Montauk State Park Campground

We are trout fishers. This place is perfect for easy stream and running water fishing. We stayed in loop 3, site 325. We walked over to the "river" about 75 yards from our campsite. The water is shallow and clear. it was perfect. You are off grid in this park with Verizon (our service) or T-Mobile (another guest looking for connection). The lodge has Wi-Fi and I was able to pick up signal to text and call when standing outside. No connection for any data at our camp site. No Over air TV stations. One FM radio station. I you want to have any entertainment, BRING DVDs.

This place is quiet and family oriented. Showers are full of hot water and very clean. Staff is friendly. Whole facility is clean and well maintained. Firewood for sale at the front. River is ice cold.

My daughter and I wanted to try Montauk state park and went in March on a Wednesday and left Friday. When booking the site, I was surprised how full it was going to be. Our site in loop 4 was level, clean, and easy to get the 28' trailer back in to. The water right next to the site was taped up, probably turned off for winter, but we were able to fill our fresh tank at the campground entrance before parking. There was a dump station in loop 4 and another one near the entrance. We used loop 4 dump station and the black tank flush water valve wasn't working. The river is full of fish and people fishing for them. Swimming was probably allowed, but I'm sure the people fishing wouldn't have tolerated it. If it was warmer I'm sure we could have found a spot in the river without people fishing to relax. Instead, we hiked the pine ridge trail which was nice and easy for us. At night, we could hear the owls and frogs, which is a highlight for me. The store was a highlight for my daughter and they really have some great fishing gear and supplies. We didn't eat at the lodge. It looked decent and there were people filling up the tables. For me, my favorite part of camping is cooking and eating at the site. We didn't use the campground's shower or toilet. I took a look and they seemed like a typical state park bathroom, clean until someone ruins it. We're fortunate and grateful to have the trailer's bathroom.

We paid $10 for a bundle of wood at the campground, which was for sale just before dark (check the sign for times). The attendant was nice, but he didn't provide any split wood and it was wet. I'm guessing they collect wood from the local bottom lands and sell it. I don't know, there was split wood in the barn, just not in the pile we could pick from. I have a hatchet and was splitting it myself, but wished it wasn't wet. We did see a place selling wood on VV towards Licking also for $10 a bundle. We passed on it and chose poorly.

Google took us from St. Louis through Salem and then down to YY, which was a dirt road and crossed a shallow creek. I wasn't confident it was the correct path, the road got very narrow, had lots of potholes, and worried we wouldn't be able to turn around. Unexpectedly, I put my new suspension to a test. Fortunately, we ended up at the campground without needing to turn around. We left the campground via VV through Licking on a proper road and was able to get gas too.