lake taghkanic state park

Four years ago, my siblings and I started a Labor Day weekend camping tradition. It's our weekend to enjoy quality time with each other and stay connected. We've stayed in the cabins at Lake Taghanic for the past 3 years. Lake Taghanic offers, tent, RV and cabin camping options. The park is well kept, cabins are clean, safe, and has a friendly staff but most important, the bathrooms are well maintained. We usually go boating, fishing and relax on the beach on warm warm days.

The cabins were good and comfortable- take mosquito repellant. They were far from the lake so u had to drive to get back and forth. The beach is quite crowded. Boating is good and the lake is very picturesque

We rented a cabin for the week (Sat-Sat "Cottage" #168 3br 1 bath). Absolutely loved it! The cabin was huge for 2 adults and 2 kids. Right on the lake so we could walk out our back of the enclosed porch that faced the water and go fishing. My kids (10 & 12) roamed freely- going to the opening at the lake to fish, walking to the nearby playground, "hunting"/exploring and playing with other kids at the camp. Next year we will rent a row boat for the week ($100 & you can dock it right at the lake opening near the cabin). There's a laundry a short walk away from our cabin. The beach area was so clean and beautiful. To swim in a lake (with fish that the kids were always trying to catch in a pail :) in such pretty scenery is a wonderful experience. The lake water is roped off in sections so you can't go out too far where it is deep and there are lifeguards on duty. There are lots of wildlife listed as being in the park (we heard coyotes yelping in the distance one night, saw a few owls, couple deer, a chipmunk but didn't see or hear any other animals besides squirrels).About 2-3 miles away on Rt 82 is Jo Jo's Pizza and Ice cream (delish), a Getty gas/Mart, a diner (we ate there, too, the food was ok but the place really needs to be cleaned. If I had seen the bathroom before I ate, I would've left just like the two women next to us did- they ordered and then after one came back from the bathroom, they paid for the untouched cup of coffee and walked out. There's also Millers Tavern- doesn't look like much from the outside but the food was great and the ambience was pretty cool (also has a separate bar area). I had gotten a restaurant.com coupon for $10, had good reviews so I figured I'd try it, glad I did (Jo Jo's also had a restaurant.com coupon for $25 off $50 that they honored but said they cancelled their account in June). About 3-5 miles further down the road is a Hannaford Supermarket. That's where I shopped for food and supplies (wood and ice were plentiful & cheap). The camp store is only open about a total of 5 hours a day- you get a schedule when you first check in.All in all we had a really great week here and will definitely be going back next summer

Went on a Saturday. Fee is $8 per car for admission. There was 10 in our group ranging in ages from 1 to 49. There is so much to gush about. The place is so clean. The beach, the surrounding park area, the facilities....everything is immaculate. The rest rooms/changing rooms were pretty sandy by the end of the day but obviously that is to be expected and it was not sandy at all in the morning. I was able to park my self under an excellent shade tree and read my book while everyone else did there thing. The sand was so nice and we had an area set up near my shade tree with all the beach umbrellas and sand toys and chairs. The beach was so clean. They take great care of it. The water was warm and there were plenty of lifeguards. We brought coolers with our food and drinks in them but there is a decent snack bar with lots of choices that are not too expensive. My husband works very long hours in the summer and he declared at one point: "Best day of summer so far". He even ranked it above our trip to Maine earlier this month! Some of our group rented paddle boats and kayaks. The rental was very reasonable ($10 per hour). They loved the rentals. If you have your own watercraft you can bring them but nothing with a motor. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we were there for 9 hours!! The little ones were so well behaved the entire day with not one moan of boredom. One thing and the only thing I would recommend is that they make the entire facility smoke free and not just the beach. We had a couple next to us that were smokers. They didn't chain smoke or anything but we were thankful for the constant breeze to the smell didn't linger long. We will be returning as often as possible throughout the rest of the summer. Will also come in the fall as it must be gorgeous when the leaves are changing color.

Bought my first kayak this year 2014 have only kayaked on round out in Kingston ny went to Lake yesterday with my brother who has a fishing Kayak was beautiful he did catch a fish and scene was gorgeous water lilies all over saw a beautiful herring flying about never got stuck in anything kayaked the whole day only stopped to eat lunch toured whole lake amazing fee is very cheap for these days try going to Rhode Island where you pay almost $ 20 dollars just to enter beach

Haven't been to Lake Taghkanic in 25 years (since my kids were little) so wanted to go back and take my granddaughter kayaking and for a nice swim at the beach. 1) brought my own kayaks to save myself some money. When arriving it says u must register watercraft but it didn't say it WILL COST YOU $10 to register EACH kayak you use. (Guy tried to tell me that every state park has this...SORRY...NOT! Try Grafton. 2) beach water was ALL weeds and scummy that you couldn't even walk in with getting stuck in it. Really makes you wonder how safe the water is. 3) I guess that didn't matter b/c the water is not deep enough to do laps anyway. 4) They hire YOUNG (I believe they call them) Park Rangers, who drive/walk around the lake making sure no one is swimming in the water anywhere on the lake. I watched 1 who looked like he was a peeping tom peering thru the trees as I kayaked around the shore line. Asked him what he was doing b/c I was creeped out by him and he said "looking for swimmers." Some young couple were swimming off their rented paddle boat on this 89 degree day, so he had to get the life guards to tell the couple...and they only get a warning. I guess they didn't see the girl swimming in her cowboy hat further down. Just makes me mad that I was honest and paid $28 to get in and for my kayaks but I'm sure if I didn't register them, I would of kicked out or fined. Stick to the Adirondacks people.

If you're looking to relax and get away for a while I definitely recommend coming here. The view is amazing. There is also enough to do. From the drinks and food at the concession stands, to the boat rentals for $10 an hour you can't get bored. It is so relaxing, and it's not crowded. There is also a great playground for young children to play. The place is very clean.

We two adults camped at the park over Columbus Day weekend. The lake was, well, gorgeous and we enjoyed every moment we spent at the lake. Just gorgeous. Our campsite was absolutely fine and worked for us - we camp as a more affordable way to stay somewhere over night, not for the experience of camping in and of itself. There are two kinds of sites for tents - regular ground sites and platform sites. We camped at a regular ground site, G4 I believe, which is a bit off to one side of the campground instead of in the middle of everything. All of the campsites, regardless of type, are pretty close together, so be prepared to place your car and/or a tarp strategically on your site if the sites around you are occupied and you will need to feel some privacy. We definitely heard (and were heard by) the campground full of people around us, but all did fall pretty quiet around 10:00pm and stayed pretty quiet through the night. We slept perfectly well. Our site had a fire ring & a picnic table, as promised. We planned to buy firewood from the camp store (at the entrance to the campground), but by 5:00pm they had sold out and were recommending that we try a gas station about a mile up the Taconic Parkway. Instead, we took a pleasant walk through the woods and had no trouble at all finding enough deadfall for 2 nights of s'mores & hand warming size campfires. The bathhouse was well-used but perfectly clean, and given the chilly nights and mornings I was pleased to find that it was heated. However, our schedule and the bathroom cleaning schedule had it closed at exactly the time I would have wanted to shower. The times were posted, something like 6:30-7:30am. It was not a big deal for me and I can imagine that in warmer weather (or for much earlier or later risers) this would not be hard to navigate around. We would definitely camp here again.