Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Fire Island National Seashore

Fire Island National Seashore is an ideal place for camping adventures of all kinds. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in, as well as sights to see and explore. You're sure to find the perfect campground for your Fire Island National Seashore camping trip.

Best Dog-Friendly Sites Near Fire Island National Seashore (22)

    1. Smith Point County Park

    9 Reviews
    Mastic Beach, NY
    7 miles
    Website
    +1 (631) 852-1315

    "Literally steps to the beach."

    "A short walk from the ocean to the bay, both accessible by walking from your campsite. No shade so be prepared to wake early if you’re in a sweltering tent. Staff has been great, no complaints."

    2. Watch Hill Fire Island Campground — Fire Island National Seashore

    7 Reviews
    Bayport, NY
    0 miles
    +1 (631) 597-6074

    $25 - $159 / night

    "Fire Island National Seashore! Take the ferry over across the bay to this quiet little gem on Long Island. Amazing, your own ocean and beach!"

    "Beautiful location steps away from the beach. Listen to the waves crashing as you sleep and stargaze over the clear ocean. Not ready for full on camp-life? No problem!"

    3. Heckscher State Park Campground

    9 Reviews
    Great River, NY
    9 miles
    Website
    +1 (631) 581-2100

    $20 - $285 / night

    ".

    • cottages far enough away from each other
    • fire ring with Adirondack chairs
    • dumpster and recycling within walking distance
    • lots of bone dry firewood around for campfire
    • walkable beach"

    "Overall my experience was positive.

    Camping Sites

    Each camping site has a picnic table and barbeque grill."

    4. Southaven County Park

    7 Reviews
    Shirley, NY
    9 miles
    Website
    +1 (631) 852-1391

    $33 / night

    "Recently went camping in our pull behind, met some old friends and had a great time. Rangers have a hardon for people screwing up tho. Think they're all that and then some..."

    "Great Location Clean Park."

    5. Wildwood State Park Campground

    24 Reviews
    Wading River, NY
    21 miles
    Website
    +1 (631) 929-4314

    $20 - $250 / night

    "Close to the Hampton's and Fire Island National Seashore. A great family campsite right on the Long Island Sound."

    "The beach is in a walking distance. You can swim or fish there. This camp site has a relatively new and clean facility.

    There are many farms near by where you can get fresh veggies and fruits."

    6. Smith's Point

    5 Reviews
    Mastic Beach, NY
    7 miles
    Website

    7. Blydenburgh County Park

    11 Reviews
    Hauppauge, NY
    16 miles
    Website
    +1 (631) 854-3713

    "Great park with a nice 7 mile loop around the lake with decent fishing. Lots of horses and dogs on the trail. 30 or so sites around a central public restroom."

    "Hiking trails are beautiful. Dog friendly. Clean bathrooms"

    8. Cathedral Pines County Park

    4 Reviews
    Middle Island, NY
    14 miles
    Website
    +1 (631) 852-5502

    9. Indian Island County Park

    10 Reviews
    Riverhead, NY
    25 miles
    Website
    +1 (631) 852-3232

    "Campsites are located close enough to the beach/marsh. Multiple playgrounds for the kids although they were closed due to Covid."

    "There are dog friendly which was very nice. It is a lil tight from each site but you have the beach and a little hiking trails that makes it worth it."

    10. Cupsogue County Park

    1 Review
    Center Moriches, NY
    15 miles
    Website
    +1 (631) 852-8111
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Recent Dog-Friendly Camping Photos near Fire Island National Seashore

3 Photos of 22 Fire Island National Seashore Campgrounds


Dog-Friendly Camping Reviews near Fire Island National Seashore

184 Reviews of 22 Fire Island National Seashore Campgrounds


  • M
    Jul. 12, 2016

    Wildwood State Park Campground

    Long Island Sound!

    Close to the Hampton's and Fire Island National Seashore. A great family campsite right on the Long Island Sound. A little bit of a bummer on the rental for a firepit but the bathrooms are big and spacious. The showers could be a little bit warmer.

  • M
    Jul. 31, 2016

    Watch Hill Fire Island Campground — Fire Island National Seashore

    On the sand, for real!

    Fire Island National Seashore! Take the ferry over across the bay to this quiet little gem on Long Island. Amazing, your own ocean and beach! You are not quite roughing it as there are showers and running water at the Watchhill campground. Reservations highly recommended!

  • Mackenzie B.
    Aug. 4, 2018

    Nickerson Beach Park Campground

    surfers dream

    I grew up in Long Beach. If you’re looking for a spot to camp so you can surf, this is perfect! It’s basically a parking lot, but it’s steps away from some of the greatest waves on the east coast. Showers are clean, there’s a dog park nearby, and the island is very bikable to get around.

    benefits: allows dogs childrens playground beach programs like movie nights throughout the summer

  • Nadia V.
    Aug. 24, 2016

    Camp Gateway- Brooklyn NY - CLOSED — Gateway National Recreation Area

    Definitely a place to visit!

    Camp Gateway in Brooklyn New York is one of my favorite places to visit. I went to college in New York, and loved to get out of the busy city and go camping and be outdoors. Camp Gateway was always a place that I loved to go. It is pretty close to town-which is crazy because you feel like you are miles away. Camp Gateway does offer a lot of different activities for everyone. One thing I love to do is go kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. My girlfriends and I tried to do this once a month to get away from the city and school. Because you are so close to the city, you can plan outdoor activities as well as some activities in the city. My friends and I stayed 1 night in the campground, and the next day went to a recital show that took us 10 minutes to get to. You can also walk, hike or ride your bike along multiple paths- I have done the Fort Tilden trail (I just walked, but there were multiple people that passed us on their bikes). Within the campground they do have some fire pits- which my friends and I always use because we love cooking smores and hot dogs for dinner. A little further away from the campground, about 10-15 miles there is a place where you can do horseback riding, see the Statue of Liberty (which is gorgeous!), and there is a little beach area. This beach area is where I do my kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. Again, its not very far away...you can either drive there, walk or ride your bike. The road is paved, which is nice. I stayed here also with my parents, and I know my dad went golfing one day (I didn't go, but he said it was awesome)- and again that was only a 10 minute drive from our camping spot. This campground like I said, does offer quite a bit. Sometimes it doesn't really feel like you are "camping" because things are pretty close by, but it definitely is worth going to and trying.

  • Christy C.
    Jun. 10, 2017

    Camp Gateway- Brooklyn NY - CLOSED — Gateway National Recreation Area

    "Camping" in Brooklyn

    We tried this campground without knowing what was safe and where to stay for visit New York City. It is located in Brooklyn and is little removed from everything. The sites are at Floyd Bennett Field which is an old airfield. The atmosphere here is eerily cool at the same time. You basically park and camp on the asphalt by the old hangars. No hookups at all but they do have a camp store and bath house. If you are tent camping, there are some grassy sites.

    The campground is located right on Jamaica Bay so there were people fishing all the time from the seawall. At night, you could hear cars doing burnouts right next to us. To get to all the action in the city, we had to take a bus and then the subway. The travel was a headache but better than trying to drive in to New York City in our RV. One way to improve here would be to have some security at night as well as access to clean water and dump station. They remained locked most of the time for some reason.

    The best part of this place was the free tour of Hangar B by some guys doing restoration of old planes (HARP). They had some great stories and gave us history of the planes on display.

  • Carrie J.
    Sep. 30, 2016

    Camp Gateway- Brooklyn NY - CLOSED — Gateway National Recreation Area

    Weird One

    This place is kind of a toss up for me. On one hand, I enjoy it because it's a little slice of heaven in the hell of one of the busy areas of New York. I hate this place for the same reason. It's not really camping if you're going to see a play and then go tour the Statue of Liberty. It just doesn't seem right to me. If I HAVE to be in New York, maybe I'd consider staying here again just to get myself out of the city for a bit. But this definitely isn't your "great outdoors/rest and relaxation" kind of place.

  • Tara N.
    Jul. 17, 2021

    Totoket Valley RV Park

    Perfect for a stop over

    Small campground with good electrical, clean water, sewer and a friendly owner. Each site has grass and a picnic table. There is a wonderful little frozen custard shop down the road called roses farm stand. It’s a perfect campground for seeing the local area or even catching the train to New York City.

  • Amber A.
    Jul. 31, 2016

    Camp Gateway- Brooklyn NY - CLOSED — Gateway National Recreation Area

    Ok if you don’t have another choice

    The park itself is lovely and close to some other green areas. The nice thing about this campsite is that it’s so close to NYC. The bad thing about this campsite is that it’s so close to NYC. If you live in NYC this is a good, cheap, super quick escape accessible by public transport. If you’re visiting the area I’d recommend staying in Manhattan/Queens in an AirBNB for the full NYC experience or heading to Long Island, Pennsylvania, “Upstate” New York, or New Jersey for a better nature camping experience. For what it is, this site is a nice green little oasis. It’s National Park Service land and they try really hard to keep things clean and working well with so much traffic. Bring earplus for the airport traffic and the noisy neighbors. Tent sites are pretty and wooded, but there is also a TON of concrete from an old WW2 airfield.

  • Nadia V.
    Aug. 24, 2016

    Sears Bellows County Park

    Relaxing-Good for your whole family!

    Sears Bellows in New York is a lot of fun. It really does offer a lot of outdoor activities for you and your family. I have stayed at this campsite 1 time, and stayed 2 nights. This campground does offer tent sites as well as RV/trailer sites. When I went with my friends in college, we just stayed in the tent sites and really enjoyed it. The campground is very well kept and clean which I really liked. They do have quite a bit of garbage's to dump your trash in. One thing I really liked about this campground is that there was a river/pond close by (Bellows Pond). The first night I stayed here my friends and I rented some rowboats and went on the water. It was a lot of fun, and the price of the rowboat was pretty cheap. The next morning we got up and did some hiking. The trails were beautiful, and the flowers were in bloom. There were people who were also biking on these trails, which looked like so much fun! We also saw some people fishing in the pond- and it seemed like most people were catching. The people who stayed in the campsite next to us were cooking up some type of fish for their dinner that they caught that day. One thing to note is that there are not any electrical hook-ups, so if that is something you need you might now want to come stay here. I would love to come back here someday, but stay maybe a day or two longer to do more things- I would also bring my bike and fishing pole to do more outdoor activities. I would also advise to rent the rowboats because that was a lot of fun!


Guide to Fire Island National Seashore

Discover the perfect spots for pets-allowed camping near Fire Island National Seashore in New York, where you can enjoy the great outdoors with your furry friends.

Dog-friendly activities while camping near Fire Island National Seashore

  • At Indian Island County Park, you can take leisurely walks along serene trails and enjoy the peaceful beach area, perfect for morning strolls with your dog.
  • Blydenburgh County Park offers excellent hiking trails and a lake for fishing, making it a great spot for active pet owners looking to explore nature together.
  • Enjoy a family-friendly atmosphere at Southaven County Park, which features a beautiful lake and playground, ideal for a fun day out with your pets.

Pet-friendly campgrounds include scenic views and amenities

  • Smith Point County Park boasts fantastic views of the bay and is just steps away from the beach, making it a great place for pets to enjoy the outdoors.
  • Experience the beauty of nature at Cupsogue County Park, where you can camp right by the ocean and enjoy stunning views, although be prepared for dry camping.
  • Sears Bellows County Park offers spacious sites and a peaceful environment, perfect for relaxing with your pet after a day of outdoor activities.

Dog owners appreciate the welcoming atmosphere

  • Campers at Battle Row Campground enjoy a clean and quiet environment, making it a great choice for those looking to unwind with their pets.
  • Cathedral Pines County Park is known for its spacious and wooded sites, providing a tranquil setting for pet owners to relax and explore.
  • At Shinnecock East County Park, visitors can enjoy camping directly on the beach, with plenty of space for pets to roam and play.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Fire Island National Seashore?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Fire Island National Seashore is Smith Point County Park with a 4.4-star rating from 9 reviews.

What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near Fire Island National Seashore?

TheDyrt.com has all 22 dog-friendly camping locations near Fire Island National Seashore, with real photos and reviews from campers.