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
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!
Large family friendly campground with all the amenities - boating, showers, great hiking.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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:
Cons:
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.
Always packed, but always beautiful. Awesome access to the Catskill Escaprment trail from here.
the hiking here is phenomenal! easy and walking distance from your site
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+++
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.
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.
