Woodland Valley was supposed to be our camping trip—one night out before dropping my daughter at overnight camp.
We left Queens late Friday, hit traffic, grabbed food, and rolled up at 9:15 p.m. Problem was, the campground closes at 9:00 sharp. No exceptions. The guard pointed to a line in our confirmation email that… wasn’t actually there. It didn’t matter. We were out.
We ended up at Phoenicia Black Bear, a private campground a few miles away. We parked and set up in the dark, squeezed between two other tents. Sixty bucks for the night—and easily the smallest site we’ve ever camped in. Think 16-slice pizza at a kids’ birthday party. The campground caters to people who don’t like all the rules at the state campgrounds.
The next day, we got into Woodland Valley. To be fair, it’s a beautiful campground. Our site was right on the stream, and we spent the day reading with our feet in the water.
WOODLAND VALLEY CAMPGROUND: https://newyorkstateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/woodland-valley/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NY&parkId=489
BLACKBEAR CAMPGROUND: https://phoeniciablackbearcampground.com
