Best RV Parks & Resorts near Ellisburg, NY

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.

This is a great example of what a state park should be. It not only preserves a place of unique biological diversity and geologic interest, it is also well set up and well maintained to maximize low impact outdoor recreation and environmental education. A new state of the art regional environmental education center is being built now that will open in spring, as well as new handicapped access kayaking docks that complement Accessible trails and campsites throughout the park. This is a great destination for families, handicapped campers, and natural history enthusiasts. There are several campgrounds, one is large and open and meant for large RVs, others are drive-in forested tent sites or trailer sites with hookups, and several walkin sites. There is also a colony of rustic camper cabins. The campgrounds have brand new restroom facilities and playgrounds, and the main lake has a new beach house. The lake is a fascinating meromictic lake with clear calcium-rich waters that are not only pristine and beautiful to look at, but also great for swimming and snorkeling as the waters are crystal clear and very deep. There are hiking trails, paved bike trails, a nature preserve for bird watching at Round Lake, a golf course, and great kayaking or canoeing. It is also located right next door to the Erie Canal State Park for those who want to hike or bike the historic Erie Canal. Though you might expect a park like this to be in a remote location, it is actually just a short distance east of the suburbs of the Syracuse metro area, so it is an easy park to get to, plus staying there also provides easy access to stores for supplies, or access to local cultural activities or restaurants for those who want that. One of my favorite state parks in New York!

Not really sure what to say about this campground, other than I would not stay here again (thus a one-star rating). It really is not what you would think of as a “campground” or “RV Park.” It is a decent price at $40/night + tax for a 50-amp full hook-up site but it is pretty dumpy. There are tons of seasonal campers that look like they have not moved in years. Most of those units are pretty run down park models and people don’t seem to care. In all fairness, we visited early in the season and many people had not “opened” up their campers yet. There are a few transient sites that you can rent by the night in the center portion of the park. Our site was grassy but not very level. There is a picnic table and fire pit. The electric worked fine and the sewer and water were easy to reach. They do have a rental cottage right on the water which has a great view but couldn’t see inside to tell if it was nice or not. There are restrooms and washer/dryer somewhere on site, but we did not look inside. The grounds seemed pretty well cared for with the grass being mowed and no trash lying about.  Access to the park is easy in and out off route 12 and well-marked.

The campground is fairly small and not great for a decent dog walk so I found the Zenda Preserve which is a nice hike around a farm field. There are numerous other trails managed by the Thousand Island Lakes Trust that are very nice (we also liked the MacSherry Trail in the town of Redwood). 

On the bright side, the campground is close to downtown Clayton. There are really cute shops, restaurants, and museums and the downtown parks are great places to watch the sunset. The Wood Boat Brewery brews great beer and has really good food. There are numerous other places to stay for a couple of nights or week which would be preferable.