Best Glamping near Philmont, NY

My family has been camping at Lake Waramaug for over 20 years. I can say most of what’s been said is true or partially so but whether it’s bad or good depends on your point of view. Note that we are a Scout family and my husband and son have camped many days well off the grid with only the gear and food in their backpacks. That skews our point of view. 

First off, Connecticut’s state campgrounds are not KOA’s. 

Do not expect top of the line activities that private campgrounds have.

What it does have are clean, large sites that are partially wooded and not out in the open. 

The lake is great for kayaking, paddle boarding, canoes and for fishing. Bring your own gear but kayak and canoe rentals are available. The swim area is marginal- best for little ones. 

This park is remote from all conveniences- pack it in or expect a drive. There have been several times I’ve driven to the Dunkin Donuts miles down the road for coffee but I find using a French press is more convenient. For takeout there’s the White Horse on 202. It’s ranked a top restaurant in the state - the food is good. 

Never have we had issues with wildlife besides squirrels and ducks. Leave no trace is important - it keeps the unwelcome wildlife out. 

There have been issues with the bathrooms off and on over the decades. It seems like they’ve finally fixed everything. Our trip of 7/27-28 showed everything was fine.

The only on-site services are firewood and ice sales. The little food shack is out of business. 

Yes, cell service is basically non-existent. Our trip this weekend was the first time we received more than 1 bar in 20 years. Actually we were a bit disappointed because this camp ground is a great place to disconnect and relax. Being forced to put away the devices is heaven in my mind. You can drive about 5+ minutes out and get cell service. Regarding rowdiness, of the 20+ times we’ve camped only twice was it a problem. 

Also, this place is not glamping. The area is rural, so cows do moo at 6am, and kids are up even earlier. If you like to sleep in skip and rent a B&B. 

Also if you want a better place to swim go to Mt.Tom state park about 10 minutes up the road. It’s a day use only park-no camping- but the lake is gorgeous and there are very few people there.

My first visit to New York state was amazing, largely in part due to my campsite at the Woodland Hills campground. I had a back in site and was having problems with my camper, and they were able to change to a pull through at time of check in. However, it was in early May and before the summer crowds. The pond has a fountain which sounds like a small waterfall at night, and wildflowers were in bloom. Very nice bathrooms and showers, and my dog loved the dog park.

The campground has 3 sections, located on different tiers of a hill. The lower level has RV sites, middle has tent sites, and upper has a few yurts. Each level has a bath house (3 toilet stalls and 1 shower in the lower level; it was run-down but clean enough). Outside the entrance station (near the RV sites) is a HUGE power station that emits a hum constantly. Super annoying and an eyesore. You’ll see many vehicles drive-by with boats or ATVs in tow as the state forest also has areas suitable for their use. Accessible from the campground are a few hiking trails. Monument Mountain is a popular hiking spot about 20 minutes away and Bash Bish Falls State Park is about 45 minutes away. Note: Massachusetts does not allow alcohol in their parks.

This is basic dry camping it is fun but there is no electric or water at the sites o LU in the bathhouse. So if you get a site close the the bathhouse you will have water close by and electricity close. Otherwise it’s dry camping.. the platform sites are great it makes it real easy to set up a tent because of the platform that the tent goes on and the lake is ok. The kids don’t like swimming with fish so we didn’t spend much time at the lake

This park had a nice pool and used to be a KOA now it is privately owned but I believe it is still just as nice. They have live music and it’s gated so only campers and visitors can get into the gates which is nice security wise.

Taconic State Park has a beautiful campground. No electric hookups, but plenty of water and tent sites are available with very large platforms. Bathroom facilities are adequate. There are 2 dog friendly loops at the back. Overall, very quiet and friendly.

2 lIfeguarded swimming areas — a kiddie pool and a deep area with floating dock to jump off of. Very short hike (or drive) to the beautiful Bash Bish falls

If you are traveling with a dog, be sure to bring proof of rabies— they ask.

Fees are $15 residents and $20 non residents plus processing fees.

Nice campground, friendly staff, great trails around it. Would come 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.

The Taconic area is a nice location but this is a poor campsite. It's incredibly crowded, loud and rules are poorly enforced. Our neighbors had a 10 car party at one point and the sites near us were pretty loud and rowdy well into the morning (we went to bed at 3am). To their credit the grounds were clean and well maintained with a lot of amenities for people that like creature comforts.

There are a mix of platform and regular tent sites as well as some camper sites. We stayed on a platform site, which I questioned the structural integrity of after looking underneath lol… it held up though and there were also some new platforms which looked nice. Sites are a little close together for my liking. Luckily we checked out early before the weekend started so it was peaceful for us. The bathhouse was awesome! New building and it wasn’t a communal shower area with all the stalls in one room, there were all separate rooms each with their own bathroom and shower stall. Overall I would recommend if you’re not looking for too much peace and quiet.

Great campgrounds that are dog friendly and easy to get to. The trail head to bash bill falls was also at the campgrounds which was convenient.

great spot for weekend or week long camping, it’s nice out there a bunch of hiking to do!

This is such a charming little campground. The wading pool is so cute and perfect for families with young children and adults alike. The campground is clean, and has brand new bathrooms and showers (which are private! And free!). I only took one star off because many of the sites are very close together, and also that they were doing some construction work behind our site when we visiting that was very noisy... and they didn’t tell us when we checked in.

But I would definitely come here again because of this campground’s charm.

There are no hookups. Need to change the profile on the Dyrt.

Really nice campsite. Some are “on the hill” so you get a little more privacy. They sell firewood and there’s a really cute general store across the street from the campground. They are strict (or seem to be I went during the week so it was quiet anyway) about noise and such and give you a paper when you enter about it. Overall really nice and organized 😁

It is a beautiful spot to visit the Taconic region, however this campsite is not up to pace. There is a lot of noise, a lot of people, and not much enforcement of the rules of candy clicker.

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.

Had a couple spots right next to each other on a group trip. There are plenty of hiking trails nearby and of course, trails to Bash Bish Falls which is beautiful. It was low the first time we visited and we were able to make it to the top of the falls to go swimming and the views were incredible. The facilities were just what you needed after a long day of hiking and swimming.

awesome place to camp and then hike from the site to a huge waterfall, bathrooms were pretty gross when i went there though, spiders everywhere in the bathrooms but all im all an awesome adventure