Best RV Parks & Resorts near Harrisville, NY

Total Shi!-Hole.

First let me start by saying that we are not new to rv parks or camping. We average about 10,000 miles a year in our coach.

This particular trip is 5,000 miles over 23 days and 18 campgrounds.

We are a “big rig”. 45 ft Class A with a 16ft tow.

This is NOT a place for big rigs.

We had booked a water front lot, full hookup and their most expensive lot. About $75 for the night.

The roads and lot signs are scarce and other than handing us a very inaccurate map of the property, we were on our own.

We damaged our rig getting to our lot. The roads and turns are not wide enough for a 45’ rig even with the tow disconnected to make turns.

Wide enough for travel trailers and 5th wheels but not a large class a.

The lots are also not gravel and not level. Ours was dirt and mostly mud and even with our leveling jacks down, we could not level due to the mud and lack of a gravel base.

Ours (lot 134) was filthy. Food, cigarette butts, trash and dog shit. Not to mention a pile of mulch. Maintenance seems non existent.

ZERO prep or cleanup was done on the site.

Water pressure good but water reaks of chlorine. DO NOT drink the water. Made the mistake of using it for morning coffee. So much chlorine its like pool water.

Internet very good. Only positive thing that I can say.

Power sucks. 30amp only but not truly providing that. We kept blowing the breaker and noted our lights flickering. We can easily run on 30amp. This is typical of an overbuilt park with not enough power for the campers onsite.

Once we were in and set, we first noted that other campers were cutting through our lot to get to the river. A constant flow of kids, adults and inner tubs all walking through our site.

We then went to walk our dogs and had numerous encounters by dogs not on leashes. We could not leave our dogs outside on their tether's due to worrying about unattended dogs.

The other thing is that cars and trucks were flying on the roads with no safe speed limit. It seems that they drop off tubers on the river near our lot and then the drivers fly out of here to go meet them downriver.

This is a low class dump made up of travel trailers, tent campers and fifth wheels. No maintenance, no enforced rules. No pride in the property or operation.

Not a place for large coach owners or seasoned RVrs who know how the rest of the country is.

We will not be back and strongly advise any Class A big rig owners to avoid.

Beautiful, peaceful large pond/small lake. Loons. Ducks and ducklings. Beaver. Canoes($20/day) and kayak rentals. Firewood for sale ($9?) or gather downed wood. Fishing. Large sandy Adirondack beach and day use area. Pet friendly. Very friendly staff. Clean, stocked bathrooms/toilet with sink and soap. Well located water spigots. Nearby trails. Dump station. Boat launch (no motorboats allowed).

No hookups. No onsite showers (can use another Golden Beach Campground showers a few miles away.) No cell or internet. Maybe wifi near entrance?

Easiest access is from Raquette Lake. From the west you will drive over 5 miles on a dirt road (slow going if towing).

I have stayed here many times over the years, usually for a 10-18 day stretch at a time. This is one of my favorite places. Most sites are right on the water. Square pond is a lovely little lake that connects to a larger lake (Upper Saranac I believe) by passing through a canal. This campground has great facilities. There are restrooms located convieniently throughout the park so you never have to walk more than a few sites no matter where you are. There are hot showers located at one end of the park and a dump station for RVs. The restrooms and showers are cleaned daily. There is a great little general store just outside the park that sells pretty much anything you could want. Sites are equipped with a table and fireplace (most have grates). There are vendors that drive through the park daily selling wood, ice cream (from an old fashioned wagon, get the moose tracks!), and ice. There is a boat supplier that travels the lake every morning and evening dropping off and picking up kayak and canoe rentals. If you love water front camping this is for you! The park is pet friendly but you need to show proof of vaccines. There are great things to do nearby like the Adirondack Museum, Lake Placid, and beautiful hiking spots. You can have power boats and jets skis on the lake as well as non motorized boats. Some of the best sunsets I have ever viewed happened right here. Quiet hours are taken very seriously and rangers walk the park at night warning rowdy fireside folks to quiet down. However, as dusk turns to night, you can always count on the chorus of yodels going back and forth across the lake. This is a wonderful spot! Check it out! You won’t be sorry! Oh, but sites go on sale nine months in advance through reserve America and the best spots wind up booked for the season pretty quickly.

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 my first time at the campground. I was greeted by the new manager. I selected 30 amp interior full up interior full hook up back in site but they gave me an upgrade to a waterfront site. (For an interior price) . They even helped us on backing up our camper. The view took my breath away. The campground has all amenities necessary to a great camping experience, from electricity to water and sewer hookups. It also has Wi-Fi. There’s a playground and a beach area . The place is very clean and was decorated for the 4th of July festivity. They even had fireworks. I’ll recommend this place.

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.