Sleepy Hollow Lake — Hotel in Town of Newstead

We went to this campsite once last camping season in 2017. It was great... for a weekend. So we decided to come back for a seasonal site. I decided I wanted a secluded area, I asked about a spot that is not normally a campsite, the owner was great! He let me take the spot I asked for. When I picked this spot it was still snowing. When It came time for camping season and the snow was cleared, I noticed that there was glass everywhere. No big deal, I’ll clean it up. This was after all the spot I asked for. So after a few weekends of picking up glass and cleaning up my site, we were all set. Now with our work schedules we can not camp as much as we’d like, so we are not there every weekend. We came back early in the season to notice 2 of our 8ft chest (storage/seating) around the fire pit were gone. Someone stole them and everything inside. When I went to the desk about it, they didn’t seem to care they said they would “write a note”. Again, ok, this was the spot I wanted and the camp is not or SHOULDNT be responsible for those types of things. Maybe an I’m sorry that happened to you would have been nice, but regardless, no biggie. We won’t do that again. Then once the foliage started coming in we noticed a huge vine of poison ivy growing up the tree where our fire pit was. After talking to Frank (a guy who works there) and he was a great guy. He sent someone to come spray it. Needless to say it was all around our camper, long story short, kids couldn’t play in the woods. Again, I picked this spot, I shouldn’t complain. Well as the season goes on, it’s a hot summer. I was told the pool would be opened at the start of the season, come to find out there was a few hiccups... the pool didn’t open until the weekend after the 4th of July. Well, at least there is a pond right??!! There sure is. Especially if you want to worry about your children getting wrapped up in seaweed, this is the center of the campsite. This pond was disgusting. Overgrown, not maintained, and even looked horrible. If you like to fish, then this is NOT the campsite for you! Good luck finding one spot in the entire pond where you won’t get snagged with seaweed. Now back to my campsite.... I had went back to these old campers that the park kept as storage next to mine for some wood I kept back there. I noticed that a window was broken from one of them and called Frank. Just to give him a heads up that there were probably some kids throwing rocks. Well a couple weekends after that, I have a couple friends over during a BBQ, and was accused of breaking the windows. Now if you had any common sense, I had just called a couple weeks ago to let the park know that windows were broken. I have 2 kids, and am a 14 year combat veteran with multiple deployments. My idea of fun is not smashing a window. If I wanted to be destructive, my job allows me to be a lot more destructive then to smash a window next to where my children play. I was offended and felt attacked when they questioned me about it. Also the owners daughters husband apparently almost hit my 4 year old on her bike because he was driving recklessly in the park. I was not there for that but my wife was pretty upset when she told me and that’s not something someone would make up. My wife went to camp another weekend without me, and noticed that people were hooked up to our power (that seasonals pay for) and also using our hose line with a splitter. If you look at almost every other review it all comes back to people and staff being rude and ignorant. This is the owners daughter who is very arrogant! She gets super defensive and is just blatantly rude. I’m sure she will have a response to this, and be able to “justify” this whole review. There is just so much more that I can not even type, looking at how long this is I’m sure the only person reading all of it will be her. I feel bad for the owner who is a great guy, because when his knucklehead children take over, people will never come back. I would absolutely NOT recommend this...

We stay at Sleepy Hollow from 7/6/18 to 7/8/18 but because it was the holiday weekend we paid $147.00 for 3 night minimum which was not to bad. It was short notice on our part but Sleepy Hollow had space for our 26 foot toy hauler on lot 56. When I got to our camping spot with very little markings other than the camp map they gave me at the floor office and help from passers by, we found out that the lot numbers are marked on the electric boxes, but the boxes are mounted on the back side of the pole. After looking at the lot there was no way I could have backed into this spot and I called the front office and asked if we could take the lot right next door which they said was fine. That evening after getting settled in and hooked up I went to take a shower. Yes there was a bathroom/shower room very close to us but not the greatest and not very clean, with 4 showering stalls but only 2 had shower heads. The other 2 just had copper pipes hanging on the walls. but there was hot water after waiting a few minutes to get to the shower head. Showered and dried off, dressed and looked for a bench or chair to sit on to tie my shoes but there wasn't any. The fire pit was just a bunch of broken bricks in a circle and looked awful. The road lighting at night is very bad, so bad that my wife nick named it Creepy Hollow. The seasonal camper next to us had all kinds of stuff piled up behind his shed that made our site not so appealing, very nice people but messy. The speed limit in the camp ground is 5 mph but all weekend golf carts and cars whipped by and covered both my truck and my wife's car with dirt. It was a stone roadway, but even the camp employee's had dust clouds when they went by. Golf carts would go by with really loud music playing that took away with your peaceful evening. The pool rules are a bit much that for every child under 16 years old must have a adult to watch them and no drinks pool side, not even a bottle of water as you sit in the hot sun watching your child. I understand that we are what's called weekenders and Sleepy Hollow has many seasonal campers that I think they like, but if they want to keep their weekender's also they need to do a better job with many things around their camp grounds. Put benches or even a few chairs in the shower rooms. Enforce the speed limits better and golf carts playing super loud music. Clean up your camp sites better Do something about the lighting of roadways, not everyone has a golf cart with lights. Rules are Rules but adjust them so people can relax and enjoy themselves while there. Mark you camp site lots better to make it easier to find your site.

Yes it was quiet and peaceful way back in the woods for the most part but unless I hear from friends that things have changes I don't think we...

We have been camping at Sleepy Hollow Lake for nearly 11 years. We have watched the transformation of this campground develop into one of the most beautiful places for friends and family to gather in that time frame. With both seasonal and transitional sites available, it can meet the desired needs of almost anyone including tent campers. The campground sits on what used to be a former rock quarry and has a large lake in the center that contains catch and release fish along with other aquatic life including snapping turtles. You can rent canoes and paddle boats or you can bring your own and launch them from the open shore line. The water is treated in the lake so swimming is a popular pastime and the campground maintains a large beach area for sunbathers. For those of you who are more of the cement pond type, SHL has a beautiful swimming pool with plenty of area around the pool for sunbathing and gathering. When you enter the grounds of SHL campground, you are treated to a beautifully landscaped area and you will notice a petting zoo to your left that is owned and maintained by park staff. Adjacent to the petting zoo is a seasonal camping area adorned with beautiful shade trees and can be reached by several gravel roads. The park itself is mostly paved but as the park expands new gravel roads are added. All of the roads are plenty wide enough to handle even the biggest campers on the market. As usual, the entire park has bathroom and shower facilities strategically placed throughout the campground and the roads are all bicycle approved so bring your helmets, especially for children as NYS law requires it. There are several pavilions available for rent and community gatherings and the snack bar is a large indoor facility but currently closed for renovations. Entertainment of some type is usually every weekend and free for the campers. Golf carts are allowed but need to be insured and operated by a licensed driver but check the office for operating rules. The miniature golf course is newly completed and a challenge for anyone, stop by the office for putters and golf ball rental. Sleepy Hollow Lake Campground is family owned and operated for many years and the staff is constantly at work to insure your camping experience is a pleasant one. We are from Maryland and we travel every year to western New York to enjoy this experience and stay for a month. So much to see and do while...