Upstate New York recommendations

[Shisa-01]

Planning a trip to upstate New York this summer. Where should we stay? What must we see and do?

[jmbopp]

Can you narrow it down? "Upstate" is anything north of Poughkeepsie. Catskills? Adirondacks? Finger Lakes? Niagara Falls?

[Shisa-01]

We are open to any location. Really don’t even know enough to narrow it down. We’re coming from southwest Ohio so we’re definitely thinking of a stop at Niagara and then further northeast. If you were to rank the things you listed, what would it look like? I was looking at campgrounds in the Adirondack mtns yesterday and didn’t know where to begin. Thank you for the question!

[jmbopp]

A trip from SW Ohio is a long haul, we plan on 2 days from Rochester to Dayton.

What are your interests? Outdoors? Museums? Kids stuff?

We've been vacationing in the Adirondacks for 25+ years. In 2019 I took a summer retirement gig at a canoe outfitter there. State campgrounds fill up fast. Our favorite private campground is North Pole Resorts (100 Acre Woods side) in Wilmington, 10 miles from Lake Placid. There's also a KOA near there. Right in Lake Placid is the Lake Placid Fire Dept. They have a small campground, 50A ONLY, sewer and water. No cable, no internet, and you must pack out your garbage.

We never ventured to Old Forge or Lake George, but the Water Safari and nearby campground gets good reviews.

[Shisa-01]

No kids. Outdoors people for sure - biking, kayaking, hiking. Traveling with a friend and her Little Guy trailer (we're pulling a Reflection). We are all foodies and love wineries too. Museums are always a treat too.

Thank you for the suggestions on the campgrounds. I think everything will fill fast this summer!

[RobWNY]

If you enjoy hiking and gorges, Letchworth State park which is known as the Grand Canyon of the East and Watkins Glen State Park are two very beautiful places to see. Niagara Falls is great as well. If you prefer full hookups there are plenty of campgrounds to choose from near each of these locations. If camping at the State Parks is your thing, most only provide 30A hookup and a community spigot in each camping loop to get water. I've never been to a NY State Park that had sewer hookups but they all have dump stations.

[RobWNY]

We are open to any location. Really don’t even know enough to narrow it down. We’re coming from southwest Ohio so we’re definitely thinking of a stop at Niagara and then further northeast. If you were to rank the things you listed, what would it look like? I was looking at campgrounds in the Adirondack mtns yesterday and didn’t know where to begin. Thank you for the question!

I don't know what size RV you have but every campground in the Adirondacks I've been to have mostly smaller sites with narrow roads so if you have a big RV, choose carefully.

[OurNewEra]

If you enjoy hiking and gorges, Letchworth State park which is known as the Grand Canyon of the East and Watkins Glen State Park are two very beautiful places to see. Niagara Falls is great as well. If you prefer full hookups there are plenty of campgrounds to choose from near each of these locations. If camping at the State Parks is your thing, most only provide 30A hookup and a community spigot in each camping loop to get water. I've never been to a NY State Park that had sewer hookups but they all have dump stations.

Thanks for the recommendations. We are in Florida and have been looking for someplace between our kids to meet up for camping. One is in Central Michigan and the other Boston. Letchworth is as close to the middle as you can get!

[Shisa-01]

I don't know what size RV you have but every campground in the Adirondacks I've been to have mostly smaller sites with narrow roads so if you have a big RV, choose carefully.

We have a 30 ft Reflection 29RS. Thanks for that word of sage advice - we DO NOT like white-knuckling it on narrow roads and cramming into tight spaces. Hoping the state park site will tell us how long each site is as other state park web sites do.

[RobWNY]

We have a 30 ft Reflection 29RS. Thanks for that word of sage advice - we DO NOT like white-knuckling it on narrow roads and cramming into tight spaces. Hoping the state park site will tell us how long each site is as other state park web sites do.

You have to book State Parks in NY State on https://www.reserveamerica.com/ There are filters you can enter for site length etc. If you use 35' you will be sure to book a site you can get in to. We've been to Letchworth 5 times in a 34' travel trailer and a 34' 5th Wheel and stayed at site 419, 515, 517, 523, and 419 without any issues.

At Watkins Glen, we stayed at site 084 and we got in with the 34' Travel Trailer but it was tight!


If you visit Niagara Falls, Four Mile Creek State Park on Lake Ontario is a very nice State Park and pretty much any site will accommodate your rig. It's wide open there.