Best Tent Camping near Perry, NY

Campers exploring the Canandaigua area discover a delightful mix of lakeside retreats, wooded state parks, and family-friendly RV resorts. Just minutes from downtown, Canandaigua City Park Campground offers easy access to local shops and the lakefront beach, making it a convenient base for those who want town amenities within walking distance. A short drive farther out leads to Keuka Lake State Park Campground and the privately owned Canandaigua-Rochester KOA, both of which feature spacious sites, clean facilities, and excellent opportunities for swimming, kayaking, and fishing on the Finger Lakes. For those seeking a quieter experience, numerous backcountry and dispersed sites are tucked into the surrounding National Forest, where campers can truly unplug—though it’s essential to bring all necessary supplies and practice Leave No Trace principles. Ontario County Park at Gannett Hill and the Stay Bristol Woodlands campground blend rustic charm with modern comforts: well-maintained restrooms, picnic shelters, and on-site hiking trails that wind through hardwood forests and offer scenic overlooks, especially stunning during fall foliage season. Travel logistics are a breeze when visitors prearrange an airport shuttle from Rochester or Syracuse airports, ensuring a smooth transition from plane to campsite. And for adventurers mapping out multiple stops across the Finger Lakes or beyond, reliable multi-city transfers provide comfortable, door-to-door rides—no rental car necessary. With its blend of waterfront sites, wooded hideaways, and nearby attractions—wineries, waterfalls, and historic villages—the Canandaigua region truly has something for every type of camper. Whether pitching a tent under the stars or rolling in with an RV, visitors will find endless opportunities for adventure and relaxation.

What a great place this was!

Everyone was very nice and bathrooms were so clean! To top it off the sites for tents are amazing - so private and pretty. In fact it’s so private we were able to set up our own portable toilet and have complete privacy.

Nice little store too! Overall this place was great and we’d stay here again in a heartbeat. Very easy place to spend the night.

Also they have golfing here and tent areas back up to the 9th hole (but still separated so you don’t feel like you are right on top of it) so you can easily knock around there and do a little golfing too!

Had a great time at Stony Brook State Park this week! The campground side doesn't open until around 11 we were told, and we reached at 8am, so we started at the North (day-use) side, parked there, hiked, ate, and eventually drove back to the other side, checked in, and set up camp. 😁 It was a very nice time. Due to the COVID-19 regulations, masks need to be worn in the bathhouse (except when brushing teeth or showering). Was a good, quiet, fun time, with a few other families nearby. The only negatives: *According to their website, the natural pool would be open the day we went. It was not. ☹️ *No alcohol permitted in the whole campgrounds. Fine for us, but annoying for many. From the trash in the bathhouse, looks like some were anyways. *No "camp store" - so if you forgot an essential item, you've got to go out from the park. Positive part: town is only 8 minutes away via car. Also, we got GREAT and easy burning from the people selling wood for $5/bundle just outside the campground entrance.

All in all, a GREAT time! We all enjoyed it!

Big park with several loops.  Separate and across two roads from the Beach section of the Park. Got a reservation for Friday and Saturday but the spot in loop D was an inclined driveway next to the high voltage boxes for the campground.  Had to move the fire ring after smoking ourselves out the first night.  Right across from the building they called a bath house.  Filthy, urinal broken, one shower broken in mens.   Feces on the floor in womens.  Friday night quiet hours did not exist.  Spent Saturday early am listening to the neighbor loudly declare her preferences in music, men and liquor.  No Ranger in sight.

Minor redeeming qualities:  Nice beach and bike trails across road from campground.  Three lane dump station (only one for a four loop campground with 100s of "spots")

Beware:  Rigs approaching from East there are very low bridges (11' 3') between Rochester and the Park on the Parkway.

So Letchworth State Park is beautiful. It's also tremendous, 18 miles long covering the east and west side of the Geneseo River. There is over 100 miles of trails intersecting the park. The campground itself is made up of loops with only electrical hookups , no water or sewer connections , just water spiquets positioned throughout the loop and 1common bathroom in each loop. There is no wifi in any of the camping areas so if you are dependant on it for any reason this is not the place for you. Only at certain points in the park will you get a signal

We loved our stay at the "Grand Canyon of the East!" This is a gorgeous forested campground with many things to occupy your time! They unfortunately had trail #7 and the upper falls closed for repairs, but we did trail #1 to see the gorge and lower and middle falls. One night we treated ourselves to a dinner at the Glen Iris Inn - food was ok, but we just enjoyed being out on the porch, listening to the falls and drinking some good wine. They have flights of local Finger Lakes wineries too. There are no water hookups. We didn't bother to fill up our tank, just used the shower house and water faucets located throughout each loop. Shower houses were ok - not the best, but worked just fine. We were happy with our decision as the dumping station had 3 stalls and there was a long line backed up to dump early Sunday. The town of Perry was maybe a 5 min drive away and there was a small grocery there with just about everything you would need. We didn't get one, but you can order pizzas there and they cook in about 10 min if you would need a quick dinner. There is no wood for sale at the campground, but there are several farmers with stands on the way in or in Perry the grocery and gas station sold bundles too. We were able to work just fine with our weboost set up, otherwise we had spotty coverage with about 1 bar on AT&T and Verizon and no real ability to create hotspots. We also want to give a huge shoutout to the staff, as we really needed to stay one more day to be able to make it to our next reservation and the entire campground was booked. They were so kind to open up an "administrative site" for us to stay at. Each loop has different types of sites, so tents are mixed in with rigs. 800 was pretty flat, but when we switched to 500 we saw some pretty gnarly leveling setups that made us cringe. Luckily we were able to safely level out at our site.

The campgrounds are conveniently located inside the Park so easy to get to the amazing falls towards the south as well as the dam in the north. We were in loop 300 which does not allow pets. Decent bathhouses right opposite our site. Our site was a gravel drive with a grassy area containing the picnic table and fire ring. Unfortunately due to rain the day before the grass was extremely muddy which make it hard to get to the fire ring. There was also white a lot of noise from adjacent sites, we could hear everyone's conversations and screaming kids. There was a laundry facility but no dishwashing.