Best RV Parks & Resorts near Cowanesque Lake

The owners do a fantastic job keeping the campground shipshape. Restrooms/showers are immaculate any time of day. Heated swimming pool and the splash pad for kiddies is spotless as well. Nice, pull-through on gravel pad withfull-hookups that can take large rigs. Lake is lovely for fishing/kayaks/canoes. Seasonal campers are tidy. Only a few tent sites with water & electricity tucked into woods. Larger pull-through sites don't get a lot of shade, but there are back-in sites for shorter campers in wooded sites and shaded lake front, as well. Campground store sells ice-cream & nachos and supplies. Campground is pretty quiet during the week, but fills up on weekends with guests using own (or renting) golf carts. Activities on weekends. The campground sits atop one of NEPA's "rolling hills" in quiet, rural farming area. Cell service is spotty. Local winery/cafe just down the road for tastings and lunch. Row boat, paddle boat rentals.

We arrived on Saturday, 10.8.22 and are staying for a week. This is a delightful location. Rachel and Doug are cheerful, attentive, and very personable owners who are on-site at almost all times. This park just opened this year, so we checked in at an entrance building that they're using until their primary building is complete. We were greeted with delicious cookies, our site(#9) backs up to a wooded area(with a hiking path buried in there) with a lot of space. We booked early, which was a good thing because they were 100% full for Indigenous People's Day. We chose this site because there was a lot of room around it and we're used to really tightly packed RV parks. But what we found is that all of the sites are very nicely spread out with generous spacing, so that's not an issue. It's still nice to be on the outskirts. We also chose this section per a review we read to be away from the main road noise, but there really isn't much road noise to worry about, anyway. The WiFi is strong and consistent. We're using 30amps, but they also have 20 and 50amp service to each site. The water pressure is great. The bath house is new and very comfortable. Each site has a picnic table, a fire ring and lots of room for big rigs. We watched Doug neaten up sites after other RV's vacated, which shows an attention to detail we don't often find. They also drive by each site every morning to collect trash and recycling. The sunsets are spectacular over the lake(we can't see the lake from here, but it's close). There are numerous award-winning wineries surrounding us and up and down the lake. We're headed out for tastings today. We've been hiking the last few days- Watkins Glen State Park- Gorge Trail(go early or it gets REALLY crowded), Taughannock State Park- Gorge& North Ridge Trail over on Cayuga Lake, and a concert(Rufus Wainwright) at Point of the Bluff Winery over on Keuka Lake. We stopped afterward for dinner in Hammondsport at Timber Stone Grill which was truly wonderful. That's about 35- 45 minutes away. Lots more hiking trails to do in the National Forest and surrounding areas. And there's Watkins Glen, a charming town just minutes away. We highly recommend Finger Lakes RV Resort and we'll be back!

Stayed for 5 nights with a partial hook up for our brand new 32 foot travel trailer. Other reviewers had mentioned that sites were small, so we specifically asked for a larger site. We ended up getting a corner site right on the edge of a hill looking down on the main office and playground. It was perfect. Playground was huge with multiple playsets suitable for all ages. Bathrooms/showers we're clean and well kept. There was a basketball court, shuffleboard and carpet pool that you could borrow equipment for. Our son and his family rented a wolf den cabin and it was very clean as well. Internet access was spotty, as expected but WiFi at the main office was good. We enjoyed the small, but very clean pool. Would definitely go back. Pet friendly, but there isn't a dog park/off leash area. Staff were friendly and helpful. Right across the street from little pine state park.

This CG has two distinct sections. Near the entrance is the Pull Through Area. Behind a row of trees there are several sites with full hookups including cable TV and Wi-Fi. The sites are open, reasonably level, and a good size. The other sites are in the woods, most of these sites do not have sewer connections. There is a honey wagon service available. We camped with a relative who was new and we were teaching them how to operate their camper. We had a couple of dry days then some rain. Still was a great teaching/learning experience.

Make sure you use a water filter, there was a lot of sediment in the water when we were there. See pictures of 4 days on a new cartridge.

We had a fantastic sunrise one morning.

General: This is a small 28-site campground located on the east rim of the canyon; seven of the sites are electric and six of them are pet-friendly. We reserved site 17 after looking at the site map because it looked like there was a generous amount of separation between this site and the surrounding ones, however, upon arrival, this was not the case. Although some of the sites are generous in size, there is no physical separation between them. Site 1 would, in my opinion, be the best of the non-electric sites for privacy. Sites 6 and 8, while close to the bathhouse, would likely have people walking through your site to get to the bathhouse. Campers have worn a path between these sites to access it. Props to this park for having recycling bins for plastic, glass, and aluminum. While this park is open year-round, the campground is only open from the second Friday in April through the third weekend in October. 

Site Quality: The parking pad is delineated by rocks but not very clearly defined. There is a generously sized picnic table and fire ring to complete the grassy site. 

Bathhouse: Very clean (we have found most Pennsylvania state parks excel in their bathhouse cleanliness). Hot water (definitely appreciated on this cold weekend!) and one handicap accessible shower (but it was too cold while we were there to want to take a shower although it did look inviting). 

Activities: Two hiking trails on the east rim where the campground is located. The Turkey Path was closed about ¾ mile down (by the waterfall) due to storm damage. Although the trail was clearly marked closed at this point, many chose to ignore it and continue on☹. This trail is challenging as it has steep switchbacks down and back up again and it is narrow and slippery but definitely worth doing. The Overlook Trail, while not long (less than a mile), is also challenging with down and uphills. If you don’t want to (or can’t) access these trails, there is an observation platform where you can enjoy great views of the canyon. All of these trails are accessible from the campground. There is also a long multi-use trail for hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing. There is a nice playground accessible from the campground. 

Conclusion: We were here the last weekend the campground was open and while the fall foliage was not experiencing the best year, it was still very beautiful at this park, and we enjoyed the hikes.

Taking everything into consideration, it’s hard to find a nicer campground to stay for a night or two weeks.

• clean, well maintained and monitored.

• large sites on macadam pads. Large fields behind most sites for activities.

• full hook ups available

• numerous hiking trails, large lake for boating, fishing and swimming.

• centrally located between Mansfield, Wellsboro and Corning

*pet friendly. Alcohol allowed

the only draw back is that it fills up quickly and you need to reserve many months ahead of time especially for holidays. Not group camping friendly because of the reservation system. No pavilions for group activities within the Campground