Kring Point State Park Campground

This state park has a large number of waterfront sites on the beautiful St Lawrence River in New York State. Sites vary from sunny to shady and also by how accessible the water is from the site. There is also a beach for swimming for those without water access. Our first site was sunny with a beautiful grassy access to the clean river waters for swimming right from our site.

Unfortunately, the camp office failed to mention until after we set up that the site she offered us was only available for one night. Lesson learned to always ask first how many nights a site is available. As it turned out, moving wasn’t that difficult and the new site was shaded which was good as the weather was really hot when we were there in August 2015.

The campground offers daily garbage pick up from your site which is annoying because golf carts are driving around everyday picking up the garbage. Bathrooms were modern and fairly clean and had power outlets. No electrical hook ups at either site we stayed at.

A short bicycle ride down the road there is a small shop that sells ice cream - makes for a fun afternoon outing. Our Canadian cell phone plans had no trouble picking up the Canadian signal from across the river as if we were still in Canada.

Kring point State Park (SP) is situated literally in the middle of the St. Lawrence seaway amidst several small to very large private islands and estates. Entrance to the SP is essentially via a small mobile home park access road (nearby is a local ice cream/fire wood for $4.50/bundle market). The park is effectively three separate loops connected with a narrow road providing some excellent views. However, the sites are quite crowded to your adjoining neighbor and for only the two weekend nights spent (site 89 and 94 both with 15A electric service only), it was adequate but we had very minimal division so do not expect much privacy. The only electric sites are near the peninsula tip (sites 88+). Site 89 was awkwardly positioned against a rocky outcropping which made positioning for the best view/privacy a challenge. Well worth the effort though and probably the premium site in the loop.

Crowd was much older (nearly no children) with most seemingly there for the maximum 2 weeks stay permitted in NY SP system; several folks we chatted with indicated they come for several weeks every year. Cabins were well filled over the weekend with fishermen and a few families seemingly there to boat, camp, and use the SP marina (also temporarily under water). The views are quite impressive - sunsets across the water were great and clearly a major draw of the location. Our two nights, there were 30 mph CONSISTENT wind to the point the awning and windows had to be closed with eating or even sitting outside made a bit unpleasant. Gusts were 40 mph+ but the SP staff noted this was abnormal weather patterns but did have the bonus of keeping bugs to a minimum. The bath houses were below expectations and the volume of bugs, worn out facilities, and the first 2 of 4 showers offering only cold water helped to contribute to only 2 stars.

Office staff was adequately courteous upon check in/out and moving between sites. Oddly (or atleast against SP expectations), trash was collected by a Gator/golf cart multiple times per day contributing to the disruption since no common recycling or dumpster facilities were available. A small day use island with bridge access is near the entrance. During the unusually high water condition, the dump site was temporarily unavailable - the staff did note we could go 10 miles to the next nearest SP but offered little advice or consolation beyond that alternative. For a 2 night stay, it didn't impact us beyond an eye roll and understanding that proverbial $%!& happens beyond your and others' control. A single playground facility was typical (bonus of recycled tire base versus the normal mulch).

Would stay here again (preferably in the off season) but would not necessarily recommend for traveling with kids based on the proximity to water. If you don't have to worry about kids and are looking for great sunset views and proximity to 1000 island (Bolt Castle, Alexandria Bay shops/boat tours), Kring Point is worth exploration for a few nights.

What a lovely campground! Right on the water, perched on rocks, amazing sunset. Sites are small and closely packed but every one is looking at the views, not their neighbors. Probably best suited to tents and smaller campers. Our sprinter was perfect. There’s a swimming beach but we just walked out the back of our site (#1, very private since #2 is closed for high water) into the water. Walked over to the day-use area and watched turtles and muskrats swimming. Very nice bathhouse. Highly recommend!

At first, we were super disappointed with our spot 5. It was on top of a crag, more or less. If the sun is out, you will get baked. That grouping you definitely can’t have a big rig. We did have views of the lake a little. Restrooms were great. Water is hot. They had a place for washing dishes also. If the spots say tent only, they mean it.:. And they are pretty cool spots.

Locals also said this was one of their favorite parks. It was a good base for us to explore around also. I’d stay at the park again, but now I know the spots I’d want.