Secluded tent camping in New York reocmendations? (not back woods)

[Bean]

Me and my friends would REALLY like to go camping.

I have SOME limited boy scouts experience, and they dont have much.

We ar elocated in Staten Island, NY but are open to Upstate NY, Southern and Central Jersey, and Long Island.

We've been having trouble picking a campsite. We're interested in some place with designated sites that are not woefully inaccesable/problematic for amateurs such as ourselves, but we also do not want to use some of the national park places we've sene where the sites are extremly close together in big open fields, with everyone in eachoers space.

We basically want some place with secluded camp sites, not places where the kids in the neighboring tent are so close their ball can hit ours all the time.

But, some place that amateurs can reasonably do (not the "backwoods camping" parks the NY Parks Department has where you can camp wherever)

We are interested in tent camping, and we want to do this sometime in July or EARLY august.

Any recommendations?

I realize I probably come off like this anying noob...because I am a noob. Sorry haha.

[ScooterGirlinALA]

Re: Secluded tent camping in New York reocmendations? (not back woods)

Hello Bean,

I'm not from your area, but you might look at http://freecampsites.net while waiting for responses. I found a good campsite in my area using this site and it wasn't as crowded as the local state park. You'll probably hear from some people local to the area soon, but being right around the holiday they might be out camping. Look forward to hearing about your trip!

[Shortpants]

Re: Secluded tent camping in New York reocmendations? (not back woods)

Welcome to the forum Bean! I'm not terribly familiar with NY camping either, but I am fond of State Parks here in VT, so thought you might want to check out the NY list of State Parks that have camping available here:

http://nysparks.com/parks/park-resul...=0&src=3&cap=1

That will give you a complete list with links to details of the park, pics of the campground and list of amenities available at the park. You can also check available sites and make reservations online.

No matter where you go, have a great time on this adventure! Do some reading here on the forums to get great tips and tricks and make your trip a success.

[terasec]

Re: Secluded tent camping in New York reocmendations? (not back woods)

how far are you willing to go from SI?
i know a couple places about 5 hrs from NYC,
lots of info on organized campgrounds,
a spot i recommend is panther pond on road#4 in upstate NY, about 5 hrs from nyc
near parking area and trail head which is 3 miles from main road down a dirt road, drive in spots with table fire ring and room for the car,
if you want to go further down the trail,
there is a leanto about 1 mile from the campsites/parking area,
if you go on a weekend due to limited spots leanto will probably be occupied,
go on a thursday usually free,
there is no fee/registration for such,
leanto also has an outhouse near it.
panther pond is good place to be in the woods yet still close to the car