Watkins Glen State Park

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.

If you love to hike the outdoors then this is your campground. You can walk to two separate entrances to the gorge which is a fantastic hike. The only thing that I would caution campers with; is a few of the sites here would be very challenging to back your rig into, due to trees narrowing the spot closest to the electrical access. The bath houses were clean , The toilet stalls were immaculate, there are only two shower stalls, But the water was warm. Make sure you bring a bag with your stuff in it because there’s nothing to sit your stuff down on but there are plenty of hooks.

What a beautiful place and great place to hike. Our site was a bit tricky to get into but it was well worth it. The only way to get into this one with our rig was to drive in the loop the opposite direction of the one-way arrows. We found out from fellow campers that this is the only way to get into some of the sites as the angle into them is opposite to the direction necessary to back safely into the sites without jackknifing your rig or hitting trees. Hector Falls, Eagle Cliff Falls, Aunt Sarah Falls, and She-Qua-Ga Falls are all within a 2 - 3 mile radius from the park and are well worth the drive to see them. Also, a Superwalmart is only a couple of miles away too.

Our back-in 30-amp only site was big enough for a 33’ Class C with plenty of space left. The short hike to the nice bath house made it easier to outlast the rain. Being only minutes from the gorge trail, or a drive into town, this is a great park to stay at to explore the area. On top of location is amazing cell signal from AT&T and Verizon.

Watkins Glen is located above the town, so you have a very steep drive up to the campground which sits on a plateau. This is a fairly large campground, but divided into six loops. Mohawk Loop has electrical site. Many of the sites are more for tents and small trailers, but Tocarora loop has larger sites and more sun for solar. Most of the sites are fairly shaded in the campground.

PIck your site carefully if you have a large trailer, because some of the sites can be tricky to get into. It seems there is always a well place tree right where you want to back in or the angle will be a challenge. www.campadk.com/campsitephotos/

We were there in the fall, during the week, and our loop with electricity was pretty full each night, but the loops without electricity were available. I am sure in the summer and during race time the campground is very busy. Some folks said you can hear the race track from the campground. For us it was quiet.

The bathroom was adequate and clean. Nothing really stands out in my mind.

We needed to use a cell booster here with Verizon.

There are many walking paths in the campground. The real treat is hiking The Glen, which we just loved. We started down at the day use area and went up about a mile then came back through a path in the woods.

Watkins Glen is located at the southern end of Seneca Lake. It's a good location to visit wineries, the Corning Glass Museum and the Rockwell Art Museum of American Art.

Visiting the town of Watkins Glen makes for a fun half-day stroll, and certainly the Finger Lakes and the wine-tastings make for a good time, but the camping area of Watkins Glen State Park simply needs an update. Bathhouses are old, screens are torn out, faucets drip, patrons aren't aware of how to flush toilets. Some of the spaces are tricky to get into because they are rather narrow.

The staff was very cordial and helpful at check-in.

Be prepared to drive a steep road to enter/exit the campground.