Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Putnam Valley, NY

Recently, we camped here for a week. We don’t ever post negative reviews like this. The last day, we experienced a violent attack by a very large and aggressive Pit Bull. The Pit Bull did not have a collar or a leash and was accidently let out of the RV to roam free and unsupervised. It immediately ran to our site(4 sites away) and attacked our dog that was tied at the time. The incident was unprovoked. While trying to save our dog, my wife and I were also attacked. The wounds were serious enough to require emergency transport to a hospital for treatment including stitches. All we could think of was what might have happened if our granddaughter had been playing with our dog. 

To put it mildly, their existing pet policy is grossly lacking. They never checked what breed of dog or ask to see documentation of shots when we were registering. Yogi Bear Jellystone Park needs to better manage their pet policy to address aggressive dog breeds and ensure the safety of campers. We camped there for seven days and saw multiple sites have more than one large dog, which in many places we’ve camped at would have been banned due to breed type or size. We have RV’ed extensively across the US and have never seen such careless enforcement of a pet policy regarding aggressive dog breeds. Seriously, think about avoiding this park if you have pets or small children.

Some things you should be aware of before booking: The office, playground, dog park, pool, laundry are located at the top of the hill. Camping spots are downhill, a good distance from the office and amenities. Trash is located off site in a pullout on the road you drive in on. There are 2 showers for women and 2 for men. Both are old and not well maintained or in our experience clean, either. In general the camping spots are not well maintained, weedy, un-level and picnic tables are weathered and warped. This resort campground is composed of mainly residents, the rules (we observed) apply to the overnight campers, not the residents. Children of the residents run free all day and past curfew in the evenings unsupervised. The setting is quiet, the views from the upper level are lovely. With some updating of bath facilities, cleaning and leveling of campsites, uniform enforcement of rules, Pleasant Acres could become a resort destination.

Super lindo todo!! $15 dolares la noche para los que viven en el Estado de New York o New York city .. si es fuera del estado son $5 dolares mas!! Lo mejor es reservar online y escojer el espacio pero no es obligatorio.. si quieres acampar en un area lejos y solo pues escojan la seccion W... no todas las secciones tienen una plataforma de madera para poner tu caseta de campaña.. algunas secciones son las casetas ensima de la grama.. lo mejor es buscar una seccion que esten los bańos y las duchas cerca en caso también de que se te antoje ir de madrugada ... para el mes de Agosto no habia nada de mosquitos ni moscas .. El personal muy amable .. no habia mucha vigilancia.. lo que si es llevar mucho gas y carbon y palos de madera para la fogata y estar preparado si llueve.. hay una tienda que venden palos para la fogata $12.. venden Cafe $1 . Hielo $5 ..$10  .. venden frisas .. leche y muchas cosas mas!!! Hay un lago estilo playa..bueno lo unico que los que no están acostumbrados a ver o escuchar animales salvajes es un poco miedoso en la noche!! Nunca tener comida ni nada de olor dentro de las casetas por que los osos viene por la comida .. dejar todo dentro del carro .. y en fin todo muy lindo.. los bańos y bańera muy limpios y ademas puedes cargar en el bańo el celular

This was one of my favorite trips of 2019. In September my Girlfriend (who has never been camping) and I made the trip to New York. I love camping but I knew that I needed to slowly adjust her into the idea of being in and sleeping in the great outdoors. This place was the perfect fit. This site was a small tiny home located on an active produce farm. The host was fantastic and catered to all of our needs giving us some firewood, a tour of her farm, and some fresh produce she picked that morning. At night I was able to start a fire next to the picking fields and the chicken coops, hang up my hammock between two trees and cook some burgers, and s’mores over the fire. What was even better was that also on this farm was a local brewery that uses the farms crops in there beers and brews. While we still had our own peace and quiet on the other side of the farm it was still close enough for us to walk back after meeting some of the locals and drinking a few beers. On the last night the brewery hosted an Oktoberfest party bringing in tons of locals from town, bands, and vendors. The host of the farm was gracious enough to let a good portion of the attendees pitch some tents in the farm fields and camp nearby us. This trip was so much fun and was the perfect balance of having the necessities of home nearby while also being able to spend some time outdoors. Now my girlfriend has been on multiple more primitive camping trips with me and I owe it to the great experiences we had at this site.

I have camped here many times. There are three campsites; two that require short hikes (.5 miles and .75 miles, respectively) and a third that can be driven to. Each one is far away from the others. The two that are closest are still divided by several hundred feet of wooded area; you can hear if someone at the other campsite shouts loudly enough, but you can't hear normal conversation or see any lights.

There is no cell phone coverage at any of the campsites (if you care about that while camping).

All of the campsites are right next to the Shepaug River. There is a very crude outhouse between campsites #1 and #2, but none at #3. Each campsite has a designated fire pit, and the Steep Rock Association provides ample firewood. SR 1 and SR 2 both have picnic tables at them; SR 3 does not. Pets are welcome; there are many people hiking and camping with dogs, and people ride horses down some of the trails.

On 9/2/17, when camping at SR1, we saw a Dumpster on the side of the trail that leads from campsite SR1 to campsite SR2. I have never seen a Dumpster anywhere at Steep Rock before, so I don't know if that is a permanent new addition or if it was there temporarily.

Reservations are required and can be made by contacting the Steep Rock Association office during the week.