Best Tent Camping: New York State

Aaron Starmer is a freelance writer and editor specializing in children's novels and travel guides. His far-flung adventures inform much of his writing and include chasing down leopards in Kenya's Maasai Mara, rafting through the Grand Canyon, crossing mountain passes in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park, tripping over iguanas in the Galapagos Islands, and swimming beneath waterfalls in Tahiti. When closer to home, he takes every opportunity to explore the mountains, lakes, and rivers of New York, New Jersey, and New England. He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey with his wife Cate. Cate Starmer has reviewed New York City restaurants, written a guidebook to camping, edited dozens of non-fiction books, and produced a daily-updated travel blog. She received a dual degree BS in marketing and tv-radio-film from Newhouse School at Syracuse University and a certificate in Editing from New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Whether it's horseback riding in the Colombian jungle, running the NYC marathon, or trekking to a backcountry hut in winter, she is always up for a new challenge--especially if it involves an adventure that can be turned into a story. Timothy Starmer has always been an outdoor enthusiast and spent most of his childhood seeking out remote and wild areas whenever possible. During a brief hiatus from Brown University during 1997, he drove across the United States for six weeks, camping the entire way. Along the way he explored many of the West's national and state parks, including Canyonlands, Yellowstone, Arches, Bryce Canyon. At the trip's conclusion, he headed down to Australia, where he backpacked for a few months exploring the eastern Outback, the Great Barrier Reef, and the caves of Tasmania, as well as traversing the Tasmanian World Heritage Area along the Overland Track. Tim currently works in upstate New York as a timber framer and can still be found exploring the wilds whenever possible.

Long Island
1 Sears Bellows County Park
2 Watch Hill
3 Wildwood State Park

Catskills and Hudson Valley
4 Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park
5 Devil's Tombstone
6 Little Pond
7 Mills-Norrie State Park
8 Mongaup Pond
9 North-South Lake
10 PeekaMoose
11 Taconic State Park: Copake Falls Area
12 Woodland Valley

Central/Leatherstocking and Capital
13 Bowman Lake State Park
14 Cherry Plain State Park
15 Delta Lake State Park
16 Fair Haven Beach State Park
17 Glimmerglass State Park
18 Green Lakes State Park
19 Max V. Shaul State Park
20 Moreau Lake State Park
21 Whetstone Gulf State Park

Adirondacks
22 Adirondack Loj
23 Alger Island
24 Ausable Point
25 Brown Tract Pond
26 Buck Pond
27 Cranberry Lake
28 Eighth Lake
29 Forked Lake
30 Indian Lake Islands
31 Lake George Islands
32 LAKE HARRIS
33 Lincoln Pond
34 Little Sand Point
35 Luzerne
36 Meacham Lake
37 Putnam Pond
38 Rollins Pond
39 Sacandaga
40 Saranac Lake Islands

Thousand Islands
41 Mary Island State Park
42 Wellesley Island State Park

Finger Lakes
43 Buttermilk Falls State Park
44 Keuka Lake State Park
45 Stony Brook State Park
46 Taughannock Falls State Park
47 Watkins Glen State Park

Western New York
48 Allegany State Park: Cain Hollow (Quaker Area)
49 Lakeside Beach State Park
50 Letchworth State Park