My husband and I went camping at Woodland Valley State Campground this past weekend with 4 other couples and a baby.

MAKING RESERVATIONS AND REGISTRATION UPON ARRIVAL

Each site that you reserve needs to be reserved under different names. We had 4 sites reserved so they were under 4 different names.

We happened to get there before everyone else. If you have a choice between multiple sites that your group has reserved, you should drive by those sites first then decide which site suits you best because sizes differ considerably from one to the other.

Sites are along the road, so you can park your car on your site and unload your gear without having to walk too far. Each site is said to accommodate up to 4 campers. We found that some of the sites were too tiny to do just that, so we chose the bigger of the 4 sites our group reserved. We had a 7-person tent and the campers who joined us had a 2-person tent. The tents were two feet away from each other - we even had to move the picnic table to the side to do this.

When we got there, we had to register at the registration house. Note that you will have to sign a warning notice re: bears in the area. This campground is supposedly notorious for black bear sightings so you'll see a lot of warning posters of what to do/not do. They also give you the schedule for garbage collection, pamphlets on food storage, etc.

GRILLS AND WOOD

You need to bring your own grilltop to set on the grill. You're not allowed to bring your own wood because you might bring insects to the site. Someone comes around between 7 and 8 pm to delivery wood - $5 per bundle (lasts 3 hours I think).

There was an ice cream truck that drove by the other sites but skipped our own area.

Optional: Bring a portable stove (e.g., Coleman Fold N' Go Stove - it's EXCELLLENT) so you can make a proper breakfast in the morning and use a proper kettle to boil water.


BATHROOM AND SHOWER FACILITIES

This campground has the cleanest facilities I've seen in a campground. The showers were pay showers - costs 25 cents which lasted a long time, but bring an extra quarter in case you run out. The water out of the shower is set at a nice warm temperature - some people may find it on the hot side. There is no temperature control on it. The bathroom sinks have hot and cold water taps.

GARBAGE AND FOOD STORAGE

Recycling was a must. You put any recyclables together and bring them to a recycling/garbage center. You can burn cardboard at your fire but you can also give them those. The recycling/garbage center was open 2-3 times (morning, afternoon, night), depending on staffing that day. If you miss the garbage center(I think they're open from 7-8 pm), you have to store the garbage in your car. Bring extra garbage bags with you to reduce the smell and any leakage.

There is no disposal unit for propane tanks, so you have to take those home with you.

The park staff was very strict with regards to food storage. Every few hours, staff would drive by the sites in a golf cart to see that people were complying. The rule was that if you're not eating food, then any food/related garbage needs to be kept in the car even when you're sitting closeby. But we were able to get away with leaving food on the table when we were sitting around chatting away.

One of our sites (it was set higher up than the others) had a water lever below where you could get water. There was a sign that it wasn't for washing dishes - not sure where they expected us to do that (maybe the bathroom?) so we washed them there anyway, making sure that the plates were wiped clean of any scraps.

QUIET TIME

10 pm is the start of quiet time, and park staff goes around to remind folks if they're too loud. Also no loud talking, etc. before 7 am.

BEARS AND ANIMALS

We met some people at the Registration House. Some guy said that he had been there 6 times and had seen a bear every time. We didn't see any bears - disappointed about that but also relieved, but we did see some raccoons (who aren't really scared of people - the park ranger told us that there are some raccoons who start raiding sites even when you're sitting around in it).

INSECTS

Didn't experience anything out of the ordinary. Bring bug spray. Read that bears love citronella but we lit a lot of that anyway.

HIKING TRAILS

We didn't take any of the trails - one of them (not sure about the other) was ridiculously steep. You really need proper hiking boots and maybe a walking stick for that. We ended up walking to the start of the trail where there are a lot of rocks and you could dip your feet in the stream.

OTHER

The town of Phoenicia has a couple of shops where you can buy food but not a whole lot of variety - just the basics. There's also a pharmacy in town and some restaurants. It's a very small town with a small Main Street.

Emerson Place in Mount Tremper - a short drive away - has the world's largest kaleidoscope. You go into a small room with special things you can lean on and tilt your head back and watch the show on the ceiling. Or you can lie down on the floor (only 4 or 5 per group can do this - it's a cramped space) and view it that way. They give you pillows for that. It's better to lie down, so get on line as quick as you can before everyone else.





Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug