Wellesley Island State Park

«A Mouse in the House…» — The Mice have moved into EEL BAY COTTAGES
On a recent weekend stay at one of the EEL BAY cottages, we were quite disappointed to see two mouse traps greeting us as we walked through the front door — each trap baited and waiting for their next victim. After having camped at the EEL BAY cottages over the past 6 years and having stayed in every single cottage at one time or another, we have never encountered a rodent problem except during the last two stays. Previously, during a one week stay, we heard what sounded like an army of mice in the bedroom walls — inches from my head. On a more recent stay, it appeared that the problem has now gotten out of hand. The people who clean the cottages informed us that a massive amount of complaints were received this past summer concerning mice in the cottages. Think mice droppings on the food, kitchen counters, beds, furniture, you get the picture. Our experience, was a dead mouse in one of the traps every single morning — great way to start the day. You would think that with all of the complaining, park management would be taking this very seriously and hiring a professional exterminator to fix the problem. No not really,…park management’s response has been to basically do nothing and even downplay that there is a problem. I asked the cottage cleaners if they could recommend a mouse free cottage — they could not reply to my query… If you talk to anyone in the park office it soon becomes clear that the mice infestation is not even on the radar.
If you plan on using these cottages be warned that mice do carry a variety of diseases such as: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Hemorrhagic Fever, Lassa Fever, Leptospirosis, Lymphocytic Chorio-​meningitis (LCM), Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever, Plague, Rat-​Bite Fever, Salmonellosis, Tularemia. These diseases are spread through mouse droppings or bites. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
**Anyone with small children should be very concerned.
If you plan of going despite this warning, I would recommend bringing mouse traps, at least four and do not leave any food out anywhere as mice can climb walls and table legs easily. Oh, and by the way, they can climb unto beds as well — we saw mouse droppings on one of the single beds where children usually sleep. Sweet Dreams…
As for us, we have cancelled a planned stay during the Christmas holidays. I hope a solution is found soon, as like many others, we enjoy camping at Wellesley Island State Park and we look forward to returning soon.

We had been looking forward to this camping trip for months. So glad that we were able to make it happen because this is one heck of sight. It is truly beautiful in this part of the country, for sure! Right on the Canadian border, so be careful using your cell phone, you might be charged international roaming fees!!!
We were at camp site #41. It was kinda hilly, actually looked like we were camping on top of a septic tank hill! hahaha — this site was not my choice, but one of the men thought they knew better. Shoulda stayed with the site I picked (#61) because we all agreed that, that site was the perfect site! None-​the-​less, we had a great time.
There is no electric on these sites, and no running water on the sites. There is, however, a wash sink by the bath house so that you can do your dishes there. and there is running water at the bath house if you need to fill up on water for whatever reason. We seen people filling up 5 gallon buckets with water. Maybe for cooking purposes?!? The bath house is used by lots of people, so expect that it is not going to be your house type of clean. Bring cheap flipflops because you don’t wanna walk your bare clean feet in the shower water that everyone else has been using! The toilets need a little help flushing, just hold the handle down a bit longer than usual and you will be good to go. They do keep the bathrooms stocked pretty well. and they do clean them daily. There is staff on site most of the day. There is a family restroom that has a shower stall and toilet, but no bench to put your clean clothes on. They really need to add one. There is also a handicap bathroom, I never went in there but I am guessing it is much like the family room.
There is a little store on site, we walked there a few times. They don’t carry much, but we managed to NEED something several times a day. They also have a laundry room connected to the store. There is a bait and tackle store on site, not bad prices. In fact, the store was pretty reasonable as well.
There are several boat ramps for your convenience. They also rent boats!!! So if you didn’t bring yours or your just don’t have one… you HAVE to rent one. The views are amazing, and you just don’t wanna miss it.
If we were ever in the area again, we would come back again for sure!

Pros: Trails along the peninsula is an absolute must. The following route will give wrap you around the peninsula with waterway, forest, and wetland views: East Bay Trail (1.1 mile) to the Narrows Trail (.45 mile) to the South Bay Trail (1 mile) to the East Trail (1.5 mile) to the North Field Loop (.5 mile)
Cons: Park rangers are unhelpful during closing time.

This is a big state park with over 400 sites. We were there during the week and it was at least 50% filled. Most people are respectful and not super loud or rowdy, which can not always be said for a state park. the bathrooms were surprisingly clean and very nice. There is a nature center about 3 or 4 miles away from the park (a long walk, a do-​able bike ride) which is worth a visit. We enjoyed the butterfly garden, the hike up a large cliff (good for hikers), and paying to canoe in a large 20+ canoe that the park owns. The canoe rides go every week day around 9am… but you need to register ahead of time!
Another highlight of the park is beautiful beach. A 10 – 15 minute walk from any site in the park… so bring a bike if you don’t have a car. There is soft sand and it is very close to the park store if you need a refreshment, or (like us) get caught in a summer storm. The beach is only open from 11am-6:45pm so don’t expect to swim until dark!
The last highlight of the park is the marina. It has a nice bathroom nearby, cliffs were people (shouldn’t) jump into the water, and plenty of big fish that can be seen right from the dock. We don’t own a boat, but Clayton Island boat tours comes twice a day for a 3 hour tour that shows off the islands and takes you to boldt castle. The boat ride itself is $ 18 for adults (the castle is $ 8) but it is well worth it. Andy was our guide, and he has lived in the islands forever, and makes it well worth your dollar. I am so glad the boat tour comes to the state park to pick up people, because plenty of people do not own a boat, and don’t want to drive to a mainland town to catch a boat.
I can’t give this place 5 stars because it is simply too big. The beach, the nature center, the store, is all quite a distance away from the sites, and I walk a ton. But when you are in beach shoes, or wet, it can feel like the distance is forever. Because of this, people used the boat launch near own campsite as a beach. People sat out on floatation devices because the ground is too rocky. This may seem fine, but in the state of NY no one is to be swimming without a life guard present. Then you have to realize that is is boat launch, and it is really just unsafe for people to swim there. There was next to no supervision from the park over rule breaking… and they seem to turn a blind eye to it simply because the park is sooo big. People made tent cities on their site (when the rule is just 2 tents a site) and took over the boat dock as their own private swim area. People think they are entitled to this since they registered 9 months in advance for their sites, but they still need to follow to the rules.
Anyway, this state park was great and I hope you get the chance to go there!

What a great spot. Tons of camping spots spread out over the island with the best signage I’ve seen in a campground, it’s basically impossible to not be able to find your way around. Restroom facilities are what you’d expect for a well maintained campsite. Some of the spots were a little small, but the vicinity to the water makes up for pretty much any shortcoming. The water is a pretty short walk from most of the campsites, so you can go for a swim in the very surprisingly clear water. We brought our kayaks to putter around. The waterway is relatively busy with weekend boaters, so be careful if you’re trying to cross all the way over to the other side. Just a tip: since the campsites are side by side put away your valuables while you’re venturing off, we had a phone taken off the table while we were here.