Best Glamping near Howes Cave, NY

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.

We arrived here early afternoon, which ended up being perfect timing as we could set up everything and catch sunset by the fire. The place is pretty easy to access with paved road the whole way there except for the last 1/2 mile where it is very bumpy. Some might say 4*4 but we made it just fine in our little Camry. There are two campsites located right outside of the park where you can park your car next to your tent but we opted to hike in. The first spot is less than 1/2 mile down the path, with the next three in the next mile. The campsites are very spacious with lots of room between you and other campers, and have a fire pit and some have picnic tables. We had a stellar time just hiking down the path and relaxing by the water. There’s no noise at night apart from the running water of the stream and we had a very peaceful weekend. We’re most definitely returning!

This park is located approximately 12.5 miles from downtown Cooperstown and is set in the quiet rural countryside of New York. The mature trees make for beautiful scenery in the fall. There is a mix of sites varying from tent, RV, rental trailers, and camping cabins/cottages/lodges bringing the total number of sites to 120. Back-in and pull-thru sites are available. Site types include full hookup, water and electric, and no hookup with prices varying depending upon site. You can choose between 30/20 or 50 amp electric service. Interior roads are gravel and some site pads are gravel while others are grass. 

The park is nicely terraced and all the sites are level. Patios were a grassy/dirt area with a picnic table and fire pit. Our site (#41) was a pull-thru but there was no way we could drive our 45’ motorhome forward out of the site because of a large tree and narrow roads. So we ended up having to back out. The free wifi worked well as did our Verizon 4G phone and hotspot. We picked up a dozen or so television channels with our antenna. The park does have a fair amount of trees that would interfere with roof-mounted satellite dishes so you would have to pick your site carefully. But, there are some 30 amp and no hook-up sites that are clear. This is a typical KOA with lots of amenities including a swimming pool(which was closed for the season when we were there), a playground, volleyball court, basketball court, jump house, pavilion, recreation room, bicycle rental, and horseshoes. Showers, restrooms and laundry are also present and clean. There is a propane filling station. While there is no fenced-in dog park there is a pet walking area. The surrounding area is pretty rural and the closest town (Richfield Springs– which is very small) is five miles away and where you will find restaurants, gas station, grocery store, and more. A few miles from the park is a creamery that has a café. 

Approximately five miles away is Glimmerglass State Park which was great for hiking and kayaking Otsego Lake. There is a also a historic house at the park that you can tour and the country’s oldest covered bridge. Cooperstown is a little over twelve miles away from the park but well worth a trip. Not only is Cooperstown home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame but it is a charming downtown well worth exploring. Other nearby attractions include The Farmers Museum, Fenimore Art Museum, Hero’s of Baseball Wax Museum, Glimmerglass Opera, and Cooperstown Brewing Company.

We spent a relatively quiet long weekend here on loop F 97, which is a bit removed from the main campground. It was a bit noisy on Saturday night but nothing disturbing.  This site also is bordered by a small stream so expect mosquitoes and the occasional visit from wildlife (we had raccoons at our site each night, so kept food in the car). Each site has a fire pit and a picnic table.

There is a store just outside the entrance that sells ice, wood, groceries.  There are quite a few roadside firewood sellers that are reasonably priced.  The fire pit does not have a narrow grilling grate so bringing something to ensure your food won't fall through the widely spaced bars is helpful.  

As I said, our site was out of the main population, but it was a bit of a hike to the restroom which is something to keep in mind if you've really got to get to a bathroom first thing in the morning.  

There is a Walmart about 10 miles away in Gloverville, so keep this in mind if you are planning on picking up essentials when you arrive.  

There are no sites with electric.

Booked an "Elite 50amp" site but had no realistic map to go by. Many if these types of sites are parallel to the water, but the map makes them look like back in sites. If your site neighbors are in their spots already when you arrive it will probably be hard to navigate unless you have a 20' rig. We don't, ours is over 33'and we were lucky that our site neighbors were both home to move their trucks so we could get in. Once in our site had a steep drop off to the lake, not all are like this, but be cautious about this if you have young kids.

They have many activities you can do on site (swimming in pools or lakes, kayaking, paddleboarding, fishing, floating, bike riding, playgrounds or weekly planned events). They advertise having a trolly shuttle but never saw it while we were there.

Had some issues with the lack of lighting on the roads while walking our dogs and this only made it worse when the seasonals fly around in golf carts paying no mind to the large trucks trying to get by. The dumpsters were FAR away from everything so that was also an annoyance. They also have hundreds of sites and only one area with dumpsters, seems like poor planning. At the end of the weekend people had piled many garbage bags near the small garbage cans around the grounds.

The roads are narrow and many should be one way, but are not. It would have been impossible many places in the grounds to pass a rig on the road due to the amount of other's vehicles, golf carts, decorations etc... so patience is important when arriving and departing. The gas powered golf carts were also a bit of a negative only because our site was next to a speed bump, so the noise was a little but worse for us.

Had an issue with water pressure on Saturday around 10am and called the office to make sure there was not a known water issue. Front desk knew nothing and said they would send maintenance but we never saw anyone. The situation improved so we think it was just a high demand time of day.

We would return here due to the proximity to Lake George and Saratoga, but we would choose a totally different type of site.

We were on site 219 to give you perspective when viewing photos.

My buddy and I were looking for a campsite for a quick overnight stay before a bike trip around the Adirondacks, and this spot was a perfect fit. Coming in late after driving all day, we unfortunately didn’t get to meet Rich in person. He did however give us good directions to navigate the narrow driving path in the dark to reach the pond camping area, and even had a large two room tent already set up that we were able to use - a convenient and kind gesture! The old school bus was a fun perk to check out in the morning as well. Most state ran parks in New York close up before the middle of October, and this is a great option for an off season camping spot in the area. Thanks Rich!