Best Cabin Camping near Ellenville, NY

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.

Treetopia is a unique and truly amazing camping/Glamping experience in the Catskills, New York! We were able to meet Betty, Treetopia’s manager, who toured us around the campground and took us into each type of rental they provide for that special camping trip. They have RV sites, yurts, custom furnished treehouses with electricity, beautiful tiny homes with outdoor living spaces, completely remodeled vintage airstreams, and gorgeous private cabins! Every unit was more beautiful and comfortable than the next. The backdrop for the campground is the wonderful Catskill Mountains and all of the nature that includes. A wonderfully inspiring place! 😊👍🏻

If you have an RV, they have 30/50 amp with electric and water. There is no sewer, but they have a dump-station and on-site Honeywagon truck that you can schedule. They staff was wonderful and went out of their way to make our stay perfect! 💗

For videos on this campground and others, check out our YouTube channel: Jeff & Steff’s Excellent Adventure.

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.

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 tent camped with my niece here in early July. We booked a campsite at the far end of the loop by the lake, which looked to be the right spot for some privacy, but a longer walk to the bathroom and water spigot.

The campsites included a picnic table and fire ring, and flat ground for tents.

The late was closed for swimming (lifeguard shortage at the time) but there were lots of smaller spots to tuck into for fishing and just relaxing.

By the main swimming are there are canoe and kayak rentals as well.

We did one loop hike which was mostly in the woods with a brief stop with a lake view. The better activities were around the lake.

This campground was perfect for our weekend. The tent sites more in the open field area (

Not much to do around the park except walk around. We went on opening day so there weren’t many campers- maybe like 4 or 5. The people in the store were very friendly and the grounds were clean. There was Wi-Fi available but it did not work at all- so be prepared to use your satellite or go off grid since cell service was unavailable or minimum. We had a beautiful view of the river though while camping and enjoyed the trip. The river sites were gravel and level which was nice to not have mud when we got out since it rained all weekend. Electric hookup was good- we did not use the water hookup, but it was available. They have cable boxes, but no cable offered.