Gilbert Lake State Park

Eve Eden

2023-10

Beautiful park. It was the perfect backdrop for a wedding I recently attended. The park staff were very friendly and helpful. Highly recommend checking it out and taking a walk around the lake!

Rob S

2023-05

What an awesome camping experience! We had a great lot on an out of the way loop. The bathroom was directly across from us and was clean and brightly lit. The site was spacious with plenty of space between us and the neighbors. The beach was great for the kids, the snack bar had plenty of choices at reasonable prices, and there was a pavillion of at the far end of the lake available to rent (but open when not rented allowing access to the restrooms). There were many hiking trails and a Frisbee golf course. We will be back!

K Roach

2023-09

Great park with cabins. Right in Laurens. Hidden gem with kayaking and pavilions. Not the best beach but great park grounds camping recreation.... A must see. Cabins were secluded and very well maintained.

Valerie Conner

2023-10

Tiny lake takes 20 minutes to walk around. Many campsites. No one there midweek, fall. You could have the place to yourself. Gals at the office very nice and helpful.

Ryan Mazierski

2023-05

Very nice New York State Park. Originally built the by the CCC in the 1930's Gilbert Lake offers much to do! Although, smaller than other NYS park Gilbert Lake offers many recreational and camping opportunities.For hiking in the park try the trail that goes around the lake. It is a scenic short hike. Most of the other hiking trails in the park are easy to moderately challenging. They are wide and easy to follow. You might see a few buildings The trails often are near the campsites as well.Gilbert Lake also offers good fishing. Trout, Bass, and Panfish can all be found in the lake. Most of the fish are small to moderate size. If you don't have a kayak or canoe for the lake there is a fishing platform near the main entrance.The lake is easy to canoe or kayak. It is approximately 41 acres and has 1 mile of shoreline. Careful of the downed trees in the lake. In the summer months you can swim at beach.The park offers seclusion as there not many large towns nearby. Cell service in the park is very limited to non-existent. If planning to come here keep that in mind. There is a baseball field, basketball court, and volleyball net in the park.Cabins and campsites are available for booking. Must call ahead for reservations. Great place to spend a day or more!

kunjan shukla

2023-05

It was good camping - among the tall woods. Bathroom was clean and near to camp site .The Playground That Keeps Kids Engaged in the ParkThe lake, kayaking and beach area is good for spending time with family and friends .

Julie McCoy

2023-07

Lovely state park if you can find it! Small Sandy beach area but lots of picnic tables, kayak rentals and an easy and relatively bug-free walk around the lake.

Liz Gonzales

2023-10

The morning we went to Gilbert Lake it had just rained and was so beautiful. The walking paths were inviting so we walked along as others were running, walking with strollers and pets.

Raphael Sason

2023-10

Lovely all year round but especially welcoming on a cloudy fall weekday with no one around. Walked around the lake on the well maintained path.

Julie Ford

2023-09

Well maintained and quiet campground, clean bath house with hot water showers (hold the button in and be patient). Rangers helped us through several crises, nice friendly caring employees.TEN STARS!!!🐲🧡

Terry Yoo

2023-05

Wow. Nice water activity available here. And there are 2 different playground for toddler to kids. Beach was beautiful. It wasn't crowded for the weekend. Highly recommended.Playground: 2 different setting for toddler to kidsRestrooms: 3 different restroom was CleanPicnic area: Plenty of picnic table was available

Peter Kilinski

2023-09

Really nice relaxing little park in basically the middle of nowhere !! Can rent paddle boards, kayaks to paddle on the Lake, clean public beach, nice easy hiking / walking trails .. Cabins and camping spots available .. Actually had clean restrooms

Howard A

2020-05

Very nice park in an out of the way location. Nice long wide trails for hiking with your dogs. Sites are nicer (more private) in the non-electric areas. The electric sites are packed in pretty tight. Nice "lake" for kayaking, 45 minutes to leisurly paddle around so I would consider it more a large pond. Staff was very friendly. Would definitely come back.

H Horsen (Hhorsen)

2021-05

Grounds are kept up, most site are larger then stated. Bathroom are clean but are in need of closer attention around Bottom of toilets. Staff need to be more attentive to the customers by paying attention as they drive around the park and maybe asking how things are. All weekend we could not contact the office about a recurring issue's with groups of people walking within inches of our camper and snooping in truck Windows. Two days latter informed they where having trouble with the phone lines.

Caleb Peterson

2023-05

Awesome state park! Facilities are updated and well cared for. Lots of stuff to do for all ages. Playgrounds, fishing, kayaking, hiking, swimming, biking, and more. The camp staff puts on fun events for all campers during the camping season. Highly recommended for families!

Stacy Romaine

2019-05

We love Gilbert Lake State Park! We rent a few cabins at a different state park within a couple hours' drive each year on the 4th of July week, and this is our third stay at Gilbert Lake. We had cabins 27 and 28 and they're a great pair facing each other with a nice common yard area.Great swimming and beach area, with playground and nice day use areas. The frisbee golf is a FUN addition that I really think more state parks should add for the cost. We always enjoy it! There are quite a few nice trails, and a nice walking trail that I'd almost say is wheelchair accessible around the lake. Gilbert Lake is a great spot to kayak, especially near sunset as most of the lake finally ends up in the shade. OH, and we saw a bald eagle at the beach, flying back and forth overhead, and then landed in a tree, while we were there! SO COOL! As for other family activities, there are also a lot of geocaches spread around the park, if you're into that. And if you're not, check it out. Great outdoor activity. :)(If you've got Verizon cell phones, be warned the service is SPOTTY! None of us got more than 1 occasional bar of 3G at the cabins, but up in the Hilltop area, we got 1 or 2 bars of LTE. Down at frisbee golf at the picnic tables by the swings, we also got 1 or 2 bars of LTE. And lastly, NO SERVICE at the beach itself, but about 30 feet away to the right of the beach of you're facing it, in front of the stone building, 2 bars LTE. Very strange lol.)The 6-person cabins are set up nicely with cold running water, fridge, stove, sink, and a "stall" type toilet out on the enclosed porch. 2 decent sized bedrooms and a main common room.The parking for the beach is definitely less than optimal, though. It was almost as easy to just walk down from the cabins (and we were the furthest cabins, just about) than to park in the beach lot across the way from the beach and go back up. There is a nice dropoff zone, though. But walking all those stairs a few times a day every day for a week will remind you of those leg muscles when you get back to camp!Everyone was super nice that we encountered (except one ranger who I won't provide more details on because it would likely give this person away lol) - but everyone else from the guys in the golf carts ramming around doing things to the other rangers on bikes and such, to the folks in the office, were super friendly and helpful.

Pam Ayers

2020-05

We visited this park this past weekend for a triathlon. TheRat Snake triathlon, which is a backward triathlon, was an amazing event! And really impressive that the park let them hold it there. We stayed in cabins in the back and had a wonderful time! We did have a hard time finding our bathroom in our cabin, though, because the door to it is the same color as the wall. So it was a brief moment of panic when I thought we didn’t have a bathroom at all. Upon arrival, everything was very clean and neat. And the accommodations were just what you expect from a park. Nothing too fancy, basics. We did have to call the front desk to have someone come and fix our gas heater in our pcabin, but once they came and fixed it we had no problems! Our friends’ cabins only had woodfired stoves for heating, so we got lucky! The staff were all VERY friendly and helpful!

Rafael Gonzalez

2023-05

I cane here twice, once in July and the other in August 2022. Came here from the Bronx. I had previously gone to Little Pond as it was closer to the city but there is a german lady there that treats the park guests very rudely. She threatened to ban us for simply having set up camp in a way she did not like and berated me on my last day.Contrast to that experience, the next weekend I visited Gilbert lake and the staff couldn't be any more caring and understanding. On our last day at the camp there was heavy rains. We tried to wait for the rain to pass but before we knew it it was 11 am. Two park staff members came by on a golf cart and asked us if we wanted to stay another night, which we thought was very nice considering that at little pond we were asked to leave at 8:50 am.We came back again in August and Rebecca was extremely accommodating making sure that our group's two camp sites were as close as possible. Rebecca truly is the baddest girl in the camp for being so helpful to us!!Will definitely come back here again in the future, it is worth the extra time for the drive.

Nicole

2023-05

First visit was great. No life guards hardly anyone there. It was swim at your own risk. Second visit was a bust 👎🏻Second time around life guards were present and oh man did they suck the joy out of visiting the lake. They complained about everything and were blowing their whistles at children constantly. I rather go to the public swimming pool then drive here and pay to listen to teenagers whine if you anything aside from stand still in the water. No jumping no water toys no diving it was so boring. My seven year old refuses to visit because of how boring it was.

A Matthews

2023-05

Great park. Quiet and peaceful. Nice for a picnic, walk, fishing, or kayaking.

Jennifer Howell

2023-05

Incredibly clean with passionate and friendly staff. Great showers. Awesome hiking. Beautiful place to visit

Richard

2023-05

Clean, friendly staff, found coffee in the morning at the main office 7-days a week, firewood for sale on site, had an overall great time.

Jane Dogmom

2023-05

Loved the trail around the lake...just beautiful and perfect to take my senior pup for a stroll.

Rita Greene

2022-05

It has two playgrounds beach was cleanBathrooms cleanCincession stand not bad priced and goodU can bring in food and cook out tooAmazing

Summer Jablonski

2022-05

Staff was friendly and grounds were well kept. Hiking trails were well maintained. We had a great weekend camping.

Mark Brodeur Jr

2022-05

Best place ever. Loved the camping. We shared the site with my mother and father in law who had a tow behind camper. Very relaxing.

Alexia Rose

2022-05

Beautiful Scenery, very family oriented and it has plenty hiking trails. Very clean environment.

Frederick Schwed

2023-10

Great day for a walk with the family. Easy to get to also.

Niren Joshi

2020-05

Beautiful state park with great facilitiesWell maintained, cleanThe lake water is crystal clear.Serene and peaceful.

Clint Miller

2023-09

Another treasure of a state park. New York has high taxes and backward politics but they have outstanding park game!Gilbert Lake State Park is 10/10.Pros: clean, compact, and convenient.Cons: AT&T has 5G, Verizon has 0G (which I guess could be a Pro)!We were there for family Olympics weekend and the park staff did a GREAT job helping to make our camping experience super memorable!Restrooms: Bathroom / shower areas were cleaned MULTIPLE times each day. They were even there on Sunday morning at 9 cleaning. Super impressed.