Phoenicia Black Bear Campground — Hotel in Town of Shandaken

A visitor's guide to camping at Phoenicia Black Bear Campground

Years ago when we first started our monthly pilgrimages; George the owner gave us three rules: First, Be kind and good to your neighbors, we're packed in tight here.

Second, Don't burn down my Campground. That says it all.

Third, Buy and burn only Catskill preserve, NY-DEP approved wood from the office, We will not loose our license or our trees from bugs that foreign wood brings in.

If the first thing you do after setting up camp is NOT walking over to say, "Howdy neighbor! how are you guys doing?" This might not be the campground for you.

If sharing food and beers around the fire with neighbored camps that you have just met, is not your thing. This might not be the campground for you.

If taking a shower when you get home and meeting friends that you will see visiting again years later and sharing great stories and hiking and fishing and never moving your car for the whole trip; this may be the campground for you.

The owners George and Linda treat their visitors to this private gem, will ALWAYS treat you like an adult, IF you act like an adult.

If you run out of ice or beer or it's raining and you're walking to town for pizza this is the campground for you. Just as fantastic is hooking up a trout on a fly, while still watching your food cook on the fire pit.

Step one manage your expectations You ARE camping! This is not a cabin rental on Air BnB, in the woods by yourself. You will camping within the city confines of the town of Phoenicia, New York. You will see cars. There is no Camp store for ice or food because the supermarket is a five-minute walk away.

This is laid out as a very social Campground. Expect to meet and know your neighbors well. You are walking distance to three bars and restaurants, supermarkets, Gas Station, Cafe, hiking trail and some of the best fly-fishing you'll ever come across.

This will not, nor ever will be wilderness camping. sitting so close to the confines of the town allows for very little area for your tent but allows for something very special and Quite different. That's why people come up year after year; to get away.

Linda the other owner and wife to George; will ask you when booking about your camping experience and intent. This is a real and truthful question, as many people will come up in groups of 20 or more to party all night since there are NO fixed quiet hours in parts of the campground.

The campground is broken down into three distinct parts: Nearer to the entrance is all of the seasonal/yearly rentals and family camping. this is a very "quiet Zone" surrounding the owners Lodge-like house that sits in the center of the camp.

The far extremities of the campground are basically made for group sites of young Partiers. you may encounter groups of twenty or more out from the city to get together with friends especially on the MASSIVELY packed holiday weekends.

In-between these two distinct areas, lie a buffer zone. for campers who want a quiet getaway but may want to spend a late evening around the fire. Again, manage expectations.

Spring, Fall and late winter camping provides almost no opportunity to see another camper.

Summer holiday weekends you should expect lines of people walking to-and-fro, sharing beers and food or queded up; waiting for a shower with their neighbors in a very friendly fashion.

Catching brown or rainbow trout is easy right on the campground's grounds with a full 1000 ft of private river access. But make no mistake there may be some people sitting on the Rocks while you're casting your fly-line, drinking a beer.

This is a gem of the Catskill region, if you know what you're getting into; this is both a Wilderness and a city experience at the same time.

If we're there, we'll be on site 22 or abouts; come over share a story, borrow a hiking map and crack a beer with us and enjoy this Gem of the...

Campers beware!!! We arrived at Black Bear Campground around 2pm in the afternoon, 2nd weekend of Oct. My friend has a medium-sized trailer and was concerned that the driveway looked narrow. The owner came out to the street and told her not to worry, there's plenty of room. Just back up and pull in...he would check for cars. She went to back up, and the car behind us hits the horn! This was a prelude to the cavalier, MIA attitude of the proprietor! The campground is in a nice spot, right on the Esopus. Since it was off-season, there weren't many campers or tents, other than the permanent, I guess seasonal ones. This campground has seen better days. George the owner checked us in for three nights, cash only. My friend asked if he would take the deposit off the total, since it was already charged to her card. He said you get it credited after you check out. We asked why. He said for security reasons: He has had people burning picnic tables and such. We are seniors, youthful, but seniors nonetheless. We weren't going to be breaking up any picnic tables or raising a ruckus! My friend asked for a receipt. He shuffled around behind the counter, couldn't find his receipt booklet (mmm-hmmm) said he would drop it off the next day. But WE had to sign a 50+ rules contract, which was comical! Btw, never got the receipt. The campsite was nice, right on the river, but very close to the next campsite. We drove into Phoenicia, bc it was raining...it is within walking distance. The next day, the office was closed, so no bundles of wood to buy! Luckily, in town there was a self-serve wood hut, with a drop box for cash. We got wood, and checked out the town, which is very cool and chill, and dog-friendy. Came back, office closed. The owner's vehicle had just pulled up to his house. The people next to us asked him for wood, he said he'd give it to them tomorrow! Was off-season, but very poor customer service all around, imho. The bathrooms and showers were really run down. I am no snob, and have bathed in rivers and lakes. The wash station was gross, with the garbage cans overflowing, and the dumpster was locked. We couldn't find the dump station. He told my friend when she called about the deposit that it was near the house. Sign maybe would be nice. It took my friend two phone calls and an email to get her deposit. Read some of the other reviews...glad we went off-season, sounds like a zoo in the summer! I camped in Woodland Valley, state campground, a few years back, which is nearby. They were closed for the season. Otherwise, it is a MUCH nicer campground, wooded privacy between campsites, clean showers, rules enforced, hiking trails right from the campsite, on a small creek. Do yourself a favor, stay there if you want a peaceful camping experience in the summer. This owner seems like he just wants to rake in the money, and based on the negative reviews, doesn't enforce his own rules. I gave an extra star for the location, and close proximity to the town. Otherwise, I wouldn't stay there again. Propeietors should take pride...

After reading the poor reviews for this campground, I thought, “absolutely not”. But public campgrounds were closed due to Covid, I was jonesing to camp, the gorgeous Esopus Creek was tantalizing, and the owner assured me when I called that everyone was required to wear masks when not on their site, and that social distancing measures were in place and enforced. These sound like responsible people, I thought.

We arrived on Friday evening. The place was indeed, as reviews stated, “a parking lot”. The owners themselves set the example of not wearing masks. Twenty-three people in my town are dead from Covid and two friends have buried their parents, so we’re pretty careful. We’d wear our masks and stay on site as much as possible. I saw a total of two people wearing masks the entire time I was there. There was no social distancing in the bathroom. The women’s bathroom was fine; my husband said the men’s bathroom was disgusting—one toilet stopped up, leaving just one available.

Our site was lovely, right on the creek. The two couples in the site adjacent to ours were quiet. The site on the other side of us was empty. We had dinner, sat by the fire, went to bed with the sound of the creek lulling us to sleep. “It’s going to be okay,” we thought.

The next morning we woke up, had breakfast, and headed out past the repulsive “Trump 2020, End the Bullshit” banner (how does that even make sense?), and spent the day hiking the mountains and swimming in the river. Pure bliss.

As we drove toward our site that evening, all the bad reviews came crashing down upon us. The previously empty site next to ours was filled with at least three cars, four tents, and tons of people drinking, screaming at each other, playing music, and walking through our site. One of their tents was a foot from ours. There was no alternative universe where this would end well. We packed up and headed home, learning the lesson of never blowing $140 on a private campsite ever again, pandemic or not. Public state or federal campgrounds are the only way to guarantee a decent experience.

We’ve camped all over the US and Canada, from Maine to Tennessee, from the Smokies to Yosemite to Banff, and I’ve never seen anything remotely like this before. No other campground I’ve ever stayed at has allowed 4 tents and well over a dozen people on a single, small site. Totally inconsiderate to the other campers. Lesson learned. Next time I pick up my pack and head for the hills. PS — the DEC has subsequently opened up Catskill and Adirondack campgrounds, so choose one of those lovely places and support your...