Luzerne Campground
Remote location
Clean, spacious sites. O shower in this loop.
Arcadian Pastures Equine caters to visitors with horses, permitting campfires and offering firewood and picnic tables at its campsites. The established campground requires reservations and provides trash disposal services. The grounds accommodate both tent and RV camping with drive-in and walk-in access options. While pets are not allowed at this location, its primary focus remains on providing appropriate space for equestrian visitors. Located approximately 45 miles west of Watervliet, the campground's reservation system helps manage the limited number of available sites.
Located in Gansevoort, Moreau Lake State Park Campground extends beyond typical camping amenities to welcome equestrians seeking recreation opportunities. The park features spacious, shady campsites with good separation between neighboring sites, providing privacy for campers with animals. Over 20 miles of trails wind through the hilly wooded terrain, making it suitable for day rides. While the campground does not offer dedicated horse corrals, its proximity to hiking paths and natural surroundings creates an appealing destination for riders. The park maintains clean facilities including restrooms, showers, and offers electric hookups for RVs requiring power during their stay. The campground operates seasonally from May through mid-October with varying levels of crowds depending on the time of year.
"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."
"This is a truly beautiful and scenic campground, easily one of the best places we have visited in New York State."
Campground full this weekend
Get a text when availablefrom $22 - $44 / night
"This campground is close to the highway between Albany and the Adirondacks. There’s a nice big lake and the Hudson RIver. Many campsites are near the lake."
"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."
Campground full this weekend
Get a text when availablefrom $75 / night
"The only campground in all of New York that acquires to house back riders. There are campsites that also come with stalls for your horse!"
"We get our site close to the lake so we can walk down and swim and my husband fishes. The showers are so nice and private and clean. Love that we can rent boats too."
Campground full this weekend
Get a text when availablefrom $22 - $40 / night
"I live near this campground. I'm about a mile away and I pass it every day. It is rather remote, but it is right along West kill road."
from $55 - $195 / night
from $25 - $150 / night
"The Murphy Bennett Trails is a technical challenge to hike, or bike in on. And be prepared to go over downfalls. The area is maintained, but windhappens in the old growth forest."
Clean, spacious sites. O shower in this loop.
This is a truly beautiful and scenic campground, easily one of the best places we have visited in New York State. The campsites are well laid out, the surroundings are stunning, and the entire campground is very clean and well maintained. We visited in October, and it was pleasantly uncrowded, which made the experience even more enjoyable. The peaceful atmosphere and beautiful fall scenery made for a perfect camping trip. I'm not sure how busy it gets during the peak summer season, but our autumn visit was fantastic. We had a wonderful time and will definitely be coming back.
I don’t normally write reviews especially a negative one. We had a very upsetting experience at North-South Lake. We drove over two hours to visit my husband’s childhood campground for the first time with our three kids(ages 5, 7, and 9). When we arrived at the entrance, we were asked if it was a day visit, and we said yes, we were only staying for the day. We paid the fee, received a map, and drove in. My husband was so excited to finally share this place and create memories with our children. Looking for a place to park, we thought we were lucky to find an empty campsite in one of the loops where he used to camp as a child.
We parked the car hoping to enjoy the view of the lake, take a walk, and maybe make the kids a couple of s’mores before heading home.
At around 2:15–2:30 p.m., the “SUPERVISOR” in the white Kia approached us in an extremely rude and nasty manner, speaking as if we were committing a serious crime and comparing our situation to“sleeping in someone else’s hotel room.” She asked us if we had a reservation; we said no. She said,“Someone else reserved this spot.” We were very apologetic, embarrassed, and immediately put our stuff in the car. I said they could have told us; we would have moved right away. I’m sorry.
She said,“They aren’t supposed to talk to you; that’s why they send me here.” She told us we had ten minutes to leave, waited there while we put our chair, blanket, and s’more cookies in the car, and refused our 9-year-old daughter access to the bathroom while we packed up our three things, and even followed us out of the loop to make sure we didn’t park elsewhere. My daughter came to us crying because the lady told her she couldn’t use the bathroom and had to get in the car. Well, she had an accident in the car right as we were pulling out.
We were mortified and apologetic. My husband even offered to leave the firewood we had just purchased for the next campers, but she was dismissive and harsh about that as well.
The following day, I called and asked to speak with a manager to explain how we were treated. The manager was just as unfriendly and miserable sounding as the supervisor. I was told they had been looking for us“for hours” and that it’s“common sense” not to park in a campsite. She actually said it’s considered trespassing. So, a friendly warning for first-time visitors: Apparently, if you don’t know that“day use” doesn’t mean“park in any empty campsite,” just for the day, you’re officially a trespassing criminal, at least according to the manager.
Reading the website now, I see that check-in for people with reservations is at 2 p.m., which was the time we were trying to make a small fire, so unless someone left their site and returned, it’s unclear how they could have been looking for us“for hours.” We were right there at 2pm.
The website also states: Day Use• Anyone who is not camping is a day-user. Day-use hours are from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Day-users are not allowed between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
We were not camping but didn’t realize we couldn’t park in an empty campsite. I think“common sense” would be to inform DAY USE visitors at the ENTRANCE to use public parking, especially for families or first-time visitors who may not be camping experts. Bottom line: this was my husband’s childhood family spot. We just wanted to take a beautiful fall drive and have a special day with our kids.
We understand now that we needed to reserve the parking spot ahead of time, and it was an honest misunderstanding. I would have even offered to pay for the campers’ stay for their trouble. What we wish for is that the staff had approached us respectfully and explained the situation instead of treating us like criminals. Imagine being such a miserable person and working in such a BEAUTIFUL and peaceful place for families.
This was meant to be a special family day, honoring memories of my father-in-law and creating new ones with our children. Instead, it became stressful and humiliating. Sadly, this is what our children will remember about the day and about North South Lake
I love the spacious campsites. It’s very woodsy between sites, so it seems very private. Bathrooms and Showers are clean. Over 20 miles in hiking trails, this is one of the nicest parks, I’ve visited.
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!
I really love this campground each of the campsites in our loop which was in the lower 100s, has a lot of foliage around it, creating privacy between you and the site next to you. There is a lake with swimming, clean bathrooms, clean, clean showers. Picnic table and fire pit with grill top. There’s a lot of bear activity here, so constantly cleaning up your food is very important. Definitely love it here for woodsy feel.
Been there couple of times. Love it. Two lakes. Highly recommended.
Love to camp here all year long have been coming to the area for a couple of decades now. Remote. Sometimes you never see anyone. Sometimes you see some people. You camp on the stream. There is a couple of spots
I live near this campground. I'm about a mile away and I pass it every day. It is rather remote, but it is right along West kill road. There's a stream alongside it, a fire pit, and a town about 8 mi away. It's a small town, with just a gas station store. I would not recommend this for large trailers. The site is fairly small, but it's in state park, and there's tons of walking that can be done.
North-South Lake Campground and Moreau Lake State Park offer two premier equestrian camping destinations near Watervliet, New York. Located in the foothills of the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains, these areas provide varied terrain for trail riding across elevations ranging from 500 to 2,000 feet. Most equestrian campgrounds in the region operate seasonally from May through mid-October with limited site availability during peak summer months.
Swimming and water recreation: The lake at North-South Lake Campground provides excellent swimming opportunities. "I go there almost every year to go swimming with my family and friends and it's always a good time," notes Lizz H.
Hiking with varied difficulty levels: Trails near campgrounds offer options for all skill levels. "Hiking trails become nice XC skiing trails," reports Amber A. about the multi-use trails at Moreau Lake State Park Campground.
Horseback riding on designated trails: Several campgrounds accommodate equestrian visitors with appropriate facilities. "The only campground in all of New York that acquires to house back riders. There are campsites that also come with stalls for your horse!" writes Brittnay B. about Luzerne Campground.
Fishing in stocked lakes: Multiple campgrounds offer fishing access. "Good fishing," notes Robert L. about the angling opportunities at Luzerne.
Spacious, private sites: Many campers appreciate the layout of sites. "The campsites are spacious, shady, and had good separation between the neighboring sites which we enjoyed," reports Nancy W. about her stay at Moreau Lake.
Clean facilities: Visitors consistently mention well-maintained amenities. "Clean and well run campground with beautiful lakes and surrounded by trails," Rachel G. shares about North-South Lake Campground.
Proximity to attractions: Location near popular destinations adds convenience. "Minutes away from Lake George village. Great little diners and shops in town of Hadley/Luzerne also," mentions Dan H. about Luzerne Campground.
Family-friendly environment: Several campgrounds cater well to families with children. "Large family friendly campground with all the amenities - boating, showers, great hiking," notes Becky G.
Reservation requirements: Most established campgrounds require advance booking. At Betty Brook Camp, reservations are not needed as it's dispersed camping, but "It is rather remote, but it is right along West kill road," according to Peter.
Seasonal crowds: Popular campgrounds can become busy during peak times. "Always packed, but always beautiful. Awesome access to the Catskill Escaprment trail from here," shares Maribeth W.
Limited availability: Sites fill quickly, especially waterfront locations. "Reserve very early for waterfront," advises Rachel G.
Weather considerations: The region experiences variable conditions throughout the camping season. "This campground has a large number of hiking trails for every level of outdoorsman," Robert L. notes, adding versatility regardless of weather.
Beach access for children: Lakes with swimming areas provide entertainment. "My daughter loves it here. We get our site close to the lake so we can walk down and swim," shares Antoinette W. about her experiences at Luzerne Campground.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Watervliet, NY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Watervliet, NY is North-South Lake Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 44 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Watervliet, NY?
TheDyrt.com has all 7 equestrian camping locations near Watervliet, NY, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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