Cayuga Lake State Park

Near the top of Lake Cayuga, the Cayuga Lake State Park Campground is close to I-90 yet feels hundreds of miles away. There are no campsite ON the lake but the campground is well developed and the lifeguard protected beach, boat launches, hiking trails, picnic shelters, super playround and vending machines are easily walkable. The campground shares some amenities with day guests.
Electric, non-electric and cabin sites are available.
This is a very dog friendly park and campground. Dogs are allowed in cabins and poop bags provided in many areas. There is no dog park but dogs can swim in the lake away from the human beach.
Traffic can be loud in some sites in East Camp since there is a 50mph road between it and West Camp. We stayed in site 9 East; level and some shade. A short walk from the bathhouse in East Camp but we crossed the road and used the bathrooms at the welcome station for West Camp. There was some shade in site 09 but site 8 was shadier.
We drove through the much larger West Camp and saw that it had more sites in fields and less comfort stations. East Camp had more shady sites.
Dumpsters are readily available and that includes recycling. We camped at Cayuga Lake State Park in a campervan

Stayed here one night on a road trip passing through. This campground is large and there are 2 sections as people have said. We chose to be away from the lake as we thought it would be more quiet.

This end of the campground has no host or check-in person though, so some rude campers were running generators late at night and there was a pretty steady stream of local kids driving through looking for a hang-out spot.

Still, we liked our site. Beautiful grass everywhere, dogs had a great time and the bathrooms were the best, cleanest camp bathrooms I’ve seen in a while.

If you’re new to NY state camping w dogs, remember you need to show proof of rabies vaccine at check-in.

We stayed there from 6/26 to 6/28 2022. Very large, well kept park. The park is split by the state road, cabins and electric sites close to the lake and beach, and the non-electric sites on the other side. We were in the 500 loop on the non-electric side and our site backed into the golf course behind us. There are many mature trees and most sites on the outside of the loops were private. It could get muddy if it rains, many sites on the grass and the ground is soft. There is a large central play area, bathrooms are nice. Park is very close to Seneca Falls which had a nice downtown, canal and museums. There are many wineries and other parks close by with hiking and waterfalls. You can go to any other day use state park for free if you show your campsite car tag.

Park was clean and well kept. A short walk to the lake with access to boat and kayak launches. Camped in one of the electric sites (30Amp). No other hook ups but water was readily available. Easy to fill up since the water spigots were close by and centrally located between sites. Bring a 50 foot hose though. The electrified loop has a mix of sites in the open and near the woods. Sites are well spaced. Check the campground map before you select since some of the sites boarder the main road. Road noise can be heard during the day but diminished at night. Bathrooms and showers were very clean, showers with warm water. Staff was friendly. Dump station well maintained, no issues. Note only one station so be prepared for a line at checkout time. Location of the park was convenient to the town of Seneca Falls, museums , Montezuma Nation Wildlife Refuge, Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Cell phone was weak. Great campground if you're into fishing and boating. Over all impression was very positive. BTW - you may want to visit Seneca Falls, cute town and historic places. Don't miss the lock #1 on the Cayuga-Seneca Lakes canal. Pretty amazing for 1800's technology.

It didn’t matter to us that our site was t on the other side of the road from the lake, as we didn’t come to boat. We had no problem walking down there with our dogs to explore.

Bathrooms were very clean. Water was hot. And they had a sink attached to that building for doing dishes. Our spot had strips of forest on both sides to give us privacy from our neighbors. Nice and shady… but we should have positioned our camper in a better way for solar. 923, and many on that side of the loop, has a clearing behind it that goes way back and makes you feel like you have a big space.

Our dogs did well there. It was a great base location for exploring Lake Cuyoga, seeing some wineries and exploring the waterfall parks.

This summer we continue to explore the New York Finger Lakes area with a stop on Cayuga Lake. We camped for 4 days at Cayuga State Park, and we got to enjoy a little bit of the summer-lake life.

If you have ever spent a week's vacation on a lake, you will know that life moves a little bit slower at the lake. Mornings start out with walks along the lake, and saying "hello" to the neighbors you pass along your way. Afternoons are spent kayaking on the water or riding bikes and evenings enjoying the cool breeze off the lake.

Cayuga State Park is located on the north end of Cayuga Lake between Seneca Falls and Ithaca in the heart of the New York Finger Lakes Region. The park has 277 campsites, 34 with electric hookups. Park amenities include: a boat launch, camping cabins, 2 large playgrounds and a beach for swimming.

Our only complaint with the park is that the sites with electric hookups are located along the main road and traffic can be a little noisy during the day. We did not notice the noise too much at night. The non electric sites are located more remotely.

See You Down the Road
Zephyr Travels

The electric sites are on the east entrance closer to the lake and road, hence more noise, but that didn't bother us. The west entrance non-electric section is huge and basic but well treed. Few campers there in early June as the sites are very damp during the rainy season and many tend to hold water. We suggest driving around and finding your potential site ahead of time. Nice paved paths to walk lakeside. Showers clean and water warm. A shout out to the Girl Scouts who have a collection bin and gather the recyclable cans and bottles for fundraising while providing an important service.

We needed a place to tent camp for the night in October on our way through and stopped here. They were shutting the campground down for the season and only the electric loop was still open; we had to pay the additional fee even though we were in a tent. This loop is right on the highway and noisy on and off through the night. Bathroom/showers were clean and nice and we did enjoy a walk on the paved path along the lake. If you're from out-of-state, be aware of additional fees and hidden transaction fees beyond what was obvious on their website.