Best Cabin Camping near Downsville, NY

Spacious cabin was clean and comfortable. Two bedrooms, one with bunk beds and another with a full. There were dressers in each room. Also in the main room with a fireplace, futon, and table with benches. Screened-in porch that had a toilet area. Full kitchen with fridge, oven and sink.

Two entrances, one to the kitchen and the other to the porch. Outside was a fire ring.

An easy hike to a nearby lake was very pretty. Lots of wildlife, coyotes howling in the distance at night and plenty of deer. Perfect time of year to go, barely any mosquitoes and it was warm during the day but cool at night to enjoy a roaring fire inside.

Large park with nice playground and picnic area for day use.

We had better than average cell phone service near/in the cabin with AT&T.

I love the property and the family that operates it. My son had his first camping trip there when he was ten days old. It is great family camp ground with amenities that are helpful to parents and new campers such as restrooms, showers, camp shop, canoe/kayak/tube rentals and designated drive in sites with fire ring and table. As well as sites with water/ electric hookup. Yet, it still manages to maintain a more remote and rustic feel by preserving the trees, stream and riverfront property in a mutual state without concrete pads or driveways. There is no commercial aspect that I find when at most “family” parks with pools, arcades and cabins. The sites are larger than most campgrounds and well spaced out. I have been there on busy holiday weekends where it was full but still peaceful and private with a great community of campers and on weekdays and off weekends when it felt as if I had the river to myself. I have never had a bad experience in at least 20 trips.

This is a small hidden gem of a state park where the only camping available is in camper cabins—and pretty amazing glamping for camper cabins! Although there may be times when there may be people and groups around for day use, the small number of cabins and they way they are spread out will make you feel like you are at your own private retreat. The cabins are beautifully built with lovely settings, and well appointed though you need to bring your own linens. There are a couple of ponds for fishing, but if you want to swim you need to go over to nearby Otsego Lake. The trails wind through mature forest, and you can cross country ski here in winter—in fact, reserve one of the winterized cabins and come for a long weekend of cozy cabin time and quiet time outdoors on the winter trails. There is a beautiful picnic pavilion and playground, so kid friendly. Unfortunately, pets can come for day use but cant stay in the cabins. Reservations must be made in advance for the cabins, and you can be sure they will be filled on special event weekends in nearby Cooperstown, especially for events at the Baseball Hall of Fame or the Farmers Living History Museum. . The park is far enough on the outskirts of town to be away from crowds and noise, but close enough to run to town for activities, get supplies or check out unique cafes and bakeries

This park is technically a “state park” because the land for it was donated to the state for public use. However, once the state became the official stewards, there werent funds in the state budget to maintain it as a park. A lical group, the Friends of Salt Springs, stepped up and offered to maintain the park with funds raised by their group. The result is a small but unique property open to the public for day use (picnicking and hiking and fishing) along with 2 small rustic campgrounds. One campground has a large open mowed grassy meadow with level sites for car camping or small campers, no hookups are available but each site has a fire ring and picnic table. On the other side of the parks trout stream are seven secluded primitive hike-in tent sites along with three basic camper cabins. The Friends of Salt Springs makes a good effort to maintain these two rustic campgrounds, however it seems there isnt a ranger on site at night so a camper said the meadow campground can get a little noisy some nights. The hike in sites are relatively quiet and secluded though, and are positioned nicely along the stream, one site actually adjacent to a good swimming hole.

The camper cabins are basic with bunks, bring all your own gear. They are fairly new and have electricity but no water or heat.

On the grounds in the day use area are picnic spits, a pavilion, and an activity barn. When I was there, the barn was featuring a local quilt show.

The special aspect of this park are the hiking trails through old growth hemlock forest, said to be the largest hemlocks in Pennsylvania. The trout stream also cascades through some some waterfalls, and there are gorges with unique geology.

There is a village nearby with limited supplies, you may want to stock up on groceries before heading out to this somewhat remote park. There is, however, a local brewery, plus an odd coffee shop featuring both donuts and ammo, an unusual combination…..

Campsites are in the woods with picnic tables and fire ring, plenty of shade and a good amount of space between camps. They have so many birds, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits and insects that it was a veritable wonderland Playground and shallow swimming area for children with life guards and a sandy beach and new bath house. They have fishing and boat rentals, however the lake is pretty small and a lot of trees still in the water since a flood. There are nice trails for hiking that go all the way around the lake. I had my 5 year old grandson with me and he loved it but I did have to cut it short when we got rained out.

We had a great time despite cold wet weather. Our site was probably one of the worst in the place but we were able to scope out others that we would prefer for our next visit. We didn’t have a view of the lake, instead we were in someone’s back yard lol. It wasn’t a big deal. The site was well maintained and flat which were the most important. Most of the sites seem to be on the smaller size when compared to other campgrounds we’ve been too. That said we had plenty of space, it was just very close to the next site. We were on the far side of the lake which is not really within walking distance of the beach, pool and store. We knew this going in and were totally OK with it. I seemed less busy where we were as far as cars and people which is what we were looking for. We hopped in the car and drove the 2 mins to get to the beach. There was always parking. If you stay closer to those things it would be easy to walk & ride bikes to the different activities. The bathrooms were the cleanest we’ve ever experienced at a campground. *The showers are coin operated. The staff were so accommodating and everyone was super nice. There is a lot for younger kids to do and the grounds are pet friendly which was a huge plus for us. My kids really loved having a pool to swim in,in addition to the lake.

My take always:

• Get a site on the lake.

• You won’t have a ton of privacy but you’ll have space for your stuff.

• If you don’t want to drive during your stay, camp on the side w/ the beach and pool.

• The store has a huge selection of necessities, so no need to worry about forgetting things.

• This is a great place to bring an RV.

• Great for families. It would be a great place to camp with extended family.

• Pet friendly. They have a beach for swimming with your dogs

It is pet friendly. We stayed with our 3 small children. Enjoyed bike riding through the park. water was beautiful. Lots of waterfront access. It was during the off season in early spring but still very well maintained and clean. Surprised to see so many campers there during the spring when we pulled in but not after seeing the views. Park is nice and easy to navigate with a 30ft travel trailer behind me. My husband loved the fishing! My children loved the water and trails. We visited the Baseball National Hall of Fame, Fenimore Art Museum and the Farmers Museum nearby in Cooperstown. This was our family's favorite spring break vacation ever. Showers had hot water and we were allowed to sue our generator no problem. Also my husband & I went to Brewery Omegang and had the best tasting ever!