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.

 

[jmbopp]

If you make it to the Lake Placid area, St Regis Canoe Outfitters in Saranac Lake rents canoes and kayaks. All the people who work there are paddlers and the owner (Dave Cilley) literally wrote the book on paddling the area. They can recommend a number of easy day trips and can provide transportation or set you up to cartop your boat.
Hikes include easy local trips or you can do one or more of the High Peaks.
Brewhouses are Great Adirondack Steak and Seafood, the Lake Placid Pub, and its sister operation Big Slide brewery. There's also a local winery.
Smoke Signals BBQ is also good but currently you need reservations.
There's a public parking lot on the south end of town that I park my truck at. You can walk or take the trolley to get around.

 

[2hams]

Sampson state park puts you on Seneca Lake, a great place to tour wineries.

Further south in hammondsport is the Glenn Curtis Museum. Also the Corning Glass Museum in Corning.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Dadeo6472]

Upstate NY!

Finger Lakes, Finger Lakes, Finger Lakes. Its where we live. It's a big rectangle from Lake Ontario near Rochester to Syracuse, south to Pennsylvania state border.

You need to book early for NYS parks. Like. Now. Go to Letchworth State Park, voted the best state park in the country by several magazines. You probably won't be able to get a reservation for this year, but there are private campgrounds around it. Then take day trips: Watkins Glen, Ithaca, Skaneateles. Watkins Glen for hiking in the glen, Ithaca is Gorges, and has lots of them too.

Go to Waterloo and Seneca Falls, towns that inspired Its a Wonderful Life. See Women's Rights National Historical Park and Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn. Canals between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes and the Erie between Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse and Albany. Rent a canal boat on the Erie Canal.

Go on a dinner cruise on Skaneateles Lake. Better yet, take a mailboat ride around Skaneateles, see the whole lake from the flats to the mountains, as well as mansions and cottages that can only be reached by water. Skaneateles, on the north end of Skaneateles Lake, got rich in the 1950s, and still looks like the 1950s. Not a strip mall, McDonalds or franchise fast food joint in town. Skaneateles is the cleanest water you will see east of the Rockies. Yes you can (and will) drink it.

Green Lakes State Park and Clark Reservation. Great swimming at Green Lakes (and golf). Clark Reservation is the weirdest hole in the ground... a nice hiking afternoon in what looks and feels a bit like a crater... but is even weirder.

For the science buff go to Corning and the Corning Glass Museum and Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. There is a toy museum in Rochester that entertains all ages. It's the largest museum of play there is. Everson Museum in Syracuse. The Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse.

For great wine: Seneca Lake Wine Trail, Cayuga Lake Wine Trail, Keuka Lake Wine trail. Take your choice. Choose a different designated driver each day.

Lake Ontario: Oswego, Fair Haven State Park and the Bluffs. Need a dose of fresh clean water on a sandy beach? You want Lake Ontario. Take a day and go salmon fishing on Lake Ontario.

Trout fishing on Skaneateles, Seneca, Cayuga, Canandaigua Lakes. For the biggest Walleye go to Otisco Lake. For bass hit up any of these and Oneida Lake. There are guides for each.

Bring kayaks or rent and go down the rivers and lakes.

For a small time alternative to big RV parks take a look at Sevey's at http://seveys.com/

Rent a boat. You can do it at Owasco Marina or Skaneateles Marina for a day or more.

To the east over towards Utica is Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame, and a bit further is Howe's Caverns.

Aside from Cooperstown you can see a minor league baseball game in many places. AAA in both Rochester and Syracuse. AA and A in Auburn and other towns too.

North of Syracuse in the North Country is river rafting, salmon fishing, and then the Thousand Islands, where Lake Ontario becomes the St. Lawrence River.

And then there is the Adirondacks and the Catskills...but how much time have you got????

 

[Nrbsrsr]

I second Doug & Patti's advise to book now. NY opened reservations for state parks in 2021 last year due to covid (I'm not sure I understand their reasoning). Reservations may be hard to come by as prime sites & parks were gobbled up. State parks in the Adirondacks tend to have more private sites but you will be limited to dry camping. All parks will have potable water available and dump stations.

 

[mnrover]

As someone else said Letchworth State Park is beautiful. We have been there a couple of times. This year we are going to Lake George which is beautiful but it is a bit touristy. If you have kids there is a Six Flags in Lake George.

 

[RV Sailor]

We are staying one week in upstate NY in Ausable Chasm near Lake Champlain.
Rafting , Horsebackriding, kayaking. Reasonless priced. Use RV Parky to find. We Usually stay in State Parks as were set up to boondock for a few weeks straight, but decided to hang here as it looks nature setting full amenities, and good price and reviews and we are staying a week.

Lake Placid, Olympic Village an hour away to visit too. It’s the first stop on a 6 week tour of NY, VT, NH with three weeks in Maine starting right after July 4 weekend.


https://ausablechasm.com/

 

[Shisa-01]

Wow! These are some very generous and detailed recommendations. Thank you for the time and effort in putting them down in the thread.
Update: We were lucky (it sounds like) - we were able to book a week at Four Mile Creek State Park in the Niagara area, then the next week at Letchworth SP and our final week at Flint Creek Campground west of Lake Seneca. We are very excited and will be taking all of the recommendations with us and will do as much as we can squeeze in! Safe and fun travels to everyone!

 

[mstschreck]

Thousand Islands is a great area. Make sure you go to Boost Castle, it is amazing.

 

[Nrbsrsr]

Thousand Islands is a great area. Make sure you go to Boost Castle, it is amazing.

Boldt Castle

 

[GuitarSlim]

We love Long Lake, NY - almost dead center of the Adirondack Park. We have a ~30 ft. 5th wheel and have had good success staying at the Lake Eaton State Park. Sites on waterfront, of course, are the nicest experience. Keep in mind that NY state parks have no site hookups - no water, no electric, no sewer. They do have water taps spread out through the park so we try to find sites next to or near a tap. I bring 100 ft of potable hose to fill/refill my fresh water tank during our stay.

Area activities include fishing, hiking, shopping at Hoss's Country Corner general store, the Adirondack Museum in nearby Blue Mountain. Rent a pontoon boat for the day on Blue Mountain Lake or Raquette Lake. Visit Inlet and Old Forge.

One last tip, many of these state parks have old roads/driveways with a high crown. Avoid the temptation to snug your rig next to the site entrance as you prepare to back in. My rig still has the patched roof scars from brushing up against a leaning birch.

Happy travels!