Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Johnston, RI

I've never camped in Rhode Island, so I was curious to see what a state park campground had to offer. Rates are reasonable for state residents, but quite high if you are out-of-state, given the amenities. There are no hookups, but dump stations are available. Bathrooms have flush toilets and coin-operated showers. There's a small beach at the pond, a boat ramp, and proximity to wildlife refuges and the ocean. It's a HUGE campground, with 700 sites and 20 cabins. Canoes are available to rent.

There's a nice playground, a camp store, and a naturalists cabin. Trails are available for hiking and biking. The beach is sandy and there's a small parking lot there, but I suspect most people walk to it. No alcohol allowed. 

I didn't see more than a handful of level sites, with varying degrees of slope, but many are quite large. If you have an RV, plan to level; if you have a tent, be sure to bring good mattresses to protect you from the roots and rocks and orient your head to the uphill side. Most of the sites have some degree of visual separation from their neighbors, but there are places where it's hard to tell where one site ends and the next one starts. Site have fire rings and picnic tables, but if you plan to cook over the fire, bring your own grate or plan to use sticks and/or aluminum foil. 

If you don't have a tent, consider reserving one of their rustic cabins. These offer two sets of bunks (no mattresses) and a small porch with a picnic table and fire ring outside. Some are located along the pond.

3-4 bar cell phone coverage. No road traffic. East Beach is nearby, but parking fills early.

 Wawaloam Campground in Rhode Island was our 3rd state & campground on our East Coast trip. Not a lot of choices in Rhode Island, but we liked this camp ground in a rural wooded area. 

   This is kid heaven. Families laughing & enjoying themselves. Besides the pool they have a splash pad, a water slide, mini golf, a nice pond for fishing. The playground is nice. The grounds are well taken care of. The bathroom& showers were checked often. The showers are now free!

  In wooded, rural Rhode Island, but an easy day trip to Newport.

Perfect location for a summer / beach camp. Mostly for RVs but tent site #6 was great. Views of the ocean to wake up too and tucked away from main area.

Worst part is you can’t bring your car on the site. Do not understand this, especially since it was over 95° and we have dogs that need AC, one if which is 14. We did sneak the car up by asking an RV camper to use his land because they block off the entrance with giant tree trunks.

More good stuff, the private pet friendly beaches were great! Small but perfect to relax. No problems with the pets at all and old but clean bathrooms.

Okay, I will try to update this information on the Dyrt site, but I’ve had mixed success getting that to stick. So if you are confused about things like location, let’s knock that out first:

This campground is located near 2185 Putnam Pike, Chepachet, RI 02814. It’s by Bowdish Lake, near the Connecticut border. This is a cool area of Rhode Island that I enjoyed getting the chance to explore a little bit. Great Italian restaurant if you don’t feel like cooking (Mr Z’s By The Lake) and some historical sites like a very nice covered bridge to the northwest.

Full water and electrical hookup and a very unique and fun play area for kids. The lake access is excellent, obviously. Pay showers of varying degrees of cleanliness. Open to tents, but clearly preferred by the RV crowd.