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Best Tent Camping near Rotterdam Junction, NY

537 Reviews

State forests and public lands surrounding Rotterdam Junction, New York provide several options for tent camping in natural settings. Ushers Road State Forest, located northeast of Rotterdam Junction, offers dispersed tent camping with walk-in sites at least 150 feet from established trails. E16 Canal Lock provides designated tent-only camping spots along the canal with a 48-hour maximum stay limit. Duck Pond Campsite, though requiring travel on rough dirt roads, offers primitive tent camping in a quieter setting with established fire rings.

Most tent campsites in this region have minimal amenities, requiring campers to bring their own water and supplies. Fire rings are common at established sites, but facilities like toilets and potable water are rare or nonexistent. At E16 Canal Lock, campers must scan a QR code upon arrival and complete a brief survey, with strict rules prohibiting RVs and travel trailers. Access roads to Duck Pond Campsite require high-clearance vehicles, with one visitor noting that "the road in on old cemetery rd was pretty rough" and recommending smaller vehicles only. Cell service is intermittent throughout these areas, particularly at more remote tent camping locations.

Tent campers frequently choose these sites for their relative seclusion and natural surroundings. At Ushers Road State Forest, one camper reported finding "a previously used campsite approximately 200 feet from the main trail" with a stone fire ring, noting that "the surrounding area offers an abundance of potential camping spots." Duck Pond visitors appreciate the quiet atmosphere, with reviews mentioning "surprisingly well maintained beautiful campsites" where "few people passed by." Most primitive tent sites feature shaded areas with trees suitable for hammocks, though ground surfaces may be uneven. The proximity to water features, including streams and ponds, adds to the backcountry tent camping experience while helping moderate temperatures during summer nights.

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Best Tent Sites Near Rotterdam Junction, New York (23)

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Tent Camping Reviews near Rotterdam Junction, NY

537 Reviews of 23 Rotterdam Junction Campgrounds

  • Christina W.
    May. 28, 2019

    Sperry Road Campground — Mount Greylock State Reservation

    I go every year!

    Me and my friends get a group site at least once a year. It's an amazing place with really great staff that care about the safety of everyone and keeping the areas clean. We always have an amazing time here. The views are great and we have never had any issues. 

    First time I went it was intimidating because I had never camped in an all tent camping site with no running water or public restroom areas. However, as soon as I got acclimated, I loved it. There are outhouses stationed at different areas all around, and bear boxes for every group. There are bears around so use the boxes seriously. 

    There are a number of rivers and little waterfalls that are always nice to visit. I plan to go there again very soon!

  • Heidi R.
    Jun. 1, 2018

    Sperry Road Campground — Mount Greylock State Reservation

    Awesome backpacking with amenities!

    The hike in was a fairly easy 1.3 to the csmpground. The sites were huge and spread out. Although we could kind of see our neighbors if we tried, we were far enough away that we weren't looking at them all weekend. SO PEACEFUL! Uou will hear the bard owls call at night and not much else. Sites 11, 8, and 9 are pretty set back and private.

    Amenities include:

    1. The rangers deliver wood to your site
    2. The bear lockers are roomy and clean and could double as storage to keep items out of the rain (highly recommend reviewing being "bear aware" as we had a sighting in our neighboring site and not all other campers are bear smart and left food/trash out even though rangers gave reminders).
    3. The composting toilets were so spacious and clean you could sleep on the floor in an emergency!
    4. Each site has a fire ring and a picnic table.

    There are plenty of options for hiking including two nearby falls, a section of the AT, and of course the summit. The summit lodge offers breakfast & lunch. Although abut pricey, the large fire place, friendly hiker conversations, and a warm cup of coffee brightened our rainy day. They also do dinner by reservation. The summit is accessible by hiking or car. They have educational and entertainment programs scheduled throughout the weekend.

  • Cynthia K.
    Aug. 29, 2024

    North-South Lake Campground

    New York

    We were on a 5 state East Coast camping trip. Our first campground was in New York Aug 8th. Unfortunately, Debbie was socking New York hard. North South Lake Campground in the Catskills was our camping home. Thursday & Friday it was Neverending rain & wind. Saturday was the nice day.

    North South Lake has no electricity. The sites are almost all beautiful, tucked in under shady trees. Not a good way to try out our solar panel! Some are by a stream. A few are by the lake. This is a tent campers paradise. New York tent campers are hard core camping during Tropical Storm Debbie!

     There are 7 loops. We were in loop 2. Site 85. There are some sites with an incline down to the site. That might give some rvs trouble. It did for us & I had to be driven out of the campground to call 911. Thank you Mary!! It all ended well & we got a different site.

     There are bears that visit the campground & one came one of the nights & visited our camping neighbor's site. They showed us a picture- it was a large black bear. 

    Generators are allowed for 5 hours & they tell you when you can use them. 

    The bathrooms/showers are state park clean- which means not very.

     There is NO cell service & just forget about WiFi. You are unplugged.

    This is a hiking park & for this middle aged overweight flatlander they are pretty strenuous. Kaaterskill Falls is an exception - short, easy trail, but the parking fills up quickly. Then they close it! You'll have to take a shuttle to get in.

    The trail to the Mountain House Site is also pretty easy, with more of an incline.

    There's 2 nice lakes with beaches. 

    The Catskills are very scenic& we enjoyed our time there!

  • Nancy W.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 24, 2020

    Cooperstown KOA

    Nice Park

    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.

  • Janet R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jun. 11, 2024

    Glimmerglass State Park Campground

    It glimmers like glass! The lake and more

    Both the Glimmerglass State Park and the Glimmerglass Festival Opera House list their location as Cooperstown, but in actuality the Park is 8 miles outside of Cooperstown on the northeast side of Otsego Lake, with the Opera House nearby on the northwest corner of the lake nearby. If you are going to visit one, you should also visit the other! In fact the park is an ideal spot to stay if you are wanting to take in any of the Glimmerglass music or theater productions which have quite a professional lineup in the summer season. If staying at the park you will also enjoy the amazing beach and waterfront on Otsego Lake, and great kayaking on the lake as well as the stream flowing into it. You can also hike, ot take a day trip into Cooperstown, especially for museums and all things baseball.

    The camping opportunities give you three options: the main campground by the park office, which is wooded and shady and has electric hookups as needed, and is close to the beach, but you will have a lot of neighbors. If you want a quiet tenting experience, choose the Beaver Pond primitive tenting campground! This offers a small number of large, well spaced and private tent only sites set back in the woods by a beautiful pond and by the Beaver Hiking trail. Very peaceful with more solitude than the main campground, but a longer walk to the beach. The third and newest option, the Travis Field campsites, reminds me of an overflow parking area at an outdoor festival, unfortunately just a bunch of basic tent campsites plunked in an open grassy field located in between the beach and the Beaver Pond sites. I am guessing the park has greater demand for campsites than the original campground offers, so they put these spots up in an open field, and maybe folks would rather have these sites than nothing if they want a week at the lake, but they would not be a first choice unless perhaps you have a group that wants to gather together and take a block of these sites. I didnt check out the cabins, but there are some, which might be especially good if you want to come in the winter as the park is open year round

  • Molly G.
    Jul. 21, 2019

    Brookside Campground

    Ranger Review of GCI at Brookside Campground

    Ranger review: GCI at Brookside Campground

    CAMPGROUND REVIEW We ended up at this campground because the family we were traveling with needed to accommodate their 50 foot camper. As a rule of thumb- I try to visit as little RV parks as I can, but we were trying to find somewhere that would accommodate both of our needs.

    While it is true that this campground does specialize in large groups and is one of the only places in the area that will host a rig as big as my uncles, that was about the only thing it had going for it.

    Grounds were dilapidated. It was like they had too much to handle. The lawn was overgrown at our site, the bathrooms were always in need of something... it was just a glorified trailer park.

    I will say that the spots were spacious, particularly pertaining to tent sites. However- the brook that the campground is named after is mostly stagnant. So prepare for an abundance of mosquitos!

    Another perk is the location. It was really nice to be right near The Catskills. However, I will most definitely be taking advantage of the smaller and quieter campgrounds around.

    Would recommend for: people with big rigs. Large groups with children. The sports “complex” and pool actually looked very nice and well maintained. There were kids everywhere.

    RANGER REVIEW ON... GCI OUTDOOR CHAIRS

    So if you’ve been keeping up with my ranger reviews, you know I am always very pleasantly surprised by the things I’ve gotten the opportunity to test out that I never knew I needed. Camping Chairs were actually on my list of things to acquire this year for our trips, so I was psyched (as usual) when I found out GCI Outdoors would be what I got to check out.

    I purchased the “Eazy” chair and the Roadtrip Rocker.

    So first, the Eazy chair. It’s a good looking chair that comes packed away in a pouch that slings over your shoulder. It’s pretty heavy, but we happened to be car camping this time around so that wasn’t a big deal. The arm rests are sturdy, the chair is comfortable to sit in.

    The Roadtrip rocker I was really excited about. And the thing is pretty awesome. The patented hydrolics is pretty nifty and it’s really neat how it works. I was surprised to find that it packed so easily into its sack, and has a sling so that you can carry it where you need to go.

    Grab your own here:

    https://www.gcioutdoor.com/camping-chairs/roadtrip-rocker/

  • j
    May. 22, 2018

    Sperry Road Campground — Mount Greylock State Reservation

    amazing views

    Went and did some hiking in early October for a birthday trip. The staff at the visitors center were very informative and were able to point us in the right direction for overnight parking and somewhat shorter hikes to shelters. The views along the drive and the hikes were amazing. The shelter was in great condition and had bear box/shelters to store your items. Once we reached the summit the next day, we were able to watch hang gliders take off which was awesome. The whole area is great.

  • Joseph C.
    Aug. 5, 2020

    Schodack Island State Park Campground

    Very pleasant, easy going and many rabbits

    Stayed 3 nights with 2 buddies.  We had 2 tents set up on the ground (2 man and 6 man capacity tents) and a third specialty tent in the bed my buddy's pick-up truck.  Plenty of room for a pop-up canopy over the picnic table and my car with its own attached awning.  We had a third car parked just off the roadway and we were never asked to move it to the parking area since there is usually a 2 car limit (my friend is lazy like that).

    Weather was warm, so we were mostly trying our best to stay cool.  Unfortunately, I did not take full advantage of the park's amenities.  I did some light biking, walking around and mostly relaxing at the campsite.  The electricity and running water work 100%, the campsite was cleared and clean.  The picnic table was very new and stable.  Ice and firewood were delivered at our request at a decent price.  best of all, this campsite had the cleanest bathrooms and shower facilities of any place I have ever been.  Only one of my friends had trouble with his shower as the water stopped running and he could not completely rinse off.  There must have been some momentary problem with the plumbing.  I know it was fixed quickly and everything was running once again.

    Not a lot of tents, mostly RV's.  All my neighbors were quiet and in bed around 9p.  Unfortunately, my group of three like to stay up late so I hope our talking didn't interfere with our neighbor's ability to sleep.  No one complained, so I am assuming we kept it down low enough. Pet friendly, though we didn't bring ours.

    I recommend this place for families, though the age group observed there were mostly late 30's, 40's and 50's.  Not too many kids.  Many "exotic" birds (for a Brooklyn boy, anything that is not a pigeon or sparrow is exotic).  We had frequent visits from Gray Catbirds, and I saw a glimpse of a Bald Eagle through the treeline.  Didn't spot any turtles, though I hear they are there if you go looking.

    I plan to return to this campsite, and likely very soon. I had a great time and it was nice not having a park ranger sniffing around every 2-3 hours like I have experienced in other parks and campsites.

  • Nancy W.The Dyrt PRO User
    Sep. 12, 2022

    Moreau Lake State Park Campground

    Beautiful State Park

    The road to our campsite was paved and in good shape but there were a few tight spots because of the trees that make it tricky for a big rig (Loop A seems to be the best for big-rigs). Great thing about this park is the hiking trails and lake so you don’t even have to leave to the park to enjoy great outdoor recreation. We found it enjoyable just to hang out in the park rather than trying to find things to do in the area. After hiking and paddling, we loved relaxing out at our campsite with a campfire. 

    Our campsite was spacious but required some maneuvering to avoid scraping trees with our RV. Campsites are spacious, shady, and had good separation between the neighboring sites which we enjoyed. Generators are allowed but not too many people were using them. The few other campers around that used them were mindful of quiet hours. Since it was still a little cool and our windows were closed and we never heard anyone’s generator. The park was not very crowded when we were there, but we can imagine it could get very busy and noisy in the busy summer season. The beach area seems to be a draw for people so the summer camping season is probably packed. The snack bar and gift/supplies shop at the sandy beach area were not open as we were there late in the season. There is also a nice playground for kids to enjoy. 

    This is dry camping so there are no hook-ups but there are restrooms and shower. Both were clean but the shower fluctuated between lukewarm, hot, and warm during my shower. Oh well, the shower felt good after our active days. There are two pavilions you can rent which are nice if big groups want to gather. Take note that only two pets are allowed per campsite, so plan accordingly if you are a pet owner. 

    Access is fairly easy, just off I-87, and there are plenty of signs directing you which way to go. Saratoga Springs and Lake George are nearby if you want to explore. We recommend visiting the National Horse Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, if you have time. We would definitely stay here again.

Guide to Rotterdam Junction

Tent camping near Rotterdam Junction, New York offers several primitive sites within state forests and along waterways. Campers access these areas via dirt roads that often require high-clearance vehicles or hiking trails through mixed deciduous forests. The region experiences typical northeastern seasonal variations with summer temperatures averaging 75-85°F during day and cooling to 55-65°F at night.

What to do

Hike to remote lean-tos: Murphy Lake Lean-to requires significant effort to reach but rewards with solitude and pristine surroundings. "This lean-to is worth the effort it takes to get there. And you have to earn it on foot, bike or other. A two hour bike ride with a couple of breaks," notes one visitor to Murphy Lake Lean-to.

Fish in stocked ponds: Several camping areas feature small ponds and streams suitable for casual fishing. Betty and Wilbur Davis State Park offers "a couple of ponds for fishing, but if you want to swim you need to go over to nearby Otsego Lake," according to a camper.

Winter cross-country skiing: Some areas maintain seasonal trails. At Betty and Wilbur Davis State Park, campers can "reserve one of the winterized cabins and come for a long weekend of cozy cabin time and quiet time outdoors on the winter trails."

What campers like

Isolation from crowds: The dispersed camping options provide genuine wilderness experiences. One camper at Duck Pond Campsite reported: "After driving unpaved dirt road for a while, we arrived at surprisingly well maintained beautiful campsites. The pond is small so the mosquitos were not too bad. So few people passed by and very unknown quite and we just loved the experience."

Island camping opportunities: For those willing to venture slightly farther, Lake George offers unique island camping. A visitor to Long Island Group shared: "Worth a trip from just about anywhere. Absolutely beautiful and you can't beat camping on an island."

Trail access for multiple activities: Many camping areas serve as gateways to trail systems. At Ushers Road State Forest, one camper noted: "This trailhead provides access to bicycle-friendly nature trails. I explored both directions on my bike, riding approximately half a mile down each side."

What you should know

QR code registration required: Some sites now use digital check-in systems. At E16 Canal Lock, "Upon arrival, campers must scan the QR code at the entrance and complete a brief survey. RVs and travel trailers are not permitted."

Wildlife encounters common: Prepare for nighttime visitors at various campsites. At Long Island Group, campers report: "We were literally bombarded with a group of raccoons each night. It was bad."

Variable site conditions: Even established sites may lack amenities or maintenance. A Long Island Group camper cautioned: "There were no leveled space whatsoever (except for one platform per site...but where would a second tent go? On the horrible ground beside it)."

Tips for camping with families

Look for dedicated facilities: Some parks cater specifically to families with appropriate infrastructure. At Stony Creek Family Campground, visitors praise the family-friendly atmosphere: "It's a nice family ran campground. We love it here and plan to come back!"

Consider cabin options for beginners: First-time campers might appreciate structured accommodations. Stony Creek Family Campground offers various shelter options beyond tent sites.

Check for playground access: Some parks include recreational facilities. Betty and Wilbur Davis State Park has "a beautiful picnic pavilion and playground, so kid friendly."

Tips from RVers

Avoid rough access roads: Many primitive sites have challenging approaches. One Duck Pond camper warned: "The road in on old cemetery rd was pretty rough, so we decided to go out the other way, which was way worse... the years taken off the life of my truck was not worth it."

Cell service considerations: Connectivity varies significantly between sites. "Intermittent cell service which was frightening while driving on these rough roads," reported a Duck Pond Campsite visitor, while another camper noted "The Verizon signal is good in the area" at E16 Canal Lock.

Length restrictions apply: Most primitive sites cannot accommodate larger vehicles. E16 Canal Lock explicitly prohibits "RVs and travel trailers," limiting stays to tent and van camping along the canal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Rotterdam Junction, NY?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Rotterdam Junction, NY is Ushers Road State Forest with a 5-star rating from 2 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Rotterdam Junction, NY?

TheDyrt.com has all 23 tent camping locations near Rotterdam Junction, NY, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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