Best Cabin Camping near Palenville, NY

Sharpe Reservation is located in the middle of nowhere in Fishkill, NY. It offers New York City kids an opportunity to enjoy nature in the summer. During the year, schools and youth groups can participate in the education programs available. It is a 2000+ acres of nature with cabin accommodation - but not for the general public who are looking to camp there. (If you are the leader of a scout troupe, I highly recommend you try organize an overnight trip for your troupe there.)

That does not mean you should give up in checking out this wonderful place. For once a year, they open the grounds for the general public during their Maple Celebration in March. And it is worth bringing your kids to this all-day event if you are camping/traveling in the neighborhood. http://www.freshair.org/maple-celebration

I have taken my daughter and friends there for a few years and it is always a fun-packed day to cure cabin fever before all other places are open for activities before the start of spring: watch a sky show at the planetarium; make crafts in the nature discovery room, play outdoor games designed for different ages, taste maple syrup from competing makers, watch maple sugaring demonstration, enjoy a BBQ lunch, touch an exotic animal, or walk the many trails on the ground. There is also local handmade goods and foods for shopping. (TIP: There are several screenings at the planetarium during the day, but it is best to be there at the earliest shows when there are not many people; otherwise, you probably will have to line up for half an hour to get in.)

The activities are spread out over at different locations within Sharpe Reservation, so wear comfortable shoes. But it is such a nice break from winter and such soul calming environment that I highly recommend it.

Finally ventured out for a camping trip in this curious season and was delighted to find Bonnie Brae Campground in the Berkshires. It's a compact,clean campground tucked at the end of a quiet neighborhood street, within walking distance to a lake. Many of the RV site are occupied by seasonal campers, and the sites are well-kept. Some of the sites have platforms. This side of the campground was quiet most of the time. The tent and cabin loop circle around the pool area and although you could hear more conversation and noise from this section, everyone was respectful of quiet hours. They also offer a number of cabins for rent with AC and small refrigerator, but no bathrooms. The bathrooms are small, but very clean. They wouldn't meet ADA standards, but there are no drips, stains, or dirt and they seem to check in a couple of times a day to clean up if needed. The pool is now open (delayed this year due to COVID-19) and the kids in particular enjoyed it. You can add a firewood purchase to your reservation and they'll deliver it to your site. 

I was in site 28 with a teardrop camper. I could have used leveling blocks because it was hard to find a great spot that was level side to side. Sites 27 & 29 each seemed a little more level and 29 was larger.

Pontoosuc Lake is a short walk away; there are boat rentals available and I saw a number of people fishing from Pontoosuc Park just above the dam. There's a rail trail nearby and Mt Greylock State Reservation offers numerous hiking opportunities 11 miles to the north.

Ashley here with The Dyrt, extending a warm welcome to your host Rachel. This property is rented to others to help maintain and expand native and pollinating species of plants. Book your stay in this sweet cabin and come back here to leave them some love.

This is an older campground with several options. Only 6 sites with electric. 50 & 51 are nice & private. Lots of large tent sites, some in an open area & others fairly private. 4 tent pads with obstructed river views. Assorted cabins, mostly above the river. Restrooms small but pretty clean by state park standards.

We never been here. This campground is quite small. But quiet. It’s located off a dead end street . There is a lame right down the street. They have cabins, tent sites and everything sites. Have a small camp store. But downtown Pittsfield very close by. They have a pool. The owners were very professional and friendly . We will return..

Big and spacious state park with many camping options. Has options for trailers, tent sites, platforms for tents and even some cabins. Small store in park that sells firewood and ice and a few other things you may need. Big lake with swimming and boating as well as many hiking trails. Bathrooms on site as well as showers. Some sites are close together, but there are a few a little more secluded and set back. Fire pits are great. Can’t wait to camp here again!

This is a Thousand trails campground so it was free. I think the regular price is $64. Full hookups, tents and cabins to rent. Pleanty to do in and around campground. Grounds has a pool, concession stand,game room, playgrounds, sports feild and more. Sites are well groomed. We had one and a babbling brook was 30 feet behind us. Great spot for morning coffee. Clean restrooms,showers and laundry. Dump stations if need and a service to come to your rig to collect waste if you don't want to move it. Local shops just minutes from campgrounds. Walmart and other bigger shops just a short drive away! Scenic Willride on 44-55 to Mohonk House and trails. We be going back.

I went here with two of my coworkers for a relaxing weekend getaway. I'm use to the rough and tough it of backpacking the AT Trail so this place had quite a few amenities I am not use to! Haha. We stayed at a platform tent site and were able to park two vehicles on site but the grounds had plenty of parking not too far from the sites. Each of the sites had a large platform (enough room for one very large tent or 2-3 smaller tents), a fire pit, and picnic table. You are very close to your neighbor in this area but when we were there everyone was very respectful. There was potable water a short walking distance away as well as flushing toilets. There was a very large open grassy field for play/sports, a playground and life guarded portion of the lake for swimming. This location was very accesible to the Bish Bash Falls trail and even had a few side trails to explore. This place is very good for easing on first timers and there were quite a few children so those who are parents should consider this a great place to get kids involved in the outdoors as well. There were other accommodations such as RV hook ups, events, and rentals but we weren't there long enough to take adavatage of those. Overall a great experience and relatively cheap for what you get. I believe it was around $30 for two nights which was the minimum.

We spent two separate weekends at this campground; one during October and the other during early May. Camping here during October was, by far, better. The foliage was turned to all hues of orange, yellow, green, and red. We stayed in lot 109, which was perfect because going through the really faint trail through the trees you can come to a ledge overlooking the Hudson River. We took our few beers and hung out there instead of our camping spot to watch the sunset.

The facilities are on par with most parks. They are dog friendly, so we took our dog with us on our camping trip in May (she loved it). There are a few cabins available to stay in. Only gripe would be that most of the camping spots are really close together and they don't sell logs for fire. They only have fire starter bricks, which get done what you need. They usually have plenty of cut down brush to use for the fires...but be wary of the rain season during April/May.

There are a lot of sweet stuff to see near the park. Close by is the Roosevelt Presidential Library and house, Vanderbilt House, and even further out is Woodstock and plenty of other cool parks.

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.

Nice campground with campsites that are close together not providing much privacy. However, clean, dog friendly and good hiking nearby! Great for a getaway but not my first choice of campgrounds in NYS.

Being from extremely overcrowded and Long Island- we decided to take a week long trip and stay at site 14 at Housatonic Meadows State Park Campground in CT. After a beautiful 8 am crossing of the sound on the Port Jeff Ferry, we landed in Bridgeport at 9:20 at shot north on 8 and in an hour and 20 minutes arrived at the Park- we were early, but the Ranger was great and made a couple of rounds and let us know as soon as we could head to the site. This is a small campground and the site on the north side are the the only ones worth staying at- week booked 14. it was a Saturday afternoon, and it was NOT full! On LI- its impossible to get a campsite unless you book it 6 months in advance. Our first 24 hours were a bit of a let down, as we landed right in the middle of a 3 site family “fiesta”…. but we used Winnebago 1700BH to block it out, and set up under the canopy of old growth pines and oaks… by 12 on Sunday-we had the entire campground to ourselves… in the middle of JULY. The fishing, peace and quiet of the place was exactly what we needed!!Tons of birdwatching, hiking, river floating… the cabins look great also- typical campground baths.. mostly tents as we were the only trailer in the park…. wait? what?? We say this place is great!!

While looking for a campsite that would play host to our daughter's first camping trip, we stumbled upon this place and managed to snag a reservation last minute. We are tent campers...can't speak to the accommodations for RV/5th-Wheelers or the rentable cabins. 

The Good:

- The farm, playground, beach, and shallow river make it a great, easy entry point for new and younger campers.

- Restrooms were very clean every time we needed them, and they were easy to access from the tent sites.

- It appeared there were additional activities we could have partaken in - kayaks, paddle boards, canoes available for rent onsite - though with how shallow the river was, I would have been pretty nervous to take a tumble out of a kayak or paddle board. Maybe the river is higher at different times of the year and these activities are less dangerous? We saw some people tubing on the river as well, though I think you have to go offsite for those rentals.

- GREAT fishing river, though the riverfront the camp sits on isn't the best in terms of depth or activity. A short drive down the road in either direction will put you in much better locations for angling.

- The downtown area is adorable, well-stocked in terms of stores/restaurants, and only 3 minutes down the road. Plus there is a brewery AND a distillery:) 

The Bad:

- The"tent sites" (that's what they call them, but they look just like all of the other RV sites with a giant cement pad and utility hookups) are VERY close together, and there is nothing separating them. If you're looking for quiet seclusion, don't even remotely consider this spot as an option.

- As I mentioned before, the tent sites are not actually built for tents. The ground is worn over and very rocky. If you visit, bring incredibly thick sleeping pads or air mattresses if you want to sleep semi-comfortably.

- The cleanliness of the bathrooms doesn't carry over to the campsites. Ours was littered with garbage, broken glass and fish hooks. SO DANGEROUS! Definitely don't walk around barefoot.

- While they boast about the convenience of the General Store, when we visited (and keep in mind, this is still in the time of COVID) it looked like a bomb had gone off inside. It had virtually nothing of value to offer, and it was closed more often than not. The day we arrived it was closed by 3:30, and the day we left (at noon) it still hadn't opened. The grocery store in town is very close, affordable, MUCH better run, and is open until 10 pm. Give them your business instead.

- While snagging a campsite next to the river is nice in terms of ambiance, it also means that you get to act as the gatekeeper for every other camper trying to get to the beach area. We had strangers strolling straight through the middle of our site throughout the day to get to the beach...not very safe, especially when you have children, and incredibly annoying.

- There isn't any kind of smoking policy (I know, nitpicking here since we're outside, but with the sites so close together, it would have been nice), so we got hit with waves of cigarette smoke from the campers that were 5 sites down from us every time the wind shifted. YUCK!

- While you can't see it, you can hear the traffic on the main highway very clearly. Every time a semi used its air brakes on the long hill, it echoed through the camp. Also, be sure to ask about the status of the construction before you visit...we were lucky enough to get to hear the constant thumping of steel poles being driven into the ground across the river from about 9 am to 7 pm every day.

Great place that’s about 50/50 permanent sites and rentals. They have lots to do, the owners are very friendly and accommodating, the campground is one of the quietest we’ve ever stayed at, both at night and in the morning. There are many pull through sites, lots of wooded sites, and open areas for kids to play. We were impressed by how they didn’t cram extra sites into these areas, though there is plenty of room. Electric, water, and septic hookups were all modern and in great shape.