Searching for a place to camp with your dog near West Simsbury? Find the best information on pet-friendly camping near West Simsbury, including sites, reviews, and tips for getting the most out of your RVing experience. You're sure to find the perfect pet-friendly campsite for your Connecticut camping excursion.
30 sites in pine woods. Dumping station, bathrooms, showers, fishing. No swimming. One pet/site permitted. *Early season is designated as rustic camping only - no bathrooms, showers or running water available. Portable toilets available. Water is anticipated to be available by May 1st, depending on weather.
$17 - $60 / night
White Pines is here to offer camping guests a wonderful campground experience in the beautiful northwest corner of Connecticut. Located in Litchfield County, White Pines is situated in a quiet neighborhood, on top of Wallens Hill, in Barkhamsted. You will find plenty to do during your stay, both on-site and off-site, or you may choose to simply relax at your site. Take a stroll along our Happy Tails Trail, with your pawsome friend, as you head to our dog park. Fish in our stocked pond, or visit the nearby Farmington River for some world class fishing. Join any of our offered activities, or create your own fun times. Whatever you choose, White Pines is a great family campground, where life is simple, friends are plentiful, and campfires burn brightly.
$74 / night
Lake Compounce Campground is a one-of-a-kind family camping experience located steps away from Lake Compounce Family Theme & Water Park. Lake Compounce Campground provides one-bedroom cabins, two-bedroom cabins, cub huts, tipis, RV spaces, and tent sites. Plus, perks like discounted single-day admission to the park, themed weekends every weekend, family activities, and tons of amenities.
Hammonasset Beach State Park is the largest of Connecticut’s shoreline parks. Two-mile beach, facilities for swimming, camping (third weekend in May to Columbus Day), picnicking, saltwater fishing, scuba diving, hiking and boating; concessions. Nature center and interpretive programs. Bicycle rentals available through Labor Day, rates begin at $10 per hour and range up to $75 per week, with discounts for children. Helmets provided free to use and are mandatory for riders 15 and younger. Note: Lifeguards on duty on Wednesday through Sunday. Pricing: Weekdays: free for CT vehicles; $15/out-of-state $7 after 4:00 pm. Weekends and holidays: free for CT vehicles; $22/out-of-state $7 after 4:00 pm William F. Miller Campground. 558 open sites. Concession, dumping station, bathrooms, showers. Saltwater swimming and fishing. Individual fireplaces not provided. No pets.
$20 - $45 / night
This town-owned park consists of 190 acres of wooded, rocky mountainside. Trails here are relatively easy on the flat but significantly more difficult on the hillside. The ground can be very wet after rains. Onion Mountain Park is accessed on the west side of West Mountain Rd. just south of Shingle Mill Rd. Visitors will find a good size parking lot.
Taconic State Park is located along 16 miles of the Taconic Mountain Range and great for camping near New York, sharing a border with Massachusetts and Connecticut. Two developed areas, Copake Falls and Rudd Pond, offer an extensive trail system with terrain that varies from easy to challenging, offering spectacular views. The extensive campground at Copake Falls has sites to accommodate campers seeking a more rustic experience, as well as those seeking a more "home like" experience. There are 45 tent sites, 25 tent platforms, 36 trailer sites and three cabin areas for a total of 106 campsites and 18 cabins. The trailer sites allow trailers up to 30 feet in length, but do not offer hook up facilities. Centrally located restroom and shower facilities are located in all campsite areas. The cabin areas vary in number of cabins, location and size. The smallest cabins accommodate up to 4 people and the largest 6 people. All cabins have electricity, lights, hot and cold running water, a kitchen with a refrigerator and stove, a dining area, a picnic table, and outdoor camp fire ring with grill. The "Ironworkers" cabins are equipped with private showers and flush toilets; campers in the "Bash Bish" cabins utilize a centrally located shower facility with flush toilets. Some cabins in the Greenwich Cabin Area are wheelchair accessible and offer extra amenities such as a microwave, sofa, shower, dishwasher and cable television hookup.
Scout
Very peaceful overnight camping, no permit required. Small campsite, first come first served basis. Other posts claim you can park right the site, but you can not. It’s up the yellow or blue trail depending on which one you take. However, it’s not a long walk to the parking area from the campsite.
Legend
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.
Scout
There are no hookups. Need to change the profile on the Dyrt.
Traveler
I was only up there for a few days for work. But it was really nice and had great play scale
Scout
Quiet (besides occasional plane overhead) lots of trees, spacious sites, clean and modern bathrooms and showers, nice friendly helpful staff.
Guide
Although sites are squeezed in, it is a nice family campground. However the site I had was steep grade from steps to picnic table. Flat ground area for camper was very narrow.Tricky footing for older folks like my wife and I. Particularly since my wife uses a cane.
Traveler
I stayed there for 3 weeks for work it was quite priced very reasonably for full hook up and about a half hour from stunning views.
TravelerStayed in cabin #1. Clean & had all the amenities but very dated & dark. Could use brighter light bulbs!! Beautiful & quiet. Enjoyed my stay.
Scout
We love camping at Odetah. Clean facilities. Great staff. New pool and hot tub. Will definitely come back
Traveler
Campground is a bit crowded with sites close together. The facilities were clean but quite old. There are some nice hiking trails along the river.
Scout
We booked last minute (2 hours before we arrived) and were met with the friendliest staff ready to help us at 7:30PM and get us checked in. Perfect spot if you don’t mind a 40 minute ride over to The Big E fair which is what brought us out to this part of MA. The restaurant was so nice, and to my surprise more than accommodating as I have celiac, they really went above and beyond. We will definitely be back next summer for a longer stay.
Ranger
I don’t mind paying a little extra some places because of being out of state, but paying $54 a night for not even any hookups when MA residents pay $17 is insane.
Guide
This campground has a lot of amenities for what you pay. You can get a site with just water, or electric and water. Can do RV or tent. Warm showers and playground for kids with communal areas. Quiet and dark both nights and the staff is very friendly, the campground is in the family. Will definitely stay here again!
Traveler
Was only $25 night. Great looking facilities and friendly staff.
TravelerThis is a hiking trail only- no camping per website: https://www.mass.gov/locations/jug-end-state-reservation-wildlife-management-area
Legend
I had a hankering for East Coast seafood, so I picked Hammonesett Beach State Park for Connecticut. Our 2nd state of 5.
Hammonesett Beach has a huge campground. They divide the loops with names. I unfortunately chose Pequot. This loop has THE WORST bathrooms/showers on the South side of the campground. Looks like they were built in 1950s with rotten wood siding. Dirty. The showers were outside the bathroom- there was a bench & hooks OUTSIDE! We found out all the other loops had modern bathhouses.
My first impression of this campground is it's loud, crazy busy & there's traffic noise from the beach road. I actually liked it! This is a fun campground for families. There were kids on bikes, scooters, skateboards,roller blades. Watch your speed! They don't always watch out for your car.
I found out most people stay through Sunday & leave on Monday. There were still lots of campers left. Lots of tent campers.
I chose site 14 on the Pequot Loop because I thought I would have a view of one of the ponds. There was tall vegetation, so that was out.
The sites on the other side of the loop were right by the main beach road. Noisy during the day, but quiet at night.
There are some sites with shade, but most are sunny.
There's no electricity at most of the sites. Our site was full sun(yay for the solar panel!). On Beach Road in the campground there's 2 rows of full hookup sites, but they go FAST! I tried.
NO PETS! Including dogs.
No WiFi, but there's cell service. At least 5 dump stations.
The beach was popular.
There was a stream running from a pond that kids were playing in.
They have a beautiful Nature Center. A couple of easy hikes through one of the preserves.
This was a good base camp for the area. Gillette Castle & other state parks are within driving distance. Connecticut is a beautiful state!!
ScoutIt is a beautiful spot to visit the Taconic region, however this campsite is not up to pace. There is a lot of noise, a lot of people, and not much enforcement of the rules of candy clicker.
Scout
JUNE 30,2024 my husband & I were seasonals at waters edge campground Lebanon Connecticuit gave them a 30 day notice we were leaving this place wasnt for us just awful the owners are just money hungey thieves they told us they were keeping our deposit wich we expected because it says non refundable deposit so okay fine but we paid for the whole season its open april15 to october15 gave a 30 day notice left june 30 they refused to give us back the money for july ,august,september,to october 15 they ket 750 plus 2500 dollars told us were not getting our money back So iam sure they rented the site thats double dipping so fair warning I dont want this to happen to anyone else they will Rob you blind oh and they broke our ice maker when they dewinterized our trailer and never owned up to it came down to my floor in camper soaked with water from my freezer and didnr bother to clean tthe mess and said it must have been broken nefore so they are also dirty liars I didnt want to even give a one star rating but had to put somethin i give the a big fat 0
Traveler
Dyrt says $17-$54 went through all the hoops to book one for tonight said $17 per night went to check out expecting a few extra fees, $58.50.....that's over the max advertised....DYRT YOU NEED TO GO THROUGH AND DELETE BAD ENTRIES. YOU ARE A DISSAPOINTMENT.
Traveler
First off no same day reservations or walk ups allowed, second it yells you that the fee is $17.50 per site, I expected a little added extra fee for booking etc.... check out was $58.50 per night. I would have if they weren't so manipulative about it.
Traveler
The best activities for children and adults, great amenities, clean restrooms, Awesome pool thanks to ASHTON, Thanks so much.
Scout
I booked site 5 for the week. Great experience! Quiet woods atmosphere with trail’s. Wonderful place to camp. Very clean
GuideI can here to spend time with friends and i feel like we got lucky with our site. It had a nice wooded area behind us and felt more private than some of the other site.
The swimming there felt really clean and I loved the dock. Close to great hiking.
Traveler
We had our very first camping experience with our new camper at this campground and it was everything we could have imagined and more. It’s a beautiful campground, the gentleman and his family who own it are sooooo nice and they helped us a lot when it came to learning how to properly use our camper. All the fellow campers that we met were extremely nice. It’s a quiet campground, located right on a river. My children spent hours in it playing and fishing. Looking forward to returning.
Scout
This was our families first time staying at Brialee Campground. The cabin was absolutely beautiful and clean. The staff were friendly and helpful. The activities were great and kept my grand children busy. Swimming and the lake were fun. I cannot say enough wonderful things. We had such a great time I booked my reservations for Next July 2025 before I left.
A special thank you to Sherri for the personal tour and showing us the ropes! She is the best.
The D'Avanzo Family
TravelerWe rented a rustic campsite for a long weekend and it was way better than expected. The staff was helpful, the site was pretty and there are so many places to hike and the best of the Berkshires so close by. There are only two showers in each gendered bathroom, but there are so many RVs here it never was an issue. The pool is being renovated so it is currently closed.
Traveler
This was our first time visiting and my entire family enjoyed themselves so much, that we've already reserved a site for a few weeks from now. Arts and crafts, tractor rides, and of course the tubing down the river. Lots of built in entertainment for the kids! The grounds were clean, the playground was nice, and the people were all friendly. We did a late checkout for $5 extra, but the noon checkout and two dump stations would make leaving on time a non-issue as well.
Of note: We camped with friends, who were given a spot next to a large group of people (weekend prior to 4th of July is to be expected). The group were very polite and abided by quiet hours, but they were having fun and a bit loud for my buddy's 2 month of baby. They requested to move sites, and the management was super accommodating and apologetic. Helped him move his site and threw in some firewood for the troubles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near West Simsbury, CT?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near West Simsbury, CT is Austin Hawes Memorial - American Legion State Forest with a 4.6-star rating from 9 reviews.
What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near West Simsbury, CT?
TheDyrt.com has all 102 dog-friendly camping locations near West Simsbury, CT, with real photos and reviews from campers.
