Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Westerly, 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.

Bowdish Lake Camping Area is the worst campground we have ever been to and we travel fulltime! Their website states: $1,800-$3,600 per season (look for yourself on their website if you don’t believe me). We get there after reserving site Blue 65. They then charged us $3,900. Why? We have no idea! Then they charged us an additional $75.00 for our truck. Why I don’t know? Then they charged us an additional $50.00 for having our own kayak. Then they charged us an additional $50.00 for a small dog, $100.00 for large dogs (by the way they have no dog park). Then they charged us an additional $100.00 for cable. Then they charged us an additional .50 cents per kWh ( which cost us an average of$250.00 extra per month). The public facilities are filthy. They do not supply any toilet paper, hand soaps, hot water, etc. They charge you an additional charge by coin operated showers (cold water only) that are crawling with spiders, bugs and cobwebs.