Fahnestock State Park Campground — Hotel in Town of Putnam Valley

Great campground that’s very easily accessible by car from Manhattan. The check-in was quick & simple. Within the campground you’ll find a few separate bathroom facilities each with showers and places to wash dishes. I found the bathrooms to be reasonably clean considering it’s a public campsite in New York. Always stocked with soap and TP. There is drinking water stations within a few yards of most any camp spot. The water tastes fine, there is no need to bring in a dozen gallons of Poland spring water. Sites were very clean, no trash etc. from previous campers. Sites well marked and decent sizes. The two big camping loops where everyone is openly next to each other are hit or miss it seems like. All depends on your neighbors as to the experience you’ll have. There were a ton of kids there during our stay and save a few moments of rowdy kids playing they were very well behaved so can’t complain. Wood bundles were $6 at time of review. There are plenty of easy walking (kind of hiking) trails throughout the area including entrance points to Appalachian Trail just down the highway. Now my biggest complaint- Unfortunately they do not enforce the quiet hours like they say they do. There was a group on a Friday night drunk and partying/yelling/giggling until I woke up and yelled at them to shut up which was about 1:45am! Kept myself and neighbors up all night. Just awful. Some people just don’t get it and are simply very inconsiderate and rude. Guys please don’t go camping if you want to be loud and obnoxious, party all night, etc. Peace and quiet -that’s the whole point of going camping especially when one is so close to NYC, it’s one of few wilderness escapes for people. You can hear the highway but it’s dependent on which site you’re at as to how loud it will sound. I honestly didn’t find it any issue. Dogs were no problem and the many I encountered were well behaved (more so than the drunken campers mentioned) and owners always had them on leashes. No rabies or vaccines were checked like it says they do, but that’s just my one experience. I’d not hesitate going back, it’s a nice...

Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, my partner and I were grateful to Fahnestock State Park for allowing hikers to camp overnight. Arriving around 5 p.m., we swam at the lake and admired a family of geese, who were carefully looking after their chicks. We then went to the bathrooms to change when a park employee asked everyone to exit the park. As we packed up our things, the employee told us we didn’t have to rush, but that the public needed to evacuate, so they wouldn’t be present when the wildlife exterminator arrived to “get rid of the geese.” We were told not to be alarmed if we heard a shotgun being fired. We were also informed that it is “normal” for geese to be killed in parks throughout NY. If innocent beings are killed in public places, the public has a right to know. While visitors can come and go to parks as they please, the geese consider these places their home to raise their babies. We contacted several local rehabilitation services, who said they do in fact relocate and rehabilitate geese. The park staff said they have not considered an alternative to killing. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” ~Dr. Martin...

I camped here last week and loved it! The bathrooms are clean. The showers were hot! They had a heater going in the bathroom so it was warm changing. And the campsite was very spacious. Had a nice picnic table, grill and fire pit. I wish they had a bigger sign for the entrance to find it. And I wish they had a map of the campsite spots so I could find where I was going. Plus my campsite was #10 and it was a bit confusing because reservation had more numbers on it to make confusing. Site:010n loop: 001-28. I was very unsure if I was in the right spot #10 and had a trailer with me so could not drive around looking at the layout for fear of not being able to turn around Overall though, a...