Lake Erie State Park (western New York)
Tom Klingler
Any recommendations (for or against) Lake Erie State Park in western New
York State? It's on the shore of Lake Erie, and it's said to have a nice
view high over the lake. Anyone been there? How's the campground?
Also, any comments on any other campgrounds in the general area? This
park looks to be less than an hour from Lake Chatauqua. Can you recommend
another place to camp in the area?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Tom Klingler
Ohio
2000 Honda Odyssey
2001 Dutchmen Classic 1208
--
.BitHead.
Klingler) wrote:
>Folks,
>
>Any recommendations (for or against) Lake Erie State Park in western New
>York State? It's on the shore of Lake Erie, and it's said to have a nice
>view high over the lake. Anyone been there? How's the campground?
>
>Also, any comments on any other campgrounds in the general area? This
>park looks to be less than an hour from Lake Chatauqua. Can you recommend
>another place to camp in the area?
>
>Thanks in advance for your advice.
Hi, Tom.
As for Lake Erie State Park:
Lake Erie State Park. It's West/South of Buffalo along SR5. Best
approach is I90, exit 60.
The facility is very nice indeed, and the sites are great. The sunset
was as wonderful as I recall it being just down the road at Viginia's
Beach (I've included notes for that place, as well) and not nearly as
crowded. Highly reccomended for those seeking a place a bit removed
from the Niagara region.
Only drawback was the amount of trains running by. Not a negative for
us, given we're railfans, but it could be an issue for some... I had
the scanner going against the logger tape deck. It logged over 60
trains on the three tracks (Two CSX, the old water route, and one NS,
the old Nickle PLate line) about a mile away from our camper. Loud?
Oh, yeah. Got a lot of nice photos the next day though. (grin)
As for other favorites along the same run:
Virginia's Beach Campground On The Lake
352 Holliday Rd., PO Box 75, North Springfield, PA 16430
(814) 922-3261
Reposting my comments from that weekend:
>>
We went out for one of our one nighters, on Saturday and Sunday.
Since for our big run we went east..(New Brunswick) we went a short
drive west this time:
Virginia's Beach Campground On The Lake, 352 Holliday Rd., PO Box 75,
North Springfield, PA 16430 (814) 922-3261
We had actually thought to spend some time at Genva On The Lake, in
North eastern Ohio. That proved to be very crowded,and unattractive to
us, thereby. We swug back to the northeast and stumbled into the above
mentioned place. He said he had a few sites left, and could take us.
Prices were comparable to around the area.
As usual, there are the big riggers and the perm residents, but that
still leaves quite a few prime spots. Lots vary from bare, on a bluff
overlooking Lake Erie,(bare but with a wonderful view of the lake, and
one of the best sunsets I've ever seen) to those a bit back from the
shore, (lightly treed.)
Rest rooms are sparse, but remarkable for their being very clean.
Most toilets are the chem/pit variety. I must admit however, being
surpised when I found them very clean, and for the most part odor
free, except for a slight chem smell. This is remarkable to me,
because my experience with the pits to be, well... the pits. I admit
being impressed; keeping these things this clean and odor free
requires a level of care. Care, thankfully, they provided.
Still, I asume they understand the squemish...
There was one flush toilet in the place, with some very clean showers.
There was wood on site, and of course some driftwood on the beach.
Now, the stuff they hand out claimed a quiet time/fire-out time of
23:00. Quiet, perhaps, but there were many fires going after hours.
This actually was a plus, beacuse I needed to cook a meal, anyway.
Nobody seemed to mind.
The campground as a whole is just off SR5, west of Erie, about 8 miles
off the Ohio border. There is a bit of well maintained dirt road to
get into the place; the access road is apparently shared with a
Baptist camp.
Pluses: Clean, well-maintained. Great views of the lake, super
sunsets. Regulars are apparently freindly. Cost is OK. Place is very
much bug free, (well, no skeeters, anwyay) despite having a pond in
the place. Top notch fishing, particularly steelhead. (Many campers
pulilng large boats)
Minuses; Close (2 miles) to two major train lines, CSX and NS... one
of the heaviest traveled rail corrisors in the world. (For us, it was
a plus... we came to do some rail fanning, and were not
disappointed... 80 trains per day easily)
Reservations are suggested.
This one is about two hours out of the Falls.
<<
There's a KOA there, as well.
http://www.koa.com/where/NY/32165.htm
As KOA's go, it's fine. Sites were a tad roomier than most KOA's I've
been at. Facilities are very clean, and in good shape.
Downside is you're right next to I-90. But, on the plus side, with
trucks you can hardly hear the trains.(grin)
Since you're going to be right there, a stop on NY5 about 500 feet to
the northeast of NY394. Oldest lighthouse in the state, as I gather
it, is there. Was just down there a couple weeks back. Here's the
column I wrote while there, which includes some info about that area
of the state.
http://home.rochester.rr.com/bitheads/bits/0703032253.htm
Also, consider that Alleghany State Park is only abut a hour from
these sites.
If you need anything more, don't hesitate to ask; western NY is pretty
much my stompin' ground.
----
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.BitHead.
<tom@DELETE_THISmccune.cc> wrote:
>tomkl...@neo.rr.com (Tom Klingler) wrote in
>news:tomklingler-15...@192.168.2.34:
>Tom,
>
>I was shocked to see this post - we just got home today from 5 nights at
>site 1 of Lake Erie State Park! Our son lives and works in Fredonia, so
>he had checked out various options for us, and that was his choice. We
>were quite pleased there. The trains were mentioned in another post - I
>don't really even remember them, but I just asked my wife, and she
>certainly does, esp. at night.
Yeah. The CSX line runs pretty much 24 hours, but the NS line tends to
run heavier at night, these days. I like all those places as I
mentioned, but of the three, the LESP is the best overall. I hate to
say this, but it's one of the few places where the local SP outdoes
the local commercial operations, though marginally.
I don't know what brought this to mind, but having just been there,
you'll appriciate this, maybe;
While staying there one night, I got up in the morning and took a walk
around the park, eventually ending up at the bluff overlooking the
water directly west. Looked almost straight down, and noted the
biggest herron I've ever seen, working the shoreline. I must have
startled him, because he flew directly out away from the shoreline, so
far I couldn't see him, eventually.
And of course, I didn't have my camera. (Sigh)
Just one of those visual memories you flash on for years after the
fact. And it occurrs to me that is one of the major reasons we go out
with the camper, as a family... so our kids will have those kind of
memories.
Tom Klingler
all-night trains and my 8 year old being awake all night. I'm now
recalling similar posts about this park a couple years ago.
Well, I really want to get to Chautauqua this summer. It's only 150 miles
from our house and I've never been there.
A little research turned up Camp Chautauqua: www.campchautauqua.com
High Woodalls ratings. Said to be award-winning and in the top-10 family
campgrounds in the country.
I know I'll probably be sacrificing the views, but.........anyone have any
advice on Camp Chautauqua??
Thanks, again,....
Tom Klingler
Ohio
2000 Honda Odyssey
2001 Dutchmen Classic 1208
--
Tom Klingler
Tom Klingler
"Tom McCune" <tom@DELETE_THISmccune.cc> wrote in message
news:UtvSa.151043$8B.3...@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
> tomkl...@neo.rr.com (Tom Klingler) wrote in
> news:tomklingler-20...@192.168.2.34:
>
> > OK.....thanks to all for your advice so far....Now I'm thinking about
> > the all-night trains and my 8 year old being awake all night. I'm now
> > recalling similar posts about this park a couple years ago.
>
> We slept great - even my wife who clearly remembers the trains. In fact,
> the first night there, was the best I had slept in a long time.
>
> > Well, I really want to get to Chautauqua this summer. It's only 150
> > miles from our house and I've never been there.
> >
> > A little research turned up Camp Chautauqua: www.campchautauqua.com
> > High Woodalls ratings. Said to be award-winning and in the top-10
> > family campgrounds in the country.
> >
> > I know I'll probably be sacrificing the views, but.........anyone have
> > any advice on Camp Chautauqua??
> <snip>
>
> My son who chose Lake Erie State Park for us is actually home today, for
> a wedding this afternoon. When he is up, I'll ask if Camp Chautauqua was
> one he checked out.
>
> --
> Tom McCune
> http://www.McCune.cc
> Please use PGP for Privacy & Authenticity
.BitHead.
Can't speak to that one.
I was just down that way a few weeks ago, however, (My kid was camping
at a private place down that way), and so I have a few suggestions for
while you're there.
1: Long Point State Park. It's on 430, about 8 or 9 mileswest of the
Bemus Pt exit off I86/NY17. It's a day use park; no camping that I'm
aware of. But its worth a stop.
2: There's a nifty little amusement park, called Midway park. They
even have a nice little website. THe park has been around since around
1900.
http://www.midway-park.com/
3: If you like fishing, bring your gear. The muskies are huge... The
restrictions as I gather it are that they ahve to be 40in long for you
to keep 'em.
Here's a site of a palce we drobe by and found interesting. We have it
bookmarked because we wanted to take a closer look. Can't say I've
camped there yet, however.
http://www.chautauquahgts.com/maps.html
(also) http://www.gocampingamerica.com/chautauqua/
.BitHead.
<tom@DELETE_THISmccune.cc> wrote:
>"Tom Klingler" <tomkl...@neo.rr.com> wrote in news:7QHSa.14856
>$ib2.3...@twister.neo.rr.com:
>
>> Thanks......hope to hear his advice....
>>
>> Tom Klingler
>
>John wasn't able to help with this. He checked out a number of locations,
>but thinks this was just outside the radius he was using.
Another thought; Have you consdier Presque Isle, outside Erie? Never
been there, but have it on my to do list based on some reports I've
seen.
Resp K
right on chautauqua lake. Has its own docks and launch. Campground is
very well kept. showers are very clean and worked well. A fair amount of
activities for kids and adults. Nice pool with lifeguard who actually
told people to stop doing things they shouldn't. Sites were nice of a
medium size. We stayed in the woods but they do have more open areas.
This past weekend was christmas in july. Several of the permanents and
some of the weekenders decorated and the campground did a fair amount of
decorations for the weekend. Fairly quiet but on Friday night there were
two groups that were too loud. I could easily hear what they were
playing on the radio even though they were 150-200 feet away. Also, that
night one of their party came in at 11PM and acted as if it was 5pm.
Stereo blaring kids running around yelling and screaming. About
45minutes later though someone did come along and tell them to keep it
down. Saturday night there were no problems. Everything was nice and
quiet. No loud radios, etc. It appeared that the management took care of
the problem.
They have a great fishing pond. Only small stuff but my kids spent hours
fishing there and had a great time.
One downside was that while they had a playground and basketball they
didn't really have a big field where you could go and play catch or kick
a ball around. The one flat grassy spot that they had was used as
overflow for the boat launch parking and was pretty much full on the
weekend.
All in all it was a good campground, the permanents are kept up well. It
would be especially good if you are into boating.
Midway is great for kids the right age as the rides are mostly aimed at
the younger ones, under 10 I would say. I used to go there as a kid so
it was fun to take mine back there now.
If you like a little hiking, try Panama Rocks. My kids loved exploring
and climbing all over the rocks. But be warned it isn't a place to just
let them run.