I know that some of you have traveled extensively around the country so I'd love your advice on this.

We are taking our first trip to the Northeast U.S. in early July and want to park our big rig (67' includes a 25' enclosed trailer) in a park that is convenient for us to take the train into New York City to see some shows. It can be in northern New Jersey or somewhere around New York City.

We would like full hook-ups and a safe location.

Thank you.

While there is not much to chose from in the close proximity to New York City there are two that are used:
1) Liberty Harbor Marina & Rv Park @ Jersey City, New Jersey
2) Newburgh/New York City North KOA @ Plattekill, New York.

While #1 is very close to the city, the views are the best. Difficult to find, as it is located within a heavily populated area. Can not vouch as to safety, have no used.

#2 is north of the city but is close enough to make day visits into the city via tour bus or by rail. Many points of interest within the immediate area. As a KOA, expect the daily site rate to be high, have made a drive through but have not used.

Hope this limited information maybe of some help.

Thank you very much. It's a start.

You are most welcome, sorry that a first hand report could not be made.

We stayed at Croton Point Park near Croton-On-Hudson, NY. Took the train in. Stayed at my sister's which worked better then going back to the campground and back into the city every day. The park was nice but they did have electrical problems. I'm glad we had a surge guard.

Try Yogi Bears Jelly Stone Park at Lazy River. the campground is about 30 minutes to the train station in Poughkeepsie, then about 1 1/2 ride south on the train. The campground is nice but very expensive.

Liberty Harbor is very close to NYC, but in a bad neighborhood. The Newburgh KOA is nice, but almost an hour away from NYC (without traffic that you are likely to hit). Try the Fla-Net park in Falnders, NJ. Not the best facility, but in a good area. One hour away and near trains to NYC. The local train stations (a short cab ride away) have limited schedules. A 20 minute cab ride to the Denville station will offer more flexibilty with train schedules to NYC. The weekday train schedules for the local train stations is much better. There are several restaurants within walking distance to this campground (Macaroni Grill, Chilies, McDonalds, Longhorn Steakhouse and Applebees). As you will see NJ and NYC are not really RV friendly. I am from NJ and I can vouch for this. South NJ and West NJ are better for RVs. Any area of NJ that is near NYC is not going to be RV friendly (expect dirty looks from people, no I am not kidding). Many neighborhoods near NYC, especially in Hudson County are bad neighborhoods.

Stevie G.

I disagree that Liberty Harbor is in a bad neighborhood. We stayed there three years ago for two weeks. We made the 10-minute walk from the park to the PATH station, together and singly, at all hours of the day and night and never felt unsafe. This includes one night when one of us came home at about 3:00 a.m.

However, it might not work for the OP's trip. The spaces have water and electric only, while the OP said he/she "would like" full hookups. And from what I remember, none of the spaces will hold a 67-foot combination. Then again, we were there in the winter and there were dry-docked boats in some of the RV spaces, so there's no telling what kind of arrangements they'll make.

But for people for whom this place might work, you can't get any closer to Manhattan--the PATH train takes maybe 15 minutes to get to either the World Trade Center or Greenwich Village. It runs less frequently late at night, obviously, but I never even looked at the schedule for it and treated it like the subway in NYC--just walked to the station when I was ready to go, and a train would be along shortly.

Frankly, I can't believe there's an RV park this convenient to any major city, much less New York. What I wouldn't give for one like this in Chicago.

dbnck:

You have to remember that many people on this forum are completely out of their element in an urban area. If the local residents are not wasps, the businesses are not upscale, and the homes are not McMansions on quarter acre lots, they consider the area to be "bad" or "creepy" or "scary" or "unsafe".

I certainly agree with you that Liberty is exceptional in its' convenience to NYC and that sort of facility is really lacking in other major urban areas (including Chicago). the

But if they're interested in seeing New York City, I assume they're open to something other than suburbia.

I think the person who said the Liberty Harbor area is unsafe isn't really familiar with the area. It was fine three years ago, and it's now undergoing dramatic development, with lots of condos and apartments. It's as safe as anywhere a tourist is likely to go in Manhattan.

And if somebody is just too scared to walk the 1/2 mile to the PATH station, they shouldn't be going to Manhattan in the first place. But if they insist, there's a light rail station right by the RV park. It will connect to a different PATH station, add some time and a couple of bucks each way to the trip, but it's an option. And there's a ferry on weekdays that leaves from the RV park property.

This website http://jerseycitoyen.blogspot.com/2007/11/...rty-harbor.html has photos of the Liberty Harbor area, so people can decide for themselves whether it looks like the kind of place they'll be comfortable walking.

And here are some photos of the Grove Street station and the PATH train: http://www.flickr.com/photos/erametta/sets...57594317505414/

We traveled to NYC in fall of 2007. Was going to stay at Liberty Harbor but they were full. As it turned out we are glad they were! We stayed at Croton Point Park at Croton-on-Hudson, NY. It is a wonderful park and everyone was very friendly and helpful. The park was full but the staff found us a nice private site. It was wonderful to come back to a nice peaceful campround with clean air after the hustle and bustle of a day in the city. The park is located very close to the train station and if you take an express train you can be in the city in about 40 minutes. The price is very reasonable as well.

Hi everyone, I'm driving across America in a campervan in October and I'm wondering if it would be necessary to make reservations in advance at the Liberty park?
As per their reviews they don't seem to reply to email and I really don't want the cost of an international call. If you can help me out that would be great.

We were there in December a few years ago and the place was almost empty. I'm not sure when the leaves change in New York--that would be the only thing that I could imagine would draw significant numbers of people outside the traditional summer vacation times. Or maybe a group of RVs on an organized trip.

But since you're in a campervan, you can squeeze into just about any space so you could probably be accommodated no matter what. If I were in your shoes, I would just show up, or wait until I was in the US to make the call. Liberty Harbor is a very casually run place, at least in the off season.

I've lived in the NY area most of my life.

Liberty Park IS IN A BAD neighborhood. That's a FACT.

It's the closest to NYC and if you're not wandering around after dark you should be ok.

Croton Park has raised it's prices drastically and now it's no longer the cheap gem it used to be. Plus if you're a light sleeper you will hear the trains all night long. It is located next to the Metro North train hub and repair shop. For the price now $50 a night, you get no wifi and not the best electric and any amenities.

Newburgh is a good drive, you can pick up the train in Harriman.

You can stay at Black Bear in Florida, NY and you can pick up the train in Warwick or Harriman. This will take you to Hoboken where you can get the path.

Black Bear also had day tours from the campground to NYC.

As I said in post #8 above, we walked from Liberty Harbor to the PATH station at all times of the day and night (including 3:00 a.m.), alone and together, for the two weeks we stayed there. It can be creepy if you're the only person in sight in the middle of the night, but that's the same in Austin or Los Angeles or Greenwich Village (and I've lived in all three).

In Chicago, you don't have a choice but to stay somewhere that is an hour by train from downtown. I did it and it was exhausting, especially when you're running around all day. I can't imagine choosing to do something like that in New York when Liberty Harbor is so close, but whatever. Just means it'll be easier for me to get a space when I go back.

If you travel there AFTER Labor Day (*and* before Columbus Day -- 2nd Monday in October), you are in luck!@! Almost *any* public park will have space, just be sure to call ahead to reserve.

We stayed at Liberty in summer, 2008 -- must have rsvd, else you cannot expect a space; $60 per night, full hookups, stayed & visited our son for 3 days -- tried to extend but could not... the place is just plain busy during the summer travel season, and you gotta get a reservation. We would stay again, for the close-in convenience; walking to PATH station was no big deal -- and there is new development in the area which has greatly improved the night-time ambiance.

Alternatively, we visited a couple years earlier, called ahead to the county park in Lido Beach, on Long Island; what a great find! The camp host gave me very good directions to avoid the low clearance parkway bridges, we zoomed in (and out, when we left) with no difficulties. Visited our son via half-hour train ride (LIRR) to the Manhattan subway; fun way to go... first 3 nights; then hurricane stuff blew into town, made things snotty downtown so he came to our place for the weekend, and the snot stayed downtown, while we had idyllic (tho intermittent overcast) weather at the beach -- what a great way to go... stayed for almost 2 weeks, saw a couple plays, toured the Long Island beaches, abit --- NICE time to go, since the summer folks are GONE, no riff-raff, etc. We stayed at the Nickerson Beach Campground; it was a short, 2 mi drive to the LIRR, free parking with security monitoring (ie, cameras and adjacent police substation!); they also have a campground near Bethpage (in case you're into golf!).

Nassau County Ofcs & Institutions: Nassau Beach Campground
- http://www.nassaucountyny.gov - (516) 571-7724 -

Good Luck,
Don

p.s. We also stayed at the northern KOA, as we were passing thru east-to-west from visiting friends in New Hampshire; they have daily buses into the city, so there's no parking/driving issues. Very nice for KOA; we prefer state/national/city (ie, public) camping parks over the private ones.

Thanks everyone for your assistance.
I think I will just call ahead a few days before once I am in the States.
As for the general area I'll check it out once I get there and see how it feels, if my gut doesn't like it and I'm out in Manhattan till late then I will just get a taxi back, can't be that much right?

If you believe that, while you're in the city, go to Brooklyn. I have a wonderful bridge there I can sell you.

I almost never take cabs, so I looked up what it would cost to get to Liberty Harbor and found out that the fare is negotiated between the driver and passenger for all trips going outside the five boroughs. It's a short trip by car because the Holland Tunnel is close to Liberty Harbor, but I'm not sure you'd have an easy time getting someone to agree to do it, plus it would likely be expensive because you'd have to cover your trip plus the trip back to Manhattan because the driver wouldn't have a fare for that one, plus the toll for them to get back into the city.

But really, there is no reason in the world why someone would need to take a cab back. If you're just too scared to walk from the PATH station, you can pick up the light rail train (separate fare) at an earlier PATH station and it will drop you much closer to the RV park. Or you could take a cab from the PATH station (either the one everybody walks to, or perhaps a different one if cabs tend to congregate at certain ones).


A small correction--Liberty Harbor is w/e only, with a dump station. Not full hookups. In the winter, they turn off the water at the sites, but it's still on at the dump station.

As for staying out on Long Island, that might be a good option if Liberty Harbor is full. But it's an hour on the train to get to Manhattan, and commuter trains run on infrequent schedules during non-peak times and if you miss one, it could be an hour until the next one. The trip costs something like $8 or $10 per person each way, which means an additional $30 or $40 for two people to get to and from the city every day.

The PATH train takes about 10 minutes and costs $1.75. We were there for two weeks and if I wanted to go into Manhattan just to see a movie or have lunch, it was no big deal. I would have had to think about it much harder if it involved two hours on a train.

Having done the commuter train method in Chicago and the Liberty Harbor method in New York, I know my vote is for the close-in option. There are always rumors that it's closing down, but I keep my fingers crossed because it's such a unique option. Who would ever have thought that New York would have the most conveniently located RV park of any major city in the US?

1) Liberty Harbor Marina & Rv Park @ Jersey City, New Jersey. We are from CA and spent at least 9 months traveling on the East Coast. We found Liberty Harbor to be a great place to stay if you wanted to do NY City. We also walked at all hours from the park to the subway. Yes perhaps two or three blocks away might not be the best place to walk. But we found nice sidewalk cafe's along the route. Would do it again in a heart beat. Yes this is not a place to camp, sites narrow W & S only. But dump is on the property. Perhaps 30 sites in all. When we there we saw a small tent set up. During the week you can catch the ferry from the park to Manhattan. And if your young and vary strong, you might be able to hit the Statue of Liberty with a rock. LOL

We have stayed at Liberty Park several times and had no trouble. It is a place to park and go see NY. The water taxi is right beside it andtrains are close. We have always had reservations. Call the 800#. I have never got a return on my email. Staff is very freindly. It stores boats so it looks more like a boat Marina. Have beautiful views at night.
They have a bu which we have not used that meets you several places in NY and takes you to designated places free of charge. They will also bring you back close to where you got off the boat.
Ihoped this helped.
Fuelflopper