AMC Corman Harriman Outdoor Center — Local services in Town of Haverstraw

Can't say enough good things about the Stephen & Betsy Corman AMC Outdoor Center in Harriman, New York. There are a variety of campsite types for all adventurers - platform tent sites near the primary lodging and amenities as well as backcountry "pack in" sites; very large and roomy lean-to shelters; and cabins of all sizes. The camp store is a great resource for a limited selection of snacks and beverages in addition to AMC t-shirts and sweat shirts, hiking shoelaces, emergency blankets, etc. for outdoor activities. ||||The waterfront is INCREDIBLE. Depending on the day, they may have a lifeguard, but regardless there is a large covered pavilion with picnic tables on the beachfront swimming area for eating and resting, a small stretch of sandy beach with comfortable Adirondack chairs, a stationary dock with a small pool-size cut-out for new swimmers (less than 4' deep) and a roped off 12-15' deep swimming area in the pond with a floating dock to lounge in the sun. The water was amazing during our late June stay. Additionally, there are many canoes and kayaks (as well as required life preservers) for use gratis.||||We chose to purchase breakfast and dinner (box lunch also available) and the meals were gourmet and delicious. Breakfasts consisted of bagels, homemade thick sliced sourdough bread, some sort of potato hash (one morning was peppers/onions, the other with black beans), seasoned scrambled eggs and a fruit selection. Rotating items were yogurt and granola, vegetarian and pork sausage, peppered bacon, pancakes and French toast with warm syrup. Coffee, hot tea and water were available all day in the Dining Hall. Dinner included a meat dish, vegetarian pasta dish, vegan dish, veggie side, soup, mixed green salad with maple balsamic dressing, more sourdough, and hot pie (were told prior evening was ice cream). Many items were also gluten free. My picky husband ate EVERYTHING, even items he wouldn't normally eat like beets and lemon quinoa. I wouldn't recommend dinner for children that have plain palates, though my child (who did not join us) would have eaten most of the items. If you purchase a meal plan, go early because they do run out of popular dishes.||||I went with my husband, but there were lots of young groups of friends, outdoor enthusiast groups and families in the cabins and at the backcountry sites. If you stay at a backcountry site you cannot take a wagon because the path is narrow and the terrain is rocky and rolling in places. If worse comes to worse the office will allow you to borrow a backpack, from what I understand. Backcountry sites are all platforms with a shared fire ring, bear box and a composting toilet that is well-stocked with toilet paper and sanitizer. If you manage to lug a cooler out there it will likely not fit in the bear box as our neighbors discovered.||||We stayed at Boulder Canyon, and though the website says it is 0.25 miles, it is actually slightly more than 0.5 miles. Not a problem for us, but our three neighbors were young families vacationing together and I have no idea how they managed to bring everything to the site. I overheard two families that stayed together at the Bear Ledge site saying they would never stay backcountry again with their young children because it was too difficult bringing everything (their small children couldn't carry much). Just a consideration, certainly not meant to discourage. Many, many families stayed in cabins near the main area, so overall it's a very family friendly atmosphere, but kids were not noisy and everyone was respectful and polite.||||Other items of note - parking is not nearby, so keep that in mind if you need to drive anywhere; the bathhouses have two showers apiece for men and women, so plan accordingly time-wise; definitely take a walk and/or paddle around the large pond. It is beautiful and serene. Please, please visit and tell...

Can't say enough good things about the Stephen & Betsy Corman AMC Outdoor Center in Harriman, New York. There are a variety of campsite types for all adventurers - platform tent sites near the primary lodging and amenities as well as backcountry "pack in" sites; very large and roomy lean-to shelters; and cabins of all sizes. The camp store is a great resource for a limited selection of snacks and beverages in addition to AMC t-shirts and sweat shirts, hiking shoelaces, emergency blankets, etc. for outdoor activities. ||||The waterfront is INCREDIBLE. Depending on the day, they may have a lifeguard, but regardless there is a large covered pavilion with picnic tables on the beachfront swimming area for eating and resting, a small stretch of sandy beach with comfortable Adirondack chairs, a stationary dock with a small pool-size cut-out for new swimmers (less than 4' deep) and a roped off 12-15' deep swimming area in the pond with a floating dock to lounge in the sun. The water was amazing during our late June stay. Additionally, there are many canoes and kayaks (as well as required life preservers) for use gratis.||||We chose to purchase breakfast and dinner (box lunch also available) and the meals were gourmet and delicious. Breakfasts consisted of bagels, homemade thick sliced sourdough bread, some sort of potato hash (one morning was peppers/onions, the other with black beans), seasoned scrambled eggs and a fruit selection. Rotating items were yogurt and granola, vegetarian and pork sausage, peppered bacon, pancakes and French toast with warm syrup. Coffee, hot tea and water were available all day in the Dining Hall. Dinner included a meat dish, vegetarian pasta dish, vegan dish, veggie side, soup, mixed green salad with maple balsamic dressing, more sourdough, and hot pie (were told prior evening was ice cream). Many items were also gluten free. My picky husband ate EVERYTHING, even items he wouldn't normally eat like beets and lemon quinoa. I wouldn't recommend dinner for children that have plain palates, though my child (who did not join us) would have eaten most of the items. If you purchase a meal plan, go early because they do run out of popular dishes.||||I went with my husband, but there were lots of young groups of friends, outdoor enthusiast groups and families in the cabins and at the backcountry sites. If you stay at a backcountry site you cannot take a wagon because the path is narrow and the terrain is rocky and rolling in places. If worse comes to worse the office will allow you to borrow a backpack, from what I understand. Backcountry sites are all platforms with a shared fire ring, bear box and a composting toilet that is well-stocked with toilet paper and sanitizer. If you manage to lug a cooler out there it will likely not fit in the bear box as our neighbors discovered.||||We stayed at Boulder Canyon, and though the website says it is 0.25 miles, it is actually slightly more than 0.5 miles. Not a problem for us, but our three neighbors were young families vacationing together and I have no idea how they managed to bring everything to the site. I overheard two families that stayed together at the Bear Ledge site saying they would never stay backcountry again with their young children because it was too difficult bringing everything (their small children couldn't carry much). Just a consideration, certainly not meant to discourage. Many, many families stayed in cabins near the main area, so overall it's a very family friendly atmosphere, but kids were not noisy and everyone was respectful and polite.||||Other items of note - parking is not nearby, so keep that in mind if you need to drive anywhere; the bathhouses have two showers apiece for men and women, so plan accordingly time-wise; definitely take a walk and/or paddle around the large pond. It is beautiful and serene. Please, please visit and tell...

This relatively new operation opened in a few years ago after the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) took over and refurbished the facilities of a former Boy Scout camp. It's only a short distance from New York City, and for people who are there to enjoy outdoor activities and comfortable with basic amenities. There's a variety of accommodations, ranging from small cabin rooms with bunk beds, tent platforms, and tent camp sites. ||||A few of the cabin rooms include bathrooms, but these tend to be highly sought and hard to reserve. There are separate shower/toilet facilities buildings that are generally used by most folks. The facility we used near our cabin was clean, well-maintained, and seem only lightly used. We never saw more than one or two people present during the wash-up morning/evening times we were in there, perhaps because there were other such facility buildings elsewhere on the property that were used by some of the large groups also present.||||During our July 2017 visit, we stayed in an elevated cabin with a lake view. The cabin had 2 rooms, each with a set of bunk beds and a common sitting/staging area, so could be shared by two sets of people. The interior looks new, done walls and floors entirely in light-color pine. There's a porch with chairs are just outside the door, a nice place to sit and enjoy a beer at the end of a day. During our most of a week stay, my spouse and I were the only people in that cabin, so we used the second room just to hold some of our cargo bags and outdoor gear. The cabin entrance door has a lock.||||Breakfast is included with the room rate, but dinner is optional and can be reserved for each evening. Trail lunches can be ordered at breakfast for the day. Sit-down meals are in a large dining area in the main building, family style, on long tables with bench sitting. The dinners are quite good and plentiful in my view, all you can eat. Having dinner at the lodge is convenient as it a takes a while to drive to a town that has more restaurants choices. Over the years and various visits, we've experienced the same good meals at the AMC Joe Dodge Lodge (Pinkham Notch, NH) and during our week-long AMC August Camp stays out West, and the Harriman Center is not any different.||||There's basically no cell phone service around the lodge property. While cell phone service can be spotty in mountainous areas, one can sometimes get service on the parts of access road and main area roads, just have to check whether there's a signal at any particular spot. Wi-Fi is...