Best Cabin Camping near Thousand Island Park, NY

This place is top notch. A large park with diverse types of camping. Many tent-suitable sites right on the river are highly coveted so you have to book way in advance. Lots of dry-camping RV sites are easier to book. The full hook-up RV sites are also very difficult to book, but if you score one, it will be a dream experience. Facilities are very well maintained. There’s lots to do…. a swimming beach, boat launches, a Nature Center, hiking trails, and an ADA kayak launch on Eel Bay. Only fifteen minutes to the charming community of Thousand Island Park.

Wellesley, Island State Park is right on the Canadian border. The island is beautiful and the perfect spot to be July to September. They have cabins, RV sites, sites with electric hook up, and rough camp sites. If you love being on the water boat rentals are fairly priced at two locations on the island. The staff was wonderful and eminities were clean and all in working order. They have a nature center that seems to always have interesting adventures for the children. They even have a butterfly sanctuary and plenty of hiking trails.

NYS may get tons of flack for its politics and politicians. However they're doing it all correct in their state parks. This park is amazing. The views of the ST. LAWRENCE River are amazing. You're around some of the best fishing in the country. We'll. Manicured campground. It's huge by the way. Tons of playgrounds and swimming. Always clean everything. Always friendly staff and campers. Inexpensive I mean really inexpensive. You're 10 min from Alexandria Bay. Boldt castle, singer castle, you can go on river cruises and view these beautiful islands and homes on them. Watch the cargo ships cruise the channel. Electric and water on many sites. Cottages cabins and primitive sites available. Hiking trails all over the park. There's a marina, boat launch and boat rentals. Docking. You can even day trip it use public grills and still enjoy everything the park has to offer. We have so much fun here. It's hard to pack and go home.

Lots for everyone to do! New playground, beach, cabins boating full hook ups... they have it all!

I stayed here every summer when I was a kid. Cabins were nice. Great spot for boating and fishing.

This campground has so much to offer, nice store, pizza place (DELIVERS) , bands, cabins, trails. I loved it the lake was beautiful. As soon as you enter the campground there is someone outside waiting to help you.

We camp with a big rig(40ft) we prefer the heron loop they are very spacious. Nice bathrooms, a small park near the cabins and heron loop, a huge park near the beach and store. They have a beautiful nature center with a lot of kids activities. A ton of trails, they do have full hookup in another loop. By far a beautiful campground and views

We've camped here every year but it's getting difficult to get in here. We've camped all over from tents to all kind of campers. Never stayed in cabins but been inside. It's beautiful park. Goose bay on one side St Lawrence River on other. Every site is beautiful with rocks. But the rocks make it beautiful. We love sitting on a big rocks, watching sunsets and ships go by. Playground, private bathrooms, boat launch, docks, beach and fishing.

Never been up here before, a friend found this place for our lil group. They currently have 4 sites and a cabin, 30 amp electric, water to fill your tank, and a dump station. But like I said the best part is the riding and close to several local bar/restaurants that have good food and good folks. The owners are very nice and helpful and live right close by if you have any issues.

We came to this campground after a week in Algonquin Provincial park in Canada and the contrast couldn't have been greater. Up north we stayed on a large, shady site in a radio free loop and everyone had canoes. In New York we had a cramped, open site and everyone seemed to have a motorboat on a trailer. Our neighbors across the road set up a movie screen . The overall feel was NOT "getting away from it all".
The facilities are good and there's a nice beach and well stocked General store, also a big boat ramp facility with some docks.
We chose this location because we were attending the Antique Boat Show in Clayton, 13 miles away, and this was the closest available. It suited us just fine for that.
Keep your stuff secure, there are brazen raccoons.

We loved camping here. There were many things to do for kids but also adults. They have pontoon and kayak rentals. Golf cart rentals. Cool bikes for kids. They had a little farmers market on the Saturday which was great. Sites can feel a little packed and we couldn’t see fireworks from the campground on 7/4 but overall loved this place and already booked next year!

There is TONS of beach to explore at this little State Park in New York. I used to visit here as a kid years ago because my grandparents owned a cottage on the lake. Since they sold it, visiting Southwick is the next best thing. Lake Ontario is an amazing lake to be on and the water is pretty warm in the summer time. the waves don't get too big, so it is very safe for kids. Southwick itself has great camping spots right next to the beach. It is a little pricey if you only want to visit for the day, $8, but you can get a tent spot for $18 which is comparable to other state parks. Showers are available, and there are some short trails that are good for running or probably cross country skiing in the winter. There is also a sizable playground near the beach that is great for the kids.

This campground is massive and the park is beautiful.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Beach and Cove-like swim area

Camp Store/laundry

Ice Cream

Arcade

Marina

Nature Museum with nature trails nearby 

Many playgrounds 

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS:

Boat rentals

Sunset boat cruises

Castles

Wineries

Cute villages/towns

I headed up to Wellesley Island state park for the long Thanksgiving weekend with three teenagers (one girl and two boys). We rented cottage A, which was clean, spacious, warm and fully stocked with everything we needed. The fire pit outside was the only disappointment as it was well below ground level (on a sloping hill) so tending the fire was a difficult process and cooking on it was challenging. The Nature Center was open and lovely and every Saturday (even in off season) they organize hikes. The park itself was incredible - highly recommend the Eel Bay trail, which will take you past the glacial potholes a d along the striking coastline. We also checked out the North end of the park, near the marina and will probably go back in the summer and rent a cabin over there. There’s a store, laundromat and arcade, but all were closed either due to the time or year, or covid. Litter is a problem throughout the park which is really sad. We did our best to clean up what we could, but someone should organize a clean up, especially because lots of it must make it’s way into the St Lawrence :( The staff we met were all really friendly and helpful. The towns surrounding the park are economically struggling and we had to drive quite far to find a grocery store that was open. All restaurants within a 20 minute drive were closed for the season. We’ll definitely be back!

One of my favorite places to camp! The sites there are big!!! We usually get 2 sites and place as many as 5 tents between the 2 sites! Watch out for the skunks and raccoons on this island, they are huge from partaking in campers food! The park is very large, you can get in a few miles for a run or bike ride! Great price for camping! There is a boat launch for your own boat or you can rent a boat. The fishing on the St. Lawrence is awesome!!! Catch some perch and have a fish fry back at camp! If you fish near the boat rental there is a place to clean you fish! Perfect place to camp if you want to go to Alexandria Bay! Great shopping and great restaurants! Make sure you visit Bolt Castle! Happy Camping!

We stayed at Swan Bay Resort in Alexandria Bay, NY, for our last trip this year. Spoiler alert… we had a great stay! 

This is a great park. It’s an easy mile from I-81 and just 10-minutes drive to Alexandria Bay downtown. The staff was great— friendly and helpful. Our waterfront pull-IN site was a level concrete pad and gravel with FHU and everything worked great. Oh, and the best part was our view of the St. Lawrence River with passing ocean liners and lots of migrating birds. 

The park has 2 swimming pools, a tiki bar, a food truck, and nice communal hang-out areas. There’s a marina with pontoon boat rentals. They put on Octoberfest during our stay which featured a live band and food and craft vendors. 

There are plenty of restaurants and stores nearby. Adjacent to the entrance is a self-service car wash with bay large enough for motorhomes. 

I have nothing bad to say about this place and encourage you to visit when you can.

Swan Bay Resort is exactly that. All of there sites are on slabs,neat and clean hook ups. There is riverviews from just about every site which is nice and then there are sites right on the river, the river sites do face west , so you do get beautiful sunsets. Check-in was smooth and the staff was very helpful. There are plenty of bathrooms and washing machines are in all of them. They offer boat, kayak, and paddle board rentals. They have 2 pools and a tiki bar on site. They looked beautiful but they were crowded and nobody was practicing social distancing , and for me we are still in the unknown with covid so we stayed away. No judging at all just a personal preference call. The shop was mostly chatchskis and except for the normal staple items sewer hoses and stuff of that nature. There is a supermarket that is walkable which was nice. Now for the downside and it's only 1 , this place is a bit pricey. What I spent here for 2 nights I could have stayed a week at a KOA, so I did pay for those beautiful river sunsets.

I’ll start by saying Swan Bay is a busy, family-oriented campground. We arrived on a weekend and it was pretty busy but loved it during the week when everybody left and things were quieter. Our site (#38) was a Passport America site so we got a great nightly rate of $42 which is half of the regular nightly rate. Our site was a “standard site” near the pool, boat launch, activities, and Tiki Bar which surprised us because sites close to activities are usually desired and not discounted. Campsite costs depends on whether you get a waterfront (which is $95/night even in the off-season), water view, pull thru, or standard site. Most sites do not have shade but they added a new section that does have some old mature trees and sporadic shade. All the sites are the same in that they have paved parking areas with gravel in front, pavers for a patio and full hook-up. Some of the newer sites now have a bit of shade from trees. There are lots of rental park models and cottages close to the pool and Tiki Bar. Within walking distance is a Price Chopper Grocery, Dollar General, gas station, and wine and liquor store.  

There is a free boat launch and boat slips (not sure if they are free) for guests. I was hoping to spend a bit of time on my paddleboard but soon realized it is very windy here and found very few windows to paddle. Our neighbor (who has camped here seasonally for the last four years) mentioned that he lost three awnings to the wind. So, don’t leave your awning out when you leave your camper and beware of winds if you want to be on the water. Check-in was quick and easy. The park is gated so you get a gate card to enter the park. You also get a BOGO card to use at the Tiki Bar which has specials during the week (like margarita Monday, bucket of beer, bloody Mary’s, etc.). The pool and Tiki Bar were not very busy when we were there. There is a second pool but it was not open yet for the season. In between the pools is a community fire pit with nice Adirondack chairs which is pretty cool. The playground is awesome and huge with lots of cool features for kids to explore. The dog park is very nice and a decent size to throw a ball for your dog. It also has potable water for drinking, which, for some reason, did not work during our stay. There are gobs of activities for kids and adults. Plenty of rentals too – ranging from boats, kayaks, golf carts, etc. 

A couple of the downsides of this park are the price (unless you get a discount like we did), sites don’t have much privacy, the park gets crowded and noisy, and there was lots of noise from the construction work within the park they were doing. If you are in the back of the park, you get some road noise from Route 12 and the refrigerated truck at the neighboring Price Chopper. Overall, we loved this park during the slow season and during the week when there were not kids running around and adults playing loud music and drinking constantly.

We arrived to Wellesley Island State Park Friday May 24, 2019. The entrance to the park was very clean and well kept. The office staff were very friendly! We stayed in the Heron(H) loop. The sites were beautiful with a lot of yard or grass space. The bathrooms/showers were clean and private. There was a playground only a few sites down from us which was great for entertaining our little one. Soon after we finished setting up we drove over to the Park store. It was very easy to find. There was a large playground, beach, arcade, laundry, and marina in the same area as the store. The staff in the store were very helpful and they had many things to offer. From camp tools to ice cream and toys. Unfortunately it rained all day Saturday so when we woke up we had some mud and standing water on our site. The staff were amazing and moved us to a site that was even more beautiful and dry. Luckily Sunday was sunny so we got to enjoy the whole day outside on our new site. Overall our camping experience at Wellesley Island State Park was great! It was clean and spacious and, the staff was great. We had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Great ace to stay with a boat

My kids loved camping here, great fishing, great sites.

The state park is really nice, very natural with beautiful views of the St Lawrence River but the beach needs to be cleaned up and the bathrooms are disgusting. There’s one small open field that has full hookups otherwise it’s power only.

We arrived on July 5th for 5 nights. Our original site was listed at 55’, but there was no way our 43’ camper would fit, nor make the tight turn into it. The owner quickly moved us to another site and we’re happy with the result. I only gave a 3/5 since I reserve 4’s and 5’s for parts with more amenities and larger sites.

I grew up going to this place with my family so besides it being nostalgic it is absolutely beautiful. The grounds are really taken care of and all the sites are at par. The place offers countless opportunities for just about any activity you could think of. The landscape is gorgeous and just extremely peaceful.

Extremely clean, well run and has the most options for all kinds of camping. The grounds are spotless, as are the bathrooms and showers. There are several hosts, so help is always available. The campground is conveniently located near many of the attractions.

We’ve heard great things about this camp ground and I can see why ppl come here. The views are beautiful, the water is clear, but wow is it crowded! We like to have privacy and prefer a quiet experience but ppl here are packed in. Everywhere we turned there was a person or kid running around on the rocks. Unless we get a hike in tent site I don’t see us ever returning.

Gorgeous views! We had so much fun! Very quite