CP Campground Review – Myers Park, Lansing, NY

June 26, 2017 by libertatemamo 8 Comments

A very basic city campground in a GREAT location to explore Ithaca, NY

Link to campground here: Myers Park, Lansing, NY
Link to map location here: Myers Park, Lansing, NY

1. Site Quality = 2/5
   Very basic, so-so rustic sites here. There are 19 total sites, all back-in, 30A/water (no sewer) arranged side-by-side in a short arc along the grassy right edge (north-eastern edge) of the park. On plus side sites are very long (any-sized rig can fit), and each sites does have a grassy “sitting area” with picnic table and fire pit. Plus the sites are somewhat separated from the main swim/activity area of the park which means they are fairly quiet and don’t get overwhelmed during busy week-ends & summer days (big plus!). Main ding is that separation can be tight, sites can be uneven and privacy is very limited. Also there are 2 RV sites for each hookup pedastal, so RVs on left side of the pedastal have to run their electric/water underneath their rigs to reach the hookups (make sure you have a longer electric cord with you if you stay here!). Lastly the ground is grassy and can get very soft with rain, but the sites do have a small coarse/hard gravel parking area which is sufficiently firm to support a larger rig. Sites near beginning of arc (~1-14) have no water views, but sites towards the end (~15-19) have slices of water views along the back and side.
   NOTE/ Around 10 of the sites, mostly towards the end of the arc are taken up by seasonals (= folks who come here every year for the entire summer season), so there are only 9 or so sites which are open for shorter-term reservations. Reservations are only accepted by phone and confirmations are only sent by snail mail. DO remember to bring your confirmation with you as the entry booth does not really deal with the camping area of the park and will likely have no idea which site you are in.
2.  Facilities = 2/5
   Very basic facilities here. Older bathroom with flush toilets on-site, plus one shower. Everything is rather dated and run-down, and the womens bathroom was somewhat unkempt while we were here (Paul said the mens was nicer). On-site dump station.
3. Location = 5/5
   Location is really what this park is all about. It’s in the town of Lansing just ~15 mins north of downtown Ithaca NY which is a vibrant University town (Cornell University, Ithaca College) with no end of interesting options for hiking, eating, food and exploration. The park itself is right on Lake Cayuga with easy access to water activities (on-site marina, boating, plus rentals for paddle-boards/kayaks etc.), a large grassy, central field, 2 huge playgrounds, picnic tables, swim beach, bait shop, fishing pier and even a little lighthouse (not a real one, but super cute nonetheless). During summer week-ends there’s often events and music in the central grounds too. Only slight ding is there is a railroad line behind the park (nearest site #1), but we only heard a few trains come through during the day and they didn’t bother us at our site.
4. Pet Friendliness = 5/5
   Fabulous place for doggie. Lots of space in camp, plus large grassy area and water-front to walk doggie (next door natural area also accepts dogs). Plus you are only 15-mins drive to lots of additional hiking at the State Parks near Ithaca (Buttermilk Falls, Botanical Gardens etc.). On-site poo bags.

Overall Rating = 3.5
BONUS ALERT = Camp on Lake Cayuga only 15 mins from downtown Ithaca!

Video Overview: Want to see it in living color? Check out our ~12 min video overview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z95uQLydYn4

Summary: We chose this park as our base to explore Ithaca and it worked out perfectly. This is a very small reservation-only city park with just 19 sites located~15 mins north of Ithaca in the small town of Lansing NY. The sites themselves are very basic and nothing much to write home about. They are simply back-in parking spots arranged side-by-side in an arc along the right-hand (north-eastern) side of the park. Each site has 30A/water, slices of “sitting areas” and rather limited privacy. The ground is grass and does get soft with rain, but the sites do have a small hard gravel area for parking. Around 10 of the sites are taken by seasonals who come back every year, so there are really only 9 or so sites open for reservation (which can only be made by phone). The biggest draw here is the location! The park is right on Lake Cayuga with easy access to water activities (on-site marina, boat launch, paddle-board/kayak rentals), swim beach, fishing and a huge grassy area with playground and lots of space to enjoy the lake. Plus you are only 15 mins from Ithaca which is a wonderfully vibrant University town that offers no end of hiking, food and entertainment. We were happy with our site (#16) which had decent separation and a nice elevated “sitting area” along the back of our rig (we even had a slice of lake view out the side). We also appreciated the fact that the RV sites were somewhat separated from the main water/activity area of the park (really made a difference on the busy week-end) and certainly enjoyed our daily walks around the park and lake-front. But what we LOVED the most was the location! It was awesome to be on the lake and also awesome to be only 15 mins from Ithaca so we could thoroughly enjoy the city with minimal effort. Definitely a basic campground, but a fabulous location and one we would certainly return to for that very reason.

Extra Info: Decent, but somewhat variable cell signal (a booster helped). Verizon offered 1-2 bars of LTE, ATT offered 1-2 bars 4G and T-Mobile worked decently (-> for all providers the signal was decently fast most of the time, but there were periods of slowing, likely due to cell overloading) Total 19 water/electric (30A) sites, all reservable by phones. Sites cost $28/night. On-site dump station.