Best Tent Camping near Swanton, VT

Campground Review: Lakeshore camping! Beautiful little peninsula where you can watch the sunrise/set. Lovely in autumn. Good birding, water activities, sunsets, geology/gorge, short easy forest hikes, beach walking, all the good stuff you expect from this part of New York. Most of the site is off limits because of wildlife preserve, still a lot to explore. Good as base camp for a few days in the area. Get the tents sites near the lake! Popular for day use area (picnics, birthday parties, etc). Stay here and you can say you camped in Peru! (Lots of upstate NY towns are named for countries.)

Gear Review: As a The Dyrt Ranger I receive products to test and review. I won the Crazy Creek Air Chair Plus in a campground review contest in June 2016. I had been thinking of purchasing both a camp chair (for camping) and an air mattress (for camping & backpacking), as on my last few trips I got pretty sick of sitting on my closed-cell foam mat and a recent knee injury was making me rethink my open-cell foam ultralight sleeping pad. Well, this Crazy Creek Air Chair Plus does both and does them both well. It starts out as a camp chair (adjustable angle, typical back height) and flips open to a full size air pad made by Klymit. Sounds great right? I flew to NY for a whirlwind family/business/camping trip soon after receiving the chair and had ample opportunities to try it sleeping on friends’ floors and in tents. The chair portion was super comfortable, way better than any simple camp chairs I’d used. I was nervous about sitting on more rugged surfaces (I’m just paranoid about inflatables!) but so far so good. You can also flip open the bed part while you're sitting and have an extended leg rest to protect against hot sand or dirt. The conversion to the sleeping pad was simple. It inflates fairly easily, but at high altitude after a long day of hiking you might be a little annoyed puffing it all up. Sleeping on it was great: my knee and back were happier than with my open-cell foam mats (similar to the typical Thermarest). The one issue I had was that there’s a big dip/joint where the mattress flips out in the conversion from chair to bed---it’s not really that intrusive but I guess my side-sleeping and height (5’4”) conspired to annoy me a bit. Also the R value is very low (it’s not insulting) just like every other air pad but in the summer that’s fine with me. All the other aspects of sleeping on it were similar to other pads I’ve used (it’s kind of narrow, your bag will slide around a bit, etc). Doesn’t pack down too small & isn’t ultralight, but you could remove the chair aspect to help with that. In sleeping mode it’s 20” wide, 70” long, 2.5” thick, 2 lb 13 oz (according to packaging). So while this is my very first camp chair and air mattress, I’m really happy with it after 7 nights sleeping on it and many hours in the chair. It’s not gimmicky at all!

PS: Can you tell I’m way more picky about gear than campsites? :)

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at North Beach Campground.

We spent 4 days in a full hookup site. The site was spacious, tree covered, and hard packed grass/dirt. Overall the site was very level with good water pressure. The water/electric sites in the middle of the campground were a bit snug. The campground is a city operated campground and we were impressed with the upkeep, maintenance and friendly service during our stay. The camp office is small, but has information on area attractions, Ice, and fire wood. The bathhouse/restrooms were well kept during our stay even with the volume of campers at the site.

Location, Location, Location is the main reason to stay at North Beach. The campground is literally along the Island Line bike/walking trail and had direct access to the beach on Lake Champlain (life guards, snack bar, and patio bar). The city center of Burlington is only 1.5 miles along the bike path from the campground. Most days we either walked or biked into town (which has ample bike racks to park your bike).

While we stayed in our camper, as a former die-hard tent camper, I was impressed with the number of tent friendly sites, because most campgrounds see tenters as “second class”. The tent sites were spacious, level, and not located in some obscure location.  

We loved North Beach and plan to camp here in the future!

This is a short and sweet hike to one of the higher points in Vermont. It is a beautiful scenic (somewhat strenuous) hike to the summit. The views are pretty epic though. The designated primitive camping area is about 1.5 miles into the hike. If I recall it had about 10-12 sites. The area had a host who was there 24/7 and a shared area for eating and food storage (I guess Bear’s are a problem there). We hiked all day, so we didn’t have a fire and to be honest I can’t remember if there was a shared spot for them or not. Either way, this hike was gorgeous and so was the camping. I would love to go back!

This is an RV campground w a handful of tent spots. We stayed at T4, a site w electric right on the lake. I was initially very excited to be so close to the lake but my enthusiasm waned a little after a swim- the lake bottom was murky sticky mud which is fine it’s just not my favorite. My fiancé went swimming and got a leech or leech-like thing on his foot so swimming for him was pretty much over. Being at the lake meant a lot of noise from others including the campers that use the facility, I mean like actual camp, like groups of kids and counselors. I don’t mind kids but others might. It was the usual kid squealing and stuff. When we arrived a counselor was using our site and picnic table, spilling cheese-it’s all over the place which made us popular with the many many seagulls. She left when she saw us pulling in but left the mess behind so the birds were an issue. They continued to be an issue the whole 3 days we were there- every day we’d come back to our tent to find our stuff scattered a bit- not a huge problem but a present nuisance nonetheless. We tried to keep our things contained but still they tried to carry some stuff away. On the lake shore was a lot of seagull feathers and goose presence, poop, it’s not my favorite way to swim. The bathrooms were ok, pretty basic, very much reminiscent of when you get sent to camp as a child, bare bones. The stalls in the bathroom are uncomfortably short so when you stand up your head is poking out over the door, you can make eye contact w everyone else in the room which is just weird! We went two days without paper towels being restocked to dry your hands, I finally had to call the office. (Everyone in the office was super awesomely nice, always!) Sunday morning there is a group that makes breakfast in the pavilion I guess for donations which they use to beautify the campground. This is a lovely gesture. However the pavilion is right next to the tent sites and the group started setting up about 6:30 AM, which included honking their car horn, and talking very loudly with complete disregard for quiet hours or the full row of tent sleepers. My fiancé finally approached them and told them they must be unaware of how much their voices are carrying but that everyone was still sleeping. They didn’t apologize or say anything and honestly I don’t think they cared or lowered their voices at all. Our site was comfortable, water and electric worked fine, clean fire ring, we didn’t use it. The group next to us talked late past quiet hours (I didn’t not approach the campground about it we just dealt w it), and used a drone which was extremely uncomfortable, loud, and disruptive. I did call the office about that the next day and asked if there was a drone policy, she said there was not but that she would address it if they used it again, they ended up leaving so it wasn’t a problem but there should definitely be a policy about it. All in all, people were nice but the lake location meant a LOT of additional noise from other users and there did not seem to be any reminders about quiet time. Don’t come here if you’re looking for solitude but do come here if you’re looking for a great location in northern Vermont close to a cute town and amenities. Just set your mindset that it’s not a secluded or quiet spot but a spot w stuff to do and lots of people to interact w. We did not use the boat rentals or tennis courts or other stuff.

General: Large state park with two loops, both of which are lakefront. A mix of primitive sites (no w/e/s), lean-tos, and two cabins, one in each section. Sites/lean-tos are designated premium (lakefront) or non. There is also an ADA-accessible lean-to. Upon check-in, you are given a gate code to enter. 

Site Quality: Our site, like all others, was generous in size and a back-in site. Most sites don’t have clearly defined camper pads, and the surface is grass/dirt (or mud if it has rained recently). A large wooden picnic table and fire ring complete the site. There are plentiful trees, so each site has at least some shade and some are very shaded. Lakefront sites have a filtered view of the lake through the trees. 

Bath/Shower House: The one closest to us was very clean. Three stalls and one shower. Cold water only at both the sinks and the shower (at least I didn’t get any hot water). The showers do take quarters and although you get five minutes for each quarter (up to 15 quarters, although I can’t imagine taking that long of a shower), it was quite possibly the wimpiest shower I’ve experienced in quite some time. But, after I finished, I saw my quarter had been returned. The toilet paper was so thin, it was nearly transparent! 

Activities: Although swimming is allowed, the “beaches” are very small and there was a bacteria warning in place when we were there advising against swimming. There are two boat launch areas, one in each loop. Great for kayaks, and canoes, and we saw what looked like a fishing boat. There was one very annoying motorboat revving its engine while doing circles in the lake. The day-use area has a small, dated playground, fire pit, horseshoe pit, and volleyball net. There is a short nature trail and one other small walking trail. Nearby is access to the Missisquoi Rail Trail. 

A surprise was a family of ducks who visited our site when I was outside reading! Our stay was very quiet during the week after Labor Day, but I imagine the vibe is quite different during summer weekends, especially given the sign in the restroom stating that quiet hours are strictly enforced. We were annoyed by one loud boat so I can’t imagine what it would be like if the lake was filled with boaters. This is why we prefer shoulder-season camping!

Beautifully set on Lake Champlain in Vermont! This is a relatively large campground but is well laid out and doesn't feel small even when it's packed to the gills. We spent a long weekend here to enjoy some mid-summer bike riding along the many bike-paths Vermont has to offer.

The facilities are well maintained and clean. There are several camp hosts on the property and they are attentive to the needs of all the guests coming and going. There is a small welcome kiosk with a few picnic tables behind it where you can get wifi access if needed.

You can bike directly from here all the way to Burlington,without ever getting back in your car! Take the bike ferry across a small section of Lake Champlain and keep on riding.

While we were here there was even a little band playing some music one evening! We actually stayed in an ADA site (it was the only one left). It was REALLY nice. Gravel drive all the way in to a nicely built 3 walled platform with a roof. We were able to set up a tarp just off the edge to cover the picnic table as it rained for part of our stay. The site drained well and was plenty big enough for our tent and needs.

We travel in a 17-foot camper van, but no one ever believes that we are no bigger than a standard cargo van and can easily fit in a regular size parking space. Upon arrival at Ausable Chasm, we were told we had to take a site with water and electric since we had a camper van. These sites were $13 more per night and we really did not need the hookups. We were finally able to convince the staff that we could take a standard tent site, which was more than big enough. 

The road through the campground is dirt and rutted but the speed limit is 5 mph, so it wasn’t that bad, but it would be a mess if it was raining. 

Bathrooms and shower rooms are individual rooms, but the doors are not labeled so it’s a game of “what’s behind door number 1?”  There was no light in the shower room that I looked at so a night shower would be out of the question. The bathrooms were clean and had soap, paper towels, a garbage receptacle, and a mirror in each. 

Lots of ant hills throughout the campground so be cautious where you set up a tent. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. Large and nice-looking playground, pool, volleyball net, disc golf and mountain biking/hiking trails. It also looked like there were cross country ski trails but not sure if the campground or cabins would be open in the winter. 

Biggest advantage is that Ausable Chasm(a separate business) is directly across the street from the campground and it is very close to the ferry that will take you to Burlington, VT, our next destination.