suggestions for a Niagara Falls campground on the US side?

[loriandmatt]

if the exchange rate were lower we would deal with hassels of toting all our camping stuff thru customs, but with it being about even...it is too much of a bother.

so we are looking for a US side campground near Niagara that is nice. am i nuts to think i am going to get a site that won't be as much as a darn hotel room??? found one KOA in the area but it was 75/night for goodness sakes!

- lori

 

[des1954]

In case NTSammy5 doesn't see this...send him a PM. He's my brother, so it's cool. He also lives in the N.F. area & can recommend other options besides the KOA.

Were you getting a price from the Grand Island or the Lewiston KOA??

I know the KOA a few miles from Disney is $80-90/nite, and it's a crappy campground.

 

[ntsammy5]

There are 2 KOAs -one on Grand Island which is right next to an amusement park and one in Lewiston which I've never really seen (the KOA not Lewiston). Personally I have never been a fan of KOAs. The one you found is probably the one on Grand Island.

There is a state park, called Four Mile Creek that is pretty decent and pretty reasonable. It's co-located with Fort Niagara. There is no swimming there but there is a pool at Fort Niagara that you can use. The campground is about 20-25 minutes from Niagara Falls and is in Youngstown NY. Here's the website:

Four Mile Creek

I stay at Four Mile Creek and I like it (because it's close to home). Let me know if you need any more information.


FWIW there are no fullhookups but there is a dumping station at 4 Mile.

 

[loriandmatt]

great. thanks guys.

yes it was the KOA in Lewiston that i was pricing out. i checked the link for Four Mile Creek and that is more like it. also i think i read something about because it is a state park that i get free parking at Niagara SP. cool.

i think the activities on this short trip are gonna be pricy (DS and DH are set on the rocket boat or whatever and i have to do the maid of the mist for old times sake. oh and i must get a crispy coffee candy bar - or what ever they are called. remember them as a kid and have never been able to find them), so if i can get a decent campground for less $$$, all the better.

thanks again!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

For some reason, WNY seems strangely lacking in campgrounds. What's the deal, Al?

 

[loriandmatt]

ya know....i am glad i am not the only person thinking that....that's why i posted. i thought i had to be missing something obvious....there had to more out there than what i was finding.....guess not.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I grew up in that area, and never really thought much about it because if we went camping we went somewhere else. Last year I wanted to take a little vacation up there but not have to stay with the outlaws, and couldn't find anyplace decent.

 

[ntsammy5]

For some reason, WNY seems strangely lacking in campgrounds. What's the deal, Al?

I've never been able to figure that out. There are quite a few south and east but not much around Niagara Falls. Part of the reason is that the camping season here is so short - private campgrounds have a hard time making it and part of it is because therjust isn't much demand. No one comes to Niagara Falls to camp. That's my theory.

Well I'm off to Evangola State Park for the weekend. Not a great place, but oh well.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I've never been able to figure that out. There are quite a few south and east but not much around Niagara Falls. Part of the reason is that the camping season here is so short - private campgrounds have a hard time making it and part of it is because therjust isn't much demand. No one comes to Niagara Falls to camp. That's my theory.

Well I'm off to Evangola State Park for the weekend. Not a great place, but oh well.

I been there a few times as a kid. At least since the lake got cleaned up it doesn't stink so bad and the beach isn't covered with dead fish.

 

[BigDaddyRog]

I been there a few times as a kid. At least since the lake got cleaned up it doesn't stink so bad and the beach isn't covered with dead fish.

Dead fish on a beach....the redneck answer to conserving gas, yet still enjoying a succulent dinner of roadkill!!

 

[loriandmatt]

hey ntsammy5 - if you don't mind, check back in when you return and give us an update on Evangola. the NY State park website brags that this place was Named in 2007 as one of the Top 100 Campgrounds in the Nation.

either they improved a lot since you have been there or the folks who hand out those honors have never been to the the fort (or otter lake, or big timber lake, or lake in the wood....)

 

[BigDaddyRog]

Those "top 100" list are generated by by reservation companies who are attempting to increase the traffic to their least visited parks so that those parks dont drop them as their marketer. Dont place much faith in those lists.

 

[loriandmatt]

Noted. kind of like when we relied on Woodalls for a booking in MD when we were chasing the motocross circut a few years back. 4 W's my butt! Goose ridge or something like that.....more like Goose bumps. the kicker was that the toilets backed up and were flowing raw sewage onto the bath house floor and even up thru the shower drains.

we seriously cut some time off our "fastest time ever for a pack up and get out" and hot footed it over to Cherry Hill. flat and treeless, but clean clean clean.

 

[des1954]

I been there a few times as a kid. At least since the lake got cleaned up it doesn't stink so bad and the beach isn't covered with dead fish.

I remember Lake Erie State Park banned swimming in the lake in the 60's and early 70's due to all the pollution!!! There was algae & dead fish as far as the eye could see. Maybe that's why our family quit camping there??

For Lori & Matt - another beautiful park in NYS is Letchworth State Park. Now, it's not near Niagara Falls, but it has three sets of falls that are beautiful. It's also known as the "Grand Canyon of the East" due to the gorge cut thru by the Genessee River. Nice camping area, too. One of these years, I'll get back there! I haven't been to Evangola S.P. since I was a kid, but if Al says it's just "okay", it can't be anything special.

 

[AlyLynn]

hey ntsammy5 - if you don't mind, check back in when you return and give us an update on Evangola. the NY State park website brags that this place was Named in 2007 as one of the Top 100 Campgrounds in the Nation.

either they improved a lot since you have been there or the folks who hand out those honors have never been to the the fort (or otter lake, or big timber lake, or lake in the wood....)

We live in NE PA, about 2 hours from Philly--We are going to Corning, NY on Monday. We wanted to do Niagra Falls, but we just got back from Disney, and are going back to Disney in August. The gas in June was $1200!!!!! We decided to skip the Falls because it was farther away than we thought. We have heard great things about Watkins Glen State Park and the Corning Museum, so we can't wait to see!

 

[ntsammy5]

hey ntsammy5 - if you don't mind, check back in when you return and give us an update on Evangola. the NY State park website brags that this place was Named in 2007 as one of the Top 100 Campgrounds in the Nation.

I'm going to post pictures on John's site and will post a link back here, but let's put it this way.

In the army, the infantry is usually out front (well OK RSTA but that' another story) they're on the front lines (FEBA, FLOT whatever). They have very few comfort items. The further back you go, no matter how far, things get a little better. The company CP may have some coffee and it's only 100 meters further back. BN TOC may have some cots, BDE may have a few tents set up etc, etc, etc.

Well let's just say that the tent camping area of Evangola is the front lines of camping!

It really wasn't that bad, but I can't imagine it being in the top 100. There was no water at all in the loop we were in but there was a nice beach, nice playground and there were flush toilets. When I get a chance I'll put some pics up and do a more in depth review.

 

[ntsammy5]

DS and DH are set on the rocket boat

Just saw that. My daughter gave me that as a birthday present years ago. It's AWESOME!

http://www.whirlpooljet.com/

 

[loriandmatt]

ntsammy - thanks for the review and i totally got the context of your example. (DH was a Ranger during the first Gulf War)

we will stick with our plans for Four Mile Creek and i will start taking my Dramamine for that whirlpooljet boat thing.....or maybe i can take a pass and let the guys have some male bonding time.

 

[ntsammy5]

(DH was a Ranger during the first Gulf War)
.

ME TOO. But for me it was VN. Gulf 1 I was in 3ACR.