Best Cabin Camping near New Haven, CT

Update number 2: I told you I come here a lot, we did bingo and it was a blast. It was a beautiful day on the beach pond. They had great prizes for cheap cost. I spent 2 dollars for 10 long rounds of bingo with 4 cards. Who can beat that!!?? My son won a game prize worth 5 times that. I had to give the rest of the money I had as a tip because I was so happy with how everything worked out. They are always updating, someone broke the basketball 🏀 hoop on one side and it’s fixed 2 weeks later.

Update: They have changed days for me many times when I had issues with the camper. Never once asked questions or even treated me differently. No extra cost. You might have have to change spots but I don’t care. They are so easy to work with. Thanks guys

Great Value and Nice Family owned business. The lake is perfect, the river needs work. But this an awesome small campground. The kids who work here are so friendly and the playground is nice. They did a show on the beach one night that was fun too. We did bingo too. Have been going for 2 years and started with tenting up to a trailer. I love coming here and wish I could spend more time. Really close to Hammonassett beach and one of my favorite restaurants the “log cabin”. Make sure you bring Tupperware with you to this place.

Also don’t let other family’s ruin your trip. We had 3 family’s meet up on 2 sites near us and the father and mother just kept yelling at the kids. Made me feel bad for the children but doesn’t make me right a bad review about the campground.

Kettletown State Park isn't just for camping. There are also hiking trails , a fishing area and a swimming hole, but the week I was there there was a high bacteria count, so no swimming was allowed. Also, when swimming is allowed, there isnt a lifeguard.

The campsites are varied, you can tent camp, use a camper, or they also have a few cabins you can rent. Be advised, there isn't a kitchen or bathroom in the cabins!

Stayed in a cabin on the lower loop. Went hiking all day. Kinda close together sites, but the trails make up for it.

Fantastic campground not too far from New York. Super quiet, private campgrounds nestled in the trees, right on a river. This is an anglers campground, so there was some serious fishing going on. Not many kids or partiers. We jumped in the river and got out of the heat. Easy to get a reservation. Favorite spot to camp outside the city. Also lots of little cabins if you dont want to rent camp.

Well , one of the best sites , big enough, some have platform, clean bathrooms,many showers . Walk to the beach on Long Island sound , rocky beach you need water shoes or sandals , sunset is beyond amazing . Fire allowed, but no fire ring , rent it for $8 per day (rip off) so bring yours ! Quiet place , cabins look amazing, all booked , you gotta book a year in advance :( fishing and swimming allowed. Cell service available. Ticks signs everywhere, just be careful and wear light colors clothes. I’m going again this summer !

Being from extremely overcrowded and Long Island- we decided to take a week long trip and stay at site 14 at Housatonic Meadows State Park Campground in CT. After a beautiful 8 am crossing of the sound on the Port Jeff Ferry, we landed in Bridgeport at 9:20 at shot north on 8 and in an hour and 20 minutes arrived at the Park- we were early, but the Ranger was great and made a couple of rounds and let us know as soon as we could head to the site. This is a small campground and the site on the north side are the the only ones worth staying at- week booked 14. it was a Saturday afternoon, and it was NOT full! On LI- its impossible to get a campsite unless you book it 6 months in advance. Our first 24 hours were a bit of a let down, as we landed right in the middle of a 3 site family “fiesta”…. but we used Winnebago 1700BH to block it out, and set up under the canopy of old growth pines and oaks… by 12 on Sunday-we had the entire campground to ourselves… in the middle of JULY. The fishing, peace and quiet of the place was exactly what we needed!!Tons of birdwatching, hiking, river floating… the cabins look great also- typical campground baths.. mostly tents as we were the only trailer in the park…. wait? what?? We say this place is great!!

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.

My family has been camping at Lake Waramaug for over 20 years. I can say most of what’s been said is true or partially so but whether it’s bad or good depends on your point of view. Note that we are a Scout family and my husband and son have camped many days well off the grid with only the gear and food in their backpacks. That skews our point of view. 

First off, Connecticut’s state campgrounds are not KOA’s. 

Do not expect top of the line activities that private campgrounds have.

What it does have are clean, large sites that are partially wooded and not out in the open. 

The lake is great for kayaking, paddle boarding, canoes and for fishing. Bring your own gear but kayak and canoe rentals are available. The swim area is marginal- best for little ones. 

This park is remote from all conveniences- pack it in or expect a drive. There have been several times I’ve driven to the Dunkin Donuts miles down the road for coffee but I find using a French press is more convenient. For takeout there’s the White Horse on 202. It’s ranked a top restaurant in the state - the food is good. 

Never have we had issues with wildlife besides squirrels and ducks. Leave no trace is important - it keeps the unwelcome wildlife out. 

There have been issues with the bathrooms off and on over the decades. It seems like they’ve finally fixed everything. Our trip of 7/27-28 showed everything was fine.

The only on-site services are firewood and ice sales. The little food shack is out of business. 

Yes, cell service is basically non-existent. Our trip this weekend was the first time we received more than 1 bar in 20 years. Actually we were a bit disappointed because this camp ground is a great place to disconnect and relax. Being forced to put away the devices is heaven in my mind. You can drive about 5+ minutes out and get cell service. Regarding rowdiness, of the 20+ times we’ve camped only twice was it a problem. 

Also, this place is not glamping. The area is rural, so cows do moo at 6am, and kids are up even earlier. If you like to sleep in skip and rent a B&B. 

Also if you want a better place to swim go to Mt.Tom state park about 10 minutes up the road. It’s a day use only park-no camping- but the lake is gorgeous and there are very few people there.

This place is off Route 9 in Connecticut on the east side of the Connecticut River (major RT 9 highway is on west side). You need to cross the river via bridge to Goodspeed Opera house and past to get to the RV campground. Nearby attractions are Gillette Castle and Goodspeed Opera. The campground itself is realy nice. Cable TV at most sites. Only electric 30 or 50A, and water; but there are a few dumpstations around in the camp. Very peaceful. There are activities on Friday and Saturday (like Bingo). Great store with extended hours. The camp staff will help you with anything. Really long or tall RV will need to stay close to the front of the campground, as typical older campground is not designed for 40 foot long or 10 foot high campers.

On our way to through Connecticut, we needed to stop for a night. This was on Long Island Sound and had walk-up sites available. $33 per night gets you a site with bath house/restroom close by but no hook-ups. There is a public "beach" nearby which is way different than our Florida ones. We had to walk under the railroad tracks through a tunnel to get there. Interesting but still a nice feature and probably the main attraction here. There was also a concession stand, nature center, picnic area and boat ramp here at this park. Since we were getting a walk-up site they let us drive around and pick our site from a list of available ones. Most of them were on the small side accommodating tents or pop-ups. We found one in the Osprey loop which was very shaded. The bath rooms were clean and up to date. Good for a night on our way to Rhode Island.

1. Plan on bringing your own food and cooking. It is a 10 mile drive that takes about a half an hour to complete to get any take-out.

2. The Snack Shack is only open on weekends and its future is in doubt as this year's owners said they don't plan to renew contract. Cash only at present.

3. If you have your own paddleboard or canoe or kayak, this would be a good place to use them. If you don't there are very expensive rentals available on site.

4. Ice is $2 a bag and firewood $5 a bundle. Cash only. Good quality.

5. The camp office is only staffed until 5 pm!

6. There is a really great (but very short .65 miles) hiking trail behind the campground and a cool big rock to climb on near the bathrooms further away from the office and a field that would be good for flying kites, model airplanes or drones behind the state park parking lot.

7. It is possible to get a phone signal up at the "lookout" of the hike.

8. Monday apparently is trash day in the area for all the homes around the lake. They start collecting very early and the sound really carries over the lake.

9. Bring scooters or bikes for little kids to use within the camp.

10. There is a lot of good hiking that can be done within a 20 min-1/2 hour 8-12 mile drive. A good one would be the Steep Rock Association's Macricostas Preserve, where you can hike up and see the sun set over the lake.

11. The swimming area is an absolute joke, unless you are 18 months old, and then its probably perfect. (Extremely small, extremely shallow, and some sand to dig in.)

12. You will not feel like you are getting out in nature. The lake area is very built up and all private, except for the nice promenade area of the state park campground, which is not at all rustic, but good for drinking coffee or reading by the lake.

13. Every campsite has deep drainage ditches,  likely roots, and stumps as well, but not too much pine in the immediate vicinity to make a mess of your gear.

14. The roads around the campground are very narrow with a lot of blind curves. Be careful and aware when driving, and I think cyclists are taking a gamble.

15. Fair number of motorcyclists on a sunny Sunday afternoon, but they seemed fairly quiet and aware, so weren't bothersome.

16. A car alarm at a nearby house went off, and didn't turn off until the battery died.

It was not at all what we expected, but we tried to make the best of it. We were disappointed. I don't even know why anyone would go to the regular state park at all. CT has much nicer ones with more to do.

I tented here while doing a river stream reconstruction project in southern Connecticut.

To start, access to the river was great, though no swimming was allowed because of an algae bloom. The shorter hiking trails in the area were really beautiful.

Site 32 and the upper loop was not great though. The sites were super close together and the boundary lines were unclear, so my neighbors ended up using my fire ring to secure their tent. The picnic table seemed to be shared between sites and had boards missing, so it was challenging to use when available.

Overall, folks seemed to be there in larger groups for celebrations so things were loud well past midnight, which was challenging given how close each site was. I realize this is very time specific but there was no management presence around quiet time, and this happened both evenings I was there, so I got the sense that quiet times didn’t really apply.

The location was great especially for folks closer to the major metro areas, but I’ll be looking elsewhere if I’m ever in the area again.

I have been camping here since the early 90s. I am usually impressed by its cleanliness and upkeep. This past visit, Aug 2018, I was not impressed. It was run down, poorly kept and seems like the young employees just didn't care. I am aware of hurricane damage but no effect is made to keep the sites groomed and clean.In the first half hour I was there I cleaned up a bag of misc. trash. Did not see anyone cleaning or racking etc during the days I stayed. The trails are in real need of upkeep... I emailed the Dept of enviroment... u reiced a robot email stating that I'd hear from a human...never did. I hope the state funds a clean up.

Beautiful trails, flat & hilly. No camping as far as I can tell.

The reason why I said that place is perfect kids? It has a huge land of campsite that the kids can run around until their energy out for the night! Plus you would see awesome stars during the nighttime! I went to there with campers for ten years. One thing that I have to say to watch out for raccoons and skunk, they love to find food. :) be sure put foods in the car!

Campground Review

Me and my 10yo hit up this park for a stay while road tripping through the northeast for my speaking tour. We spent quite a bit of time in CT State Parks on this trip, and this was one of the best. Like most states, CT has quite a few really nice ones and others that seem to have been forgotten by the park system.

Kettletown has everything you could want in a state park visit...

Swimming area

Fishing area

Hiking

Woods

Camping, both primitive and hook up

We enjoyed playing there, especially chasing the Canadian Geese by the lake. We were there in early June, and were almost eaten alive by mosquitoes when we ventured into the woods. Take lots of bug spray and wear long sleeves/pants, even in the summer. I promise your stay will be more fun that way.

Product Review

CRKT Chance in Hell 18" Machete- https://www.crkt.com/shop/survival-knives/chanceinhell-machete-18.html

Be sure to watch the video for us using the machete- https://youtu.be/5kEg93Aqi5w

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time. Today, while we were at the park, we tested and reviewed the Chance in Hell 18" Machete from CRKT. My son and I both played with, I mean, USED the machete in a serious adult fashion while there.

We both approve and absolutely love this machete. As a former Marine and longtime outdoorsman, I've used a wide variety of really crappy machetes over the years ranging from off-the-shelf ones to military issue. I found that most would not hold an edge, were flimsy, and often broke with a modicum of use. Not so with this one.

I anticipate this beast of a machete, a Ken Onion design by the way, to last me a good long while. As a matter of fact, I think more of these will make excellent gifts for my boys in the future.

It's solidly built and chops wood as well as a hatchet. Even with one swipe, my son was able to make quick cuts to kindling wood and branches. We also tried it on soft ferns to see if it would cut or just bend them over. Quick swipes and the soft ferns were gone.

Aside from being a great camping and adventuring tool, if the zombie apocalypse ever occurs (fingers crossed!), this machete will make an excellent zombie-killin' tool.

The size is perfect for carrying but long enough to do some damage.

Great area to camp with kids. The lots were large. Semi private with great view and nice walks to the water. Noise was not a problem overnight as to having problems with noises neighbors at other CT state parks.