Best Equestrian Camping near Cragsmoor, NY
We're here to help you find where to go horse camping in Cragsmoor. It's easy to find Cragsmoor equestrian campgrounds with the Dyrt. Find New York equestrian campgrounds with ease on The Dyrt.
We're here to help you find where to go horse camping in Cragsmoor. It's easy to find Cragsmoor equestrian campgrounds with the Dyrt. Find New York equestrian campgrounds with ease on The Dyrt.
North South Lake Campground is the biggest and most popular state campground in the Catskill Forest Preserve, offering extraordinary scenic beauty, and historical sites, such as: Alligator Rock, Kaaterskill Falls, and the former site of the Catskill Mountain House. An abrupt change in elevation occurs from about 540 feet above sea level at the base of the escarpment to approximately 2,250 feet at the site of the former Catskill Mountain House. The provinces around the lakes have long provided visitors with exceptional views of the surrounding countryside. It is said that on a clear day, five states can be viewed from the escarpment. 7 camping loops; 219 tent and trailer sites; 2 lakes; 2 beaches; Two picnic areas: one on North Lake with two picnic pavilion rentals a 20' X 32' and a 44' X 24' (the larger of the two with electricity) and one on South Lake with a 40' X 60' picnic pavilion rental (with electricity).; 2 picnic areas with tables and fireplaces or charcoal grills; playground; flush toilets; hot showers; boat launch (no motorized vessels); rowboat, canoe, kayak and paddle boat rentals; firewood sales; volleyball; horseshoes; fishing; playing field; trailer dump station; recycling center; solar cell phone charging station; ADA fishing platform.
$22 - $27 / night
Nestled in the Appalachian Wilderness of New Jersey, Stokes State Forest attracts campers, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts all over thanks to its many viewpoints and wild terrain. Spanning over 16,400 acres, visitors can expect exciting adventures crammed with tons of wilderness activities. Surprisingly, there’s a large range of amenities within the various campgrounds located throughout. In addition, there’s a host of unique geographic features to keep even the most dedicated busy for weeks.
Speaking of geography, there’s no shortage of terrain diversity here. For example, Sunrise Mountain towers 1,653 feet over the undeveloped New Jersey farmland to the East, as well as virgin mountain ranges and forests to the West. Located along the legendary Appalachian Trail, this mountain peak is the most frequently visited site in Stokes State Forest. If you’re not one to hike up the side of a mountain for a view, Sunrise Mountain Rd. traverses all the way to the top for those traveling in a vehicle.
Nestled below, the 500+ acre Tillman Ravine Natural Area is a green wonderland home to endangered species such as the Barred Owl. The ravine showcases world-class trails spanning throughout its terrain, complete with babbling brooks and overly-curious bears to dodge during your stay.
Additionally, Stokes State Forest is home to the Lake Ashroe Recreation Area which has an area for Kayaking and Paddle Board rentals. Even though there is no boat ramp, nearby Lake Ocquittunk is perfect for small, electric motor boats. In contrast, those looking for swimming should head to Stony Lake, which features lifeguards on duty and a great recreation area for picnicking.
Campgrounds are plentiful here, with four different areas to camp at depending on your needs. Shotwell to the East, and Steam Mills to the west both offer normal park amenities, and are perfect for tent campers, or people interested in camping in a lean-to. Just West of Shotwell, Haskin’s Group Camping Area consists of 9 group campsites perfect for groups of 10-65 depending on the campsite. Finally, Lake Ocquittunk has its own campground with reservable campsites, and cabins as well. Fees & permits vary here, so be sure to check the park website for more info.
Regardless of your interests, if you love the outdoors in any form you’re going to enjoy your stay here. Stokes State Forest literally offers everything an enthusiast could ever dream of doing. From its babbling creeks and forested ravines, to the breathtaking mountain peaks, this is an Appalachian camping experience you don’t want to miss out on.
$7 - $55 / night
On the western edge of Lower Lake, this modern campground includes Beechwood, Northwoods, Rhododendron, and Hemlock Hills areas. There is a dump station at the entrance of Lower Lake Campground.
Beechwood is open from early April through mid-October. Modern facilities are available Memorial Day through Columbus Day. Best suited to RVs, this modern campground offers:
Warm showers Flush toilets Electricity Laundry facilities The campground offers 106 campsites, some of which allow pets.
On the western edge of Lower Lake, this modern campground includes Beechwood, Northwoods, Rhododendron, and Hemlock Hills areas. There is a dump station at the entrance of Lower Lake Campground.
Hemlock Hill Equestrian Campground has six individual sites and is open early May through mid-October.
The campground area includes:
Vault toilet Water for horses Manure pit Adjacent to miles of equestrian trails in Delaware State Forest Each campsite has a:
Picnic table Fire ring Lantern post Stall that accommodates either three or four horses Modern restrooms with hot showers and dump station are nearby.
$55 - $195 / night
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.
We were on a 5 state East Coast camping trip. Our first campground was in New York Aug 8th. Unfortunately, Debbie was socking New York hard. North South Lake Campground in the Catskills was our camping home. Thursday & Friday it was Neverending rain & wind. Saturday was the nice day.
North South Lake has no electricity. The sites are almost all beautiful, tucked in under shady trees. Not a good way to try out our solar panel! Some are by a stream. A few are by the lake. This is a tent campers paradise. New York tent campers are hard core camping during Tropical Storm Debbie!
There are 7 loops. We were in loop 2. Site 85. There are some sites with an incline down to the site. That might give some rvs trouble. It did for us & I had to be driven out of the campground to call 911. Thank you Mary!! It all ended well & we got a different site.
There are bears that visit the campground & one came one of the nights & visited our camping neighbor's site. They showed us a picture- it was a large black bear.
Generators are allowed for 5 hours & they tell you when you can use them.
The bathrooms/showers are state park clean- which means not very.
There is NO cell service & just forget about WiFi. You are unplugged.
This is a hiking park & for this middle aged overweight flatlander they are pretty strenuous. Kaaterskill Falls is an exception - short, easy trail, but the parking fills up quickly. Then they close it! You'll have to take a shuttle to get in.
The trail to the Mountain House Site is also pretty easy, with more of an incline.
There's 2 nice lakes with beaches.
The Catskills are very scenic& we enjoyed our time there!
Gorgeous. There was a brook not far from our campsite, and it was only a short stroll to the lake. It was really peaceful when we visited in the middle of the week. Most websites are secretive and dark can play penalty shooters 2.
Stokes 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.
I really love this campground each of the campsites in our loop which was in the lower 100s, has a lot of foliage around it, creating privacy between you and the site next to you. There is a lake with swimming, clean bathrooms, clean, clean showers. Picnic table and fire pit with grill top. There’s a lot of bear activity here, so constantly cleaning up your food is very important. Definitely love it here for woodsy feel.
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.
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.
Been there couple of times. Love it. Two lakes. Highly recommended.
First trip of the season and we were amazed. Not crowded this time of year, serene, and perfect weather. We collected our own firewood as there is none for sale in the state park. We thought that was going to be a problem but we were okay with it!
Hiked 2 short easy trails (Little Falls and the Conservation Nature Loop- which we drove to). Absolutely beautiful! Bathrooms were clean and water was hot in the shower.
We will be visiting again!
We have camped here in tents and with our teardrop trailer. All of our experiences have been good. Clean bathrooms are essential and even when the large campground is full the bathrooms have been clean. It is a state park and so the campsites are often close, but we don’t mind. We’d be somewhere else if isolation was what we wanted.
I used to camp there every weekend. Even during the cold in the fall. I love it!
Love it here but renting a golf cart is prob not the best option $175 for 2 days and it only goes 5mph I can walk faster than that.
Ashley here with The Dyrt. We're happy to have this campground on our platform! Check them out and leave them some love.
I have been here twice and each time has been great. Big spacious sites with alot of privacy. Hikes are great around here. Bathrooms are clean.
If you want pictures you can actually go onto Google maps streetview and see every single campsite.
This is a HUGE Jellystone park in upstate NY. There are literally hundreds of cabins and RV sites. We are in site 136, which is a back in spot. Plenty of room between campers. Gravel spot which is pretty level. Full hookups. Picnic table, cable, fire ring, large camp store, showers, toilets, and full laundry area. Also has playgrounds, pillow jump, fishing pond, golf carts, game room, Waterpark, pool, and tennis courts. All of this nestled into the mountains. Nice and family friendly.
I set up a hammock and a 1 person tent .. there’s room for a camper but sparse
This place is all in all a fantastic place for camping. The sites are nice, the facilities are ok, the staff FANTASTIC, and most people camping want to be out in nature. Saw some bears up close. Great hiking. Especially for someone with limited mobility at the time. Also some challenging hikes. What I also experienced was a LOT of people having loud parties, playing all kinds of music very loudly and leaving trash everywhere. Not my style of camping. I have to add no one was breaking any rules and maybe I am the old codger my wife says I’m turning into but that’s mt 2 cents.
~3 hour drive from NYC, and a wonderful campsite with good weather in the summer - not too hot during the day and nice and cool overnight. A little crowded and you can overhear everyone around you, which is the only reason I took off one star. Close proximity to nice, short hikes. Great facilities all around the campsite.
Beautiful. Our site had a creek close behind it and only a short walk to the lake. We were there in middle of the week and it was very quiet. Most sites a shady and private. Loved it, hope to visit again sometime.
This park is large and has many different campgrounds. We stayed in lower lake beechwood site 323. Was decent site only downside was fire pit area was very un-level for camping chairs, otherwise it’s a nice wooded site with privacy. Short walk to bathrooms, showers and lake. Though had to drive to park and beaches. Would go back again and might try to stay in Pickerel point campground instead.
Rented a cabin in November (#009) and again in December (#008) of 2021. I favored Cabin 8, the kitchen and bathroom were separated from the main room.
The cabins are reasonably priced and well-appointed, if a bit rustic. The interior features are just what you'd expect for getting away for the weekend. THe main room has a bunk bed and two twins, a table with benches, two Adirondack chairs, a wood stove set into a fireplace (some cabins still feature a fireplace only, but these two did not), hot/cold water, electric stove with oven, refrigerator, toilet, bathroom sink, mirror, plenty of hooks to hang jackets and coats, storage cabinets in the kitchen area, overhead lighting, wall outlets, and screened windows.
The doors feature deadbolt locks - so be sure to always take the key or set the lock to be unlocked all the time.
The mattresses are vinyl covered, so you can wipe them down with your own sanitizing wipes. There was hand sanitizer in each cabin as well.
Outside is a picnic table, fire ring, and grill. There are hooks near the door to hang a lantern.
The park office is not nearby, about 2(?) miles away. They sell wood, and there are a few road stands near the campground, but that wood is wet. You'll need to find some birch to get your fire going if, like me, you didn't buy wood on the way (plenty of signs for wood as you approach the park office) and the office was closed upon arrival. I bought wood from a house across the street from the entrance to the cabins and it was damp, but in November, I wasn't complaining, it took awhile but I got a nice blaze going. You need that wood stove to heat up the cabin. Turning on the oven is a help, but not a good solution. The wood stove definitely heats the room up nicely. I went through two bundles of wood in one night, and could have used more in the morning. (There's plenty of fallen wood around but it was damp/raining both times I visited). The second time I took six bundles of wood and used them all from Friday to Sunday morning, and 7 would've have been better.
The trails nearby are varied, read the maps (especially NY NJ Trail Conference Maps) to get an idea of difficulty/elevation. We went in November when there was a light rain that turned into a thunderstorm with hail and sleet! It was certainly an adventure. The area was incredibly peaceful in December with many cabin reservations abandoned due to rain in the forecast. It did rain, but was still a great trip. The photos of the tent sites were taken in December.
Nice place to set up and car camp. Enjoyed some fishing and hiking within walking distance from the site.
Stokes is nestled in a beautiful part of New Jersey and it’s just remote enough that you can get away from the crowds and activity while still being in a short driving distance of restaurants, grocery stores, etc. We stayed at Lake Ocquittunk, which was a little disappointing. The site itself (T001) was absolutely massive and stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, when the site was cleared, trees were cut down to the stump and the stumps were just left there. This posed both a tripping hazard and a driving hazard. You have to weave your way around the various stumps and small boulders protruding from the ground in all lighting conditions. The site is on a gentle slope, which made it difficult to find a level area for the tent, but we found a spot that suited us perfectly. The campground overall needs some improvement. It almost felt neglected or abandoned. The bathrooms weren’t great, but I’ve seen much worse. The park staff were incredibly helpful and generous with time and information. Directions were easy to follow and we felt comfortable staying there. Ultimately, we would gladly return in the future, but we might visit in a warmer season.
It’s incredibly difficult to bag a site here and now I understand why. Walking around the lakes provided Incredibly scenic views during the fall when the leaves change colors. The site was spacious and flat although some of the sites closer to the lake are rocky and smaller.
The only complaint is the set up of the fire pits which are enclosed on three sides.
Gorgeous campgrounds, friendly staff, and spectacular facilities. Loved that trailheads are walking distance from the sites. But we felt very close to campers next to us, not a lot of shrubbery between sites to feel somewhat private. Fire pits are very nice but more catered to cooking instead of being able to sit around in a circle. Also, we picked a site hoping we’d have a nice view of the lake but it’s hard to see from the site and a good walk away. Overall, beautiful grounds but I’d take less facilities to have a more “woodsy” vibe but that’s just my preference!
Very well run, well spaced, drive-in sites suitable for tent camping as well as rvs. Spotless clean showers, wash areas, toilets. Excellent hiking of all classifications.
We stayed at site #T007 is was a short walk from the car to the site, but so worth it for many reasons. The site itself is huge and we were able to position our tent facing the lake, it was beautiful!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Cragsmoor, NY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Cragsmoor, NY is North-South Lake Campground with a 4.6-star rating from 43 reviews.
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