Best Cabin Camping in Rhode Island

Camped out here for two nights after reading about this place in the"Best Tent Camping: New England" book. It's better than the other campgrounds in Rhode Island that I looked at (Burlingame, Fort Getty) but isn't my favorite campground. If you're not a Rhode Island resident the fee for most sites is$36/night. Is it worth it? Eh, probably not unless you're really jonesing to camp for a weekend in the Ocean State. 

It does have some great things going for it, namely the hiking trails and views of the lake. There are some tent-only sites which are numbered T1-T5. I stayed in T5 and it was the best of the bunch because it had the most privacy and space, including a grassy area. The other tent-only sites were fairly small and if you go to any mixed use sites you run the risk of having an RV next to you. The A1-A7 sites are remote and hike in, but you're going to have to hike either 0.4 or 0.6 miles through some uneven terrain. The next best group of sites would be 19-24 which are on their own small loop near the lake. 

The things I didn't like were the streetlights over the port-a-potties that shine all night. There is a manned gate where you check in and you have to get let into the campground during the day, but at night the gates are wide open and it seems like some people know this because there are a few oddballs around in the early morning. There is swimming at the lake but it looked way too dirty. 

Overall the place was managed very well, the sites were cleanish and the grounds were taken care of. The employees drove by at least once an hour, I thought they were collecting trash from dumpsters but the only place with a dumpster is near the entrance. I couldn't figure out why they kept driving by so often. I had a good time, it was relaxing and scratched the camping itch.

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.

I believe we camped there too early in the season to fully enjoy the grounds. The pool, splash pad, and nearly everything else was non operational or locked up still. Bocce ball set was pad locked, no one working the rec hall for horse shoes, shuffle board was in op. Didn't see a place for renting boats for the pond. With that said, the location is great. We drove about 10 min to some awesome trails which literally crossed the Connecticut and Rhode Island border. Back to the grounds.. again, probably because it is off season but the grounds seemed cluttered from the seasonal campers. Construction debris was evident as they are building a new welcome center currently. There was debris from seasonals as well which have the appearance of cluttered. The spots seemed a little close too. I'm rating 4 stars for the potential of the grounds if we were there at the right time otherwise I would rate 2.5 to 3 stars based on our trip alone. I believe that an in-season visit would be really nice as long as all amenities were available.

We enjoyed this campground. It has a few bumps and bruises that could be improved but overall it was a safe place with lots of families. 

It appeared to be mostly seasonal / long term campers and people that had developed good relationships with their neighbors. Everyone was friendly and helpful. 

Good comments:

Most of the campsites seem to have an open area in the middle between them that allows for maneuvering and socializing. 

The camp store is small but well stocked and the prices are very good. 

The beachfront is nice, the canoe and kayak rental is reasonable. 

Needs improvement:

Electrical at my campsite could use a little work. 

The sewer on my site overflowed after only ~15-20 gallons of dumping.

The swimming area has a 'icky bottom' (kid term :)) 

The entrance / office setup is confusing. If you come in from the West you'll see an entrance, if you pull in you'll then be able to see signs that tell you to go another 1/4 mile to the office to check in. This area doesn't have enough room to make a u-turn unless your rig is pretty small. 

After checking in, you go back out on the main road to the aforementioned entrance. 

Overall we had a good time and the issues were minor compared to having a safe place with lots of kids and things to do. All entrances are gated with key codes and there was a security guard on staff part of the time. The office staff was super nice and understanding when I lost my way coming into the wrong gate. :)

Be very careful when you hook into their power, make sure you have a surge protector!!! We learned the hard way after staying Memorial day weekend. We had site C-16, and the way the have the power and water arrangement, we had to run 50ft of hose and 30 amp cord. Their corroded 30 amp power melted the connections on both my cords and blew out my power awning. We could smell something burning, electrical, but didn't find it until we packed up on Monday to leave. I took pictures of their power supply and both my 30 amp cables. I sent them an email Monday when we got home, explaining what happened. No reply. I sent another email less than two weeks later, no reply. Now I have to have my insurance company involved. Pictures attached. I've been camping 50 years and NEVER had this problem anywhere else. I will not return. Just the lack of replies from the campground is enough for me to warn everyone to stay away!

If I had any idea before arriving that this was a seasonal parking lot I never would have booked here and suggest you don’t either. Rules are not enforced for seasonals, so it’s party time, all the time! The teenie swimming pool is wall to wall kids with adult swim for a single hour in the middle of the afternoon. If you’d like to jump into a cesspool be my guest.  Water pressure in the showers was seriously lacking and the bathrooms needed to be cleaned. This campground is near nothing!  And the dump station is located on the wrong side. I couldn’t wait to leave!!