If you're looking for a place to pitch your tent near Bethel, look no further. Find the best tent camping sites near Bethel. Whether you're looking for a quiet, dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
There are five lean-tos as well as five primitive campsites marked with round, yellow, DEC markers. In addition, primitive camping is allowed. Campsites must be at least 150 feet away from the nearest road, trail, or body of water. Camping for more than three nights or in groups of ten or more requires a permit from the regional office.
Camping is prohibited above 3,500 feet in elevation from March 22 until December 20 each year to protect the fragile summit environment. Campfires are permitted below 3,500 feet in elevation, but only dead and down fuel may be used. In an established campsite, use the existing fire ring. Before you leave, completely extinguish the fire. Never leave a fire unattended. The use of camp stoves is encouraged.
Peekamoose Valley: The Peekamoose Valley (County Route 42 in the Town of Denning) is a popular rustic camping area. Camping permits are now required to reserve primitive tent sites from May 15- September 15 of each year. Camping is restricted to reserved, designated campsites marked with the yellow camping symbol. Visit Reserve America (leaves DEC website) to make a reservation.
Lower Field: Camping is restricted to 12 designated sites. Permits can be obtained from Reserve America.
Bear Spring Mountain is located in the western end of the Catskill Forest Preserve. The campgrounds beach, boat rental, and multi-use trail system offers fun for all ages. For the horse riding enthusiast, Spruce Grove camping and trail system is one of a kind facility in the Catskill region. This region is also known for its excellent hunting and fishing.
The facility is broken into two distinct areas, the Launt Pond Area (the main campground) and the Spruce Grove Area which is 3.5 miles from the campground office. The Spruce Grove Area is equipped with pit toilets. The hot showers, rest rooms and garbage disposal area are all located in the Launt Pond Area. Spruce Grove campers have access to all amenities, however they will be a drive from their camping area. Amenities
41 tent and trailer sites; picnic area with tables, grills, playground, horseshoe pits, volleyball and pavilion rental; rowboat, canoe, kayak and paddle boat rentals; firewood sales; trailer dump station; recycling center; flush toilets and hot showers at Launt Pond Area; boat launch; sand beach; 24 horse tie stalls and horse accessible ramp; 24 miles of multi-use trails. Please note: There are no horse rentals available at this campground. Proof of current negative Coggins Certificate is required for all horses entering the campground. Out-of state horse owners will be required to produce a 30-day health certificate Patrons must carry each horse's health papers with them at all times.
$18 / night
The campground is dedicated to the memory of Sam Pryor, an extraordinary conservationist whose life's work included bringing this project to fruition. More information about the campground can be found at https://americanalpineclub.org/gunks-campground
The American Alpine Club and Mohonk Preserve are cooperatively managing the campground. Campground amenities include a pavilion and cooking area, bathhouse and restroom facilities, and circulation trails. There are 24 drive-in spots (one vehicle per site) and 26 walk-in spots. All sites accommodate up to two tents (and four people) per pad. Showers are $1 for 4 minutes and are coin-operated. No RVs, no trailers, and no vehicles over 22'.
Members receive a discount on their stay, you can register for membership through the American Alpine Club at www.americanalpineclub.org/join or through the Mohonk Preserve.
Campers may access Mohonk Preserve, New York State's largest nonprofit nature preserve, via a connector trail to the Preserve's Visitor Center and historic carriage road network for world-class rock climbing and bouldering, hiking, mountain biking, trail running, and nature exploration. Memberships and day-use passes are available at the Visitor Center and all Preserve trailheads.
Traveler
I’m a family of 5 and my friends family of three all stayed in one site. We went in October at the peak of the leaves changing colors. It’s was beautiful. A 6 point buck walked right through our site literally. The kids enjoyed it a lot. Amenities were very clean. Even the portapot we used was very clean. Will visit again. No service/no electronics. A good way to just unplug and enjoy Gods creation
Guide
Love this place will definitely be back, not sure why it didn’t show up for free camping when I had it filtered, found it on another app. Was not the easiest for my RV van to get up the hill with the ruts, but I have a small lift so it helps, lower clearance vans might not make it. It’s a single camper site at the top of the hill left before the trailhead parking.
Traveler
Stokes is my go-to state park for unplugging and enjoying time with my family. We brought our son (23 months at time of visit) on his first camping trip this past September. He loved every minute of it.
Site T07 in Lake Ocquittunk is gorgeous and one of the few relatively secluded sites in the campground. You need to carry your gear down a narrow, rocky path that's a little steep near the road, but it's manageable. There's also a graded path into the site adjacent to a neighboring site, but you should check with those campers if they are ok with you cutting through to use it. (We opted not to disturb our neighbors and take the slope.)
I thought I would be able to launch my kayak from site 7 since it's waterfront, but there are a lot of huge rocks in the water that prevent you from getting out into the lake. We had to find a different launch spot. That was probably the biggest disappointment for us.
Still, I love site 7 and it's absolutely worth the privacy and the views every morning.
Ranger
The weather was terrible while I was there, so perhaps this review may be biased. The Campground was very quiet in mid October. Many of the sites seem to be seasonal as there was no traffic to or from them. But there was quite a bit of daily traffic, usually arriving late and leaving early. Perhaps because the weather was turning very chilly and although the leaf peeping was at its peak for this season, I think people were heading south fast like me.
Ranger
The lake is gorgeous and there are nice hiking trails, but sites are very small and close together. Let’s are allowed in less than half of the campground, which means all the dogs are in a smaller area and barking at each other more than other places. The no-pet area was practically empty when we were there midweek but the pets-allowed area was much more crowded than we would have liked.
Also rules and signage are wildly confusing, lots of things contradict each other. Cell service exists but not great for remote work.
Scout
Just Perfect!
Ranger
The perks of this campground is the easy river access. Besides Dingmans camp nearby or others on the NJ side of River, this is the only riverside campground before reaching NY. The river access alone makes it worth a visit if you plan on kayaking a long stretch and need a home base, like we did. Friendly and attentive staff, clean bathrooms, full camp store, swimming allowed at your own risk. They offer kayak tours with shuttle service. Small campground stretches up river side with several site options. The sites are very very small and close together. The lower river front sites offer the best views for tent campers. The upper RV/camper sites near entrance have some water views but most are obstructed by trees and sit high above river. You cannot access river from here but it’s an easy short walk down to river access area. The rest of campground is very cozy with a few sites near a small creek. It was very quiet during the week, hardly anyone there. We enjoyed the river almost to ourselves. The weekends get very busy as most come to swim and bbq. Overall still a very nice spot for a weekend. Our reason for 3 star rating is the size of camp sites and road noise 24/7 due to two busy nearby roads. We could hear it from anywhere in the campground, and some tents sites sit right along the side of the road. But, we would stay again for the convenience of river location and accommodating staff. We stayed in site 130 with 34’ trailer.
Scout
Stay in one of the last weekends of August. We were a party of 8 so we needed 2 sites, the first sites we booked were horrible - so so tiny (E11 & E12) and right on a swampy pond where the grass is growing into the water so it was hard to see where the water line was. We had kids, so we needed to move our sites. We ended up right across the way on E7 & E8 - much better. This loop for tent campers is mixed. Some of the sites are literally on the road - stay away from the sites on the same side of the road as the pond. I saw a family who literally had to block the road a little bc they couldn't park their car *and* have a tent on the tiny site. Anything on the side of E7 is bigger and a little deeper into the trees, but nothing seemed to be private in this campground. It was a busy weekend, so of course there was loud music and partying - it just so happens that it was next door to our sites. Bathrooms were far on this loop. There are little foot bridges that you could take to get to the bathroom easier (and closer) but they are set on people's campsites, so if someone is on that site it's really walking through their site to get to it. The campground has good amenities - wifi, pool, jumping ball, playground, basketball courts, volleyball courts, and a tether ball court :). Great for the kids. Pool is small but it works. There's a cafe there so we were able to grab coffees and stuff. They deliver wood and ice to your site which is super convenient. We would return for sure. Also - just to let everyone know the fire pit is really small.
Guide
Park on side of road, campfire located down slope. Very little traffic. Felt safe.
Legend
Our 4rth state in our 5 state trip is New Jersey! We wanted to see Delaware Water Gap NRA & I found a campground by Newton called The Great Divide. This is a private campground. Very scenic with a small lake, a pond & surrounded by woods. This is also the most expensive campground on our trip at $96.11 a night.
Lots to do for families- they have kayaks for camper use. Horseshoes, tether ball, volleyball, a pool, a playground, a dog park. There's a swimming beach.
One strange thing is there's a lot of tent sites & they seemed popular. For the amount of tent/popup sites they only have 1 shower per loop. They are very clean & checked often, but they're used heavily during the weekend. I had better luck Sunday evening. A bench outside the bathroom would have been nice to sit & wait.
The rv sites were all full hookup on our loop.
We came in on a Friday & found out this campground ROCKS!!! They have live bands every Friday & Saturday night during the warm months. This might explain the higher rates. Party on!
GuideA great free spot for dispersed camping tucked right off the road. Had a fire pit and picnic table
Guide
I read a previous review that stated small cars stay away. I nave a Nissan rogue and made it in no problem. It's .8 miles in on the right. There was another closer in but seemed full. I'm right across from the lake in amongst a copse of trees. Drawback solar is pretty much out. I would not drive an rv in here except maybe a small type trailer.
GuideStokes State Forest is a beautiful park with a lot of different trails to check out, though some of them are difficult to access due to parking. The camping areas are split between two different entrances. If you’re in Lake Ocquitunk, like I was, you don’t enter at the main entrance, you have to go past the main entrance about another mile on rt. 15 N. and enter by the YMCA. All the other camping areas are near the main entrance by the forest office. The campsites themselves are a little too close together in some spots with little coverage or privacy. There is a day parking area which is only accessible going through the main entrance by the forest office— if you visit during the week park entrance is free, but on the weekend fees can be a bit steep. I wasn’t super happy with my campsite as I wasn’t able to physically have my car on the site like I thought. I had to park in a small lot above my campsite and carry my belongings down a short slope to the site. I like to car-camp so this was a bit of a let down having my car separate from my actual campsite.
The bathrooms were nice and had flush toilets, but the showers were out of service during my time. Bathrooms are extremely spaced out so you will have to walk a far distance unless you strategically choose a site next to one. I drove through the other campsite and only saw 1 set of bathrooms that had toilets and showers per campground, not including the outhouses I saw for those in the small cabins.
Guide
If you’re looking for a place to be a recluse, this is not the campsite to go. Being it’s along the Delaware water gap it attracts a lot of people, especially in summer. During the day you can hear music, smell fires, see people tubing on the water, or pass by people doing day picnics near the forest office. I went in the middle of the week and all the campsite in my area were filled up. I’m normally used to having campgrounds to myself when I go since I do during off times so this was a bit of a surprise. WiFi is very spotty— I was essentially out of range the entirety of my stay. Trails are nice and well marked, and there is no fee to enter if you drive all the way down to the day area parking at the end of Old Mine Rd. Bathrooms were decently clean and had flush toilets. Showers had hot water and nice ventilation. Overall it was a nice campsite, but too busy for my liking.
Guide
Really enjoyed our 2nd stay at Mongaup and will return. Good, private sites and a great pond. Facilities were clean and staff was very helpful and friendly.
Traveler
Nice and clean, right on the water. Spread out just enough to feel like we had good privacy
Traveler
Blackbear is such a fun spot. Always a good time, clean, and the perfect weekend away. This spot is only 40 minutes from my regular 9-5 and it feels like it’s in another world. When you wake up, look up at the black bears in the trees and enjoy the water!!
Legend
We stayed at Kymer's on a whim for a weekend, so we could be close to Mountain Creek for a Spartan Race. It truly exceeded our expectations in all aspects. This is a family friendly, camper-friendly place. Lots of seasonals- everyone waves, everyone stops to chat. This is what a campground should feel like. The sound of laughter and play sitting around the huge, clean pool was refreshing. Our site was Oak 10. It was level, good placement of electric water & sewer connects. Camp store has all the basics you might need. There is a brook that flows adjacent to the property. It's peaceful & magical. Pet friendly, although we didn't have our pup with us. We will be back again. I almost feel like I'm revealing a hidden gem with this post. 💎
Traveler
Keen lake is the most cleanest friendliest family environment campsite you will ever find. Beautiful lake great fishing. Activities all day long for the children. Great general store that has everything in it that is open from sun up to sundown. The nachos and ice cream are the best. Super friendly staff. It's big they have tent sites right along the lake the lake is huge there's so much I could say but I would run out of room. I started coming here when I was four and I am now 46 years old and it is just the best place ever. It will always have a special place in our heart. Look forward every year to coming here no matter what age my kids are they all have a blast. From tent sites to RVs to cottages to glamping you name it they have it highly recommend it. Recently went camping to somewhere a little bit closer to home and it's nothing compared to here. It's like comparing Macy's to Walmart. You will never regret coming here. So pack your family up and have a great time.
Traveler
Went tent camping for 3 nights, easy to get to, bathrooms were clean and so was the site. Sites were a good size and not on top of each other. Firewood was available in the area. But not much for stores so pack everything in before.
ScoutVery clean park. Lots of families. Tubing was fun. Bring bug spray.
TravelerThe forest is beautiful around the park. Lake is pretty too. Site we stayed at was nice and level for a yent, plenty of trees for a hammock
Scout
Great first tent camping experience for kids. Lots of activities, clean restrooms. One thing to keep in mind is the tent sites on the opposite side of the road from the river has no shade. Site gets pretty hot on a sunny day. Sites by the river have some shade.
Scout
Friendly staff, beautifully kept.
TravelerShady sites in a quiet cg . Nice lake for fishing . Reasonably priced breakfast on weekends . Great staff . Good utilities and clean bathrooms .
Scout
I was warned about this place and told not to go here, gave it a chance anyways and biggest regret. Spent$300 on 2 sites and for extra people to come which is ridiculous to begin with but did it anyways. They seemed laid back as a person was drinking a beer in the office. So im not sure why there were rangers stalking us in the woods... right after my fiance proposed getting down on 1 knee the rangers come running to ticket us for having a celebratory drink!! Completely ruined our entire weekend and engagement. Got a ticket minutes after our engagement!!! Never had an experience like this camping out of 100 camping trips we've done!! Worst place we have ever been to. Let alone u can't swim even swim at the riverfront sites. The water is 1 foot deep the entire river across. IF YOU WANT TO CAMP AT A GREAT RIVER CAMPGROUND GO TO WORTHINGTON NJ!!! RANGERS AND STAFF WILL NEVER RUIN YOUR NIGHT AND THE CHANNEL IS RIGHT AT YOUR SITE SO CAN SWIM!!! ONLY$25 A NIGHT!!!!:D Only 20 min from this rough campground Go to Worthington you won't regret it, you'll regret it at dingmans
Guide
Nice quiet campgrounds close to the Beaver kill and great service staff was supper friendly and helpful
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Bethel, NY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Bethel, NY is Namanock Island — Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area with a 4.9-star rating from 9 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Bethel, NY?
TheDyrt.com has all 55 tent camping locations near Bethel, NY, with real photos and reviews from campers.
