Kettletown State Park is everything that comes to mind when you think of a traditional sleep-away summer camp on a lake, except it's open to family and group camping as well as large youth group camping, and you can come here just for a day. There's a small beach area for lounging and swimming, and the rest of the large lake is used for water sports such as boating, canoeing, and fishing. The water's pretty murky in the swimming area, but that's to be expected for a lake. I went swimming and found it to be cool and refreshing on a hot day. Behind the beach is a nice picnic area with charcoal grills and a good number of picnic tables under shady trees. Past the beach area is a small amphitheater with screenings of family movies at night (Madagascar 1 and 3 last weekend), plus daytime activities like a reptile show. Campsites aren't too far from all of this action, and the walk from the camping area to the beach consists of a beautiful hike on clear trails and boardwalks through the woods and over a relaxing stream. I camped here with a group of friends last week, and we all had a great time.
Camping is very reasonable at $17 a night for Connecticut residents this year. Our site was clean, right across from a drinking water pump, and a short walk to the bathrooms, which are cleaned daily and include a shower. Each site includes a fire pit. Cabins are available for $50 a night for up to 6 people, which isn't a bad deal either. There is an alcohol ban this year from June 7 to Sept. 9, which may or may not deter my camping here in the future. We made it in before the prohibition, but there were still large signs everywhere about the no alcohol rule. I'm not sure how strongly this is enforced, but we did see a few police cars drive through the weekend we stayed. Quiet hours start at 10 p.m., so the police cars may have been driving through to enforce that. Overall, this was a really nice place to spend a weekend. read more