Schodack Island State Park — Attraction in Town of Schodack

We stopped here for one night on our way home from a long trip — I didn't know it existed before this, but it came up when I was searching for camping in the area & as NY residents, it was way cheaper to stay at than the park we were looking at just over the border in Massachusetts. Definitely not one I would have gone out of my way to stay at, but trust me, we happened upon a hidden gem.

This is a tiny state park on an island in the Hudson River. As you enter, there are two bridges you'll pass under — one for cars, the other for trains.

Upon arrival (9:30ish pm) the night watchman came around to our site to welcome us & answer any questions. We managed to get our tent up just before quiet hours. A train went over just after I transferred our 20mo from carseat to tent, and it was pretty loud, which got me nervous...I didn't want to play jack in the box every time a train passed over, which turned out to be at least once an hour. Thankfully the toddler acclimated to the noise and slept through unbothered, but if you have a light sleeper, be aware.

Our campsite was closer to others than I like, but still felt relatively private thanks to shrubbery all around the edges and had plenty of space for our 6 person tent.

We bought firewood from the park & they delivered it to us — the staff were all friendly!

The bathrooms in this park's campground are immaculate. The showers are the nicest of any State Park campground we've stayed at this year, which is quite a few. Clean, brightly lit, lots of space. I loved the little free library along the side and the playground just behind. I didn't get a good look at the playground but my husband said it looked "probably overpriced for what it was, but decent."

I wish we'd had time to explore, but it's okay because we'll probably be back. Thank...

I am reviewing the grounds as a tent camper, and not as a RV owner.

Pros:

1. the camp sites are a good size and our site was nice and flat.

2. the shower buildings and bathrooms are mostly clean. There was one out of order bathroom that was clogged and didn’t get fixed for the weekend over Labor Day and was a little smelly. But we saw staff clean bathroom a few times a day.

3. the playground is very nice. The zip line is a nice touch.

4. the kids had fun fishing in the river. They got biters but didn’t catch anything but they are not experienced fishermen.

5. roads are paved and great for biking.

6. the office is responsive and they will deliver ice and firewood to your campsite

7. the shower building and bathrooms weren’t busy at all because most campers have their own RV’s. We were glad since we expected the Labor Day weekend to be a busy time for the camp site.

Cons:

1. you can’t make the water in the shower stay on for more than 16 seconds. I hit the button 20 times to get fully showered. At least the water gets hot.

2. the lack of tall trees for shade at our site on the creek side loop

3. the freight trains honk continuously when they pass through at night. It’s hard to fall asleep!

4. the utility sink is small for washing and there’s no garbage can near it for the food scraps. But I guess it helps because you don’t what food laying in it. At another campsite, they would entry the food trash next to the utility sink. You can’t really wash dishes because the water is lukewarm. We waited until our griddle was cooled down completely and scraped the food off instead.

5. You can’t get firewood after 4:00 pm.

6. we did a trail but it was just ok....

Our experience at Schodack Island State Park was excellent. Our campsite was large enough to fit our 30' trailer, our truck with plenty of room to move around as well as room for the fire pit and large picnic table, of which someone was really thinking when they built the table by having one end of the tabletop extend beyond the seating part so something (a camp stove or, in our case, a 5 gallon water jug) could sit on the end. Genius! And appreciated. Sites were private with foliage growing between most sites.

The bathrooms were always clean and it appears they clean them twice a day - morning and night. There were signs on the doors suggesting that if you find it in need of attending to, call a given phone number. I've never seen that anywhere else I've camped.

There was a playground a sensible distance behind the bathhouse that they had 2 or 3 staff members raking for a couple days to keep it clean and inviting.

Firewood was dry and available for a much more reasonable rate than the other NY campground we spent time at - 3 decent sized bundles for $15 compared to a regular sized bundle for $10. They delivered it right to your campsite. They also sold ice.

While I do recognize that this campground was smaller than the other one, and thus not as busy, I feel they went above and beyond to keep their campground clean and appealing.

A sign that said bears live here was a good reminder that even in New York there there are spots remote and wild enough for bear to live. They asked that if you saw a bear to please report it to other campers as well as the camp staff. Thoughtful.

Kudos to the staff at Schodack...