Best Tent Camping near South Salem, NY

Tent Camping Reviews near South Salem, NY

366 Reviews of 23 South Salem Campgrounds

• 

  Emma N.

  Guide

  Sep. 27, 2018

  New York City North/Newburgh KOA

  Lacking in privacy

  I stayed at Beaver Pond Campground in Harriman State Park for two nights with my husband. We chose this campground because of its close proximity to Schunemunk Mountain. We found a lovely 6.4 mile lollipop/loop route hike that weekend, complete with beautiful rolling meadows, gradual hills, and steep climbs.

  Due to some mentally-draining traffic on the way, we arrived to the campground around 9:30pm. The camp office was closed, but we were able to check in at the ranger station across the parking lot. At the ranger station we were greeted by a bunch of spiders in their webs. I'm not going to lie, I freaked out! Once we were all checked-in, the ranger explained the usual rules (quiet hours are from 10pm-7am, check out by 11am, etc.). A rule that he made sure to stress was that no alcohol is allowed in the campground.

  Harriman State Park is located in a densely-forested area, and there is very little light pollution, so we didn't notice until the morning how little privacy there is between sites. There are hardly any trees within the campground, and you can see and hear just about everything. We had some rowdy neighbors, so it was a long night.

  We stayed in a regular tent site, but there was also the option of sites with platforms. Each site had a picnic table and fire ring. The campground had restrooms with flush toilets and showers. There were a good amount of insects crawling around in the restrooms, including what we think were ticks. The showers were a bit dirty and old-looking. However, the showers were free and hot, so I won't complain. :)

  My 3-star rating mainly stemmed from the noise an major lack of privacy.

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• R

  Rebecca S.

  Guide

  Aug. 22, 2018

  New York City North/Newburgh KOA

  Quiet, off-season, mid-week retreat

  We stayed here on a Thursday night in September prior to taking off backpacking. The campground was clean and quiet. RV hook-ups, tent platforms, and rustic tent sites were available. Our rustic tent site had a few good options for pitching a tent, as well as picnic table and fire ring.

  Ranger said that during summer weekends the grounds fill up and can be quite noisy, but mid-week during the off-season it was great. Expect to purchase firewood, although scrounging for kindling was possible. Facilities were clean and what you'd expect from a campground.

  Would definitely return!!

• T

  Thorin J.

  Scout

  Sep. 5, 2023

  Heckscher State Park Campground

  Good Campsite For Families And Weekend Trips

  I camped here solo on Friday and Saturday over the Labor Day weekend. Overall my experience was positive.

  Camping Sites

  Each camping site has a picnic table and barbeque grill. The sites are designated by printing on the roads and do not have clear boundaries between them. My site had good shade coverage and was free of rocks and other hazards. 

  I had enough space that I didn't feel like I was intruding on my neighbors and vice-versa. That said, there aren't clear paths to the restroom building so it's not uncommon for people to cut through the edges of sites to get there. In my experience I (and others I saw) tried not to go right through the middle people's setups to do so.

  If you're looking for privacy, the sites at the rear seemed to be less-densely packed, even though every site was occupied. Quiet hours are generally adhered to but not enforced - there were some campers that had noise running later.

  Amenities

  The restroom building is in the middle of the campground and was clean and had plenty of stalls.

  Potable water is available at regular intervals, about at the corners of each group of four campsites.

  Cell phone reception is limited - I had data but it was very slow which led to my phone's battery draining quickly.

  Access

  A car is an absolute must for this part - the entrance is directly off of Southern State Parkway with no pedestrian access. Train stations are nearby so you could take the train most of the way and rent a car from there.

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• S

  Stephanie M.

  Guide

  Jun. 2, 2019

  New York City North/Newburgh KOA

  Lovely campgrounds an hour north of NYC

  Drive-in tent campgrounds. Adequate restroom facilities sprinkled amongst tent sites. Some campsites have raised platforms. All sites have picnic tables and fire ring with flip-top grill. If looking for privacy, back end of campgrounds (#’s 1, 13, 15, 21, 23, etc) provide adequate quietness, a bit hidden and tucked away from the rest. Very near many trailheads and the expansive Lake Welsh. Alcohol prohibited... Uploaded photo/vid from off-season 2019.

• K

  Kelsey R.

  Scout

  May. 27, 2021

  Samuel F. Pryor III Shawangunk Gateway Campground

  Awesome location!

  Shawangunk was SUCH a nice place to stay. So many good things - though a few things to keep in mind when you're booking, too. 

  I definitely recommend trying to get the walk-in (meaning you can't drive to them) sites (8-15) because they're just a little bit more set back and kind of wonderfully wooded all around. 8 & 9 seemed like the star sites, because they're up and away a little bit more than 10-15.

  Here goes:

  The Good:

  • The nicest, most level tent site you'll ever find. So easy to set up, and no worries whatsoever about roots or rocks.
  • Bathrooms and wash area, water access, etc. are all very easily accessible from any campsite
  • Nice new picnic benches
  • Gorgeous area - especially in the walk-in sites (i.e., not car accessible), where you're a little separated from the pavement
  • Holy crap is this the perfect location for exploring the Gunks, Mohonk Preserve, etc. You couldn't be more central to everything that's going on around it.
  • Phenomenal access to a trash can. It's very central and made throwing out dog poop really, really simple.

  The just okay:

  • Campsites are pretty close to a road. It's not particularly busy, but the speed limit is 55 so you do get some pretty decent whooshing sounds while you're trying to sleep.
  • The tent site is literally the only flat part of most campsites. Even our picnic table at site 13 was slightly tilted. Not an issue, really, but it was noticeable.
  • With all the heavy bear traffic signs that were up, I was surprised to see how close bear boxes were to our tents. They seemed to be 1-10 feet away from tents in each campsite. 
  • Take with a slight grain of salt my recommendation of sites 8-15 - 8 & 9 are up a little higher and might be better, but 11-15 are within 50 feet of a wet area, and the bugs in late May were pretty annoying. I'm guessing other sites would have been better, and our hikes were almost bug-less.
  • Campsites are CLOSE together. I was relieved to be in a site we had to walk to, because having the car right there combined with other tents would have been a little claustrophobic. 

  Overall we really did love staying here. It was pretty empty and we were able to have two cars in the parking spots (usually you can only have one in the assigned spot) without putting anyone out. It was full of friendly people and my dog had an awesome time romping through the leaves and people watching. Definitely recommend this site if you're hiking or climbing in the area!

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• 

  Eugene T.

  Traveler

  Aug. 15, 2019

  Jellystone Park™ Gardiner

  Great for beginners

  The camp is set up in a “blank slate, parking lot” type style, with a big field, center for tent camping or to be used for sports or other activities. There’s a “lazy river” at one side and a small RV village on the other, and tent sites with water or dry tent camping. Restrooms are available with hot and cold running water, showers and toilets.

• 

  Meredith C.

  Traveler

  Jun. 26, 2018

  Wawayanda State Park Campground

  Great hiking and scenery

  Haven't gotten the chance to camp here yet, but will definitely do so this summer. Fantastic loop hike near some amazing hidden lakes. One downside is there were obviously people who had visited and didn't understand what LEAVE NO TRACE means. We'll bring a trashbag next time.

• 

  Katherine P.

  Guide

  Sep. 1, 2020

  Rudd Pond Area — Taconic State Park

  A Cozy Spot

  We stayed here in August 2020.

  This is a really interesting campground that's situated on a hill overlooking Rudd Pond in Taconic State Park.  Almost all of the sites have platforms to pitch your tent on, although there are a couple of flatter spots without platforms (although they still have a slope.)

  There's space near the platform that is flat-ish with a picnic and a fire pit.  Some of these are better than others, ours was not that flat, but we made it work. You get a pretty decent view of Rudd Pond, and the sunsets are pretty. There is also a trailhead at the end of the campground that connects to the other trails in Taconic State Park. There's a swimming beach and during non-covid times, boat rentals.

  The campsites are pretty close together, so if the campground is full, you are rather close to your neighbors. It was close to half full when we were there, and it still felt like a fairly noisy campground, even after quiet hours. 

  My one complaint in these covid times is that compared to the NY-DEC campground we stayed at, I felt that the safety measures were less adhered to here. They had signs asking people to wear masks in the bathroom building, but far fewer people were. I also didn't see the staff do any cleaning of the restrooms while we were there - the paper towels ran out at one point and I had to flag the staff down to get them to go take care of that.  

  Still, I thought it was a really cute place to stay, and I think we would stay here again.

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• 

  Ellen C.

  Ranger

  Jul. 15, 2019

  Heckscher State Park Campground

  Like camping in a city park, the beach cottages are the highlight

  My husband and and I camped one night at this newly reopened park over the weekend in Long Island just to check it out and were pretty disappointed by the tent camping area. There are 69 tent/trailer sites(no hook ups). There is no distinguishing separation between each site nor a designated driveway for your car- you merely pull up on the grass. It's basically like camping in your local city park. People park wildly all over the place, which also makes it more difficult to determine which site is which by the number painted on the roadway. Each"site" has a picnic table and an barbecue grate on a post. There is one bath/shower house in the center of all of these sites with no path provided for folks to walk to and fro, so naturally people will walk right through your site randomly rather than around the road. While the bathroom building itself is in decent shape and has a large amount of toilet stalls and about five showers, the condition of women's room was absolutely ghastly inside.

  At some point during the evening, a maintenance worker on a golf cart showed up with a mop and some cleaning supplies and cleaned the men's side of the building. I was so relieved when I saw him, but he seemed to neglect the women's side completely, so I resorted to using the men's facilities all night.

  There are no fire pits on any of the sites, although I learned afterwards that they do allow you to bring your own metal fire pit as long as it is elevated off the ground. There are large dumpsters located throughout the camping area and a large trash bag is provided (if needed) at the camp office when you check in.

  The highlight of Heckscher State Park is the newly constructed heated cottages located on the shore of Nichol's& Great South Bays.. There are currently 11 cottages--- with more under construction. There are cottages suited for two, four, and six people and range in price from$225-$285 per night during off peak seasons and$250- 320 per night during the peak seasons.

  The cottages are fully furnished, with a full kitchen and large bathroom with a walk in shower. The cottages are a short walk from the beach and also include a fire pit with Adirondack chairs and an outdoor shower on the exterior each property. I do not have photos of the inside, but they do have them on the Reserve America website if you are interested.

  While the cottages are lovely and their location is fabulous  they are quite pricey and  no TLC was spent in the$22 tent/rv camping area, other than a new registration office which is not yet completed as of this weekend. I do hope they invest some funding in the primitive area to add fire pits,more water spigots, clearer site markings and for the continued maintenance& upkeep of the bath/shower house.

  * I emailed the parks departement about the issues mentioned above about the camping area and received this reply:

  I am sorry that you are upset with the conditions in our recently opened campgrounds. We have replaced all of the picnic tables. Although, they may look old because they are weathered since these picnic tables were put together during the Winter, however, they are brand new. All of the barbeques are also new and were installed during the Winter. We have changed and modernized the light fixtures and we will be replacing the rusted doors that you mentioned. There are also plans to install a playground within the campground beginning this Fall and we are looking for other improvements and additions to the campgrounds. As you probably noticed there is a new building under construction, at the entrance to the campgrounds, and it will serve as a check-in area, as well as, additional comfort stations, including family restrooms. Your suggestion of fire pits is a good one and the Park Managers will evaluate the feasibility of installing these. Lastly, I have spoken to the Park Manager who will review the cleaning operation to ensure the restrooms are appropriately maintained. I apologize for our employee not cleaning the women's room. Again, I am sorry for your negative experience but we are continuing to make improvements to the campgrounds.

  Sincerely, George Gorman Regional Director New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

  I will check back later this year to see if anything was changed and report back.

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