How to Choose an Island Campsite on Lake George...
ideal for boaters who love camping!

There are 170 islands on Lake George, and you can camp on 44 of them! The camping islands have a total of 387 campsites on them, as well as 116 picnic/day use sites on 8 islands. Picnic sites have grills, fireplaces & picnic tables. Nine have picnic shelters which you can reserve for a larger picnic and they are ideal for parties. You need to reserve the islands for day use or for camping.

For camping make your reservation with ReserveAmerica. For day use, stop by any ranger station and they will book the picnic sites on a first come, first serve basis.

To make a reservation and for general questions, contact ReserveAmerica
Reservations 1-800-456-2267 or Customer Service 1-800-777-9644

The islands are grouped in three ways: Long Island Group, Glens Island Group and Narrow Island Group:

• The Glen Island Group is just off of Bolton Landing and this ranger station is the closest one to Bolton Landing, NY. So if you are using a Bolton Landing Marina for launching your boat. This is the best choice of islands for you.

• The Narrow Island Group is 7 miles north of Bolton, this is the quietest and most private of the locations and the prettiest part of the lake (in my opinion). The Narrow Island group is also ideal if you are launching your boat from Hague or Ticonderoga.

If you have specific questions about the islands which can not be answered by ReserveAmerica, then we recommend contacting the ranger station for your island group. Contact information is as follows:

Long Island Group: 518-656-9426 Glen Island Group: 518-644-9696, Narrow Island Group: 518-499-1288

Know before you go: If you do not have a tent on your campsite the first day of your reservation, you will lose it. Many people put cheap tents up on the sites that they have reserved and come the next day if they can’t make it the first day.

About Long Island

When camping with children under age three, we choose LongIsland as it is closest to the nearest hospital should something serious happen to one of the children. As it is the island with the most campsites, it is also the easiest island to book a reservation on. The private islands book earlier in the year, and we like the ability to camp with larger groups of people and occupy many sites.

When traveling in a large group, it is the shortest boat trip from the southern basin of the lake. (If you have to make multiple trips, this means you can start your fun earlier!)

We took a walk around Long Island, to check out the various sites, many of which we have camped on. The ReserveAmerica site does give some information but here is the real scoop on our favorite locations:

Our Guide to the Long Island Campsites

	A small private sunny site on the point. It gets large amounts of sun in the morning and has an eastern view. The tent platform is 12` x 14`. Bathroom is a pit type privy. The dock length is 24` & maximum boat length is 25`. Water depth is 5 1/2`. This will take a sail boat and shares a dock with site 001A. Offers great views!
	Campsite #6 has beautiful views and is set on a cove; there is a nice private hike from 6 to 7.   It’s a large private shady site on a shallow rocky cove. There is a small drop to the water and gets morning sun. The tent platform is 16` x 12. Bathroom is a pit type privy. The dock length is 24` & maximum boat length is 25`. Water depth is 4 1/2`. This will take a sail boat & shares a dock with site 005.
	Campsites 19 & 20: This is the only part of the island that has some sort of embankment; this is really nice if you have little children and are concerned that they might “wander” into the water.  My recorder died at this part of the hike, so I do not have the exact campsites with embankments – next time I will get these, the Long Island ranger said that 19 and 20 are your best bets – so I’m using this photo here.
	#29 & 30 – This was a very shady and rocky site and it’s not too level.However, it is very private as you have to walk a ways to get to any other sites. This is ideal for a group of young adults who don’t want to be bothered by other campers. You really feel as if you are on a private island here. There were cliffs to the water which made it more dangerous for children and no easy entry into the water for kids.
	#40,41& 42 make a great combination of sites for a large group of families with young children. If you like afternoon sun, you will want to be on this side of the island. 41 has no platform but has the great area to enter the water for kids. The three sites are flat and spacious, although shady, you do enjoy many areas with sunlight. We think this is the best set of three sites together on the island for a group as the sites are all equal. If you can’t get one of these sites, 87 across the way is quite nice and sunny in the morning.
	#49.This picture is taken from the lake and you can see straight through the trees to the other side of the lake. This is a great site as it’s flat and grassy and the wind goes straight through the island in this section making it much less buggy. You can get a site across the way for friends. Or works well with #50.
	#52: This is a nice shady and private site on Goose Bay with a small cove. Evening sun, but this is mostly shady site. No tent platform. Cove has mucky water so it’s not an area where most people would want to swim. Large and flat with lots of room for more than one tent.
	#57:  Large flat site. Nice shallow water, shady site with afternoon sun, great for sunsets – looks to the southwest. No platform and shares dock with site 56.
	#58 & 59: This site was nice and ideal for couples tenting together, the sites are very close together, so it’s nice if you have both booked and know your neighbor. Very sunny in the afternoons but with plenty of spots for shade lovers as well.
	#59:  Nice site with great views to the west has a tent platform which is nice if it rains and is close to our favorite site #60.
	#60: The Point, this is the best site for a single family, there are a few flat spots for tents as well as a platform. Don’t get this if you need other sites as your friends will be jealous. Morning and evening sun, nice and breezy to keep bugs away, fun swim across the channel to the picnic island.
	#61 & #62 (62 shown) are probably the deepest sites with the most locations for tents, but no platforms face across the channel to Speaker Heck, the picnic island.  Nice swimming across the channel.
	#63: The other Point, this is a fabulous site for setting up a hammock and just relaxing. There is both morning sun and afternoon sun and the breeze runs through to keep the bugs away. A little more varied terrain and not as many entry points for smaller children. If you are traveling with friends, #64 and #65 go nicely with this campsite. Photo shown is of campsite #64 pointing toward #63.  Does not have an easy way to get to the west side #6--#63 as you have to cross a marshy area and there is no easy path –lots of vegetation.
	#66: This is a really sunny site – which is great when you have the lake right in front of you for cooling off.  The views are spectacular. Morning sun.  Tent platform.
	#67 & 68: This is a fabulous set of sites for a very large group. As you can see from the picture, this group has four tents, we have seen up to 7 tents on these two sites. Very sunny. The downside is no platform which is nice when it rains but the ground is quite flat so they aren’t necessary.
	#69-74 are hilly sites with morning sun.  Shown on top is a view of campsite 70 and from the platform and below is campsite 73 from the platform.  The views are all open and spectacular.  These sites are all nice and sunny.
n/a	#75 is the first flat site.
	#79: Sunny site, flat with shade, you can just see the sites on the other side
	#80 & 81,these sites go nicely together and have morning sun. They are fairly flat and have great views. You can see the campsite behind 81 that is 46 and 45; they are directly on the other side. So if you want morning sun and afternoon sun, and a short walk to your friend’s campsite, this is the best set of four sites.
	#82 Here you can see the wonderful view from site #82, it is in the narrow part of the island so it’s breezy and less buggy, fairly flat and rocky.

Little Harbor

 

For a single family with children on Little Harbor, we liked #6, it's on a point, has mostly flat grounds, a tent platform and a nice shallow entry point.  Views from every angle are great and it's very spacious and private.  It's close to a nice outhouse as well.
For groups, we liked the cove with campsites 5, 9 and 4 - do not rent 9 unless you are with 5 or 4 as it's too close together.
For couples, we liked the southern point, campsite #7 as it's more private, but it's a great and large site with views.  Not great for kids as there is no easy entry point into the water.

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