Association Island RV Resort & Marina is a very nice relaxing campground. I must say it is very impressive as you pull up and cross their man-made causeway onto your camping island getaway. We stayed in a W/E/S/C (water, electricity, sewer, cable TV) pull-through site right on Lake Ontario. The site was cozy with ample space and a nice fire-ring surrounded by rocks. The sunsets are beyond beautiful and you will want to watch it set every night. There were only two downsides to this RV Resort. One, I could not get their cable TV to work and two, the May-flies are a little annoying. As for the cable not working: you get good reception and more channels with your antenna anyway. The May-flies are attracted to light so just keep them off at night and spray insecticide fogger around your campsite, it helps keep them away. We would go back to this campground. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Heard a lot about this campground so expectations were high and was happy to get waterfront sites with a sunset view. The wind blew at about 30 mph steady with gusts that rocked the RV (putting out the awning just wasn't possible) on four of the seven days we were here. When the wind didn't blow, small flying insects were all over the place and literally covered any object where they could find shelter from the wind. Nighttime by the campfire was not very pleasant because of these flying pests or the high winds. Cable TV consisted of 13 channels: the 3 main networks and a few minor stations, CNN, AMC etc. Not one sports station or ESPN! The Wi-Fi was OK at best as I kept on loosing the connection. Overall, this campground seemed to be fairly well maintained and clean. I enjoyed the sunset views but the bugs were horrible and into everything. I don't think I will return. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 9 / 10 ]
July 2009
$65
The views around this campground are beautiful and tranquil. We camped with two other families. We were all on lakefront sites, sites H19-H21. The campground is very clean. The owner is very friendly and accommodating. It was odd that less than half the sites were taken, even during the weekend. There is not much in the immediate area. The bugs were the only true drawback. They are small and did not bite, but swarmed. Because of the wet summer they have hung around. During the day they tend to stay to the shaded side of the trailer. At night do not leave any light on inside or outside your trailer. The first night we learned this after hundreds covered the trailer side wall. We brought bikes and enjoyed daily rides around the island and out on the causeway. All was level, paved and a great way to get around. Our teenagers kept busy with pool, ping pong, tennis, etc. I would recommend this campground, but would stay away from buggy periods. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
The location of this park is beyond description. As we entered the Island, we were truly amazed at how nice it was. The sites were gravel and uneven. Make sure you have fuel and all the supplies you need as the closest gas station is 14 miles and the closet supermarket is 20 miles. The only problem with this park is the small insects. They swarm all over and covered my vehicle and motor home. Unfortunately this spoiled the time we spent there as we could not sit outside and enjoy the view and the weather. Would have given it a 9 if the bugs weren't so bad. We camped here in a Motorhome.
First time at this campground for long holiday weekend....lakefront site...beautiful sunsets..needless to say for our vacation in mid-august we had planned to go to our annual cape cod trip...well...now spending the week at association island..again lake front!!..loved it..people very friendly...husband loved the fishing...i loved the view and quiet.... We camped here in a Motorhome.
Rate shown is for premium lakefront pull-through on a holiday week. This is the 8th year we have spent time at AIR. For us, it is complete relaxation and recharge time. The staff is accommodating and the owner "Doc" is frequently seen on the island insuring smooth operation. The constant breeze is refreshing and unusually cool (70) for a July week this year. The marina was busy with pleasure craft and fishermen the entire week. Our area was quiet without ATVs, motorcycles, and while the puppy population was high, they were well behaved. If you just want to read, watch the water, or sleep, try AIR. There are good restaurants in the area and Watertown is 20 minutes away with all things required. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This park is right on Lake Ontario, we got a spot with a lake view, and it was gorgeous. Nice clean restrooms and showers. We could not get the WI-FI at our site, had to use the clubhouse close to us, which wasn't a real problem. Getting WI-FI in the North has been a hit and miss situation. There are lots of flying insects, they don't bite or buzz, more like swarms of gnats (could be the season). We would stay here again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This was our first visit and will not be our last. We had planned on visiting this campground all year and finally made it in September. Just settling back and watching the beautiful scenery was so very relaxing. This park has everything you are looking for and more. It has many paths to walk and ride on, and you are always surrounded by the great lake vistas. This campground has no bad sites, as all have a great view of beautiful Lake Ontario. And the sunsets and sunrises are to die for. I even got up earlier than ever to see the sunrises. The owners and crew are very eager to make your stay a great one. If you are in the area, this is a must see. We will definitely return. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The pool was closed after Labor Day, and we were told the restaurant and bar were not open all season. There was a new club house with a nice play room for the kids and a ping pong table a TV and reading room and WIFI. It also had 3 washers and dryers in the building. There were no activities planned, but the campsites were nice, and we had a nice view of Henderson Bay. There wasn't much fishing from shore, because the water was very shallow - about waist deep 20' to 30' out around the island, and in some spots the weeds are very thick. There were a lot of gnats all around the island, but it was still a very relaxing and beautiful place to stay. We met a lot of seasonal campers there that have been coming back since the park opened. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We spent 3 nights here at site H24. This is a premium site right on the lake at the north end of the park. My view of the lake was blocked by trees. Pad was gravel. Roadways inside the park are black-top with easy curves. Wi-Fi was not available. Cable was non-functioning. No phone modem at my site. Narrow causeway leading out to the campground. Park was essentially empty with only a dozen rigs scattered around. Most of them appeared unoccupied. Trees in the park appeared to have been damaged from ice storms since many lacked tops. Some old buildings scattered around with some evidence of modest re-building taking place. Small pool. Very windy and plenty of rain for the 3 days. Wind did not keep the bugs away. Clouds of small, non-biting bugs swarmed about us each day. Wind only moved them to the downstream side of the motorhome. Each day I had to hose down the rig to minimize the number of bugs that would enter the coach when the door was opened. So many bugs were present that outside activities around the picnic table were impossible. Not much to do here if you are not fishing or boating. We met some friends here and spent the days touring at Sacketts Harbor and Alexander Bay where we ate at several good restaurants. Henderson Harbor itself has no restaurants that I saw. There were no activities at the campground as it was off-season. Rate of 54 dollars reflects a 20 percent off-season rate. I would probably not stay here again but would look for something nearer to Alex Bay. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We were really disappointed to find that they had raised their off-season rates from $37 to $49 a day in one year. We're going to have consider going elsewhere for our outings. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Our favorite campground by far. We have been heading here each of the last three years, and have reservations for this year again. Though somewhat expensive, it is most relaxing with sunsets to die for, and it gets better every year. In three years we've only used the a/c one day (and I don't think we needed it then either). If you do go, do yourself a favor and leave your awning rolled up, as others have mentioned. We were warned about this and have seen several tear apart in the high winds. The bugs aren't a problem outside (too breezy). Easy to get to off Rte 81. The hook ups are set up for motorhomes -vs- TT/5ver with the rear living rooms, but we're outside the whole time anyway. Bring extra sewer and water hoses. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This is a lovely part of New York. Yes, there are lots of bugs, but they're tiny and don't bite. The only real negative for us was the WiFi. It was expensive and "skipped" constantly so that you couldn't stay online longer than a few moments. There's no way there should have been a charge for it. There was a smell of rotting seaweed as we drove in, but that's only at the very entrance and nowhere else in the park that we could tell. Unlike some of the other reviewers, we liked the old buildings. It gave the place a sense of history and prompted us to research the history of the island. The sunsets were wonderful, the people are friendly and we will definitely go back. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Outstanding facilities. We stayed on the lake front sites (13 & 14) on the north end of the campground. Millions of dollars have been spent to make this historic site (former GE retreat site) a public access campground and marina. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. Lake front sites have wind a good percentage of the time, bay side sites less so. Sites on the water's edge are "pull in" type, basically so a Class A windshield is facing the water and not the rest of the world. If you have a boat or jet ski or like to fish this place is for you. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This was an interesting campground with a lot of history. The swimming pool was nice and they had a nice bar right next to it that had a live band the one evening. The store had a good variety of things, should you need something. The lake was nice on one side to swim in. The only thing bad were the bugs. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
I want you to know how disappointed I was when I arrived at your RV park and found out that it was almost entirely set up for motor homes. I own a large Cedar Creek 5th wheel RV which has large living room windows in the rear. This unit like many other units that were at you facility are perfect for backing in to one of the water sites and enjoying the view just like the motor homes got to do. We had committed to a two week stay, so we set up the best we could on the bay side spot H6. We did our best to enjoy ourselves and we did enjoy ourselves as we always do, even thought the realization that it was apparent that towables were second class citizens at this facility. The irony of the situation is that for the entire first week on the bay water spots there were only 3 motor homes and nineteen towables, Nine or ten of these towables were rear living room units with big back windows all facing the road. Week two there were a few more motor homes but it still never came close to be even half of the units in the park. I was able to set up my trailer and get my truck out from in front of it with not too much trouble because I had no neighbors at the time. I spent the rest of my two weeks watching and helping other towables go through contortions to get there trailers set up on the sites near me. Twice I had to move my camp chairs and tables so a new camper could drive on my site so he could get setup on his because that was the only way to set his trailer. I was glad I had not set up my screen room on that location because if I had my neighbors would never been able to set up. We actually watched one camper with a towable give up trying to set up and left in frustration, as you are well aware of all these towables paid the same amount as did the motor homes that just had to pull in. I have been RVing for some time now and have been to several other water front RV parks. All these others made arrangements for both type of RVs by having both hookups on each site or sites for each type. Even though your map says pull in spots that type of description is somewhat misleading the description does not specify which side and what location the utilities are located making it impossible to know what the true arrangement is. I want you to know I probably will not stay at your facility again because of its position on towables. If you are going to set up an entire park for Motor homes you should say you are motor home exclusive or you should set up your park so that all types of units can take advantage of the beautiful scenery equally. I will be advising all I come to talk to about this problem with your park and posting my reviews where appropriate. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
We had a waterfront site by the marina, what a nice view of Lake Ontario. Sites were nice and they had a bar with a restaurant that was nice. The staff was very friendly! We camped here in a Motorhome.
We have gone to the island for over 3 years at least 3 times each year. We love the pool & bar/restaurant. Our son can ride his bike all over the island. The sunsets are spectacular. Only negative is there are not many trees for shade. I would recommend this to anyone. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Very nice campground. We camped there over Labor Day weekend and had a great time. If I had to find a minus it would be the flies (sand flies I believe). Be sure to bring along the bug spray. The staff was friendly and the seasonal campers were very friendly as well. Nice recreation hall too. Since this was a holiday weekend, they had live music on Saturday and Sunday night. A very family oriented campground. We will be returning. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We stayed at the park and agree and disagree with some of the previous reviews. First, the park has a beautiful setting, and is surrounded by water. Saying that, we feel there was not much to do if you were not a water or water sport enthusiast. The buildings on the island were rundown, but very charming, and added an ambiance to the whole place. If the buildings could be restored to their earlier grandeur, the island would be so unique that I feel people would flock to it. As it is, there were not many RVers there (we weren't as fortunate as the earlier reviewer as to have a "Motorhome Rally" going on at the time we were there.) As for the bugs-there's a difference between "living with a few bugs because you're camping", and having your RV so covered with bugs that you see more black than you do the sides of your rig. The bugs were horrendous. This could all be remedied with a regimented schedule of environmentally-friendly spraying. The person that said "you're camping-expect some bugs" apparently was not on a "buggy" part of the island, or, for some reason, is used to being surrounded by bugs.(???) Overall, if some things were improved on (roads and sites being taken care of better, bugs being "tamed", and the buildings being restored to their earlier elegance), I would not only definitely go back, but I would make sure that every one of our RVing friends took at least one visit to this very unique island RV resort. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Our 5th year here for a week and we have reserved for next year. Quiet and relaxing as usual. We're out of the "kids" part of our life so all the points raised below may be valid - don't know. As to the "old buildings", they are part of the history of the island. The auditorium is particularly interesting because of the famous entertainers that came there in years past. Unfortunately it cannot be restored economically. From the number of units here and the number attending a motorhome rally, the island is becoming "discovered". As for the bugs 1) it's on the water 2) spring is when the "hatches" occur 3) you're "camping" - expect some bugs. We'll be back again and again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Very nice campground on an island on Lake Ontario. Our campsite faced the lake and we had a beautiful view. Stayed a few days to explore 1000 Islands area. Would stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This is a great campground if you are looking to relax and enjoy some excellant views. While they're still upgradeing some buildings the sites are level and most if not all apprear to have full hookups. Marina is nice. I rented a small boat at a local propiortor to take the kids fishing and when they had enough I called my wife and she met me at the dock and I droped the kids off and took her for a ride in the boat. Will be going back again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This a beautiful campground but much more fun if you have a kayak or boat. There's some recreation on the island, but we spent a lot of time leaving the island to explore the surrounding area. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Very relaxing, and scenic, location. Routine was coffee by the water, fishing, swimming, dinner, ending w/a beautiful sunset and campfire. Was very breezy all week. We never opened the awning or needed to use the a/c. Even got out of bed a couple of nights to assure things were still where we left them. It was dusty but that was a comprise I could live with. We didn't have a problem with the bugs outside, just inside when the door wasn't shut immediately. Only suggestion would be to bring extra...hoses, extension cords, and sewer line. I am already set to go back this year. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Good Points were the location is awesome and if you have a boat it is a great spot. Waterfront sites in most cases were very nice. This could be an awesome place BUT, Bad points were The DUST was everywhere and got into everything. I could not stand the dust! They would not give one of our friends a FMCA discount even though it is advertised in the FMCA book, they told him it did not apply to a holiday weekend. But they gave us a Good Sam’s discount even though it was a holiday? Upon arrival one of our friends site was full of what looked like big dog poops, she went to office to complain and to get it cleaned. They came and looked and she was told it was geese poop and that they do not clean that up so “she would have to deal with it”. Wi-Fi was available but for a fee and you need to sit at the office with your laptop to get it. I don’t mind paying but want to use it in my coach when ever I want. Surcharge for 50 amp service and a surcharge for the WHOLE holiday week…not just the 4th. Pool is too small in my opinion for the size of the campground. They should have 2 pools – one for adults and one for kids. It was just always crowded and noisy. Several abandoned buildings…just sitting and rotting. What a shame that is. Tear them down and put up a second pool. I'll go back someday because of the location and views, hopefully the campground owners will make the improvements that are so desperately needed. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We had a seasonal site on the water. We could see the sunset outside our door. Good points: People running it are very nice, very helpful. You are on an island (there is a causeway to the island). Bathrooms, laundry, shower were clean. Sacketts Harbor, Henderson Harbor, Thousand Islands, Canada are all pretty close by. Nice Marina. Lots of birds. Great fishing. Great for boating. Pretty good spacing between sites. Not so good points: some areas had a seaweed odor. We didn't but close to main entrance was most noticeable. Bugs and spiders. Not horrible but they could be annoying. This is why there are so many birds. Wind - being on the lake,this is not surprising. Some of the other seasonals said 2006 was an unusually windy year. Playground is small. The inner sites do not have much shade. The lake sites are made to pull in to. This is okay if you have a motorhome but you need to do the same with a fifth wheel or trailer. I think it is a little expensive. This place is less than 5 years old. They sank a lot of money into this place and it is getting better and better. I don't know if the owners yet have a clear vision of what this will become. I believe they will evenually get there. After all is said and done, we booked for next season and look forward to watching the sunsets while drinking rumrunners this summer. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This is an excellant campground and we go out of our way to stay here. It seems to be managed very well & the staff is very friendly and helpful. It is very clean and peaceful. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We decided to give this campground a try after reading the reviews. The entrance to the campground is amazing. You enter the island by a small road completely surrounded by water which makes it feel as if you are in the middle of the ocean. Upon entering we immediately noticed a very strong "sewer" odor at the check-in area. Luckily the smell was only in the beginning of the campground. The office people were very helpful and the gentleman suggested we take a spot one row back from waterfront since it was not very busy and it would save us some money, while still allowing us the same views. This turned out to be a huge mistake since the spot we pulled into seemed to be infested with bugs. By the time my husband got out to hook up, our entire motorhome was covered with bugs!! It had just rained very heavy, possibly causing this problem since the spots were swampy. We just assumed the whole campground was this way because its surrounded by water. We did notice the gentleman behind us (who appeared to be a seasonal had a BUG LIGHT IN THE INSIDE OF HIS COACH!!!!! That obviously says it all!! Anyway, the views were amazing. It is more like being surrounded by the ocean rather than a lake since you cannot even see land in many directions. One suggestion, if you like to see activity on the lake stay in the marina section of the campground. The views are great however that only accounts for part of the overall experience. As for the campsites-well that is definitely a whole other story. The hookups were all covered in spider webs (including the picnic tables) and were unkept. They were supposed to be gravel but had more weeds in them than gravel. Alot of the sites were extremely sloped. If anyone was in the site right behind us and pulled in all the way the rear of their coach would have been about 2 feet off the ground. As for the old run down buildings everyone refers to in their reviews-yes there are probably 3 or 4 really big run down buildings, but they're actually cool if you look at them. One or two of them are very old horse stables. The rest of the grounds are so so. There was a pool, restaurant, office, etc. We don't have kids but unless you like to fish I can't imagine where kids would enjoy it at all. It is literally in the middle of nowhere. Remember to stock up before you go here. The closest big town is Watertown which we drove to and it was over 20 miles away!! Other than the small store on site there are no grocery stores, delis, etc. anywhere in the area. Remember you are going to an island in the middle of nowhere!!! We only ended up staying one night which is unfortunate since the owner (We think he was the owner- an older asian gentleman) was very friendly and talked to us for awhile. I guess we should have mentioned to him about the unbelievable bug situation at our site. They didn't seem to be too bad when we walked throughout the campground however it was too late for us to even move to another site since the bugs were already everywhere. We must have killed at least 30-40 bugs inside and we were still killing them days later. One or two more things to note (well actually three) They do have internet access but you have to sit in the office right where everyone checks in and use it there. Also they do have cable but there is only 5 or 6 channels and they don't have all the major networks. They do allow pets and our two boys enjoyed it!! Overall I wish I could say we really enjoyed this place but I can not. Please remember though that our bug problem might have been an isolated incident. We talked to several people before we went here and noone ever mentioned this problem to us. Many of the people go there several times a year. Please take that into consideration before you make your decision on whether to stay here or not. It is a place I am glad we went to so that we were able to experience "the Island." However its not a place we will probably ever go back to. As for all the reviews that say there is potential for the island and they will return when there are more improvements done, I would definitely say that in my opinion this is as good as it will ever get!!! Enjoy!!!! We camped here in a Motorhome.
We had read other reviews prior to making the reservation for this campground and they were correct. The campground really has tremendous potential. The views are breathtaking. The waterfront sites are very nice and combine a nice mix of shade and sun. The bath house and laundry facilities were also very clean and somewhat new. There is a pool and a small marina, although no boat rentals are available (I was told that this was because of a deal made with the local township, so that it wouldn't threaten the previously existing boat rental companies). The problem with the resort is that there is a ton of potential but not enough development. There are many areas that are run down. Sites that are unused and unkempt. An old "motel" looking building that looks like it is ready to fall down. The staff was friendly for the most part, although I did see them kick a young boy out of the pool for the day for a very minor infraction of the "rules", that everyone else seemed bewildered about. I would recommend the campground ... if they would just invest a little more money in the facilities. (i.e. they had a restaurant/bar but it was only open two days a week because of staffing problems). I would stay there again, but maybe in a few years when they have completed more of the projects. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 8 / 10 ]
July 2004
$55
This fairly new campground has excellent potential. It is on an island (actually the second island from shore) right on Lake Ontario and some sites offer spectacular views of the lake. The island is the campground! There is also a marina, so everything is in place for a wonderful experience. The staff is very friendly. There is still some work to be done, however. The first thing we noticed when we checked in was a very strong odor the reminded me of dead fish. Thought perhaps it was due to low tide, but it remained all 4 days. I also feel that the roads need some attention. Although smooth, they seem to consist of some sort of stone dust that, when wet, turns into a filthy mess that gets all over your vehicles. We arrived in the evening in the rain and, the next morning, I couldn't believe the enormous mess that covered the sides of my truck and RV! It was like they had been sprayed with a coating of watered-down concrete and it was all over everything! In a year or two, if the owners pay some attention to the little things, they can have an enormous success to go along with the natural surroundings and beauty of this setting. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Review Rating
[ 10 / 10 ]
2003
$50
Visited in 2002 (opening year) and 2003. Have made reservations for 2004. Sites right at
water's edge with cool breezes all summer. Perfect place to relax and unwind. Improvements constant. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Review Rating
[ 10 / 10 ]
2003
$55
It was incredible. We drove across a bridge on a island and camped right on the water. Beautiful views and sunsets. Very unique. Did not want to leave. Reserved one week and stayed 15 nights. Every thing was new and clean. Great new pool and clean lake water. Great fishing. We caught many bass and perch of the shore and marina. Shared a fishing charter with another couple and caught huge lake trout. Very friendly and helpful staff. Can't wait to return to view the stars and sunsets, hear and see the water. Clean 50amp power, good potable water can't wait to see next year's improvements We camped here in a Motorhome.
Review Rating
[ 7 / 10 ]
2003
$50
We arrived on a Sunday and had an OK time.The staff was helpful but there was not a lot to do on a rainy day for 2 kids. Showers and bath are brand new but they were not cleaned the 4 days I stayed. Sites are level and most overlook the lake.Only 1 year old so I hope they make improvements. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.