Oakdale, Conn. -
Kevin C. gave us this review on 09/27/08. Dates of Stay: Seasonal. Will You Return? No. What did you camp in? Travel Trailer - Size of Camping Unit: 28
What stood out? We were there for the lake very nice sunsets and good fishing.Thats about it nothing for kids to do beach is all rock and everything is run down.Campground needs total upgrade.Owners do not seem to care.
Owners and Staff: The entire staff is family.They live out of the reck hall.Kids toys and cribs everywhere.It is a big burden to have them do anything from getting ice to filling propane.And do not dare go up during meal time they will only tell you to come back later.
Camp landscaping and surroundings: Roads are in such bad shape you need a tooth guard to drive.After a good rain it gets worse.They will grade the ruts back when they get to it.We were seasonal and responsable for our site.I bought gravel for driveway and loam for lawn and planted seed only to be told no watering of lawns due to well problems.
Good sites: any of the 5 sites on the water Bad sites: Weekend sites no water views some very close to dumpsters
Campsite hookups: primitive tent, electric, water, sewer, Very old Campsite Descriptions: sunny and open, somewhat small, close to the road, Very rocky and apear to have never been raked
Cell Phone Service: Down on the lake it was fine.We would see other come down from hill to make calls so there may be problems up there.
Seasonal Campers and Campsites: cluttered, snobby seasonal campers, too many seasonal sites. We were seasonal but we found most to be snobby.Most are adults very few kids.There seems to be certain groups that hang together.There is alot of drinking and this was brought up to the owners but they never seemed to care.They would all end up down at the lake making noise all hours of the night.We would call up to the owners and know one would pick up.
Clean restrooms and showers? no. Restrooms and showers need updating? yes. Coin-metered showers. Are restrooms accessible from all sites? no. Additional comments on restrooms and showers: We used our own.But when we would meet people we would let them us ours also.The bathroom near lake was bad.Toilet was mixed and matched sink looked like it came out of a bar.
lake, swimming, fishing, boating, boat rentals, docks or moorings, recreation hall, video games, pool table, bingo, playground, theme weekends, kids planned activities, camp store, ice cream, snack bar, pets allowed, laundry room, dumping station, Be carfull swimming lake is all rock.The fishing is great.The reck hall is very old and smells of mold.Bingo is sometimes 1 pm in a very hot boathouse no a.c anywhere.Playscape is over grown with weeds.The dupstation has no water to rinse.The snake bar opens anytime the owners get up no news papers so I would drive to store every morning.
What is nearby? restaurants, grocery stores, retail stores, ocean or lake, The location is great you are close to everything the area has to offer.Ocean,Casinos,Malls
Last comments: We had hoped to save some gas and become seasonal campers.The only day better than getting in was the day we left.The land must be worth alot of money it seems the owners refuse to spend a dime and are maybe planning to develope it.We are back to traveling we spent a ton of money and got a real sour taste.
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Your review is very consistent with reviews on both this web site and the other review web sites. My family took me camping there many times when I was a kid. About five years ago my wife and I decided to check the campground out. I was shocked to see the place so run down.
Campground sits on a beautiful piece of property that could be a gold mine if some serious effort and money was put into the place.
I agree owners might be planning to develope it.
mdcamping
Posted by mdcamping on 10/08/08
I went camping in one of there cabins June 8,9, and 10 and had a blast. All the staff I meet were very nice. Very willing to help. Always a smile on there face. The cabin was clean. It is rustic, but that is what they say to you when you make your res.
I have nothing bad to say. I Will be back next year 
I.W.
Posted by Ian W on 06/11/09
This campground is mostly seasonal sites and cabins, we knew that before we made our reservation. We camped on Memorial Day weekend and they did have some scheduled activities. Tent camping is very hard in this campground because the ground is very hard and full of rocks. The plus is that every site has water, electricity, and sewer hookup. People were friendly.
There is a “double standard” for seasonal campers compared to non-seasonal campers – seasonal campers seem to get more leeway with the “rules”. Quiet time was not observed or enforced. It was loud until 2 am.
We don’t know where all the bathroom were but the ones we had access to were okay – not overly clean but not trashed. They had 1 toilet and 1 shower stall – coin operated.
The lodge/rec hall was big with plenty of places to sit. It had games, a store, bathrooms, and small food counter in case you didn’t want to cook. The lodge/rec hall did have the owners kids/grandkids toys in there, you could play with some things but not others – that could lead to some upset or confusion if you have young kids. What bothered us more was that the owners “nickel and dime” you for everything. There is a ping pong table there but you have to pay for your own ball - the ball is so cheap it breaks on the first hit and you don’t get a replacement. The jukebox and pool tables didn’t work – they took your money but you couldn’t get a refund. The food counter prices seemed reasonable. The camp store is very expensive – and everything had a coating of dust on it.
They do have a boat house, docks, and lake frontage on Gardner Lake. The lake frontage is walled and you have to go down steps to get into the water. The wall and steps are in various degrees of disrepair and can be hazardous. The swimming area is next to the fishing area. The lake bottom is all rocks. There are nice views of the lake from certain points in this campground, but they are marred by the disrepair of the roadways, walls, and cabins. We noticed that at least 5 cabins were is disrepair and unusable.
This is a fairly big campground with mostly seasonal sights so we were surprised that so many things were falling apart. We felt this campground was geared toward the seasonal campers, because seasonal campers are more independent/self contained so they don’t need much, and young adults with no children, because of the events planned and the noise level. The cons definitely outweighed the pros – we won’t be going back
Posted by tent campers on 06/04/10
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