Best Cabin Camping near Gardiner, 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.

This campground overall was pretty good. It is a larger campground, with large sites. Within the campground there are also restrooms available, showers and water. I would advise to bring your own water, because the running water they provide doesn't taste the best and smells like rotten eggs. Just my opinion. The campsites also have a fire ring pit and a picnic table, which was nice for my large family. It wasn't too busy when we went- we got there on a Friday night around 6pm and were able to get a spot. There are also some fun activities within the campground, and things nearby. There are some good hiking and biking trails. My family and I went on a hike one morning, and my brothers enjoyed riding their bikes along the path. There is a restaurant near by that plays live music. The night we went, it was country music. Not sure how often they do this, or if the music changes. They do also have cabins you can rent, but we enjoyed the camping experience. We were in section C, spot 85. It was a pretty good, private spot. The campground was pretty clean, although we did see some trash throughout the campground that we picked up as we walked by it.

Our 21 month old had the time of his life here! We stayed for 3 nights in June in a rustic cabin. There are no bathrooms in the cabin but there are public restrooms nearby. The resorts is decked out with 2 playgrounds, a splash park, kiddie pool, family pool and hot tub. They have activities on the weekends with Yogi the mascot such as wagon rides, dance parties, arts n crafts. It was a little expensive to stay here but was so worth it! Make sure you reserve a golf cart if you stay during the weekend- it's a must have to get from place to place and our little guy loved it!

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.

We stayed at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort along the Walllkill River in Gardiner, NY, for a four-night chill-out vacation. We’re so glad we did! 

Our site was called Riverfront Red Carpet. It was spacious, level, waterfront, and partially shaded thanks to some mature trees. Site#22 included a large concrete pad, picnic table, charcoal grill, and large fire ring. Everything was in great condition. It was nice having plenty of space to not be on top of our neighbors. We had full hookups with 50-amp electrical service- which all worked fine. 

The entire park seemed to be well maintained and clean. There’s a small waterpark which seemed good for younger kids, an eatery, and ice cream shop. The camp store was well-stocked with food, camping supplies, and souvenirs. There is a game room and multiple bath houses(which we didn’t use). The park’s roadways are all paved and easy to navigate. Despite being nearly filled to capacity including tons of young children, the park was quiet each night with no noisy ‘bad campers.’ 

We found our interactions with the staff to be helpful and attentive. We really appreciate friendly staff. 

Overall, this was a great stay at a great RV park. I’d only mention two negatives, neither was a big deal. It took 45-minutes to check-in. In fairness, we arrived at check-in time(3:00 PM) on a Sunday. There were a dozen other RVs checking in at the same time and they just weren’t equipped for that. Also, our Verizon cell service was practically non-existent and the park’s wifi service was just as horrible. If we needed connectivity, this would have been a major problem. I reduced a star in my review simply because it’s 2021 and wifi has become an expectation. 

We booked on campspot.com and paid$196 per night+$35 to lock our site+$2 booking fee less a 20% promo discount.