I love smiths point it is so much fun and very save but please lock up your bikes cause high schoolers will go over the bridge and steal you bikes or alcohol if they aren’t locked up at night. It’s happened to me.
Great place to hang with friends and family, lots of activities, clean bathrooms.
Good family campground with access to the ocean. No fire pits in the ground but you can bring your own ($50 on Amazon) or rent one (bring cash). I've done tent camping here in the summer but don't know much about the RV side, although I believe they have dump stations and such. Restrooms and showers are pretty good too, but typical campground bathrooms. 4 stars cuz I'm not a huge fan of the beaches, if I could give 4.9 stars I would.
The campground is more woodsy. The playground is really nice and big has a lot of slides. The bathrooms are in one area and the showers are in another area. Is good for dogs to the trails are nice and big
This is more of a drive-in picnicking park than anything else. They have some activities and areas for games, but I wouldn't really consider it somewhere to camp.
We went on Labor Day weekend and literally every site was booked, but for good reason. Really great and surprisingly long hike to the old lighthouse with lots of area for playing games and swimming.
They have a small playground, activities, tennis court, basketball. Not to mention its next to the amusement park.
However the tent spots are small and close together. Also there is only one set of facilities for the whole place. It's quite a walk to the bathrooms.
RV pull through sites were fantastic. It was a great campground for maiden voyage in new rig. Plenty of amenities.
The facilities were clean and more than adequate. The beaches, picnic areas and hiking trails were clean and clearly marked.
State is really trying with this park, putting in new beach front cottages. Other then that the RV and tent camping is horrible, as the previous review stated sites aren't marked and the tables and BBQs are trashed.
It’s nice for kids they have an open field with a playground for kids. There are dog friendly which was very nice. It is a lil tight from each site but you have the beach and a little hiking trails that makes it worth it.
This campground is old and there isn't much there, but it depends on why you're camping whether that matters to you. We wanted to be by the beach and we were.
The playground is new and centrally located. They also have a horseshoe pit.
There are lots of RVs but not close to tent sites. There were lots of showers but only 1 was unlocked (free and with hot water). The bathroom was very clean and well stocked.
There are 5-7 tent sites. Ours was #59, well shaded and spacious.
The water spigot and the gray-water dump are not right by the tent sites. Seems silly since the tents are the ones using them.
Our site was not clean when we arrived. There was garbage in the woods and cigarette butts on the ground. We cleaned up everything ourselves (except in the woods due to poison ivy), but I think they can do better.
There are NO fire pits, you must bring your own. Fires are allowed but you must have a fire container or bucket for your fire off of the ground.
The sites all have a table and raised BBQ "pit" for cooking only.
They are extremely nice there.
I still give this campground 4 stars because it was quiet, the campground itself was clean, the bathrooms were clean and it was centrally located to what I wanted to do plus the sites are very big.
Only about 20 min drive and 30 min ferry trip for us we got to watch hill. Awesome place close to home easy check in and very friendly ppl. It’s a bit of a walk to camp site but all on board walk (we took to carts full of stuff) some sites are not private meaning some site will have your neighbor right behind you. We had site 2 which was a nice private site. Short walk to the beach. Only thing no hot showers as it was a beach bathroom shower. It was a little cooler so showering was not that great also showers are not covered no curtains. Also come with deet repellent as mosquitos are vicious. Over all great weekend
Very convenient if you want to go to the beach every day, but the campsite itself is very busy and crowded, usually with a lot of families and kids. Can’t use hammocks here, and you need to rent a fire pit. Nice if you want the location, but not the best for actual camping
This park is run by the state located on the North Shore of Long Island, it's a good place to go if your a local and are looking for the country campground feel. It does sit on Long Island sound so there is beach access , mostly a rocky shore line. It's usually booked on weekends during the summer. Weekdays are easy to book and the price is great..
This is a small beach campground.Its all but impossible to get an RV spot there from Memorial day to Labor day. Still, it is a clean and well run campground.Easy beach access.
I love blydenburgh it’s my favorite park of all time for sure
Wife and I stopped here as our halfway point to Maine from Baltimore. We do not regret it! We got there late and couldn't check into a normal site but the park did let us use the emergency stop off area to set up a tent. The ESO area was located in the park and we had a nice shaded field right near the bathhouse to set up. Full access to the bathhouse and park facilities. It's $14 cash to use the ESO and well worth it if you need a place to stay on a extended trip. We can't wait to come back for a longer stay! We had to be packed up by 8am which was no problem because we went down to the beach in the morning and sat by the water. The park opens to public at 8 so we had almost an hour without any real crowds. The staff was nice and the facilities were clean, wish we could have stayed longer. Great place for families and don't forget your bikes! Very flat and plenty of riding!
My husband and and I camped one night at this newly reopened park over the weekend in Long Island just to check it out and were pretty disappointed by the tent camping area. There are 69 tent/trailer sites(no hook ups). There is no distinguishing separation between each site nor a designated driveway for your car- you merely pull up on the grass. It's basically like camping in your local city park. People park wildly all over the place, which also makes it more difficult to determine which site is which by the number painted on the roadway. Each"site" has a picnic table and an barbecue grate on a post. There is one bath/shower house in the center of all of these sites with no path provided for folks to walk to and fro, so naturally people will walk right through your site randomly rather than around the road. While the bathroom building itself is in decent shape and has a large amount of toilet stalls and about five showers, the condition of women's room was absolutely ghastly inside.
At some point during the evening, a maintenance worker on a golf cart showed up with a mop and some cleaning supplies and cleaned the men's side of the building. I was so relieved when I saw him, but he seemed to neglect the women's side completely, so I resorted to using the men's facilities all night.
There are no fire pits on any of the sites, although I learned afterwards that they do allow you to bring your own metal fire pit as long as it is elevated off the ground. There are large dumpsters located throughout the camping area and a large trash bag is provided (if needed) at the camp office when you check in.
The highlight of Heckscher State Park is the newly constructed heated cottages located on the shore of Nichol's& Great South Bays.. There are currently 11 cottages--- with more under construction. There are cottages suited for two, four, and six people and range in price from$225-$285 per night during off peak seasons and$250- 320 per night during the peak seasons.
The cottages are fully furnished, with a full kitchen and large bathroom with a walk in shower. The cottages are a short walk from the beach and also include a fire pit with Adirondack chairs and an outdoor shower on the exterior each property. I do not have photos of the inside, but they do have them on the Reserve America website if you are interested.
While the cottages are lovely and their location is fabulous they are quite pricey and no TLC was spent in the$22 tent/rv camping area, other than a new registration office which is not yet completed as of this weekend. I do hope they invest some funding in the primitive area to add fire pits,more water spigots, clearer site markings and for the continued maintenance& upkeep of the bath/shower house.
* I emailed the parks departement about the issues mentioned above about the camping area and received this reply:
I am sorry that you are upset with the conditions in our recently opened campgrounds. We have replaced all of the picnic tables. Although, they may look old because they are weathered since these picnic tables were put together during the Winter, however, they are brand new. All of the barbeques are also new and were installed during the Winter. We have changed and modernized the light fixtures and we will be replacing the rusted doors that you mentioned. There are also plans to install a playground within the campground beginning this Fall and we are looking for other improvements and additions to the campgrounds. As you probably noticed there is a new building under construction, at the entrance to the campgrounds, and it will serve as a check-in area, as well as, additional comfort stations, including family restrooms. Your suggestion of fire pits is a good one and the Park Managers will evaluate the feasibility of installing these. Lastly, I have spoken to the Park Manager who will review the cleaning operation to ensure the restrooms are appropriately maintained. I apologize for our employee not cleaning the women's room. Again, I am sorry for your negative experience but we are continuing to make improvements to the campgrounds.
Sincerely, George Gorman Regional Director New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
I will check back later this year to see if anything was changed and report back.
The beach area is very user-friendly with several parking lots as well as pavilions to break from the sun. Large bathrooms with showers and dressing rooms complete the amenities and several vending machines for snacks are available. Lots of shells and rocks so bring shoes.
In addition to the beach, there is a beautiful area adjacent known as Meig's Point. It is here you can follow a short trail through a partially wooded area straddling the beach. The beach is littered with boulders deposited by the glaciers. The views are beautiful and the rocks and stony beach give a connection to the time of the glaciers. Two information kiosks help to explain the evolution of the area. Across from here is a bucolic salt march. Beyond that is the nature center, another area to investigate.
This is a great spot with views of Manhattan, Statue of Liberty, etc. Expect to pay pretty good to be gear, but from here you can pretty much easily get anywhere in NYC. Service is great and friendly. Checking in was easy, and they accommodated our needs. Expect to pay between $35-50 for a Lyft to get to Brooklynn.
It's a good park/camp for groups. They have cabins and RV sites and now that the Tapan Zee bridge work is done most of them are now open again as the bridge workers have moved out.
There is a model airplane air field and a decent playground for young kids.
Only down side is there is a train depot right outside and you can hear them shunting trains all night.
Small campground. Sites very close to one another. Close to ferry for downtown and Statue of Liberty. People are very nice and accommodating. More of a stopping place to see the sites.
Usually every site (I think $14 a night for green key members) has a decent fire pit / grill. Usually quiet, occasional deer. Be sure to lock food away as the raccoons are pretty invasive. The further camps are very far from facilities and the ones closer to the bathrooms are usually louder / taken up. Pretty cool little spot!
We go here at least once a year. The ocean is beautiful and we catch stripe bass. The bay is peaceful and we go crabbing.
We’ve been going to Hammonasset for years as a large family gathering. Most sites don’t have hook ups so you have to run off battery and water storage tanks if you have a RV. My biggest gripe is lack of any enforcement. No one enforces the parks rules so some groups tend to be rowdy later in the evening, children on bikes darting in front of moving cars. Nice thing is it is fairly inexpensive and there’s several beaches to choose from.
Gateway is perfect for camping when you don’t need a big adventure, just a well crafted little one. Located in Brooklyn, it was a natural choice when I took my group of scouts who were between the ages of 3-5, so in case of emergencies, or kids who freak out about tent sleeping, getting home or other resources is easy. Once in the sites, the foliage and layout perfectly cuts out the city, so it feels like real woods camping. And the beach nearby, visitor center, trails, and other amenities means you always hav something to do. Special highlight, the aviation museum!
I highly recommend it if you’re camping with little kids or if you just want an easy relaxing weekend when you can pop up a tent, hang a hammock, and not have to worry about packing for a big trip.