Came here during the off-season for a quick hike. And I did not disappoint. There's a huge campground area and a pavilion during the summer that's open for operational events. There's also a swimming area for the warmer months. There's a wooded area to hike in that leads to the camping area and plenty of bathrooms around during the season when they are open. There are no pets allowed April 1st to October 15th read more

Black Rock State Park - Campgrounds Near Me - Watertown, Connecticut

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Beautiful state park with a campground and lake too. If your car is registered in the state of Connecticut parking is free here. read more

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This is an amazing park with a brook and a lake. The colors in fall are beautiful and pleased atmosphere read more

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excellent historic Park.. I'd love the hiking trails as well as the trails there are E bike friendly. There's a lot of wildlife to see as well. There is a friendly bear that comes up to you, but I wouldn't recommend anybody to go up to her. This is the best park I've been to and it has a very old historic road. read more

We went for two nights last summer, which turned into just one as one night was bad enough. I had high hopes for this trip, and planned it based on location. When we arrived the entire campground was packed, way more people on each site then any other park would allow. We watched in horror as a site below us caught their blackstone on fire when they left the food cooking for who knows how long unattended and another site had to run and put out the fire. Even with yelling no staff seamed to notice or both to come by. Then again they might now have heard it over the blasting music. I spend a fair amount of time camping each year, more then most so I have seen the great, average and then places I'll never go back to. This is the last of those. I would give zero stars if I could. The only saving grace of the trip was the massive rain storm that cleared the crowds out and some how made you feel less grossed out about the bathrooms because you could blame it on mud outside. But believe me they were horrible from the moment we arrived even before they flooded. Thankfully we didn't have kids with us on this trip, seeing as the smell of weed was absurd, people drunk everywhere. Watching staff look the other way the few times they went through the campground to the circus around them. Our neighbors on two different sides had 20+ people on their sites with party tents and all. I'd like to say it was just a bad night there and a fluke but by the amount of glass I had to clean up from the fire pit, and filling a garbage bag before I could even set up my tent it's clearly a bigger issue! We would have left immediately but couldn't find another site or hotel room even in the area. This place deserves 0 stars, sad to see this from a CT state park. read more

Black Rock State Park - Garbage from my small site alone! - Campgrounds Near Me - Watertown, Connecticut

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My pappy once told me a State Park is like an owl that thinks it's a buffalo. I'm not sure what he meant. But this State Park is definitely worth a visit. read more

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First time there. Nice! Not for big rigs. Fishing and hiking. Going back in a few weeks

I completely agree with Stephen, camp here if you want the lights out nazi's to bother you every 10 minutes. We stayed with our kids one weekend, and quiet time starts at 10, well our kids had to go to the bathroom, so we turned our lantern on the lowest setting it had so we could see where to walk to on our way back. Well, good ol "I take my job wayyyyyyy tooooooo seriously" miss park ranger shut off our lantern while we were in the bathroom. What a bitch. You're better off camping at the private campground across the street. read more

Connecticut fascinates me. Every time I visit the East coast, I'm mysteriously drawn to this state. Maybe there are memories in the genes that we can't escape and that's why I feel the pull to be here, I don't know, but it's been five years since my last visit and certain places still feel oddly familiar when I go. So after the disappointment of finding the local historical society's museum inaccessible without an appointment, I drove to a local point of interest - Black Rock State Park. Upon entering the driveway on the left, there is an attendant's shed, but it was closed. A ranger's station is located near the back of the parking lot before the trail that leads you to the cabins and the lake and so that's where you pay your parking fee. By comparison, they are not that sophisticated here to have a self-service kiosk to pay for parking or camping yet like in some CA state parks. Day use for non-CT registered vehicles like mine is cheaper during the week than on the weekends, but the fees are even less for CT registered vehicles. They have rustic cabins for rent, picnic tables, camping, a trout stocked lake (stocked after Memorial Day - ages 16 and older must buy a fishing license from the local KMart or city hall), swimming, and hiking. The park appears to be clean and well kept. They were mowing the green space that boarders the roads when I was there. But the one thing that I found funny about this place (outside of the seemingly drunk man with a beer gut all sprawled out on top of a picnic table near his blue hatchback) was the small wood outhouse with an instructional sign which reads "Winter Only" over the door. Initially at first glance, I thought it said 'whites only' and I said to myself, "What the hell...?" I looked at it again and I read 'winter only'. So what's the deal with this? The practicality about this set-up is that no running water is needed. They do have more modern facilities as well. Anyway, this seems like an exceptional place in CT to do what people to in state parks. And I enjoyed my visit. read more

Was looking for a place to swim on a hot summer day. I remembered coming here when I was a child but alas, my memory failed me. The swimming area is very small and the beach is covered in goose poop. The swimming area does not go very deep not even 5 feet deep so it isn't fun for someone who likes to swim laps or just swim in deeper water. I understand the safety concerns but there were 4 lifeguards when we visited, I don't see why they can't have a separate "deep end" that makes the swimming area larger. The entrance fee is $6 which is reasonable and soooo much cheaper than an amusement park for a day of family fun. I would visit again for some hiking or a picnic but I don't know if I would enter the lake again. read more

My friends and I camped here for the week of July 4th. The park was clean and rangers left us alone. It was so hot this week which made camping not as much fun, but we made the best of it. Lots to do in the area. read more

Please!!! check your cabin for bedbugs, my husband just came back from there and found out there were bedbugs specially in the bunks beds. My family and some friends were there for labor day and my little cousin complaint of mosquitoes bites in the middle of the night, I checked her and there were on her neck, now we know those were not mosquitoes. We had a great time camping just be careful when you arrive at a cabin. I felt I needed to post this review. read more

What a wonderful time we had staying here!!!! We had a large group and we were all able to be together. The rangers we so good!!! Of course we followed all of the park's rules. We played a great game of kickball in the field, went fishing in the pond, played flash light tag, and sat by the fire and roasted marshmallows. The rain stayed away for the most part!!! read more

Black Rock State Park - Having fun playing kickball! - Campgrounds Near Me - Watertown, Connecticut

Wonderful park! Unfortunately the staff here was horribly unprofessional. My wife and I were harassed and threatened by a Ranger for our tent being to close to the trees even though we completely respectful. You can't force someone to be a good person. As a former park employee myself and having read the other reviews here, I can say that we will not be returning to Black Rock... ever. Having visited State and National parks all over the country I have to say that my stay here was the worst experience I have ever had. read more

Looks like a great Park for Families with Young Kids. No Alcohol Policy strictly enforced. Quiet Hours starting at 10PM strictly enforced. State Park Rangers were very diligent in their jobs. Beach had small swimming area roped off. No boating in swimming pond. If you're a college aged or young professional looking to kick back with some friends, probably not the place for you. Seeing as that's my demographic, 2 stars. If i had young kids and wasn't looking to have a few drinks around the fire with my friends, I would have rated it higher. read more

I didn't like the trails so much. They weren't well kept up. Too many rocks in the paths. Made for a dangerous trek. The pond was nice though. There are many parks that are much better in the surrounding 10 miles. If I had to pay to get in, I would have given this Park a 1 star. read more

Great hiking trails on both sides of rt 6. Either climb to the parks' namesake on the north side overlooking the pond or park along rt 6 going toward Watertown and cross the street to hike a nice but sometimes vigorous mile trail back to a series of outcroppings and caves that the Leatherman would stay in. Great vantage point at the end overlooking Thomaston. read more

This place was awful. Outside of climbing Black Rock itself I was happy when we left. I agree with the other reviews.

This place is ok. It's not gorgeous. It's not awful. The campsites are not super private, as in most places. You can see your neighbors easily and they you, but that is the norm and it's rare to find a campground where you have real privacy. Our campsite had a big hill on one side so we had more privacy than other people who were in the middle of the campground. We stayed up pretty late and we did not experience any issues with being yelled at or told to put out the fire or anything, although we were fairly quiet. We chatted but we didn't have any music. On the other hand, there were no loud obnoxious people either. This place has full service bathrooms i.e. flush toilets with running water and free hot showers. The bathrooms were reasonably clean. Not pristine, but clean. The beach area indeed had goose feces. I don't really consider that problematic. Geese are sort of wildlife and wildlife at a campground is mostly a plus. The roped off swimming area was indeed tiny. However, nothing prevented us from going outside of it. Although, we went swimming in the evening when there was no lifeguard so maybe they yell at you during the day. We opted not to do hiking starting from the campground itself and instead drove to nearby Buttermilk Falls and hiked near there, which was again nice, but not amazing. One hugely annoying thing was that storm Hermione was coming through when we were here. And the Connecticut government decided to close all the state parks. I can't blame the campground itself for that, of course. So it doesn't enter into my rating. They promised to refund the fee for the night that we didn't stay. I can't remember if I ever checked that they did it. One bit that was annoying was that they didn't let us know about this until morning even though they knew about it in the evening. They called me on my cell phone and left a message that simply said " see us. we have something to tell you". This was incredibly stupid in three separate ways. Firstly, why not actually say what's going on in the message, if you're already leaving a message?! Secondly, people are not guaranteed to have cell phone in a campground. I don't keep my cellphone on all the time when camping. Thirdly, in the morning, they came to us and asked why we weren't packing up, insisting that they had told us we had to leave due to the storm, whereas in reality they had only told us that they had something to tell us, but never actually told us what that was. And we had not yet had a chance to ask them since we couldn't imagine it would be something urgent. There's someone around in the evening, so why they didn't come to talk to us, I have no idea. So not a perfectly managed place, but as it was a very unusual situation, I doubt it will effect most people. Incidentally, the storm ended up doing nothing. We just went to another campground, a private one. I'll end this on a general comment. It's hard to rate a campground because it depends on whether you're rating the campground itself or the surrounding area that you get access to. Also, are you judging this as a local campground for a weekend trip or as some special big vacation getaway. I think this is my first time camping in Connecticut and it was a weekend trip from NYC. I wasn't expecting Yellowstone level scenery. For those who might be coming from our of state large cities and are not familiar with Connecticut. I would say the nice thing is that there are lakes all over the places so there are lots of places to swim. A lot of beaches are private but it's still very easy to find public ones too. The lake beaches all have a common feature in that there is a small roped off area which is cleaned of algae and seaweed, but you can also go outside the rope where it will be deeper. The not so nice thing is that there are no big areas of wilderness or nature. There are many many small parks with small trails. You can connect them into something longer but you will likely have to walk through some residential areas. I would not say it's super crowded. You'll see people on the trails but just a couple here and there. read more

Campground looks nice, mowed and no trash. Felt safe. Bathrooms were terrible; dirty, wet floors, showers lack a seat or even a shelf to put your shampoo and soap on. Those cleaning the bathrooms were using a bucket of dirty water and a nasty mop. They could do better. read more

I am writing this review on behalf of my stepdaughter and her husband. They had a similarly nightmarish experience to others who have posted here. Upon returning to their site from a family gathering they were snuck up on by 4 (yes - four) 'rangers' with flashlights off and without identifying themselves. They were understandably startled and frightened. Only after several minutes of what can only be described as 'threatening' and 'bullying' did they argue with the said rangers. They were immediately fined for disturbing the peace and were evicted from their site which had been paid for and reserved for 2 nights. They were not drinking, had no alcohol with them, were quiet and had no other people with them - although they had rented an additional site and registered other guests. I wonder if they re-rented the forcefully vacated sites. Of course there is no refund forthcoming. This was their wedding weekend and I know these people to be non-confrontational and peace-loving by nature and only protested when they were repeatedly provoked. As I have read several other similar reviews of this campground it is obvious that the management is either complicit in these practices or have completely lost control of the place. There are reviews saying that couples and their small children were repeatedly badgered over things like using the bathroom after 10pm and coolers being checked for alcohol multiple times in an evening. Unless you wish to be insulted and abused, avoid camping at Black Rock at all costs - there are other choices. read more

As a frequent visitor to the beach at Black Rock State Park, I am truly dismayed at the lack of respect for the beach visitors during a recent hot spell...........the park decides at about 10 a.m. to have two lawn mowers cut the grass on either side of the beach, thus having all the dust and sand blow on the beach and also onto the parked cars!!! Maybe this could be done at 8 a.m. when there aren't many people at the beach yet??? Today (7/9/18) some of us just picked up our belongings and left for the day.........unreal............. read more

I am appalled at the immature comments and reviews on this park! I have been coming to Black Rock State park for many many many years as a visitor, hiker, fisher person photographer and camper snd can very honestly say that the STAFF and that INCLUDES ALL the rangers truly truly try to meet the multi demands of not only PROTECTING all the patrons, customers,people who visit, camp,fish as well as the ENVIRONMENT!! yes they are responsible! I have had differences with one or two on occassion mostly because of misunderstandings, misconstrued situations, but they are ALWAYS, ALWAYS trying to meet the very excessive demands of the PUBLIC and the responsibilities of their JOB! Iwould vouch for the RANGERS and ENCON officers in less than a heartbeat and I am a regular so I speak from Expierience! the park is beautiful a treasure and honor and privilledge to visit and enjoy, it has many GREAT people and STAFF who truly CARE about it and meeting the customers varied needs and demands COME On COME on people GROW UP!! Enjoy, be KIND be courteous and respectful and GRATEFUL for having people who CARE about this place!! I have seen Rangers help others with serious situations, have seen them clean BATHROOMS for you the customers, have seen them administer First aid, stay with sad, lonely firightened people and children, have seen them give directons to great fishing spots and nature insights and tips , have seen them picking up carelessly tossed debris and beer cans that don't even belong in the park, help find lost keys etc sometimes its very hot and they are hot and tired as well but htey still go and make their rounds and check to make sure everyone is safe and doing ok what the heck more can you ask for??? read more

I come back here every year and always enjoy myself. Only campground I've tried in CT and I don't see the need to try other places. It's beautiful. read more

This place SUCKS. The park rangers take their jobs way too seriously. As we were getting kicked out of the park, the ranger issuing us tickets had a great time small talking us. We got our things searched for no reason, got kicked out for having a couple beers, they made us poor them out, we had to leave, and 2 of my friends got a 75$ ticket each for the infraction. We can't even get a refund either. Sh*t place. read more

Great place, staff is great and is thorough. We had a bunch of kids that were drinking , with a cooler full of beer next to us, and the Ranger and Police Officer took care of it quickly. We felt safe. It appears that Dimitra and her friends got caught doing something wrong, and now cry about it on social media. If you break the rules and get caught, don't cry. The lake was great and the trails are awesome. We'll come again. read more

This is a nice campground with campsites that are spread out for privacy. Bathrooms are generally clean and there are washing stations for cleaning dishes. I would like to give it more than three stars but, contrary to other reviews, I feel the staff does not enforce campground rules. We always reserve Friday - Sunday, with Friday night being relatively quiet. By Saturday night, the campground gets pretty filled up, unfortunately with many people disrespecting the 10:00 pm quiet time rule. We have had to deal with loud, rowdy, drunken adults (even though it is an alcohol-free park) or screaming kids well past midnight. Since the park rangers are not on site 24-hrs, there is no one to patrol or to complain to. Each year, they seem to ride around the campground less and less to make their presence known and enforce the rules. Too bad -- weekends could be much more enjoyable if the park rangers did their job properly. read more

While the photos of Black Rock State park posted here are lovely and the location is terrific ... and yes, I used to love going there years ago ... speaking on a matter of cleanliness, Black Rock is currently failing. They have a beach area that is over run with geese. I recommend that they hire someone to help with that as soon as possible! Believe it or not, there are humane ways to get rid of them. Yes, they are wildlife and yes, they are cute. But they aren't friendly and they poop everywhere. Honestly, as we walked to the beach area, it was like a mine field! Would you want your kid playing in sand that is mixed with goose poop? But it doesn't end there. While I realize that litter is a problem caused by stupid people who need to learn manners ... somehow, someone needs to clean it up. We were at the beach at 9:00AM on a Saturday. It wasn't crowded. And as far as the eye could see, there were straw wrappers, empty drink containers and candy wrappers strewn about. So one can assume, that garbage didn't just end up there that very morning. We had relatives visiting from out of state, one of whom went into the ladies' room after a park ranger came out ... you don't want to know what she saw in there. Filth! She also overheard another group of people complaining about how Black Rock wasn't worth the visit anymore due to lack of cleanliness. And this is my main gripe THIS year. I went last year and I honestly couldn't enjoy myself. There were car loads of people cooking out and blasting loud music. Look, I know you are having a cook-out and enjoying the beach. But I don't have to be assaulted by your music even if it's a genre I listen to. People also had dogs in the beach area when there is a rule that pets are not allowed. But no one said boo to these people! Sadly, when certain crowds arrive, the life guards and park rangers are too intimidated to say anything at all. Chaos ensues. There was a 6 year old walking his family pit bull, as it dragged him. I'm not pit bull bashing ... I know some could be sweet. But if you have a muscle dog, you better have control over it around large crowds because dogs can be unpredictable. At least this family used a leash. Another guy had his chihuahua running free and into the water. But I digress ... the rule is no pets in the beach area so NO PETS! While some people here are bashing the Nazi-like rules at the park ... I'm finding there are actually very little rules enforced. You can play music as loud as you want, let dogs run freely despite the no pets posting, litter as much as you want, smoke cigarettes even if you're sitting 2 feet from kids, etc ... Unless you want to bring a pool noodle into the water with you ... that's when a little blond girl will walk up to you and yell at you. You can't bring a noodle into the water! I actually wish the rules were stricter. If the rules were pushed, only those with manners would remain and actually be able to enjoy themselves. read more

My boyfriend and I came to visit this park after buying a tent and camping supplies for the first time. The camp site was okay, not great, but okay. The problem with this camp is the RUDE staff? The young girls that work in the office are complete bimbos that are completely useless. they never stop texting and seem to not care but just there to earn a quick buck. The old man ranger is completely rude, disrespectful, ignorant and disgusting. My boyfriend and I had campsite number 10. The campsite was near another campsite in which 10 people were crowding our area. We had no room. we moved the tent about 5 feel down/ away from the fire pit. we went for a hike and were 15 minutes away from the tent. The old man came and said he was going to get our tent put down and motorcycle towed because we were not exactly right near the campsite 10 sign. They were very rude and made us move our tent literally 3 feel in front of where we originally settled. TOWE a motorcycle for THAT?!? Staff is ignorant and too into your face about pointless things. Never will come here again. read more