Sites Near New York City?

[cstevecook]

Any good experiences out there with campgrounds near New York City?

[Lily&Me]

There are not a lot to choose from, and that's the truth.

We have stayed at Liberty Harbor RV Park, which is basically a parking lot on the water with boats coming in and out.

Most recently, I stayed at Croton Point Park, up the Hudson a ways, but where training in to the city is easy.

It is a nice, and pretty, park, with a fair number of long term residents, but I was a bit put off by being referred to as a "transient", allowed no choice of sites during my three night stay, and relegated to one backed right up to someone else while almost all of the sites (also winterized) overlooking the water remained empty.

Both are understandably expensive.


Maggie

[Vickitn]

Originally Posted by cstevecook

Any good experiences out there with campgrounds near New York City?

I have not personally been there but I have friend who has spent quite a bit of time at Black Bear campground in Florida, NY. They were happy enough with it and I believe it is the closest to NY city.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by Vickitn

I have not personally been there but I have friend who has spent quite a bit of time at Black Bear campground in Florida, NY. They were happy enough with it and I believe it is the closest to NY city.

Florida, NY is about 70 miles from NYC - 1.5 hours or longer if you go during commuting hours.

[blufishin]

Last September we stayed at Clarence Fahnestock State Park 1498 Route 301, Carmel, NY. This is as close to the city as we dared to get on our way north to Maine. The campground was outdated and trashy but was not crowded and it served the purpose of a short term stop-over.

[SCOTTinNJ]

Originally Posted by cstevecook

Any good experiences out there with campgrounds near New York City?

What are you looking for? A campground to stay at or a base to explore the city from?

[cstevecook]

Scott. Yes, will be exploring the city and visiting our daughter in Brooklyn. So a base will suffice.

[n2916s]

Liberty Harbor is your best bet. Take the boat from the same location over to Manhattan, jump on the subway to Brooklyn.

[SCOTTinNJ]

Originally Posted by cstevecook

Scott. Yes, will be exploring the city and visiting our daughter in Brooklyn. So a base will suffice.

Since you are presumably coming from the south, I'd consider Turkey Swamp Park in Freehold. I've never stayed there but I hear it's nice.

From there you can drive to Brooklyn. Or take a bus/train into NYC and then a subway. Your options are probably to drive to New Brunswick, Newark, Hoboken, or Seacaucus and park there then pick up public transit. Or you might find a bus more local.

You'd be hard pressed to find a closer campground.

If you don't want the campground atmosphere, then the Liberty Harbor RV Park in Jersey City is great. Easy transport to NYC from there. Plus Jersey City/Hoboken are surprisingly nice as well.

[IanPoulin]

Originally Posted by cstevecook

Scott. Yes, will be exploring the city and visiting our daughter in Brooklyn. So a base will suffice.

If you're willing to dry camp, on the southern edge of Brooklyn is a marvelous option - Floyd Bennett Field, run by the National Park Service.

Again, it's dry camping right now - and you park on an old abandoned historic runway (but then again, at Liberty Harbor, you park on a parking lot too) - but it's only $30/night (less than 1/3 the rate of Liberty Harbor) and the NPS facilities have wonderful exhibits and hiking trails, all in a secured location on the waters edge.

I believe on the recreation.gov website, its listed as "Camp Gateway" now, and the site is Amelia Earhart.

Floyd Bennett Field is about a 15m bus ride to the terminus of the 2 line. I've clocked routes back to the camper at Floyd Bennett and directly compared it to Liberty Harbor, at 2am after shows are out, and it's about half the angst at that hour to get back to camp.

[cstevecook]

[emoji1360]

[Bethany533]

Liberty Harbor has easy access to subway or ferry. We stayed there last year. It's a parking lot with hook-ups. Not cheap, but we wanted a location that was close to the city. We could see the Statue of Liberty from our site.

[tvketchum]

Years ago, there was a campground between Flanders and Netcong, NJ. I believe it was called Flanet, but I have no idea if it is still there .....

[AirstreamJim]

Originally Posted by IanPoulin

If you're willing to dry camp, on the southern edge of Brooklyn is a marvelous option - Floyd Bennett Field, run by the National Park Service.

Just keep in mind that getting to Floyd Bennett Field from the south or west is not an intuitive drive. You cannot use the most direct route (the Belt Parkway) because trailers are prohibited. This means you are forced to take the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I-278) coming off the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, and then you have to exit onto local streets through much of Brooklyn. Even getting to the VNB is dicey - the two bridges onto Staten Island from NJ are old, narrow, and scary even in a small automobile, never mind f you're pulling a trailer. Frankly, it is not for the faint of heart.

The George Washington Bridge is slightly better, but a longer trip, and it puts you on the BQE through its absolutely worst section (piss-poor road surface condition, tight curves, heavy traffic, crazy drivers). And you still have all that local street driving through Brooklyn.

I'm an experienced NYC driver and I pull my Airstream on the Cross Bronx Expressway without batting an eye. But I won't go near the BQE even in my Jeep without a trailer. It's just a horror show.

Sorry to ruin the idea, but I think you'd hate to find out the hard way.

Jim

[cstevecook]

A lot of good advice. We now have hotel reservations at four points.

[Vickitn]

Originally Posted by Vickitn

I have not personally been there but I have friend who has spent quite a bit of time at Black Bear campground in Florida, NY. They were happy enough with it and I believe it is the closest to NY city.

Sorry if I misspoke. Their website says they are closest full service campground to NY city.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by blufishin

Last September we stayed at Clarence Fahnestock State Park 1498 Route 301, Carmel, NY. This is as close to the city as we dared to get on our way north to Maine. The campground was outdated and trashy but was not crowded and it served the purpose of a short term stop-over.

How many sites can accommodate trailers like your 25' and our 20'?

Thanks,

Peter

[blufishin]

Peter,

My recollection was there were few sizable sites that were level and large enough for us. The park was near deserted and we had our choice of many. We ended up in a large group site in an open field and were the only one there.

I hope this helps.

Jere

[OTRA15]

Thanks, Jere. We may check it out in a week or so on the way north.

Peter