Cranberry Lake Campground — Hotel in Town of Clifton

Just came back from a 3-night stay at Cranberry Lake Campground. We stayed on site 140 which was perfect for our 30 foot travel trailer. We had tons of privacy on the right side and a decent amount of privacy to the left. There was nothing but woods behind us and nothing in front. Across the street from our site was a nice threaded water spigot so we were able to add water. This was a good feature since there is only 1 bathhouse on the entire campround (with about 8 shower stalls for women and 8 shower stalls for men). I did not use the shower (opted to use my own shower instead), but was told by our friend that the showers were clean, the water was hot and the pressure was great! We did not have a water site, but walked our 2 shepherds around the different loops and saw some very nice water sites. We took a hike up Bear Mountain. I would highly recommend the following. If you are looking for a more tranquil, less strenuous hike (but longer), take the trail head that starts at the opening of the campground. It is more of a switchback and will bring you up easier and then when you get to the top, just turn around and go back the same way. We didn't know that and opted to walk up the mountain at the trail head located in Loop 4. It was a steep pitch up the mountain. We then took the other trail down. It took us about 2 hours in total, but we stopped several times for pictures and to give our dogs water. The view right before the summit was the BEST. Pictures are attached. I did not give 5 stars because of only having 1 bathhouse. So really, my rating is like a 4.8. Also, we had a mid-aged couple (no kids, not elderly) who complained to the ranger when our dogs barked when our other friends arrived with their dog. Literally, the dogs barked for about 20 seconds and within 15 minutes, the ranger came and told us to make sure we kept the noise to a minimum (this was at 4:30 p.m.). The park ranger then came by at about 9:30 pm., when we were playing cards at our picnic table, just to remind us about the 10:00 p.m., quiet time rule. It was irritating. My husband and our friends are in our late 40's - early 50's. There does need to be a balance between having a good time and being a police state. That really was my only complaint about...

This was such a great place to take my kids. If your parents who tire of getting zoned out in from of the television and other electronic devices and desperately want to reconnect with your kids... this is the place.

I first made reservations in March and picked my site. I pulled in a few weeks ago and most of the campsites were for RV’s (I only have a tent and I needed a little less gravel) so I scoped out a few places and went back to the front office. They switched me with no problem.

I knew before hand there was no playground so I decided to pack the bikes and went to the 5 below store and got a few 5$ games (washer toss, trampoline ball, that sticky velcro ball game). The campsite was big enough to play all three at one time. The kids and I had such a great time just playing cards riding bikes etc.

Security was great. Some idiot did fireworks on Fourth of July and they were right on it. The place is completely covered with trees so please don’t bring any... but they were also great about getting the bear off campus without any freaking out... we were two camp sites away and didn’t hear a peep!! Lol if you’re afraid now don’t go camping in the Adirondacks! Remember to lock your food in the car or camper and don’t leave your coolers full of beer out and they will leave you alone.

The hike was good but we couldn’t see much at the summit but if you just like hiking for excersize and fun then the trail head is right in the campground. Plenty of other trailheads around the area as well but I had a 3 yr old with me and some of them were a little more challenging.

The beach was small but not over crowded and we were there 4 our of the 5 days. The back loops are a little far and we biked it once... we decided to drive after that. But it was clean and the water was really refreshing.

Overall this was a great place to kayak and just relax and enjoy being with your family and friends. Campsites were spacious so they weren’t right on top. The staff was awesome. Our last day there were elderly people in the site next to us and they couldn’t navigate their walkers very well to get to the bathrooms. The staff happily made a brand new pathway for them. I was super impressed with their wonderful attitudes and friendly conversations.

If I could give them a 6...

Not relevant to the campground but for any backcountry hiker/campers like my self I would say its an amazing place to see, IF anyone camping would actually register and state how long and where they are staying. This would make it was easier for kayakers who are kayaking to an "empty site" 4 miles away and find literally all of them were occupied with unfriendly gestures. Lastly the Buck Island which is private with not a single no trespassing sign was where we were given permission by the sons owner to stay the night due to the circumstances, 2 hours later as the sun is going down the "owner" Bill (who id love to call other names but will not on here) was supposedly a firefighter and saved so many lives, threatened to get his ten family members to come and throw us and our things in the water in a much more aggressive and vulgar way (again I wont use the profanity). In the end he kicked us off and towed us the opposite direction from the launch I was asking to go to in order to get to my vehicle as it was 10pm and my girlfriend and I were soaked from him making us swim to his boat (apparently our only option at this point). He towed us 4 miles in the opposite direction i had asked to go numerous times and would not turn around. So we were at dark campsight with no light or fire, my girlfriend and I had to make the decision to kayake roughly 6 miles in the dark where thankfully an amazing family, the man whos name was given/remembered Don pulled us out of the water along with many other gracious and wonderful people invited us into thier home helped us dry off and gave us a ride to our vehicle. Very thankful as we still had 3.5 miles further. All and all I will never visit there again, other than to give a gift to my new friends Don...