Hi there!
This includes New York state park campgrounds in Western New York and an Ontario County park campground.
This will include some of the best places to visit in Western New York!
MAP: Western New York camping route
Here is a general Western New York camping route:
- Four Mile Creek State Park campground (Lake Ontario camping near Niagara Falls) with time in Niagara Falls NY
- Golden Hill State Park campground (Lake Ontario camping) with time for Lake Ontario lighthouses
- Gannett Hill Ontario County Park campground with time in the Finger Lakes
- Letchworth State Park campground with time in Letchworth State Park
- Evangola State Park campground (Lake Erie camping) with time near Lake Erie
This makes it a loop around Western New York!
Explore the map.
All of these Western New York campgrounds can be for tent camping, RV camping, van camping, etc!
All of the listed campgrounds are campgrounds with modern facilities including regular bathrooms and showers. It is possible to reserve a campsite with electricity at all campgrounds, although there also may be some campsites without electricity which would be cheaper. So if with or without electricity is important to you, you’ll want to look out for that.
Below will be a bit about each of the Western New York campgrounds.
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Now…
5 Western New York campgrounds to stay at to see the best of WNY
1. Four Mile Creek State Park campground (Lake Ontario camping near Niagara Falls)
Niagara Falls is among the most popular places to visit in the entire state of New York.
And the place to go to see Niagara Falls on the American side is Niagara Falls State Park.
Niagara Falls State Park is one of the best state parks in Western New York.
But, there is no Niagara Falls State Park campground so you will have to look elsewhere to go camping near Niagara Falls!
And so, the next best thing might be to go camping near Lake Ontario! (Because of course you want to go camping along the Great Lakes!)
The Lake Ontario campground that’s closest to Niagara Falls is the Four Mile Creek State Park campground.
While there are no campsites that are directly along Lake Ontario, there are campsites that come with views of Lake Ontario.
In addition to campsites, Four Mile Creek State Park is also one of the New York state parks with yurts.
There is no swimming at Four Mile Creek State Park.
The Four Mile Creek State Park camping fee ranges from around $18-34 a night, depending on whether you go for a campsite with or without electricity.
The cost of a Four Mile Creek State Park yurt is around $90 per day.
You make Four Mile Creek State Park camping reservations through the official New York State Parks camping reservations website.
See more about camping at this Western New York campground: Lake Ontario camping near Niagara Falls
2. Golden Hill State Park campground (Lake Ontario camping near lighthouses)
Golden Hill State Park is another place you can go for camping near Lake Ontario during your Western New York trip.
And Golden Hill State Park is a New York state park with a lighthouse along Lake Ontario.
And the Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse that’s in Golden Hill State Park can be one of many Lake Ontario lighthouses you can see during your trip to Western New York!
You can make it a day trip for a mini Lake Ontario lighthouse tour to see many lighthouses in one day along the shores of New York!
Once you enter Golden Hill State Park, there is no additional fee to walk directly around the grounds of the Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse.
It’s possible to go inside the Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse and climb up to the top to see vast views of Lake Ontario!
There is a fee to walk inside Golden Hill State Park, which is around $1 per person and requires a tour. See current fees.
The hours that the lighthouse is open varies, so if you are interested in walking inside the lighthouse, it would be good to call ahead of time to confirm it will be open when you go. Also confirm that you can can climb up to the top of the lighthouse. For example, when I went in July 2021, lighthouse hours were 12-4pm on one day, and 1-4pm on another day.
The listed phone number is (716) 795-3885.
At night, you can see the lighthouse flashing!
In addition to campsites, Golden Hill State Park is another one of the New York state parks with yurts.
There is no swimming at Golden Hill State Park.
The Golden Hill State Park camping fee ranges from around $15-31 a night.
The cost of a Golden Hill State Park yurt is around $90 per day.
You make Golden Hill State Park camping reservations through the official New York State Parks camping reservations website.
See more about camping at this Western New York campground: Lake Ontario camping
3. Gannett Hill Park campground (Camping near Finger Lakes)
Gannett Hill Park is an Ontario County park.
The Gannett Hill campground can be a good base for exploring the western side of the Finger Lakes region.
The Gannett Hill Park camping fee ranges from around $15-20 a night.
See current fees under park brochure and map.
You make Ganett Park camping reservations through the official Ontario County camping reservations website.
See more about camping at this Western New York campground: Things to do in the Finger Lakes on the western side
More of Upstate New York
The western side of the the Finger Lakes does not include the most popular of the Finger Lakes, though, so you might want to add in time to go to places like Seneca Lake (and the Watkins Glen waterfalls) and Cayuga Lake (and the Ithaca waterfalls).
This area isn’t really considered Western New York, but it’s one of best places to visit in Upstate New York!
If you make it a day trip to Watkins Glen from the Gannett Hill campground, that is a little over a 1 hour drive one way.
And then Ithaca is 30 minutes beyond that.
Or, there is also the Watkins Glen State Park campground that you can stay at. (It’s a popular campground.)
4. Letchworth State Park campground
Letchworth State Park is a New York state park with waterfalls and a campground!
In addition to campsites, Letchworth State Park is one of the New York state parks with cabins.
The Letchworth State Park camping fee ranges from around $27-30 a night.
The cost of a Letchworth State Park cabin ranges from around $33-142 per day to around $132-568 per week.
You make Letchworth State Park camping reservations through the official New York State Parks camping reservations website.
See more about planning a trip to this Western New York campground: Things to do in Letchworth State Park
5. Evangola State Park campground (Camping near Lake Erie)
Evangola State Park is one of the New York state parks along Lake Erie, and it has a campground for tent camping and RV camping!
The closest you’ll get for camping with views of Lake Erie will be if you’re tent camping.
Tent campsite #75 will get you in your own little corner on a bluff along Lake Erie.
Even if you can’t see Lake Erie from your campsite, you will be near Lake Erie!
And there is a swimming beach at Evangola State Park.
There’s a trail from the tent camping area along Lake Erie to get to the swimming beach. (Or you can drive there.)
In addition to campsites, Evangola State Park is another one of the New York state parks with cabins.
The Evangola State Park camping fee ranges from around $15-27 a night.
The cost of a Evangola State Park cabin is around $60 per day and $420 per week.
The cost of a Evangola State Park yurt is around $90 per day.
See more about planning a trip to this Western New York campground: Things to do in near Lake Erie
And that’s a little bit about planning a Western New York camping trip!
HAPPY CAMPING IN WESTERN NEW YORK!