North-South Lake Campground, near Haines Falls, New York, is a fantastic destination for those looking to immerse themselves in nature. With spacious sites that offer a mix of privacy and accessibility, it's a great place to set up camp whether you're in a tent or an RV.

The campground boasts clean facilities, including well-maintained bathrooms and showers, which visitors appreciate after a day of hiking or exploring. Many campers have enjoyed the scenic views, especially during the fall when the leaves change colors, making walks around the lakes a breathtaking experience. One visitor noted, “Walking around the lakes provided incredibly scenic views during the fall.”

For outdoor enthusiasts, the area is rich with hiking opportunities, including trails that lead to stunning waterfalls and vistas. Campers have spotted wildlife, including bears, adding to the thrill of the experience. The campground is also pet-friendly, so you can bring your furry friends along for the adventure.

While some campers mentioned that the atmosphere can get lively with parties, many others enjoyed the vibrant community feel. With fire pits available for cooking and gathering, it’s easy to unwind after a day of activities. Whether you're looking for a quiet retreat or a lively camping experience, North-South Lake Campground has something to offer everyone.

North South Lake Campground is the biggest and most popular state campground in the Catskill Forest Preserve, offering extraordinary scenic beauty, and historical sites, such as: Alligator Rock, Kaaterskill Falls, and the former site of the Catskill Mountain House. An abrupt change in elevation occurs from about 540 feet above sea level at the base of the escarpment to approximately 2,250 feet at the site of the former Catskill Mountain House. The provinces around the lakes have long provided visitors with exceptional views of the surrounding countryside. It is said that on a clear day, five states can be viewed from the escarpment. 7 camping loops; 219 tent and trailer sites; 2 lakes; 2 beaches; Two picnic areas: one on North Lake with two picnic pavilion rentals a 20' X 32' and a 44' X 24' (the larger of the two with electricity) and one on South Lake with a 40' X 60' picnic pavilion rental (with electricity).; 2 picnic areas with tables and fireplaces or charcoal grills; playground; flush toilets; hot showers; boat launch (no motorized vessels); rowboat, canoe, kayak and paddle boat rentals; firewood sales; volleyball; horseshoes; fishing; playing field; trailer dump station; recycling center; solar cell phone charging station; ADA fishing platform.

North-South Lake Campground

Palenville is the perfect place for adventurous campers and RVers. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in, as well as sights to see and explore. Find the best campgrounds near Palenville, plus reviews and photos from other campers like you.

Palenville

The Best Camping Near Palenville, New York

Great family campground.  I have spent two separate occasions at North South Lake and loved both of them.  The first visit was just with my immediate family.  We had decided to go late in the season and on a whim we picked North South Lake.  We had the majority of the park to ourselves as it was so close to the close of the season.  The park was clean and the site was nice and private.  We enjoyed the numerous hiking trails in and around the park and the sites were amazing.  The second time we actually took some friends along.  Again, great experience.  The site was clean, the park personnel were friendly and the hiking trails were great.  We enjoyed some time down at the lake and event went swimming.  The bathrooms are typical for a DEC campground.  They are on the older side and get cleaned only once a day which means that as the camp gets crowded they can get a bit dirty.  But otherwise the place was great and we will definitely return again.

Great Getaway

This campsite is by far my favorite in the Catskills! Their staff is friendly and knowledgeable, bathrooms & beach areas are always clean,  & the hiking nearby is fantastic. A lot of the hiking nearby is also relatively easy and includes the newly opened (as of 2016) viewing platform for Kaasterskill falls, which is minutes down the road from the campground.

North South Lake- Campsite #42

North-South Lake Campground was a blast. My family and I loved every second of it. We enjoyed some beautiful hikes- one that lead to a rock that they call "alligator rock" which obviously looked like an alligator. This same hike took us around some other pretty cool sites as well. It was really nice to get away from the busy city and come here to escape the busyness. North South Lake is located within the Catskill Forest Preserve and I was told that this is the largest campsite available. I believe them because we did get lost once we were in the park, trying to find our camping spot. I would recommend downloading or asking for a campground map before going so you know exactly where your campsite is. We also enjoyed the lakes that were located within the campground. We found 2 different lakes, but not sure if there are more. We also did some hiking (to Alligator Rock). One hike that I really enjoyed was Kaaterskill Falls- This was absolutely gorgeous and the views were amazing. We did some research prior to coming, and from this hike you are able to see 5 different states from the top of this hike. We went on a beautiful, clear day so we were able to see miles ahead of us. Other activities you can do are boat, fish, and swim at the beaches. This campground literally has everything you could want in a campground and more! I would recommend coming here, and would give this North-South Lake a 10/10, A+++

Had so much fun-Can't wait to come back!

the hiking here is phenomenal! easy and walking distance from your site

camp here if you love hiking

Always packed, but always beautiful.  Awesome access to the Catskill Escaprment trail from here. 

Always packed

I'm a native of the Catskills and spent many an afternoon with my family enjoying the facilities at North/South Lake. I've recently started going there again with my own family and it's great to see them take the same enjoyment I did. Camping, swimming, hiking, boating, biking, this place has it all.

Childhood memories revisited

**Campground Review:**

North/South Lake Campground is located in the Catskill Mountains in Haines Falls, NY. There are 7 loops with a total of 219 primitive sites. Most are fairly level and shaded many with views of North lake or a creek. Each loop has a bathroom and showers. There is also a dump station and several places to fill up with water. There are many activities to do here like swimming, hiking and boating. There were walk-up sites available when we arrived after hours. The cost was about $28 per night. We selected site 13 located in loop #1 which was very peaceful and shaded located next to the creek. There were many rocks for the kids to climb on nearby. The showers had no hot water available and were locked during our stay which was a bit inconvenient. We hiked to some waterfalls nearby which were very beautiful.

**Product Review:**

As a ranger for the Dyrt, I get to test products from time to time. At this campground, I tested the Flight+ tree tent by [Tentsile](http://Tentsile.com). This is a combination of a hammock and tent. I was very excited to get this product and have been looking at them for a while.

Pros:

*   The Flight+ tree tent is very lightweight and convenient to take backpacking weighing in at only 7 lbs.
*   It has a mesh netting that keeps bugs out and can be used with or without the rain tarp. In upstate NY, we left it off because there wasn't any humidity or dew at the time. It gave us a great unobstructed view of the creek and trees.
*   keeps you off the ground- high and dry
*   2 person size and each has their own door to get in and out so no crawling over your tent mate.
*   a variety of colors to choose from unlike most tents and has a sleek eye-catching design that peaks interest of other campers
*   Customer service is great at helping you troubleshoot your setup as well as providing videos on the website.

Cons:

*   There was a bit of a learning curve to the set up. We tried it in a variety of places and with different tree configurations.
*   Had a hard time getting it level so there wasn't a lean one way or the other when you were in it. Couldn't get all the tabs to line up on each strap.

Ranger Review: Tentsile Flight+ at North/South Lake

Quality campground just outside of NYC in the Catskills. Very popular especially in the summer. Make reservations as soon as you can. Some sites are better than others (campsitephotos.com has photos of every site). Excellent fishing opportunities as well as hiking. The bathrooms are well kept and were airways clean. Drinking water spouts readily available and close to most sites.

Great getaway minutes from NYC 

North South lake is one of the larger public camp grounds in New York. The sites are well spaced out. Great for families. The lake is huge.

Avoid holidays to avoid the crowds.

NYS camping.

Had a great time at this campground- surrounded by many returning campers which gave the whole experience a good community vibe. Ice cream truck comes around each evening in the summer. Sites are tucked away in the trees for privacy. We set up our 6 person tent and two hammocks comfortably. Long walk to the beach from our site but enjoyable anyway. Nice little hiking trails nearby.

Family friendly

Large family friendly campground with all the amenities - boating, showers, great hiking.

Large Family Friendly Campgroud

I’ve had so many wonderful summers at North South Lake campground. I usually book in October to get a lakefront site and it’s well worth it! This campground has awesome trails, a charming little market just outside of the grounds, and friendly rangers and fellow campers. NS Lake was my first camping experience back in high school and it’s certainly where I want to bring my future children one day. Firewood is available at multiples houses down the road as well as at the check in hut. Kayaks and canoes are available for rentals. I’ve never had an issue or had to wait to rent a kayak and the prices are very reasonable. I can’t say enough good things about this place that is very special to me. Definitely worth checking out!

Charming, fun for the whole family!

We didn’t enjoy this campground as much. No cell service no internet and it rained the entire time. The one day it didn’t rain we went to the lake. It the water was tinted yellow/green. It may have been the rain but there also wasn’t many activities for the kids that I saw either

nice bathrooms. Great hiking right from park. 2 beaches, kayaking. pretty strict on the rules and quiet times so you won’t have to worry about a loud part site.

Big sites wit trees separating them 

Clean and well run campground with beautiful lakes and surrounded by trails. perfect Hudson getaway. Reserve very early for waterfront. 

Gorgeous

What a great first camping experience for my toddler. He had a blast running around and hiking around the lake with his mom and dad. The beach was closed for swimming when we went (no lifeguards) but we rented kayaks and paddled around the whole day. Kaaterskill Falls are nearby - it hadn't rained much when we went, but it was still cool to see. Only complaint was lack of diaper changing table in bathroom - we had to change my son outside on the benches and it got a bit chilly!

Clean, Tidy, Beautiful

the campground is very nice I love going there. But we warned if you have a site on the water the sound carries and you will get told to keep it down.

Very nice

The sites are spacious and private and there are lake side sites available too.  Perfect for groups!! We were able to maximize our lake experience by bringing an inflatable kayak. I was able to explore many different parts of the lake and do a decent amount of fishing. There were a few hiking trails walking distance of the campground that were fun to explore. We will def come back!!

Love this place

This was a nice campground, no frills, but it’s proximity to kaaterskill falls is the selling point

Standard campground no frills

Located just about a mile from Kaaterskill Falls this campground couldn’t be in a better spot. We had a wonderful weekend there. The restrooms were clean and had showers, which we did not expect. 

Excellent location.

This campground has many different size sites big enough for groups and small for just single. Great place to camp. The view from the town to the campground was amazing!!! Will be back!!

Great restrooms cleaned every morning staff was very friendly,awesome !!

Campground is big and staff are very friendly and helpful, I have stayed a various sites and they where all spacious slate floor so having something soft if sleep in a tent is recommended. The park offers plenty of hiking trails with great views, Overlook mountain hotel site, you can also hike to katterskills falls it’s a long hike but worth it when you get to the falls if not you can drive down and park at the trail head parking mid way down the road to get to the katterskill falls trail. Make sure to stop at the general store on the corner they have everything you need and souvenirs to bring home..

My favorite place in NY

This place is enormous. This is a NYS park run by DEC. They are very strict with quite hours which are from 10pm to 7am. The had a truck come around many times after 10pm to make sure everyone was quite. This is a great spot for young kids. 
I was warned about high black bear activity in the region and even had to sign a waiver acknowledging their presence and all the rules associated. 

Each site had a fire pit with a grill on top of it and a picnic table. Sites are very close together but that didn’t bother me. There are bathrooms and showers, both very clean in every loop. Attached to the bathroom area is a large sink to wash dishes. 

The north lake is under construction so there is not beach front there. Beware of staying in Loop 6 as you will probably hear the construction noises. 

The north lake does however have a nice path alongside it and a spot to deploy a non motorized boat. 

No cell service anywhere in the park or close by. 

I highly recommend staying here. 

Great family campground 

Truly one of the best spots for Westchester/ Putnam campers! Clean, private, and tons of things to do! Hiking and fishing are great, and campers are incredibly friendly! We’ve been there 4 out of our last 6 trips.... never disappointed!

Our FAVORITE!

clean bathrooms and hot water showers. 
great view of the lake. 
kayaking. 
close to excellent day hikes. 

Great spot not too far from NYC

I go there almost every year to go swimming with my family and friends and it’s always a good time 

One of my favorite swimming spots

There weren’t any boat rentals due to COVID, which was a big disappointment. The staff is super friendly, bathrooms clean. Awesome dishwashing stations. Hot high pressure showers. No WiFi or any cell service, but that made for a better trip with the kids. They gave us junior naturalist workbooks for the kids, and they turned them into the ranger station for review and got super cool patches. They cannot wait to return!

Great for kids  wish we stayed longer  

Great grounds. Pet friendly. Boat launch. Check out the easy Catskill Mountain house hike (super easy). Only drag is the sites are a bit close together. Bathrooms are super clean. Recycling center super clean

Nice grounds

Great experience 

I had to make a last-minute reservation for a campsite on my drive back from Maine to DC on a Friday night in September, so was a bit worried about finding anywhere decent at all.  This campground was one of the few with any sites available, and I got the second last spot.  So I had pretty low expectations.

  

Actually this campground is pretty nice--the campsites are of a normal size, with enough rocks and trees between sites to provide a decent amount of privacy.  Again, my campsite was one of the worst, right on the road, but still not too bad.  It would have been pretty decent if every campsite around me hadn't been full, generally with families with a bunch of shrieking kids.  But that's a weekend in September...

  

There are also a limited number of campsites right on the water.  The lake is nice enough, although much of it is covered in lily pads.

  

Bathrooms are fine.

  

No wood for sale on-site, but there are several places nearby to get wood, and any other supplies you need.  The campsite is not exactly remote, I think it was about a 5 minute drive to a gas station with firewood and all manner of supplies.

  

I would definitely stay here during the week when it might be a bit quieter.

Better than I expected

This is an amazing campground! We had plenty of space and easy access to the lake. We went on a busy weekend and they are currently only operating at 50% capacity. I would recommend reserving a spot well in advance. This is a very large campground with multiple different areas. It has a good water pump and the bathrooms were well maintained and had a nice sink washing area.

Fantastic, spacious campground

Have wanted to come here for years and finally decided to snag the last weekend that they're open for the season. End of October the leaves are still incredible and there are great hikes in the area, including right from the site! (You aren't going to want to drive out of the campground because parking at all of those trailheads are insane). We did the Newman's Ledge hike and it was crowded at the ledge, but otherwise amazing. The campground is really nice, sites were relatively private, bathrooms clean. Will be back this season! When you're hungry head down to get fresh-made donuts in Tannersville.

Great Location to Fall Foliage and Hiking

The campground was active but not crowded. There is a variety of water sources with multiple camp sites abutting them. Each site is spacious and is tucked nicely into the woods giving optimal privacy. The sites do not have water or electricity but there’s a water tap nearby the sites. The sky is open and brilliant at night. 

A perfect visit

Staff was professional, bathrooms and showers were clean, reasonable stay prices, beautiful tree canopy. Beach areas look family friendly. We had our 26ft travel trailer boondocked at 049.
Tight squeeze, but we made it. 
Close hiking to Kaaterskills Falls.
 Can't wait to visit next year!

Quiet, wooded campground with clean bathrooms and showers

Very well run, well spaced, drive-in sites suitable for tent camping as well as rvs. Spotless clean showers, wash areas, toilets.  Excellent hiking of all classifications.

Beautiful well spaced drive-in sites

Gorgeous campgrounds, friendly staff, and spectacular facilities. Loved that trailheads are walking distance from the sites. But we felt very close to campers next to us, not a lot of shrubbery between sites to feel somewhat private. Fire pits are very nice but more catered to cooking instead of being able to sit around in a circle. Also, we picked a site hoping we’d have a nice view of the lake but it’s hard to see from the site and a good walk away. Overall, beautiful grounds but I’d take less facilities to have a more “woodsy” vibe but that’s just my preference!

Beautiful grounds but… 

It’s incredibly difficult to bag a site here and now I understand why. Walking around the lakes provided Incredibly scenic views during the fall when the leaves change colors. The site was spacious and flat although some of the sites closer to the lake are rocky and smaller.

 The only complaint is the set up of the fire pits which are enclosed on three sides.

Camping with a view

Beautiful. Our site had a creek close behind it and only a short walk to the lake. We were there in middle of the week and  it was very quiet. Most sites a shady and private.  Loved it, hope to visit again sometime. 

Lake, creek and waterfalls!

This place is all in all a fantastic place for camping. The sites are nice, the facilities are ok, the staff FANTASTIC, and most people camping want to be out in nature. Saw some bears up close. Great hiking. Especially for someone with limited mobility at the time. Also some challenging hikes. 
What I also experienced was a LOT of people having loud parties, playing all kinds of music very loudly and leaving trash everywhere. Not my style of camping. I have to add no one was breaking any rules and maybe I am the old codger my wife says I’m turning into but that’s mt 2 cents. 

Great place for certain campers 

Been there couple of times. Love it. Two lakes. Highly recommended.

Fun place, good camp

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. 

Nice sites 

Gorgeous. There was a brook not far from our campsite, and it was only a short stroll to the lake. It was really peaceful when we visited in the middle of the week. Most websites are secretive and dark can play [penalty shooters 2](https://penaltyshooters.io).

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 &amp; Friday it was Neverending rain &amp; 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 &amp; I had to be driven out of the campground to call 911. Thank you Mary!! It all ended well &amp; we got a different site.

  

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

  

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

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

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

  

This is a hiking park &amp; 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&amp; we enjoyed our time there!

New York

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

Photos of North-South Lake Campground

Real photos from real campers