Upstate New York - Family Friendly Campgrounds

Upstate New York is a beautiful area to go camping with your family. There is an abundance of green areas and lakes to explore. Narrowing down your search for the ideal campgrounds in upstate New York can be tricky, however. Here is a guide to some of the premier family campgrounds in upstate New York, based on my personal experience in the area.

Lake George is a beautiful area with lots of exciting things to do. The lake itself is crystal clear and home to many campgrounds. Any of these are a wonderful choice, but if you have a family, you may wish to be nearer to Lake George Village, where your kids can spend time hanging out at any of the local putt-putt courses or the arcade. Restaurants, nearly all of them family friendly, abound, and the local grocer is a great place to pick up some inexpensive camping supplies if you don't want to have to trek hamburger meat from your home to this vacation spot. There is the ability to camp both lake side or actually on one of the many islands that are strewn across this lovely lake. If you have a boat and want to rough it, the campgrounds on the islands are wonderful respites from the crush and turmoil of your everyday life, particularly those that are located in the Narrows. From personal experience, these campgrounds can be "rented" through Ticketmaster and are great places for small (and well-supervised) children. Boating and swimming can be done close to your tent, there are docks at many of the sites to secure your boat, and most islands have only a couple of campsites available, thereby maximizing your seclusion.

If you have older kids or worry about the distance from land, there are campgrounds on the sides of the Lake George. Lake George Escape provides some wonderful campsites on Lake George, with the added bonus of WiFi Internet Access and hot showers. We have stayed here before and found the arrangement quite suitable. Close to town and close to the lake, Lake George Escape provides the best of both worlds. The campgrounds through Lake George Escape allow you to get into town and see the sites (don't miss the ferry boats or Fort Ticonderoga if you have kids!) while still "roughing it." There are grills located near the lake even if you don't secure a lakeside campsite.

Another wonderful campground in Upstate New York is Gilbert Lake State Park. Located in remote Laurens, New York, Gilbert Lake has tent, RV and cabin camping. We have experienced both the tent and cabin camping. Bathrooms are clean and nearby in the tent camping and the cabins have their own indoor plumbing. It's quite close to Howe Caverns and extremely near the Soccer Hall of Fame, which is small but exciting. The Baseball Hall of Fame is only a short drive away. The campgrounds themselves include a couple of lakes, boat rentals, fishing and playgrounds. The campsites are clean and the management highly responsive to any problems that may come up. We really feel that Gilbert Lake State Park is one of our favorite places to camp in the country, not just in Upstate New York.