Taughannock Falls State Park’s namesake waterfall is one of the outstanding natural attractions of the Northeast. Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge. It is 33 feet taller then Niagara Falls and is one of the largest single-drop waterfalls east of the Rocky Mountains. The gorge and rim trails offer spectacular views from above the falls and from below at the end of the gorge trail. It is a beautiful park and the campground was wonderful. The campsite was found clean and the restrooms were kept in great condition. The park is also located just minutes from the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail.

Really, the waterfall itself is enough reason to visit this park and campground. The fact that it sits on one of the Finger Lakes and is only minutes from 16 fantastic Finger Lake wineries are all just frosting on the cake.

Taughannock Falls State Park – Official Website

Located on Wellesley Island in the 1,000 Islands, Wellesley Island State Park is one of the nicest parks we have ever camped in. My wife and I traveled to the 1,000 Islands in 2004 and stayed at Wellesley. The island is surrounded by the St. Lawerence River, offering beautiful views of the water from many of the campsites. The park also features a marina, four boat launches, a 9-hole golf course and a sandy beach area.

Not only was the campground and park beautiful, it was extremely well kept and clean. The camp sites were nicely separated and the terrain made for a unique feel to the campground area. Our site sat up on a little bluff, giving us a nice view down to the river.

The park’s location is one of it’s best features, but also one of it’s biggest drawbacks. Located right off I-81 at the US/Canada border, it’s extremely easy to get to. However, you must cross a toll bridge ($2.00 toll) when coming from the US Mainland or coming back from Canada. That got annoying pretty quick. But if you don’t plan on traveling from the park often, then it’s no big deal.

Our favorite activities while staying there included a boat trip to tour Boldt Castle (pictured above) and a day trip we took to Ottawa, Canada. It is a beautiful city and only 2 hours from the border. It is worth the trip.

View from our campsite.

Our campsite

Wellesley Island State Park – Official Site

Our trip consisted of fishing the famous Au Sable River and hiking Cascade Mountain, one of the 46 high peaks.

The campground is operated by the NY DEC and is small but very nice. The main draw to the Notch is its location. Besides being in the heart of the Adirondacks High Peaks region, the campground sits on the Au Sable River, is located 1 minute from the Whiteface Mountain Olympic ski area and is only 8 miles from Lake Placid. It also features rest areas with flush toilets and hot showers. There are no electric or water hookups at the sites, but a dumping station is available for campers.

We found all of our fellow visitors at the campground to be extremely kind. It was filled with friendly families and a helpful staff. Due to it’s size, you are a little bit on top of each other with little privacy from each other, but this is really it’s only drawback. I would highly recommend the campground and plan on staying there again with my family when we evenutally take a family trip to the Adirondacks.

Wilmington Notch – Official Website

While it is a beautiful campground with what looks to be a nice glen you can hike along (didn’t get to see it), the night we stayed the campground was filled with large groups of kids who seem to be wandering around with no attention paid to them by their parents. After night fall, some of these kids were launching water balloons at the restrooms…which were less then 100 feet from my tent! It was also a very loud campground. It was actually hard to fall asleep with all the large groups talking loudly through the night.

When we first arrived, some campground neighbors came over and warned us of the kids and then antics they had experienced the previous night. They informed us that they had reported it to the park police, but nothing was done about it. After spending the night, I saw what they were upset about. This could be a fantastic park if the Park Police would step up their patrolling of it and enforce campground rules. I hate to dismiss something based on one experience, but I for one will not be in any hurry to return.

PS: If you do visit this campground, avoid campsite 46. This is where we camped and it was one of the worst sites I’ve ever had. It was basically out by itself in the middle of a large field. Stick with sites 28-43 or 57-60 if you are tent camping.

Fillmore Glen State Park – Official Website

Of course, summer gets busy and flies by faster then you would like. So when August rolled around, we realized that we still had not gone camping and that summer was coming to a close quickly. So two weeks ago, we did a test run. I took one of my son’s camping nearby while our other son was ill with a virus. We had planned on all going together as a family, but when he became ill, we decided to not disappoint everyone, so we embarked on the modified trip. Long story short…he loved it! It was a much abbreviated trip so we are now planning on going as a family this weekend.

The point of this long, rambling post is two fold. Number 1, this blog, mellander.com has really lost its steam in the past few years. Since the existence of Facebook, I have lost the ambition to share family event and photos on this site, since I have already posted them to Facebook where they get a lot more attention then they ever did being posted here. I have been struggling with what to do with this site. But today…after booking our campground reservation for the weekend, it hit me.

I have kept an up to date page on this website of all the campgrounds I have camped at over the years. This includes trips with the family and trips with friends. With our new family commitment to return to camping, I thought it might be interesting to bring the past campground reviews as well as all future ones to the forefront of this website.

So going forward, our trips to campgrounds will be the main focus of this website. I will attempt to flesh out more descriptive reviews that include photos and more.

I know this will not interest all of you, but frankly…I don’t think anyone has been reading this site anyhow. So perhaps this new topic will bring some fresh faces to the website.

So without further ado…welcome to Camping with The Mellanders.

Photo from our recent trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos.