and be outdoors. Camp Gateway was always a place that I loved to go. It is pretty close to town-which is crazy because you feel like you are miles away. Camp Gateway does offer a lot of different activities for everyone. One thing I love to do is go kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. My girlfriends and I tried to do this once a month to get away from the city and school. Because you are so close to the city, you can plan outdoor activities as well as some activities in the city. My friends and I stayed 1 night in the campground, and the next day went to a recital show that took us 10 minutes to get to. You can also walk, hike or ride your bike along multiple paths- I have done the Fort Tilden trail (I just walked, but there were multiple people that passed us on their bikes). Within the campground they do have some fire pits- which my friends and I always use because we love cooking smores and hot dogs for dinner. A little further away from the campground, about 10-15 miles there is a place where you can do horseback riding, see the Statue of Liberty (which is gorgeous!), and there is a little beach area. This beach area is where I do my kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. Again, its not very far away...you can either drive there, walk or ride your bike. The road is paved, which is nice. I stayed here also with my parents, and I know my dad went golfing one day (I didn't go, but he said it was awesome)- and again that was only a 10 minute drive from our camping spot. This campground like I said, does offer quite a bit. Sometimes it doesn't really feel like you are "camping" because things are pretty close by, but it definitely is worth going to and trying.

Ward Pound Ridge is very well known to the locals as a great place for sled-riding in winter (Pell Hill area) and a place for big group gatherings. The many different trails are frequented by the locals as well. In recent years, the county government also allow bow-hunting of deer to control its population during the months of October to December.

As far as camping as a family, it is not too exciting a place for us. The grounds are far too well trimmed, as you can see in one of the videos. There is wide open space and the paths are well paved so kids can have fun riding the bikes or running around. There is also many trails of various difficulty levels to suit everyone, including horseback riders. The Trailside Nature Museum is also fun for the kids.

There are lean-to sites as well as tent sites. A maximum of eight people in two tents are allowed at each site. But if you really do have a party of eight, one picnic table seems to be inadequate. The sites are much farther away from the comfort stations than most campgrounds we have been to. But there are port-a-potties very close to the sites, which is very important when you have young kids.

All in all, it is not a place I would recommend if you want to get close to nature.

I stayed at group site 4 which was a very nice campsite. Not very much completely level terrain but nothing you can't sleep on (that is it is a dirt/grass ground however not too level). It is off the beaten path without any running water or showers within walking distance. There is a lake at this campground that does have showers so I would recommend using those but if camping in the off season they may not be open.

Beautiful hiking trails around the area with a cool, shaded stream that runs close by the sites and is fun to walk along (does have paths).

Camp Gateway is one of my favorite places to go when I want to get away from the busy city! It's in such a great location because it's close to the city yet seems so far away. You feel like you are miles away from the busy city because of all the trees, and the campground creates a great outdoor feel. If camping is "boring" for you, this still is a great place to go because you can schedule tours and the Statue of Liberty isn't far away, so you can go visit that. I really enjoy hiking around the area, and they also have some great paths for biking. I rented my bike from a local shop close by- Avaitor Sports Shop. The only downside is that they do have a few guidelines and rules- lets are not allowed in the tent sites, no alcochol allowed and no charcoal grills. This does help keep the campground pretty clean, which is always nice. There is a lake nearby that has boat launches and I've seen people kayaking too. The campground was nice, and the campsite had a fire ring and table. Our camp spot was a little farther away from the restrooms, but it wasn't too bad. They also have showers available too. I would recommend this campsite!

1/2 star is being generous

We stayed at Woodland Trails Campground in Sussex, NJ in June 2018. We had a wedding to go to near there and thought we would make a fun weekend out of it. Because of car trouble, we ended up arriving after dark. The sites were very poorly marked, it was impossible to find our site. Luckily someone noticed us driving around and brought us to the site.

The site was supposed to have electric and water hookup. Electric worked but the water did not. Most of the sites were empty, so I investigated and found that none of the water hookups in the 5 sites around us worked. They looked like they had been out of service for a long time.

The website showed a beautiful lake with people swimming in it and a restaurant on the lake. I have no idea when this picture was taken but it was definitely a long time ago. The lake was full of growth and bugs. The restaurant looked like it had been closed since the zombie apocalypse.

The campground itself was mostly empty except for a few scattered tents and broken down campers. This place would be the perfect site to film a zombie or horror movie. Do not believe the website!! It is the first campground that we put the lock through the tongue to make sure our trailer wasn't stolen when we were away.

The bathrooms: This is the first time that my boyfriend even was horrified by the conditions. They were REALLY REALLY run down, dirty, exposed plumbing and wiring. He had no toilet paper in his. The only positive was that it did have hot water. I did meet a really cute cat that kept me company when I was in the bathroom. He kept guard while I brushed my teeth.

We have stayed at some pretty rundown places but this truly was the worst ever. We only stayed one night, left after the wedding because it just gave us the creeps. It could be a beautiful campground but needs major work. There are lots of trees and the sites had the potential to be spacious and secluded.

Highly recommend if you are trying to find a location to film a zombie apocalypse movie!