Best Glamping near Merrick, NY

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.

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.

This may be my favorite spot. I habe stayed in all the spots they offer, yurt, cabin and the pull up sites. It is well maintained with numerous trails to hike. Getting a cabin in the winter and going for a snowy hike is wondrful there

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.

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.

Mountain Lakes park is a great place to camp within driving distance from NYC. A fun option available at Mountain lakes is to rent a yurt to camp in. The area, as the name implies, is home to several lakes which can be used for various recreational purposes. There are also many hikes which can be trekked straight from the campgrounds which is always a huge plus in my mind. When we were there it was right after a rain storm and everything was a bit muddy and slippery. We will definitely be planning a trip back to Mountain Lakes when the weather gets nicer though!

Spent two summers there when they had the fishing and kayaking tournament met new friends and old ones I do hope they come back to Brooklyn Great place to RV and Camp out

Gateway is perfect for camping when you don’t need a big adventure, just a well crafted little one. Located in Brooklyn, it was a natural choice when I took my group of scouts who were between the ages of 3-5, so in case of emergencies, or kids who freak out about tent sleeping, getting home or other resources is easy. Once in the sites, the foliage and layout perfectly cuts out the city, so it feels like real woods camping. And the beach nearby, visitor center, trails, and other amenities means you always hav something to do. Special highlight, the aviation museum!

I highly recommend it if you’re camping with little kids or if you just want an easy relaxing weekend when you can pop up a tent, hang a hammock, and not have to worry about packing for a big trip.

I don't really like campsites that too close to the city in my opinion. I came here anyways and this place is filled with little children screaming. The sky has no stars because of the light from the city. Not the best place if you are really serious about camping

Camp Gateway is one of my favorite places to go when I want to get away from the busy city! It's in such a great location because it's close to the city yet seems so far away. You feel like you are miles away from the busy city because of all the trees, and the campground creates a great outdoor feel. If camping is "boring" for you, this still is a great place to go because you can schedule tours and the Statue of Liberty isn't far away, so you can go visit that. I really enjoy hiking around the area, and they also have some great paths for biking. I rented my bike from a local shop close by- Avaitor Sports Shop. The only downside is that they do have a few guidelines and rules- lets are not allowed in the tent sites, no alcochol allowed and no charcoal grills. This does help keep the campground pretty clean, which is always nice. There is a lake nearby that has boat launches and I've seen people kayaking too. The campground was nice, and the campsite had a fire ring and table. Our camp spot was a little farther away from the restrooms, but it wasn't too bad. They also have showers available too. I would recommend this campsite!

Amazing night with friends!!

We had a great time at Floyd Bennett field! Watch out for raccoons!

Not too far away from home you can feel secluded in this great national park. Although some campsites are 2 steps away from each other, we got lucky to be in G25 a little camp spot that's in a cul de sac. You'll hear crickets and tiny paws walking around while you sleep and of course, the airplanes landing and departing from the nearby aiport. The amenities are great. 24/7 bathroom and showers, a camp store that has all the necessary things you need. So try out the experience for only $30. $10.38 for the firewood but priceless memories are created

this is our second year staying at camp gateway for Questival. It's the perfect setting. Close to the water ;)

Surprisingly nice campground, convenient facilities, great waterfront views

And who would've thought in brooklyn of all places. Eady to book and get to.

But it absolutely looks amazing to use super user friendly

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!

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! There are shops, a restaurant and a bar a 10 minute walk away! One warning, however, the mosquitoes are extremely potent and plentiful. Take the good stuff. There are park rangers on site and have excellent programs for kids.

It was absolutely gorgeous, don’t get me wrong. However, it was nearly impossible to enjoy ourselves because we were getting attacked by mosquitoes and horseflies the entire weekend. When we first arrived to the campground, we were immediately getting attacked so we doused ourselves in deet. Even with the bug spray, the relief didn’t last long. We couldn’t even enjoy our meals at camp because it was that bad. Def bring a shelter or a canopy with a mosquito net!!! We spent a lot of time inside our tent, needless to say. We tried spending more time up at the beach to get some relief, but the horseflies were out of control!! They have a cool bar down by the boat dock that was fun, but prob won’t make it back here.

Fire Island is a great spot in the summer, but can be busy. Camping gets you away from the bustle. It is a little less than a half mile walk from the ferry dock and located behind the dunes which offer some protection. Take a quick walk down to the beach.

Two-night minimum on weekends, and no fires. You can bring charcoal to cook on the grills provided or camp stoves, though.

Only about 20 min drive and 30 min ferry trip for us we got to watch hill. Awesome place close to home easy check in and very friendly ppl. It’s a bit of a walk to camp site but all on board walk (we took to carts full of stuff) some sites are not private meaning some site will have your neighbor right behind you. We had site 2 which was a nice private site. Short walk to the beach. Only thing no hot showers as it was a beach bathroom shower. It was a little cooler so showering was not that great also showers are not covered no curtains. Also come with deet repellent as mosquitos are vicious. Over all great weekend

You can get a permit to backcountry camp instead of reserving a designated campground spot. Just walk down to the beach after check-in and walk east until you see a pole with a tent symbol on it. After that you can choose where you want to set up camp. There are many spots along the dunes and allows to really space out from other campers. It felt like we had the entire beach to ourselves because there was no one else even close to around us, we went the weekend after labor day.

Favorite place ever. You can get there by ferry. Very quiet and comfortable. Birdsong in the morning and the sound of the waves. There are showers, toilets and a café. For those who want to be at one with nature. Lots of mosquitoes, be prepared.