Address
10820 Route 36 South
Dansville, NY 14437

Reservations

Virtual Tour

A month ago I started this post, but alas, life. And here I am finally finishing it. I still hope you enjoy checking out this venture outside of Michigan.

Last year we started planning a camping trip to Maine. We knew we’d want to stop somewhere on our way out, and started searching the upstate New York area. Many people think of New York City when they think of New York, and not hilly countryside. Nolan asked me if we’d see any Newsies. He was disappointed when I told him we weren’t going to the city.

Upstate New York is really beautiful, and surprisingly, not that much farther of a drive than some of the campgrounds we’ve ventured to in the UP of Michigan from our home.

We found a lot of explore-worthy areas, but one that caught our eye was Stoney Brook State Park. This park has some really beautiful landscape including wooded areas, cliffs, and waterfalls. The entrance to the hiking paths is just around the corner from the campground area, so hiking is as easy as waking through the campground to the entrance.

One thing I really loved about this campground was the primitive sites. There was no water or electric here. No full hook ups. Just rustic sites and bath houses. We were only staying a night, so this didn’t matter, and it was nice to just be in a quiet wooded campground with no big rigs.

Upon arrival we realized how tiny and close the sites were, but we were right across from a fantastic playground and a tent full of guitar playing, song singing friends, so we were content with this spot.

Upon arrival we set up camp and headed out to the trails for some hiking. We had a lot of fun exploring here. They boys were anxious to get their feet wet. In hindsight, bathing suits would have been a fantastic idea. I really didn’t think the water would be warm enough- but then- boys. They really don’t care!

We started out at the campground entrance to the trails. You can find a map Here. There aren’t any crazy long hikes at this park- which makes it kind of perfect for those with kids. Most of the water along the trail is pretty shallow, and fun for kids to wade in. There are a few deeper spots though, and areas where the waterfalls on this trail are accessible without any boarders, so watch kids close while they explore. The trails feature 3 waterfalls and a man made swimming hole cut out of the rock formations. See the virtual tour above for photos of the swim area.

The only thing we can say about this park we didn’t LOVE was the over-crowdedness. For being sort of in the middle of no-where, I was really surprised at the amount of people hiking here. Photos without people in it were few and far between, and the popular waterfall with swimming area was pretty crowded. This was a bit expected though, as this is really an easy hike, so it draws more people, and this was the weekend prior to the 4th of July, which is always a big camping weekend for many families.

Overall, our stay at this campground was brief. We originally planned to stay one night on our way though, but after hiking all day, making dinner, and having a fire, we decided that we really just wanted to get on the road to Maine.
We decided to break up the remaining drive, and start driving at night, so we never actually slept here. That being said, it was a really great place to park the camper, hike, eat lunch, and have a fire.

Our Maine adventures are coming up soon! Stay tuned!