Best Tent Camping near South Salem, NY

Great first tent camping experience for kids. Lots of activities, clean restrooms. One thing to keep in mind is the tent sites on the opposite side of the road from the river has no shade. Site gets pretty hot on a sunny day. Sites by the river have some shade.

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.

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!!

The playground was awesome for our two year old. The tent sites had some shade, the showers and bathrooms were really nice.

State is really trying with this park, putting in new beach front cottages. Other then that the RV and tent camping is horrible, as the previous review stated sites aren't marked and the tables and BBQs are trashed.

Campground is only years old. Sites were large enough for RV. NO privacy, bit tent sites were ok. Fre showers for number of campsites, but very clean. Affiliated with Lake Compounce Amusement Park adjacent to campground.

This campground is old and there isn't much there, but it depends on why you're camping whether that matters to you.  We wanted to be by the beach and we were.

The playground is new and centrally located.  They also have a horseshoe pit. 

There are lots of RVs but not close to tent sites.  There were lots of showers but only 1 was unlocked (free and with hot water).  The bathroom was very clean and well stocked.

There are 5-7 tent sites.  Ours was #59, well shaded and spacious.  

The water spigot and the gray-water dump are not right by the tent sites.  Seems silly since the tents are the ones using them.

Our site was not clean when we arrived.  There was garbage in the woods and cigarette butts on the ground.  We cleaned up everything ourselves (except in the woods due to poison ivy), but I think they can do better.

There are NO fire pits, you must bring your own.  Fires are allowed but you must have a fire container or bucket for your fire off of the ground. 

The sites all have a table and raised BBQ "pit" for cooking only.

They are extremely nice there.

I still give this campground 4 stars because it was quiet, the campground itself was clean, the bathrooms were clean and it was centrally located to what I wanted to do plus the sites are very big.

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.

I have lived 6 miles from this campground for the last 20 years and never knew they had tent sites. The park is clean the bathrooms are well maintained and there is a playground for the kids. Each site is set back off a common area so there is plenty of privacy. It's great if your local easy in and out

Kettletown State Park isn't just for camping. There are also hiking trails , a fishing area and a swimming hole, but the week I was there there was a high bacteria count, so no swimming was allowed. Also, when swimming is allowed, there isnt a lifeguard.

The campsites are varied, you can tent camp, use a camper, or they also have a few cabins you can rent. Be advised, there isn't a kitchen or bathroom in the cabins!

I have camped Beaver Pond for the last 45 years and have found something new and better each every year I've gone to the campgrounds. I have gone from tent platform,  tent camping, tarp, and now hammock camping. The sites can be a bit tight, at times and you may find a few visitors, not necessarily on two legs, but always a delight. It's great to be among the trees away from the hustle and bustle of the city in what I consider a majestic chapel that will always welcome and embrace your presence. Something for all, swimming, camping, access to bear mountain pool, or the appalachian trails, and lean tos, (not on the camp sites).  Prices all can afford to come. Great for all types of levels of campers.

This must be one of the most breathtaking camp grounds (family friendly) right on the Hudson. Tent sites are very private with some dirt roads to exit out but thats what make it unique experience! Bathrooms with shower is near by and has plenty porta potties all around. Keep your food in the dry bag and away from the tent or benches provided or face the packs of fearless racoons at night. Fire is allowed and has no issues of mosquitoes. No on-site stores so pick up all your necessary essentials prior to. Short 5 minute drive to nearby supermarket to pick up food or firewood. I would highly recommend it. Oh...and did i say, gorgeous scenery along the river and a private beach which is opened from Wednesday to the weekend with life guards on duty!

Sleeping Giant has been closed since May 2018. A tornado came through and knocked down many trees near the main entrance to and major parking lot for the park (on Mount Carmel Avenue across from Quinnipiac University).

This entrance area has been cleared and is being rebuilt. The picnic and pavilion areas were also affected (though less so) and will be renovated also.

In the past the picnic shelter and pavilion areas were well shaded by trees and were a wonderful place to bring the family or even large groups of people for a party. This will presumably be so at some point in the future after the park re-opens.

There were Sleeping Giant Park campground sites which could be reserved and used for tent camping back in the twentieth century. I remember them from the 1980s. They have not been available for many years now.

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!

Ward Pound Ridge is very well known to the locals as a great place for sled-riding in winter (Pell Hill area) and a place for big group gatherings. The many different trails are frequented by the locals as well. In recent years, the county government also allow bow-hunting of deer to control its population during the months of October to December.

As far as camping as a family, it is not too exciting a place for us. The grounds are far too well trimmed, as you can see in one of the videos. There is wide open space and the paths are well paved so kids can have fun riding the bikes or running around. There is also many trails of various difficulty levels to suit everyone, including horseback riders. The Trailside Nature Museum is also fun for the kids.

There are lean-to sites as well as tent sites. A maximum of eight people in two tents are allowed at each site. But if you really do have a party of eight, one picnic table seems to be inadequate. The sites are much farther away from the comfort stations than most campgrounds we have been to. But there are port-a-potties very close to the sites, which is very important when you have young kids.

All in all, it is not a place I would recommend if you want to get close to nature.

Mixed reviews. Pros: State park is in a beautiful part of the country - the Hudson River Valley - with a good location for visiting the towns, villages and hamlets on the valley. State park also has a good hiking trail network with trailheads connecting to the campground. Cons: the campground itself needs some work. There’s only one bath house with just a few showers and toilets. It’s in pretty bad shape - dirty, bad drainage, and sometimes backed up toilets. I found one other restroom house in the park and the doors were boarded up and locked. The campsites are okay - mostly tent sites. Some are better than others. There are only a handful of sites with electric hookups and only one (site 51) is level. Some have a steep descent off the road, abs there’s a lip on the road that can scrape bottom of campers/RVs. This happened to our neighbor and it took out his RV sewer system, which will be not only a hassle but a costly repair. Back to pros: the campground and state park is nicely forested with beautiful tall trees. Everyone we met was very nice. Lots of families having a good time. We stayed here for 9 days in July 2021. Campground is empty during the week, and more crowded on weekends. We would return here if in this area again, but the state park & campground needs some upgrades.

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.

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.

Good for skinny dipping and other fun things! Most acidic lake in New York but completely safe.

Super lindo todo!! $15 dolares la noche para los que viven en el Estado de New York o New York city .. si es fuera del estado son $5 dolares mas!! Lo mejor es reservar online y escojer el espacio pero no es obligatorio.. si quieres acampar en un area lejos y solo pues escojan la seccion W... no todas las secciones tienen una plataforma de madera para poner tu caseta de campaña.. algunas secciones son las casetas ensima de la grama.. lo mejor es buscar una seccion que esten los bańos y las duchas cerca en caso también de que se te antoje ir de madrugada ... para el mes de Agosto no habia nada de mosquitos ni moscas .. El personal muy amable .. no habia mucha vigilancia.. lo que si es llevar mucho gas y carbon y palos de madera para la fogata y estar preparado si llueve.. hay una tienda que venden palos para la fogata $12.. venden Cafe $1 . Hielo $5 ..$10  .. venden frisas .. leche y muchas cosas mas!!! Hay un lago estilo playa..bueno lo unico que los que no están acostumbrados a ver o escuchar animales salvajes es un poco miedoso en la noche!! Nunca tener comida ni nada de olor dentro de las casetas por que los osos viene por la comida .. dejar todo dentro del carro .. y en fin todo muy lindo.. los bańos y bańera muy limpios y ademas puedes cargar en el bańo el celular

This was one of my favorite trips of 2019. In September my Girlfriend (who has never been camping) and I made the trip to New York. I love camping but I knew that I needed to slowly adjust her into the idea of being in and sleeping in the great outdoors. This place was the perfect fit. This site was a small tiny home located on an active produce farm. The host was fantastic and catered to all of our needs giving us some firewood, a tour of her farm, and some fresh produce she picked that morning. At night I was able to start a fire next to the picking fields and the chicken coops, hang up my hammock between two trees and cook some burgers, and s’mores over the fire. What was even better was that also on this farm was a local brewery that uses the farms crops in there beers and brews. While we still had our own peace and quiet on the other side of the farm it was still close enough for us to walk back after meeting some of the locals and drinking a few beers. On the last night the brewery hosted an Oktoberfest party bringing in tons of locals from town, bands, and vendors. The host of the farm was gracious enough to let a good portion of the attendees pitch some tents in the farm fields and camp nearby us. This trip was so much fun and was the perfect balance of having the necessities of home nearby while also being able to spend some time outdoors. Now my girlfriend has been on multiple more primitive camping trips with me and I owe it to the great experiences we had at this site.

Fahnestock State Park, Carmel, NY

Busy Campground on Weekends!

This park has a nice open beach on Canopus Lake with a concession area and bathhouse, which we found to be quite clean! They even have boat rentals - or you can bring your own boat to launch! If you are into fishing, there is another lake and two ponds that our neighbor campers said were great for catching panfish - one fisherman said he had caught several bass weighing over 3 pounds!!

Weekends - this park is FULL! Make sure to reserve at least two weeks out. Weekdays? You should be in luck! We stayed in site number 1, and I found it to be just wooded enough. Almost all of the sites offered privacy.... Even when the campground was full. I do feel the campground bathhouse really needed more attention... while it had clearly been painted this past year, it was very “buggy” - and did not appear to have been thoroughly cleaned since spring... (yuck!).

PRODUCT REVIEW: As a ranger for Dyrt.com, sometimes I am offered the opportunity to test and review various products. At Fahnestock State Park in New York state, I reviewed my Gregory Maven 55L Women’s backpack (see accompanying video).

Weighing in at 3 pounds 6 ounces, the Gregory Maven was a nice mid-weight pack for me to take on my yearly 2 1/2 week Appalachian Trail hike.

Normally, I like to save the best for last when I do a review; however, this time I just can’t wait to spread the news about my favorite features! The Maven has a Matrix Ventilation System, which provides exceptional ventilation on the pack’s back panel. This kept my back from being its usual sweaty mess! The second feature that blew me away was how cool my water stayed in this backpack! With other packs, the water gets warmed up from heat radiating off the hiker’s back. This didn’t happen with my Gregory pack! Every pull off my water - from the beginning of the day until hours later - provided me with a refreshingly cool drink. I actually questioned other hikers with Gregory packs to see if I was the only one experiencing this - The other hikers, who had different Gregory models, confirmed that their backs and water were staying cooler too! Added bonus: I was able to pull out the hydration sleeve and use it as a daypack a few times!

The Maven’s pockets helped me keep my pack much more organized than in the past. It has a lower sleeping bag compartment, top pocket with separate zipper areas (one has a place to attach a car key!), side pockets, hip pockets, and even pockets on the shoulder harnesses! I can’t forget the front pocket, which held the rain fly!

The pack fit was great, but do be careful to check your sizing if you are looking at both the 45L and 55L. While I am a XS/S with the 55L, I would have been a S/M with the 45L.

I used this pack for 2 1/2 weeks backpacking over 200 miles on the Appalachian Trail through the states of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The Maven did an outstanding job keeping my possessions organized and dry as well as keeping me comfortable and happy on the trail! This will definitely be my pack of choice for future hikes!