Watkins Glen State Park

Made a mistake in previous review and can’t edit it so this is the correct account:

Beautiful campground in the woods, very spacious sites. Clean shower house and decent cell signal. We stayed in the Mohawk village which has electric at site 89 next to bathhouse. Only the Mohawk and Cayuga villages have electric. cell signal was decent. The Gorge Trail was awesome and a must see if in the area!!

We spent four nights at Watkins Glen. Check-in was easy and quick. No extra entrance fee if you're staying at the campground. Two new dump stations to the left of the main gate are easily accessible, simply requiring an extra loop past the entrance building. Fill up with water on the way in so you don't have to block a loop to fill up in the campground.

This is a beautiful campground with a tall tree canopy. The price paid for that is challenging access to many of the sites for larger RVs. There were a number of sizeable RVs there, but you just have to pick your site carefully as a number of sites are guarded on each side of the entrance with a large tree.

The sites in the back loops don't have electricity, are small or very tight access, and are best for small tent trailers and tents. The reward is relative seclusion and easy access to the gorge trail by site 189.

The restroom in our loop was obviously a veteran of many camping seasons, but still clean and fully functioning. Showers are fine.

This is a great area for varied exploration. In three days we hiked the gorge, visited the Corning glass museum, went kayaking, and visited a winery/brewery.

Excellent experience in the campground and the area.

We stayed in Cayuga Loop 1, site 35 for 4 nights, then moved to site 45 (same loop) for 3 more nights. Beautiful sites and a very clean, up to date bath house near to both sites. Site 35 had more privacy than 45. A heavy rain the night prior left a puddle at the entrance to site 35, but it dried up quickly and the rest of the site was dry. Great location and Watkins Glen area has lots to do. Our aye had electric only. We had good cell service.

Check-in was easy - you have to go to the campground office not the park office, drive around back and go in.

Park was busy, as in every site taken on a Monday after school was back in session (Sept 13th). This park must be super popular. Road is good with some tight spots. Our site 92 was good sized, and very level but a little hard to get in to because of trees.

All the spigots have threads, just past site 50 is a good pull-off for water. Also, potable water at the dump station on the way in.

Good hiking in the area.

Nickel Pits BBQ restaurant was great, get some pig wings.

Good AT&T service (3 bars), no HDTV channels

A beautiful state park. We boondocked in Seneca Village and felt it was the best loop in the campground with the most privacy. Bathrooms very well kept with lots of hot water. Free showers a plus. Loved that we could hike right from our campsite and did so for three of our 4 days there. A caveat...if noise bothers you, know that Watkins Glen Racetrack can be heard from the campground and racing starts promptly at 8 am.

Great State Park and campground. Campground is wooded with tall trees and big lots. However, our site was somewhat narrow, a bit hard to get into, and on a slant making leveling impossible with the amount of leveling blocks I brought. From what I saw, this was not an issue in most of the other site. Facilities were nice and clean. Gorge trail, which is accessible from the campground, is beautiful and worth the visit. Looking forward to a return visit and perhaps a longer stay.

Very nice, quiet, campground, with a trail to the gorge. Round trip hike through the gorge was just over 2 miles. Check in time on our confirmation was 5pm but other brochure said 3 pm. Since checkout is 11 am it is likely that rangers would be flexible on checkin. If you arrive early, there is a large parking lot near the entrance where you could park any size rig and hike the gorge trail prior to checkin. Loved the campground and the gorge is spectacular! Google maps directed us to the wrong location for the park entrance, so check your route in advance.

This park has an absolutely amazing location to the Gorge Trail (in the SP), Watkins Glen (the downtown), Watkins Glen race track, and the Seneca Lake Wine Trail. The campground has access to the famous Gorge Trail (via the South Rim Trail) in about a 3-4 mile loop (even during the pandemic). The campground sits at the top of the hill (and the trails are below). So you can opt for a steep walk down or drive to the bottom (there are two different parking lots to access the Gorge Trail).

The campground here has a wonderful "woodsy" feel (as per other reviewers). The sites are extremely varied in size and privacy. There are a LOT of trees, but some spaces are easier than others. For example, some have trees in the middle of the space, some are lined with trees tightly, and others are wide open.

We stayed 2 nights in site 65 and two nights in 85. Both were in the Mohawk (electric loop). Site 85 was much easier to get into than site 65, but both were doable with a 25' airstream (if you are comfortable parking it!). If you want electric, this is the only loop to stay in (30A only). No water at any sites, but if you park close enough to a spigot, you can hook it up for 5 mins at a time to fill up, so no big deal there. The dump site is by the park entrance, which is brand new. Cell phone connection cut in and out a lot, but it was VERY serviceable for simple email. We were not able to pick up any TV channels.

Bathrooms are old but well maintained. They are currently open (with # of people restrictions). The pool in the park is currently open. Despite the high volume of people, the campground was very quiet and peaceful.

So much to do in the area, it is worth a 3-4 night stay, but could easily extend a week if you want to explore the area. As far as trails go, if you can handle 800+ steps, do the Gorge trail. It is incredible. It is a worthwhile 1-2 hours of your time. It is currently a one way trail, and people are very good about wearing masks and keeping distance. I highly recommend a weekday.

Everything is a very short drive away: plenty of delicious restaurants (Babcha's Pierogis, Cannoli Connection, Nickel Pits BBQ) less than a 5 min drive, farm stands (hello corn and peaches!) less than a 20 min drive, wineries (we loved Hermann Weimer & Red Newt) about 20-30 min drive, Seneca Lake (about 10 min drive to launch access), Watkins Glen race track (10 mins or less further up the mountain).

We stayed here for one night after being at the free Sugar Hill Fire Tower site up the road in early Oct 2019. The rate was for an electric only site and included the $5 out of state fee and reserve america fee. We had a nice, level spot and a fairly quiet night stay. This is a great campground to stay at for proximity to town and the fact that it connects to the Watkins Glen State Park trails. There was also a nice double dump station right on the way out with fresh water fills for added convenience.

Large park situated adjacent to the magnificent Watkins Glen Gorge – the highlight of the camping experience at this park. Stayed in the electric only, reversible Mohawk Loop. Other loops afford more primitive sites. Some Mohawk Loop sites may accommodate larger rigs, however use caution and choose you site wisely - maneuverability is tight and most sites can only accommodate a max 30’. Observed a larger 40’ TT attempt a tight back-in only to hit a pine tree and knock over a site marker in the process. Overall thee park offers spacious wooded site with picnic tables, fire rings and lots of space. Most sites appear reasonably level dirt and pea-gravel pads and drive. Only one bathhouse in the loop, with two showers and two toilets, was clean and basically state park standard. Note; the sign to the campground off of Hwy 14 is hard to see, and the approach road is a very steep ascent to the main park office gate. There are several gorge access trails within the CG, and park offers good walking within the camp area. Modern and new dump station and good Verizon cell service.