Finger Lake Camping

[Art]

We are planning a summer trip to the Finger Lake area in New York. Has anyone found a "great camping(s)" in that area?

[H. John Kohl]

We stayed at the Watkins Glen State park. There are some sites large enough. Our awning looked like it was put up by a Drunken Marine. It was too close to the tree and was up only half way on the back end. Definitely walk down, at least, the Watkins Glen trail and attend the laser light show. There are over 800 steps on the descent. The waterfall is great and the heart shaped water hole is amazing. The boat tour of the lake was great. I never knew about the Salt mining there. If you come through Corning definitely stop at their museum.
Good luck and tow safe.

[Pete Hanson]

We spent a week at Hickory Hills Resort in Bath NY last year and really enjoyed it. The campground is great, the people are nice to deal with, they have Wireless Internet access and even an on-site spa. It is not very far away from a great number of wineries or other sites.

[Art]

Thanks, folks! I'm just getting back into the "forum" after too long of a break! I appreciate your input!

[FredG]

For parks in the area, I am familar with the Western side of the Finger Lakes region. If you are looking for something in the SW section of the Finger Lakes area, I'd recommend Kanakadea Park, it's a county run facility in Hornell that has an overlook of Almond Lake. Here's a link: http://www.steubencony.org/kanakadea.html
We usually camp at Kanakadea at the beginning or end of the season and see maybe 2 or 3 other campers. I'm not sure how busy it is durign peak season.

If you want something further North, I'd recommend Holiday Hill campground in Springwater. Here's their link: http://www.holidayhillcampground.com/

There's also Stony Brook State Park in Dansville and Letchworth State Park in Mt. Morris. Both are beatiful parks. Letchworth has a set of beautiful waterfalls and Mt Morris Dam, which is the largest dam East of the Mississippi and has public tours. Some of the sites are a bit tight, but my wife's aunt can get her tri-axle 40 foot unit on a handful of spots, so just ask for a large site.

If you want an opinion on a specific campground, let me know and if we haven't camped there, I'll ask my in-laws who also RV.

All of these campgrounds are within an easy drive of Hemlock, Canadice, Honeoye, Conesus, Canandaigua, and Keuka Lakes. Stony Brook and Holiday Hill are closer to most of the smaller lakes. Hemlock and Canadice are used for Rochester's water supply so there is no motor boats allowed and limited access. There are paddlewheel tour boats on Canandaigua and Keuka lakes. I prefer the Keuka Maid, which runs out of Hammondsport.

If you like wineries, I'd recommend a day trip to Hammondsport and start at Pleasant Valley Winery (http://www.pleasantvalleywine.com), the 1st US Bonded winery and home to some beautiful buildings. Then follow the wine trail around Keuka lake. There's also several wineries in Naples, Widmer and Manischewitz Wineries are the two biggest.

We live in the Western Finger Lakes area. Let us know when and where you'll be and maybe we can try to do a weekend trip out that way.