Best Glamping near Childwold, NY

I took a solo trip through upstate New York a couple years back and spent a lot of time in the Adirondacks. I stopped at Lake Durant camp ground for a night and had a great experience. I was here in early September and the trees were already showing signs of color change. The early morning was pretty chilly, but watching the fog lift from the lake was worth the chill. The site I had was pretty secluded and the park was kept in great shape. I highly recommend this site for anyone who is touring through the Adirondacks.

Lovely State Park in the 1,000 Islands where water activities are the main attraction. Make sure to check out the island too! The park spans the island and a little snaking river-like bay. Really pretty to explore on boat. Easy and very pretty trails on site, walk along the shore too. Decent wildlife and great birding. Feels very isolated though easy to get to. Bring your passport, you can see Canada from some of the picnic grounds. Incredible sunsets!!!

Quality State Park facilities, clean. Camping ranges from tents in shady woods to cabins. Some sites are pretty private, even the ones that aren't are quiet.

Note: Robert Moses apparently did a lot in New York State. This park is near Canada! There is also a Robert Moses beach on Long Island near NYC (Fire Island National Seashore) and Robert Moses parkway near Niagara Falls. These are all 8+ hours from each other! Be careful with your mapping apps and in getting advice for travel.

Solid 10/10 would camp again! We stayed at the Heart Lake Campground for a week and a half utilizing it as our home base for adventures into the High Peaks Wilderness and the greater Adirondack region. We had a very pleasant stay here and personally found the weekdays to be best for “camp days” given there were few people—weekends are PACKED and there were more than a couple of party sites. It did appear that you would be able to drive in without reservation on a weekday and find yourself a site! Specifically, our site was fairly flat and most were like this but there were some that appeared to have a slope if you happened to be car camping. There are two wash houses with showering and bathroom amenities that are cleaned weekly (from what we observed). Multiple water fill stations sprinkled throughout the campground area. This campground is primarily tent centric, however, there are yurts, lean-to’s, and a handful of cabins available (and of course the ADK Loj has rooms). There is Wi-Fi at the Loj and meals are served but we believe these are for Loj guests only.

First thing about Cranberry Lake: the staff are wonderful. We arrived when the check in staff had the day off. Not a problem we only needed wood which was available just down the street from the campground. No need, the ranger, who let us know the overworked staff was off, brought it to our site once he had figured out the key. Sweet. Our site was on the uphill slope so we had some road noise due to that. We walked a bit of the campground until we realized it's larger than first assumed. I will say do your homework, check out the site photos which you can easily find online. Get a waterfront site but be aware the privacy isn't great at many sites, at least the ones we saw. There is a shower house which is great but be ready to drive to it, as I said the campground is bigger than expected! Some sites are super close which would be great for groups who may like to visit or it could be a nightmare with loud folks. The lake is beautiful. We weren't set up for it but if you can plan for the sunset view I think it's worth rescheduling your trip for the right site. Brand new sewer dump area for folks who need it.

This is a Great Lake for kayaking, clear and calm, lots of nooks and crannies to explore. And if you can get a lakeside site, you can launch from your site, enjoy the beautiful sunsets, watch the ducks...but if you aren’t lucky (or early) enough to get a lake site, forget it. There is one narrow access path in Loop 1. No parking, and no connecting paths between loops. We were in Loop 2, which meant dragging our kayaks across someone else’s site and down the road a bit to get to the launch area. And the sunsets? We had to scope out which site was vacant each night to get a glimpse. The campground needs to designate one campsite per loop for lake access for campers in that loop.

Tons of free campsites and lean-to everywhere.

Some with picnic tables and fire area.

First arrive type! 

I camped while hiking the full CL50 loop.

You can also swim or go fishing!

We stayed at Blue Jay 8/28-9/31. We were very happy with the amount of space allotted to each site. All the sites I saw were even. The bathrooms were conveniently located. Hot water in the showers is a plus. Lots of lake front, boat launches and swimming areas. Convenient to town, hiking and other activities.

Beautiful scenery, plenty of hiking and kayaking right from your campsite, mountain trails a short drive away - all the ingredients for renewal and recharging!

Rollins Pond was the perfect tent-camping campground for our first trip to the Adirondacks. It was generally quiet Memorial Day weekend, and we were able to snag a lakeside site with plenty of trees and space for our tent, SUV, and more. The campground is hilly, so we drove to the nearby showers and garbage. The only drawbacks were the campground’s boathouse doesn’t open until June/July, which was not mentioned on the website, so we weren’t able to rent kayaks to use on the pond. There are no dishwashing sinks at the bathrooms.

My family and I have stayed at Rollins Pond many times. As it isn't too far of a drive for us, it quickly became our go-to campgrounds for quite a while due to the mostly flat campground and who doesn't love hearing the slow trickle of water splashing close by? The site we have stayed at almost exclusively has amentities very close by which is always handy, but you do get quite a bit of traffic nearby as such. While I have really enjoyed Rollins Pond, I would caution going prior to June unless you are prepared for varying weather. I have been up there pitching the tent in a t-shirt one day only to need to throw on a jacket the next day due to rain and even snow. If you are prepared for that though, you'll have an amazing time.

This campground is beautiful, and most of the sites are lakefront. Some sites are more spacious than others, but with the lake views, you can't complain. No hookups, so a bit trickier for rv's, but being right on the water makes it worth it. We loved renting canoes/kayaks and exploring the lake. An ice cream truck and firewood truck make the rounds (ice cream truck may just be on weekends). Did I mention the lake views?!

Our extended family goes every year for a long weekend, and it’s often the best weekend of the year for a lot of us. Rollins is well maintained and the views are spectacular. If you bring a canoe (or rent one) you can access a vast network of ponds and streams, if you prefer hiking, there are beautiful and extensive trails to hike on.

Beautiful park, Clean bathrooms and showers, Very helpful staff

WE love staying at Rollins Pond in a tent! Our family always meet friendly people and falling asleep to loons is priceless! We always have wildlife at our site. This past trip we had chipmunks, squirrels, ducks, and a crane. The time before, we had a family of loons!

camped here more than once, great every time

if you want a nice place you can combine all 4 items. Rollins pond is for you. some campgrounds are by the roadway but some are really just bu the water. i highly recommend number 201, ot is pretty much secluded from others and has areally nice natural docking spot to put your kayak or whatever easily next to your tent. this site is pretty large, i am sure you will like it. the restroom could be in better condition but all in all it is definitely a place i wouls go back again

Nice clean bathrooms, and showers. sites are far enough apart. rangers always there to help if needed. Great place to camp.

Great sites and access point to nice canoeing waters. Moter boats restricted and sites are very wooded.

On a recent trip to the Adirondak Mountains we camped at Rollins Ponds. A beautiful wooded campground with adjoining ponds. If you are a kayaker, canoer, or rowboat enthusiaist you'll love this park. There are no motorized boatd allowed on the pond as of the time we camped there. There is however a boat ramp where you can rent these and enjoy the placid waters of the ponds. If you are a fisherman(which we are) there is good fishing in Whey Pond which is stocked with hungry trout. We took a canoe portage from Rollins through Whey through Fish Creek and back crossing narrow strips of land to get from pond to pond. There are great hiking and biking trails as well. The camp ground is very wooded and private and many sites are right on the water. There are more than ample bathroom facilities with hot showers for your convenience. If you are looking for a nearby day trip we climbed one of the High Peaks and for those not so adventurous Lake Placid Olympic facilities and Adirondak Museum at Blue Mountain Lake are approximately 30 miles away. We will go back as we enjoyed this area.

Overall it’s a nice campground. Well managed and very well upkept!

It’s split into 2 sides. The west side is way cooler, less bugs and more views. The east side is RV/camper heaven.

Overall, the place was beautiful. Very peaceful, lots of privacy, and we loved it. We camped on site 188 for 3 nights and really enjoyed having our own private “beach,” however, we it was extremely boggy! The campground had put down sheets of plywood to help, but still the ground was so soggy that the plywood had eventually “soaked away.” It helped but not much.

Aside from the wetness of the ground it really is a beautiful spot. I’d still camp there but not at 188. Also, the hike in does take some effort, it’s not bad but if you car camp and have pop up or anything heavy it could be difficult for you.

The West side of the campground is reserved for primitive tent campers with a few choice sites right on the water. These sites generally have tent platforms which is a good thing. On my recent trip there the ground was saturated and boggy. Not sure if that is normal or was just due to wet weather this spring. These platform sites are all hike-in, with a few of them located a good distance from the camp road. Each of these sites has its own outhouse. The one on my site was cleaned once or twice over the course of five days. There are other sites on the west side, not located on the water, but closer to your vehicle so you don't have to carry gear in and out. These sites are also close to water spigots. On the more developed side of the campground things are much as you would expect at a NYS campground. The sites are not especially private, but they come in all sizes. There is a beach with canoe rentals and swimming, an amphitheater, showers, a recycling center and a dump station. Wood and ice are also offered for sale. I'll take the quiet privacy of the west side, but there is plenty on offer for all different camping styles at Meacham Lake.

This campground is like having 2 campgrounds in one. One side of the lake is a bit crowded and can get rowdy. This side has flush toilets and showers. There are waterfront sites here. The other side of the campground is completely different, and a bit hidden. (Meacham Lake West) No flush toilets or showers, simply outhouses at each site. There may be a couple flush toilets you can walk to. Also, you will need to park and hike in a bit, but the views are so worth it! You can have a beautiful site right on the lake, and your neighbors are not on top of you. There is running water as well.