Fish Creek Pond Campground — Hotel in Town of Santa Clara

Down below you will find my original review on the campground. Been coming here since I was a little girl with my parents. This year was really disheartening. It is increasingly harder to book sites through RV America, always so many empty sites in the park when you arrive…. You spend your entire time there to see that many of the sites weren’t ever occupied in the whole week we were there…. Which leads me to wonder why the heck I had to camp with my parents this year because we couldn’t get a site of our own. It seems as though it’s mostly teenagers working there now and I very rarely saw adult camp staff. They have gotten very lenient on park rules, and the park speed limit may as well not even exist as some people fly through the campground at 35 mph. The bathrooms for the sites by the boat launch were disgusting. The toilets were leaking water all over the floors and you needed muck boots to walk through there and not get toilet water all over you. The bathrooms were just filthy in general. Toilet paper all over the place, rolls of toilet paper laying in water puddles. Nasty toilet seats and no one knows how to flush apparently. So many bugs spiders and giant webs in the windows. And so many air fresheners that it truly just smelled awful. You could smell it from the road. The “pollinator garden” in front of the shower house looked absolutely disgusting. It looked over green with weeds and just unkempt and uncared for. The shower house was always gross too. Hair all over. People leave their shower stuff behind all over too. I wish people would take better care of this campground when visiting and I wish the state and park workers put a little more effort into it as well. And let’s fix the reservation issue…… I added this years photos of the bathroom floor and the shower house weed garden.

Fish creek is the best campground in the adirondacks. I'm a fifth generation camper at fish creek and I know bring my children as well. Very clean. Sites well cared for. Lots of great weekend activities. Lake side sites are beautiful. Love the ice cream truck that comes around. Nice bike trail around the lake. All in all a great place to camp.... so great that it's hard to get sites even in advance. Everyone is always here to book...

Beautiful place to camp (we tent camp specifically). I believe all if not most spots are right on the lake. They do an excellent job of making sure each site is comfortable and clean for each guest. There are just enough brush/ trees in between each site. The bathrooms are spread out nicely so you don’t have to walk very far at all. There is also water spout access sites throughout the campground.

They are dog friendly, which we love but make sure your dog is up to date on shots and you have your paperwork with you!

We bring our kayaks and bikes each time we visit so there is always something to do. You can also rent boats and have them delivered to your camp site. They have a small beach with a life guard that is clean and nice for the kids (although you can swim right in the lake at your site if you choose). There is also a nice playground area for the children, my son loves it there.

They have an adorable tradition of all the neighbors (campers) around the lake calling out to each other at night fall, before quiet hours. Each neighbor takes a turn of calling out “Youuuuuhooooo” back and forth. For the most part, the quiet hours are respected. We have have visited about 4-5 times and never had much of an issue with noise, for the most part everyone seems very respectful.

I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because we have always found the showers to be horrible. They are free which is a plus... but there is no way to regulate the temperature. It’s preset and depending on what time of the day you either get a really hot shower (too hot for my 3 year old) or freezing cold. It’s really a bummer. Also the showers and shower room is pretty gross. I never feel comfortable bathing in there. Everything is soaking wet or gross, which makes putting on dry clothes for the evening a task.

Obviously the shower situation has not stopped us from visiting and enjoying the campground, it’s just a small downfall or an otherwise gorgeous little campsite! We plan to be back for years to come, booking reservations well in advanced because they...

Very much the lakeside camping experience ideal if you want to waterski, wakeboard, Jet ski, etc with your family. If you're into paddle sports or seeking peace and quiet then you may want to go to Rollins Pond instead due to wakes, generators and general busy vibe. The groups to each side of us had been coming every year for decades. Despite all the kids and motorized gear the nights are very quiet and the loon calls are impressive. The camp sites completely surround the three-pond facility which leads to a charming dusk tradition of groups calling out "YOU WHO!" and waiting for a reply from across the lake. Many sites are big enough for 30ft+ trailers but no hookups. Sites are wooded but not so heavily that the shade is chilly. Bathrooms are close to all sites but shower building, and trash dumpster corral (only one of each for the 335 sites) is a 10 minute drive from the far-end sites. Don't worry about the showers since you will be in the lake a lot :). If you set a tent, watch the drainage since summer downpours can fill the area you thought was flat with inches of water that could flood your tent. The Trading Post store is 2 minutes by car and 5 minutes by bike from either gate and has it all, from ice to daily (except MON) BBQ (order a day ahead to insure you get what you want), great coffee, camping extras like those folding chairs you forgot to pack, souvenirs, fishing stuff, 2nd hand paperbacks, and so on. Groceries in Tupper Lake is 15 minutes, Saranac Lake is 25...