Wilmington Notch Campground

Please see Sam N.‘s review– I have most of the same complaints. This is the by far the worst NYS campground I have ever stayed in. That being said, it was still convenient to Lake Placid and we just needed to crash for a night. Additional grievances with the sites:
— No one was patrolling the sites during quiet hours. At 1:00 am there was still a rowdy site across the way from us.
— When we got to our site, we realized our picnic table was at the site next door. That has never happened to me before. Those are not «normal» picnic tables, they are heavy.
— Oh and then we realized our picnic table had glass all over it.
— Sam N. listed this, but it’s worth repeating: Why was there no hand soap in the bathroom?
I think we would have been better off just setting camp up in the woods.

Camground is run down and needs a major renovation. Bathrooms need to be completely re-​built. Paint peeling off floors, hooks missing from walls, no hand driers and dirty. The floor wasn’t swept once in the three days we were there, showers were so bad we opted to use wipes and not even use the shower! Cob webs were behind the stall doors and even saw a cockroach! Fire pits are all worn out and crumbling and the grates are broken. Sites #39, 41. 42. 48 and 49 are the best. Others are close together and many have no shade. Wouldn’t stay here again!,

Pro: Cheap, about 10 – 20 minutes to everything in Lake Placid region. AMAZING waterfall directly on the campground. It’s a steep 5 minute hike, but it’s so worth it!
Con: Absolutely NO privacy or even delineation between campsites. Bathrooms are pretty run down with no soap, towels, or even hand driers.
Think of it like an open field with dirt areas that show you where folks before you have pulled into a «campsite.» The fire pits are literally 2 – 3 feet from the campground roads, and your pit is directly in line with your neighbor’s fire pit across the road. You’re basically forced to stare straight ahead at other campers (who are about 10 – 12 feet in front of you). There’s no trees or bushes between campsites so you have no privacy whatsoever. It worked for our needs, but I might check out the other state campground in Lake Placid next time.

Good campsite with everything you need. The staff is nice and helpful when they are around. Right next to a beautiful river and falls as well as whiteface mountain. Also 15 mins from lake placid and right on the ironman bike course. Only con is that the campsites are very close together and it is not very private.

We stayed here because it was close to Lake Placid. (~10 minute drive) Unfortunately, Wilmington Notch is not on par with other NYSDEC campgrounds. We stayed at site 29 and we initially were unable to locate it. The reason for this was because it was the only site that did not have a sign. After setting up our site, we got the sense that we paid to get a small patch of ground but nothing more… One thing I personally did enjoy was the sound of the Ausable river in the background but unfortunately that was about it
Unfortunately there were numerous things that we felt disappointed about…
— Site boundaries were also not clearly distinguished.
— There is virtually ZERO privacy between sites. No bushes or trees.
— Facilities were not in good shape
— No dish washing station
— No handsoap in the bathrooms (I know its camping but if you have bathrooms, there should be soap)
— For some reason, there were tons of flies everywhere (could be that we were close to the river)
— Little to no shade cover if you are staying in the inner loop
— Day use area was tiny
— Difficult to to spot when driving along Route 86
Overall, not a pleasant stay for us. We usually enjoy camping in NYS campgrounds because there is a certain quality to them. Unfortuantely, Wilmongton Notch did not display any of this.