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Mongaup Pond Campground
Rockland, New York
- Dates: August 1–3, 2008.
- Site Number: 067
- With: The Clarks & Kulakowskis
- Vibe: On a remote lake in Catskill Park.
- Weather:
- Friday: Noticeably cooler than NYC. Clear night sky.
- Saturday: Changeable. Bright and Sunny and full-on rain! Clear night sky.
- Sunday: Changeable. Occasional drizzle, but no downpours. Occasional sun, too
- Pros: Good swimming. Near hiking trails. Friendly staff. Many sites with lake frontage. Frequent visits by the Woodman and the Icecream Man. Good showers at the beach.
- Cons: Limited activities at park and in area. Muddy site. Route 17. Lifeguard AWOL for 30 Minutes.
- Verdict: Apart from the weather, it was pleasant, but nothing's dragging me back here soon...
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Steve's Review:
The southwestern corner of Catskill Park is quite a bit mellower than the northern and eastern sections. For one thing, the terrain is a bit gentler here—none of the dramatic cloves or escarpments. The towns, too, are mellow, with little of the liveliness of Woodstock, Phoenicia or Windham. Take a drive on Route 17 to Parksville and you'll find there's not much there beyond Fiddler's Dairy King and some double-wide mobile homes. There is some fine fly fishing along streams like the Willowemoc and the Beaverkill, however. And there are some fine hikes in the Catskills, once you actually get to the mountains.
Catskill Park is huge—almost the size of Rhode island. There are some 700,000 acres of land within the "Blue Line", although about half of this is privately owned. There are eight DEC campgrounds within the park. This was our first trip to Mongaup Pond. The overall layout is reminiscent of Little Pond, although there are 163 sites here—nearly a hundred more.
We were joined by two other families whose children were once in daycare with our eleven-year-old. We've known them ten years and have camped with each family before, although the last time we were all together was in 2002. We chose sites 67–69 in Loop B for their proximity to the swimming beach. In retrospect, it wasn't all that close and it would have been better to have had lakeside spots such as those found in Loops D, E and F. Sites were level but varied in quality. One was grassy, one was rocky and ours was muddy (and this was before the rain!).
We took advantage of the summer schedule and arrived Friday afternoon. Not only did we beat the Route 17 Friday night rush horror, we also got to set up early and enjoy some daylight. Ina and I caught up during our food shopping trip in nearby Livingston Manor. The four kids were excited to see each other and put on a show for us.
Saturday started well, but the weather was spotty with a bit of gentle drizzle. The group took a hike two miles down the road to visit the State Fish Hatchery. I stayed behind to try (in vain) to start a fire for lunch. When they returned, my wife brought them down to the beach for a swim. I joined her a bit later. The beach was modest, with trucked-in sand and a boat/canoe/kayak rental area on the other side. For some reason, the lifeguard left her post for at least a half hour. Shortly after she returned, she closed the swimming area when the sound of thunder was heard. We returned to the campsite.
By this time, and with the help of all of the adults, we finally had enough of a fire going to cook some burgers. That, of course, is when the skies let loose. We had some serious lightning as well as a pelting rain. Fortunately, we had the screenhut set up so the kids stayed mostly dry while the dads cooked. We rigged a tarp over the hut to give us all a bit of room to move. By late afternoon, the sun was peeking through the clouds again, and by night the skies were completely clear. Everyone hung out around the fire and many smores were consumed. We even had a visit from Pumpkinhead (aka Jackie O'Lantern). After the rest of the crew tuckered out, Kevin and I took a midnight stroll to the lake for some stargazing and storytelling.
Sunday morning, saw the off-and-on drizzle return, which made packing up a challenge. Though we saw frequent rain, it generally didn't last for very long, nor was it heavy. All in all, we had a great time, mostly due to the company, but the campground is certainly worthwhile.
We saw no bear...
Click here for a wallpaper-size photo of the crew (right-click to download the 1024 x 768 pixel, 336KB file)
—SBW
