Best RV Parks & Resorts near Cranberry Lake, NY

Total Shi!-Hole.

First let me start by saying that we are not new to rv parks or camping. We average about 10,000 miles a year in our coach.

This particular trip is 5,000 miles over 23 days and 18 campgrounds.

We are a “big rig”. 45 ft Class A with a 16ft tow.

This is NOT a place for big rigs.

We had booked a water front lot, full hookup and their most expensive lot. About $75 for the night.

The roads and lot signs are scarce and other than handing us a very inaccurate map of the property, we were on our own.

We damaged our rig getting to our lot. The roads and turns are not wide enough for a 45’ rig even with the tow disconnected to make turns.

Wide enough for travel trailers and 5th wheels but not a large class a.

The lots are also not gravel and not level. Ours was dirt and mostly mud and even with our leveling jacks down, we could not level due to the mud and lack of a gravel base.

Ours (lot 134) was filthy. Food, cigarette butts, trash and dog shit. Not to mention a pile of mulch. Maintenance seems non existent.

ZERO prep or cleanup was done on the site.

Water pressure good but water reaks of chlorine. DO NOT drink the water. Made the mistake of using it for morning coffee. So much chlorine its like pool water.

Internet very good. Only positive thing that I can say.

Power sucks. 30amp only but not truly providing that. We kept blowing the breaker and noted our lights flickering. We can easily run on 30amp. This is typical of an overbuilt park with not enough power for the campers onsite.

Once we were in and set, we first noted that other campers were cutting through our lot to get to the river. A constant flow of kids, adults and inner tubs all walking through our site.

We then went to walk our dogs and had numerous encounters by dogs not on leashes. We could not leave our dogs outside on their tether's due to worrying about unattended dogs.

The other thing is that cars and trucks were flying on the roads with no safe speed limit. It seems that they drop off tubers on the river near our lot and then the drivers fly out of here to go meet them downriver.

This is a low class dump made up of travel trailers, tent campers and fifth wheels. No maintenance, no enforced rules. No pride in the property or operation.

Not a place for large coach owners or seasoned RVrs who know how the rest of the country is.

We will not be back and strongly advise any Class A big rig owners to avoid.

Beautiful, peaceful large pond/small lake. Loons. Ducks and ducklings. Beaver. Canoes($20/day) and kayak rentals. Firewood for sale ($9?) or gather downed wood. Fishing. Large sandy Adirondack beach and day use area. Pet friendly. Very friendly staff. Clean, stocked bathrooms/toilet with sink and soap. Well located water spigots. Nearby trails. Dump station. Boat launch (no motorboats allowed).

No hookups. No onsite showers (can use another Golden Beach Campground showers a few miles away.) No cell or internet. Maybe wifi near entrance?

Easiest access is from Raquette Lake. From the west you will drive over 5 miles on a dirt road (slow going if towing).

Wilmington Notch Campground is owned and operated by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. There are approximately 50 sites available, all on level campground and within access of Both bathrooms and shower facilities. Fire pits and picnic tables available. About a mile down the road from the high falls gorge tourist destination and a quarter mile from the base of whiteface lodge ski resort. There is an accessible trail from the back of the campground to an amazing waterfall on the west branch of the Ausable River and plenty of spots to trout fish/swim. A mile down the road is flume falls trails, which leads to a great swimming hole and various height choice cliff jumping. This is a very clean and quiet campground, one of the best in the high peaks region for primitive camping

I have stayed here many times over the years, usually for a 10-18 day stretch at a time. This is one of my favorite places. Most sites are right on the water. Square pond is a lovely little lake that connects to a larger lake (Upper Saranac I believe) by passing through a canal. This campground has great facilities. There are restrooms located convieniently throughout the park so you never have to walk more than a few sites no matter where you are. There are hot showers located at one end of the park and a dump station for RVs. The restrooms and showers are cleaned daily. There is a great little general store just outside the park that sells pretty much anything you could want. Sites are equipped with a table and fireplace (most have grates). There are vendors that drive through the park daily selling wood, ice cream (from an old fashioned wagon, get the moose tracks!), and ice. There is a boat supplier that travels the lake every morning and evening dropping off and picking up kayak and canoe rentals. If you love water front camping this is for you! The park is pet friendly but you need to show proof of vaccines. There are great things to do nearby like the Adirondack Museum, Lake Placid, and beautiful hiking spots. You can have power boats and jets skis on the lake as well as non motorized boats. Some of the best sunsets I have ever viewed happened right here. Quiet hours are taken very seriously and rangers walk the park at night warning rowdy fireside folks to quiet down. However, as dusk turns to night, you can always count on the chorus of yodels going back and forth across the lake. This is a wonderful spot! Check it out! You won’t be sorry! Oh, but sites go on sale nine months in advance through reserve America and the best spots wind up booked for the season pretty quickly.

Soft Maple is a truly gorgeous small campground. Only about a dozen sites or so, first come first serve. Level sites for RVs or tent or hammock camping. Each site has a nice space with fire ring and picnic table. The beach is lovely and clean. There’s boat access for canoes and kayaks as this is part of the Beaver River route. 

The entire campground is accessible, with gravel pack paths, and level sites.  

Charlie is the caretaker here and everyone says he is the nicest person you’ll meet.  You can’t beat site number 11 for the perfect mix of treelined and water view!

There is space for RVs and a dump station but the sites do not have power or hookups. 

If you come in to the campground from “number 4 road” (aka state rt. 26) it’s exactly five miles from the Left turn on to Soft Maple rd. If you have time, stop halfway- the 2.5 mile mark will bring you to the entrance for Eagle falls, a short hike with a fantastic reveal.

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I am one of the lucky ones who gets gear to review from time to time. We recently tested out the Aftershokz Titanium Bone Conduction Headphones at this gorgeous campground in the Adirondacks! Pretty cool…

Gear Review

What we liked most about this product:

• Versatile: Can be used just about anywhere you want to be able to listen to music or a podcast (without disturbing others), but also want to be able to hear people coming down the trail, birds singing, the ocean crashing along the shore, etc. They are just as great in a library as they are outside.
• Compact: While they don’t fold down as small as a pair of traditional headphones, they are pocket-sized and can easily be stored in a jacket or a pocket of a backpack.
• Lightweight: You barely feel them on your head and are very comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
• Better for Ear Health: Because the headphones use bone conduction technology rather than sit inside your ear, they are much better for the long term health of your hearing.
• Blue Tooth Technology: Cordless is wonderful…enough said!

What could be improved:

• Adjustability: If they were made to adjust to each person’s head size, they would be even more comfortable. If you have a smaller head, they drape down a bit at the nape of your neck and bounce a bit while walking/cycling. They fit my husband’s head perfectly, but are a bit large on me.

Product Video Review: https://youtu.be/uj20w4_Yu14

Campground Review

Wow, what a gorgeous campground! This one came recommended from a friend and we fell in love at first sight. The campground reminded us of summer camp on the lake, as it seemed frozen in time. Each site has a picnic table and open grill and all sites are non-electric. We stayed in site #45, right on the edge of the lake, with great kayak access.

We spent one day kayaking on the lake and another day hiking. While the mosquitoes weren’t bad at the campground itself, they are terrible on the trails this time of year, so bring your bug spray, or better yet, bug shirts! We’ll need to come back in the winter and do some snowshoeing on these trails, so we can enjoy them mosquito free.

The bathrooms are kept tidy, the shower house is classic and clean, and there is an extensive recycling facility (yay for NY and ADK!). There is also a sand volleyball court and basketball hoop. Bonus: There was a huge stack of free wood piled near the shower house!

The Village of Cranberry Lake has some supplies, but not much except the very basics at the general store. You’ll need to head to Star Lake or Tupper Lake for anything of significance.

We did our usual reservation-less “pull up and see what they have open” style of camping, but during the main season, this place is busy! You’ll definitely need to plan ahead and make reservations if you plan to be here during the crazy season.

This is my first time at the campground. I was greeted by the new manager. I selected 30 amp interior full up interior full hook up back in site but they gave me an upgrade to a waterfront site. (For an interior price) . They even helped us on backing up our camper. The view took my breath away. The campground has all amenities necessary to a great camping experience, from electricity to water and sewer hookups. It also has Wi-Fi. There’s a playground and a beach area . The place is very clean and was decorated for the 4th of July festivity. They even had fireworks. I’ll recommend this place.

We stayed at Meadowbrook over Memorial Day weekend in 2024. It's an average campground, but has a really good location between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. 

Our site had the standard DEC picnic table and fire pit. There are showers (the hot water was broken the day we were there, but the attendant said we could go to nearby campgrounds to use theirs), toilets, and water spigots. I had decent Verizon signal. 

The sites were clean, but the fire pit was showing its age. We stayed in site 37, which was a bit more private and surrounded by trees. The sites in the two loops closest to Rte 86 (#1-13, 27-34, and 51-62) were much closer together, and some didn't have trees between sites. Even at our more "isolated" site, we could still see our neighbors. 

The bathroom was actually one of the nicest I've seen in a DEC campsite; it looked like it had recently been rebuilt. 

There are positives and negatives about the location. On the plus side, there's ice cream and places to eat within walking distance. We also forgot lunch for our hike the next day and were able to walk to a convenience store to grab supplies. And if you're doing things in Lake Placid and Saranac, the location is tough to beat. On the minus side, there's a bit of road noise and some of the campsites looked like they had great views of a parking lot.