Clarence Fahnestock State Park

We had high hopes for this park, but most of our expectations fell short. The amount of trash around the campground was terribly disappointing. We found two areas near our site where other campers decided they were too lazy to walk to the bathroom and just made their own makeshift toilets in the woods. Disgusting to see piles of toilet paper and buckets in the woods. Have some respect for your fellow campers and nature. There was also quite a bit of trash throughout the campground (cans, bottles, plastic bags).
Our site was nice with a firepit, grill, and plenty of space. We were one of the only trailers in our loop. Seems that many folks just came up from the city for the weekend and weren’t experienced campers. It wasn’t as family friendly as most campground we have been to with very few children or families. The scariest part was how many vehicles sped through the campground easily going 25+ mph. Having a young son, this was very worrisome to me.
We plan to be back to explore the Winter Park, and I hope it meets our expectations better than the campground.

Been camping here with friends for over 10 years now. We’ve camped as early as April and as late as October and it’s always a great time. We love it because it’s one of the closest places to the NY metro area with a true camping feel. The park itself is beautiful and has some great trails, ponds, and scenic views. The gentleman at the park office is friendly and helpful. The campground is a cool little spot for both families and groups of young adults. For those like myself who don’t like to completely «rough it», there is a fire pit and grill on each site that you can park on. The facilities are a short walk from most of the campsites and have showers to use.
On our most recent camping trip, we stayed on sites 55n and 58n. When viewing the campsite map we were a bit skeptical of these sites as they seemed a bit close to the surrounding ones. They are, but it wasn’t as tight as we thought. The best way I can describe blocks 54 – 60 and 61 – 68 is two cul de sacs with the sites lining the perimeter with grassy areas and a good amount of tree cover, the middle is full of gravel and rocks. If you can get a big group together and snatch up a bunch of these sites together, it’s a great time. Sites 54 – 60 are much closer to the bathrooms than they seem. There is a hill/​path behind site 56 that leads straight up to the bathroom/​showers.
The facilities are different than what I remember from the past, and I think they renovated the bathrooms near site 42. Showers are individualized rooms with a door that locks (or at least it’s supposed to), a bench, and a sink. I was really impressed. There is a women’s and a men’s shower room. Then there is also a family one with a shower, toilet, sink, bench, and changing table. On this particular trip, the door lock on the men’s shower at this building was broken so I used the family one. Luckily no one who really needed the family room came while I was using it, so I don’t feel as bad. If you’re a small group 4 – 5 people max, I would even suggest site 42 (if you don’t mind consistent traffic near your site) because it’s right next to the building.
In my opinion two of the best sites on this campground are 24 and 25 (if you get them both). One of them overlooks the other, and both are set back a bit off the road and from other sites. At Fahnestock there is always a park ranger or park staff patrolling the campground but they hardly ever give campers a hard time. I’ve been to campgrounds where they’ve given us a hard time for merely being awake past quiet hours, this is not one of them. Don’t be a jerk and they will basically leave you alone. Be respectful of your neighbors and have fun. Happy camping!

Camping portion of park is poorly-​situated and dirty. sites are also very poorly leveled and I can’t imagine being able to pitch a tent in more than a few of the better sites. Seems to attract some unsavory characters as well. Couldn’t be more than 200 yards form the Taconic either.

I am afraid that unless your partying till the very wee hours, you should stay away on weekends… cause the Saturday nite I was there it was a real Hoedown… other than that, very scenic and most convenient. Don’t get me wron, I am not against partying, but like to experience nature when I go camping, not folks getting loud and primitive. Looking around at 1 am, it was pretty obvious there were only a few bad apples that a ranger could have kaboshed the loud and inconsiderate peeps. I almost think that the loose enforcement will put a downward trend on campers as myself because after this, and from talking with others, it seemed to be common knowledge to stay away these campgrounds on weekends. As it is, very good for people who like to yak, and yuke it up till 2 AM.

The park is quite beautiful with lush greenery and ponds. We chose this camp as our as our spot due to the family friendly reviews and found it to be up to par. Canopus Lake has a clean and beautiful beach with picnic tables and showers. The camp grounds are cozy with lots of shaded camping. We had campsite 41, which was the best spot on the lot in terms of beauty and close location to the bath house. The biggest draw back for us was the quality and cleanliness of the bath house, which was sort of run down and not stocked very well. The water was not safe to drink either and there were signs posted that the water levels were not up to DOH standards, which we found to be inconvenient. The scenery and the beach made up for what the bath house lacked. We would definitely stay here again.

I am currently thru hiking the AT and in my Awol guide (AT hand book) it informs you about the state park. It provides the hours of operations to the concessions and beach, also it says thru hikers get one free night. My boyfriend and I decided to have a short day and camp there. There is a blue blazed side trial from the AT which takes you to the park however in a one mile stretch there are TWO blue blazed trails and one takes you the opposite direction (I took that one thinking it was the one taking you to the lake and ended up 2 miles down a mountain and had no idea where I was). So first off the should make sure to label the trails or at least change one of the colors. Continuing on though I make my way back and finally arrive at the park. The camping is about an extra mile past the beech which is already half a mile away from the AT! Wish they would have provided me with this info, once we got to the site there were maybe three tiny poorly maintained tent spots. Good thing there went to many other hikers trying to camp here or else there would have been no room at all! Another thing I wish they would have mentioned. Last but definitely not least, the water is the filthiest water I have ever tasted in my whole life. I could not even bare to have a tiny swing in my mouth. My boyfriend went to the restroom and figure out why it was so nasty, there was a sign posted on the door saying «do not drink the water sodium levels too high for consumption». WHAT!!! Your telling all the people at this camp site they shouldn’t drink the water because it is not safe, what do you expect us to drink then? This place has taken the cake for most awful place I have visited on my journey so far.

Camping in the beautiful Wilds of Carmel.
Dogs allowed, $ 15 camp fee includes a site with grill and HOT showers! Most of my campground experience has been col showers.
The lake was closed so I’ll need to revisit to fully review. They apparently rent boats by the day, and have a pavilion with fireplace that is also rentable.

I just started camping and this was the first spot I have been to. It’s awesome! There are a lot of sites that are private or can be blocked off by your car. All the sites have a fire ring. I use
to book my sites, especially since I tend to go very last minute. On that website I am able o view a map and see what sites are taken and available. It’s also helpful to see if anyone will be around you! I tend to come during the week and it’s very peaceful.

Cross country skiing here is a treasure. The only groomed trails in at least at 50mile radius, an outdoor wood burning stove, friendly staff, cozy lodge, and a ton of trails and terrain to ski through the woods. The best part is just the quaint nature of the lodge area — no commercialism, just simple food — meat or veg chili is their specialty — and the people you’ll meet. Your fellow cross country skiers come from all geographies and are a cordial bunch. This is a winter wonderland to be treasured.

Things are a little different this year. Some of the sites have been cut in half and have been reassigned as TWO sites. So that nice quiet site you reserved every year might come with a roommate this time around. Disappointing. New site numbers may not match the map on Reserve America, so do a site inspection before reserving.

I do camp a lot, and I am pleasantly surprised when I booked this state park for group camping the last minute (since our group grew and we need a bigger campsite; I originally booked Beaver Pond but I needed 2 campsites and there were no available sites left in Beaver). I am glad I did, and so did my group who are first and second time campers. Our site was in the 60’s, and although there was no privacy, we had a screen house, utility room for emergency purposes only (since the bathroom could be a little far); and our tent which can hold up to 8 people, we still had so much fun and we just loved every minute of it in our campsite, it is huge.
The bathroom is the only downfall, but nature-​wise, this state park is beautiful. We have seen chipmunks and beavers all over. Then we hike to the lake which is on the other side of the main entrance, a bit of a walk but its worth it. We went on rowboats; its a different experience and all of us enjoyed it. There are so much things to do in the area as well. You will just fall in love with the nature and the neighborhood.

I went camping at Fahnestock State Park over Memorial Day and was disappointed with my experience staying there. Two of us stayed at site 79, which was apparently combined with the site next to it in their renumbering project as on its own it was little more than a driveway that was exposed on all sides to everyone else in the campground.
When we arrived there were already people set up very close to us, which we assumed was our neighboring site. On our second night two separate parks employees stopped by to talk to us about our site — the first gentleman informed us that the people staying next to us were not on an actual site, they were on what was formerly a separate site but one that had been combined with ours to make ours larger and more private (and they had a lot more privacy than we did). He mentioned that he «didn’t want to embarrass them» and didn’t talk to them at all and essentially left them to squat on our campsite. About 20 minutes later another parks employee drove by and asked if we had in fact checked in and if we had our tag displayed on our dash, which we did.
After some investigating it turned out that the couple that was squatting on our site had booked the real site next to us (78, which was a completely different site), had dragged their picnic table over to ours, and had rebuilt their fire ring. No one said anything to them and I was disappointed that the parks staff confronted us about the campsites instead of the people who were in the wrong.
Aside from that the campground was loud and filled with large groups, the bathrooms were a mess and there was trash left around the campground. I was only in the area to visit Storm King and some other attractions, so I definitely won’t be returning to camp here.

The best ski/​snowshoe domain you can probably find so close from the city. You can spend a great day exploring the beautiful park. The toughest snowshoe track takes you above the little valley and you finish with a breathtaking view of the scenic Canopus Lake (which was totally frozen when we went there early March).
Good place for beginners and intermediate nordic skiers and snowshoers or family with young kids.
Nice outdoor resting area with tables and benches, and a wood fire stove next to a small coffee shop (food selection is quite pathetic though — so better bring some home made sandwiches I guess).
We will definitely go back.

We just went up to the park yesterday to play in the snow and enjoy the snowstorm. It was lovely and there was tons of snow.
It took us about 1hr15min from lower Manhattan, and we got there near the end of the day (3pm), which left us a bit under 2hrs as the park closes at 5.
So, we poked around the facilities. Here’s what we found:
–Super clean bathrooms with changing rooms and showers.
— Small café, stocked with hot food, drinks, trail snacks and some gear
— small but organized rentals shop with good prices. Everything looked to be in good condition
— nice, groomed trails.
Because we only had a short time we elected to go sledding, and enjoyed inner-​tubing and sledding down their sledding hill. It was small but steep so you got a good ride. They had a smaller hill but it appeared to not be plowed out.
Afterwards we took a walk around the lake, and there I wish we had another hour or two to really take it all in.
To top it off, we had dinner nearby in downtown Cold Spring.
Definitely a place I’d come back to.

Beautiful park. I’m lucky to live next to so many beautiful places in the Hudson Valley. This is one of those places that I’m happy to visit often.

I came to Fahnestock State Park for a night of camping and got site 41. It was my first time visiting this campgrounds and I have to say… I have definitely experienced better. The great thing about this site is the location. It took about an hour and a half to get to Fahnestock from Brooklyn. Obviously, time dependent on traffic as well. When my friend and I finally got to the park, we saw the difference between a camp location that was well taken cared of, compared to one that was neglected. The driving path to the campgrounds are so crappy it makes driving on NYC roads smooth; the pot holes were horrible.
Our site, site 41, would have been nice if it hadn’t been the fact that the water faucet was right on the site, so the whole community will come over, wash their stuff and leave the residue in a puddle to stink up. Now across from my site, were a site filled with sorority girls and they were loud, they didn’t seem to care or even realize it was 12AM+, until some other group from another campsite told them the time. According to the park rules «Quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. are strictly enforced.» BS! I give this situation as an example of the neglect of the park as, the rangers are nonexistent, nobody cares about this park, nobody enforces the rules. Heck, we were the only group that I noticed that bought firewood. Other groups just knocked down trees and scavenged for leaves, branches and whatever else plants they can find, pull out and lit up. Yes, we went to scout other potential campsites that would be good to reserve if we come back the next time and all we saw were trees, branches and leaves in the fire pits; no firewood visible nearby. When we finally got to the pond area, we saw this guy knocking down a tree just so he can save $ 5 on the firewood. WTF? Seriously? The work he did to knock the tree over was probably worth more than $ 5. I can understand if its dead branches and stuff it is okay to use those materials for a campfire, but this guy took a tree down that wasn’t dead… sigh…
Here are the sites we thought were good from our scouting… *sites updated see below* …41 is also a maybe, because if the site across from you is noisy and rowdy, you will hear it, there are no trees separating the noise (probably because they were chopped down by campers lol). The site is also rather small. The bathrooms and showers were close to 41 though, which was a plus. Now as for the bathrooms… the bathrooms are dirty, is it usable? Sure. Its not dirty as in people dropped deuces all over the place, but it is dirty from use, age and once again, neglect. The showers are dirty from age too; the walls are dark, and the lighting was dim as well. You may want to bring additional lighting if you are showering. People do what they want at this camp location it seems. I saw the sorority girls just leave the fire going and checked out, the park crew went to pick up the recyclables, drove by the empty campsite with a smoking fire pit and just kept on driving by.
Will I do it again? Sure, but only if I am able to get the sites that I deem doable. On another note, some grounds are hard gravel. Cheap tent takes would be an issue.
Update 4÷21÷14: After a weekend at Fahnestock, I was surprised at what has been going on. New sites have been introduced since last year, while some old sites have been removed to either create over crowd parking or a better overall experience for campers. So far it is looking good, we’ll see as time goes on. I still remember last summer when I was at site 45 (this year’s 78) when dusk hit, several cars and minivans drove and pulled over to the side of the road, like something was about to go down. People got out with axes and proceeded to chop trees down like the trees did something to their mommas. Funny scene, but that side of the road has been opened up as a campsite so that incident probably wouldn’t be reenacted again.
Anyways. The updated site list goes like this. Last year’s 25 is now site 24. A great site, large and you feel separated from others. This year’s site 25, I accidentally stayed in this weekend, is good for 1 tent, 2 max. Sites 22 & 23 good for groups. 23 is deeper in from the road and more secluded. But… When you walk in and out you will walk through 22. 29 & 30 good for groups. 31 is a new site, big and secluded, however, your car will be parked on the side of the road as normal vehicles will be unable to get to it. 78 is great, secluded and large. The site that was next to 78 last year has been removed, probably because that site was way too small. Site 75 is okay. Site 41 of last year is now 44. The site is the same as last year EXCEPT the site across it has been removed. So that will definitely be good for 44. There are other sites that have their own charms, the sites that I listed are sites that I prefer. It is not the be all end all, as my preferences might not be the same as yours. Last update. Unilocal text limit reached. GL HF!

Went camping here last week with my boyfriend and had a wonderful time. Although our campsite was close to the highway and we could hear some cars throughout the night, we had a ton of space, a grill, made a fire every night and felt secure — we were walking distance from the beach (the sectioned off portion for swimming was too small IMO and we wished the beach closed at sunset instead of 7) and it was a short drive to a lot of the hiking locations. The bathrooms were gross, but I didn’t expect anything else (it’s camping!) It’s such a beautiful park with great trials –so many, though, and we didn’t have enough time to explore even half of them — and it’s not too far of a drive from NYC which was great. I would absolutely camp here again.

Good
Hiking
And many
Camping sites though
Some are too close. Small beach for kids to play.

Went for x-​country skiing. Skied 4 hours on the trails — the lake trail was closed, unfortunately since that would have been awesome. If you cross the main road and do the other trails, this should keep you skiing for 3 hours. I found there to be a little too many hills as I would have liked, which means I fell more than i would have liked and gliding wasn’t as good as at other parks I’ve been to. Not sure if it was the terrain or the conditions. Many spots were just uneven/​lopsided and lots of people losing balance and falling down on even the most simple, straight looking areas.
Rentals are easy and fairly priced, — so is admission to the trails at $ 9.00.
I’ll rate it as a-​okay to try this park out. It’s a good day escape in the winter pretty close by to NYC. Personally, I think if you go once, once is enough and next time around I would drive further to find what I think would be nicer/​better trails through pine forests.

Oh Clarence Fahnestock, how the mighty have fallen!
Growing up in Yorktown, Clarence Fahnestock was once a weekly summer destination for my family. I loved swimming here, hiking and just wasting away the lazy days of endless childhood summers.
Returning here to see what it has become was almost heartbreaking. My husband and I decided to take my two young cousins for a day of nature, and Clarence Fahnestock is near their home.
To be fair, the swimming area is still ok. The lake is still very clean, and the beach is reasonably well maintained. The park has become carry in-​carry out (no in-​park garbage cans) but I am familiar with parks like that, and it’s ok with me.
The changing rooms and the showers though, not so much. Cleanliness of the changing area is ok, considering how busy it was that day, but zero maintenance. Half the showers did not work, half the changing rooms had no curtains, and several of the sinks were plugged. The bathrooms ran out of toilet paper shortly afternoon and were not replenished all day. (This was a Saturday). Carry-​in, carry-​out is fine to a point, but there needs to be a place to dispose of feminine products. Fortunately, I didn’t need such a disposal location, but clearly some other women had – and they had chosen to use the floor.
We also used one of the day-​use areas for picnicking and hiking. The trail looped around a small lake at the base of the hill the campsites were located on. Sadly, it seems as though the campers, and possibly the locals, and certainly the teenagers chose to use this trail as a public dumpsite.
The lake was full of garbage, including several broken picnic tables. Bellow the camping area, it was clear that some campers just dumped their garbage down the hill and onto the trail.
At another point, slightly off the trial, there was a glen utterly filled with toilet paper and human waste. I don’t even understand how that happens! Did people take a hike, with toilet paper, expressly for the purpose of crapping in the woods? I was afraid for the health of the kids!
Finally, the rest area at the head of the trail had exactly 1 stall with toilet paper (and it was out by 11am). The toilets had clearly NEVER been cleaned – they were black as pitch on the inside. 3 of the 4 sinks were glommed up with sand, and filled with nasty, grey water. There was no soap.
The park rangers came by and went into the bathrooms twice while we were picnicking, but I am not sure why since they never even filled the TP. I guess they were just checking to make sure people weren’t shooting up there, since it seemed so much like a crack-​house.
I am very disappointed with the NY parks system over this place. It should be shut down as a health hazard. If you are desperate for a swim, and not a hike, its ok, but bring your own TP.