Best Campgrounds near Chester, NY

This is a very nice wooded campground. We LOVED our site (site 9). It was absolutely massive! The photo doesn't do it justice. It was set back very far from the main road and was an extremely large site! Though it was totally private on one side, we could see our neighbors in site 10 on the other (but they weren't very close to us). Also, the back of the site overlooks the main road, but it is far away and didn't bother us at all. It still felt like a very private site. It is also right across the road from a water pump and from the path to the bathrooms so it is a prime location.

The bathrooms were fine. They were clean but sometimes ran out of toilet paper.

There was no cell service in the campground.

The campground does not sell wood, but rangers will direct you to a gas station close by where you can buy some.

Something we did not appreciate/thought was odd about the campground was that the showers were not by the bathrooms and there was only one shower house very far from the campsites. The dishwashing station was also not near the campsites but not as far as the showers.

The fireplaces at each site are cleaned out in between visitors so that was nice.

This campground is about 45 minutes from Minnewaska State Park which is beautiful and has good hiking.

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay!

If you like dispersed camping, like me- this place is good. There are absolutely no amenities whatsoever & barely even a signal here, but it’s quiet & off the beaten path. The parking lot only holds about 4-5 cars, 6 if you park real tight. There’s no spectacular mountain views from above, but rather a quiet peaceful wooded area & although I only seen/stayed at one camping spot which is literally at about the required 150ft from the road, you can set up your own camp anywhere. I was the only one here & it was a very peaceful & relaxing night

There are four campgrounds that are all pretty different, we stayed at Shotwell across from the pond. For the most part, each campsite has its own porta potty or it shared with a couple other sites. At the entrance of the campground, there is a bathhouse with running water, bathrooms, and potable water. We stayed in one of the RV areas across the pond. It was peaceful to hear the frogs chirping at night, but definitely didn’t think about how many more bugs the pond would bring, probably wouldn’t stay at that specific spot again even though it’s really pretty. Most of the campsites were very rocky, but you can find some that have a little bit of grass. We came on a Friday night. Everyone was up pretty late, but was not crazy loud. The rest of the weekend it seemed like everyone’s simmered down. The campground was full of mostly families. If you wanted to shower, you would have to head to the group campsite not too far but you need to drive. We don’t typically expect to have a campgrounds with a ton of amenities. Potable water and a toilet is really all we need. Overall, it was a great time gorgeous park. Also took a few pictures of the cabins in Shotwell. I wouldn’t personally rent one, but I guess if your winter camping it has a little fireplace and will keep you dry and somewhat warm.