Camping

Camping here puts you inside one of the darkest skies within an hour of Austin, and the park runs regular night-sky programs to take advantage of it. The main campground has water-and-electric sites in oak and juniper woods, plus walk-in primitive sites and a backpacking area for families ready to carry gear a couple of miles. Days go to the falls overlook, the swimming beach downstream at Trammel Crossing, and the bird blind. The falls themselves are for looking, not swimming, and the river can rise fast after upstream rain.

Pine Creek Lake is the quieter Army Corps reservoir west of Broken Bow, ringed by several small campgrounds and boat-ramp parks. It draws a fraction of the traffic Broken Bow Lake gets, so if your family cares more about a calm swimming cove and an empty ramp than about restaurants and shops, this is the trade to make. Camping areas are basic: gravel pads, picnic tables, vault or basic restrooms, some with electric. Bring everything you need, because services around the lake are limited.

A tiny lakeside state park east of Hugo that rarely feels crowded, with shaded campsites, a swimming area and a small lake stocked for fishing. The scale is the point for families with young kids: you can see your car and the water from the same picnic table. It is roughly an hour from Broken Bow, which makes it a workable overflow option when Beavers Bend is fully booked for a holiday weekend. Amenities are simple, so stock up in Hugo or Idabel on the way in.

One of the original Oklahoma state parks and a genuine family institution, set in the sandstone bluffs and pine woods of the San Bois Mountains. Robbers Cave offers campgrounds, cabins and group camps alongside the cave itself, trout fishing in season, rappelling walls, lakes for paddling, and enough trail mileage to fill a long weekend. The mix of lodging types makes it easy to bring extended family without everyone having to camp. It sits about two hours northwest of Broken Bow and works well as the second stop on an Oklahoma loop.

Treman has the single best swimming setup in the Finger Lakes: a stone-walled natural pool at the base of a waterfall, with a diving board and lifeguards. Staying at the park campground or in one of its cabins means you can be in that pool the moment it opens. Campsites sit in the lower park near the swimming area, and the cabins are simple wooden units with beds and electricity but no plumbing. The Gorge Trail up to Lucifer Falls is the other reason to be here, and it starts a short walk away.

The quieter twin of Fish Creek Pond next door, and the one paddling families choose. Rollins Pond has no motorboats, so the water stays glassy and a kid in a kayak can go out without an adult trailing them nervously. Sites are wooded and spread along the shoreline, and a short carry connects to the Fish Creek chain of ponds for longer paddles. It has fewer amenities and far less noise than its neighbor. If your idea of a good campground is loons at dawn rather than a busy beach, this is it.

One of the largest campgrounds in the Finger Lakes, built on the grounds of a former naval training base on the east shore of Seneca Lake. The scale means you can usually find a site here when the smaller gorge parks are full, and the park has a swimming pool, a marina, a beach, ball fields and a small military museum on site. Sites are mostly open and grassy rather than deeply wooded. It is central to the whole Seneca Lake loop, with Watkins Glen about half an hour south.

A quieter western Hill Country park where the spring-fed South Llano runs clear and shallow enough for young kids to wade across most of the year. The campground has water-and-electric sites plus walk-in tent sites, and four bird blinds make it one of the best beginner birding parks in Texas. An old-growth pecan bottom along the river closes seasonally as a wild turkey roost, which is exactly the kind of detail kids remember. It is far enough west to be a genuine dark-sky destination.

A compact gorge park where two stream-fed swimming pools are dammed right in the creek bed, so kids swim in cold moving water with rock walls on either side. The campground sits in the woods a short walk from the gorge trail and the pools. It is much smaller and less known than Watkins Glen or Letchworth, which is the appeal: the same kind of scenery without the parking chaos. Dansville is minutes away for supplies, and Letchworth is a half hour north if you want to combine the two.

A compact wooded campground at the western end of the Talimena Scenic Drive, the ridge-top highway that runs along the Ouachita Mountains into Arkansas. Staying here means you can start the drive early, before the pull-offs fill up, and the shaded creekside sites are a comfortable base for a day of overlooks and short trails. The park is small with tent and RV sites and a picnic area rather than a resort-style list of amenities. Fall foliage in late October is the peak draw and the reason to book ahead.

Campsites and a set of small cabins sit on the hillside above Cayuga Lake at the park that holds the tallest single-drop waterfall east of the Rockies. The flat gorge trail to the base of the 215-foot falls is short and stroller-passable, which makes this one of the easiest big-waterfall payoffs for families with toddlers. Down at lake level there is a swimming beach and a marina. Summer weekends bring free concerts at the park, and Ithaca is twenty minutes south for a rainy-day plan.

The campground sits on the hill above the gorge, which means you can walk down to the Gorge Trail at eight in the morning before the tour buses and the day-trippers arrive. That timing changes the experience of the park completely: the same nineteen waterfalls, none of the shuffling crowd. Sites are open and grassy with some wooded loops, and there is a swimming pool in the park. Seneca Lake and the Finger Lakes wineries are minutes away, and the campground is a short walk from the village.

A small state campground squeezed into the notch between Lake Placid and Wilmington, right along the West Branch of the Ausable River. The river is the reason to stay: it is famous fly-fishing water and the rocky banks are perfect for kids to wade and skip stones. High Falls Gorge is a couple of minutes up the road and the Whiteface toll road is barely farther. Sites are close together and traffic on Route 86 is audible, which is the trade for a location right between the two towns.

Austin’s oldest city park sits on a bend of Lake Austin with a designated swimming area that has a gradual sandy entry perfect for small kids. The campground overlooking the lake is one of the few places you can camp within Austin city limits and the road down to the park winds through dramatic limestone canyon walls. Turkey Creek Trail connects to the park and offers a solid hike through Hill Country terrain.

A 212-acre park with 10 miles of well-maintained mountain bike trails that are ideal for kids learning to ride dirt for the first time. The progressive skills course lets them build confidence at their own pace before hitting the real trails. Twelve primitive campsites are scattered through the woods for families wanting a low-key overnight experience, and there is a playground and pond near the parking area for younger siblings who just want to run around.

The largest and arguably best campground in the Catskills with 219 sites set between two lakes and surrounded by iconic hiking trails. Kids can swim at the beach, fish from shore, and explore miles of trails that lead to stunning overlooks including the famous Artist Point and Newman Ledge views of the Hudson Valley. Kaaterskill Falls is accessible right from the campground. Boat rentals are available on the lake. The combination of great camping, swimming, and world-class hiking makes this the premier family base camp in the Catskills.

A beautifully maintained CCC-era state park with a spring-fed lake surrounded by towering pines and hardwoods. The swim area has a sandy beach and the park rents paddleboats and kayaks. Over 13 miles of trails loop through East Texas piney woods and the mountain bike trails are well-regarded. The historic stone and timber structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps give the park a timeless character.

The largest state park in New York at 65,000 acres with two separate recreation areas, beaches, campgrounds, cabins, and over 80 miles of trails. The Red House and Quaker areas each have their own beach, campground, and trail system. Kids love the Art Roscoe ski area in summer for mountain biking and the Thunder Rocks area for scrambling on massive boulders. The park has a store, restaurants, and cabin rentals, making it easy to plan a multi-day family trip. Stargazing is incredible here with very little light pollution.

One of the safest swimming beaches on Kauai north shore thanks to the longest fringing reef in the state that protects the shoreline from waves. The water is calm, warm, and shallow for a long way out making it excellent for young children. The reef creates a natural lagoon that is great for beginning snorkeling. The beach is long and the campground at one end makes multi-day stays possible. The mountain backdrop and quiet setting feel like classic old Hawaii. Windsurfing is popular here and fun to watch.

Living in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro means you’re never more than a couple hours from some of Texas’s best state parks. Whether your kids are into swimming, hiking, mountain biking, or just running around in wide open spaces, there’s a park that fits. Here are our picks for the best state parks near Dallas for families. Cedar Hill State Park - 20 Minutes from Downtown Cedar Hill State Park is the closest real state park experience to Dallas, sitting right on Joe Pool Lake barely 20 minutes from the city center. Kids can swim at the sandy beach, fish from shore, hike the Talala Trail loop, or - if they’re old enough - tear up the DORBA mountain bike trails. With 350 campsites, it’s also one of the easiest parks to plan an overnight trip. ...