Stargazing

New Earth Estate

6 Cabins, 7 Tipis, 1 Tiny House

New Earth Estate in Markdale, Ontario, offers seven cabin and tiny-house units and seven tipis across 50 acres of forest, river, and rolling hills in the Grey Highlands, open year-round. A pool, hot tub and sauna, spa, disc golf course, kayak rentals, and boat docks make this a full eco-retreat rather than a campground, within weekend range of Toronto. Accommodations run to seven cabins and tiny houses plus seven tipis — a small inventory, so book well ahead. Restrooms, showers, firewood, and WiFi serve the property, and on-site dining covers meals. The estate operates all year, which makes it a genuine four-season option in a region where many properties close. The 50 acres carry an unusually deep amenity set. A pool, hot tub, sauna, and spa anchor the wellness side, while a disc golf course, sports courts, volleyball, basketball, and a ball field cover active recreation. Kayak rentals, boat docks, a pond, and a river support paddling, with a beach and lake nearby. Walking trails and hiking run the forest, and the dark rural sky makes for strong stargazing and bird watching. The estate also operates as a wedding venue. Pets are welcome. A safety note the operators emphasize: this is a natural property with a river, pond, paved and unpaved trails, and forest with stones, rocks, and fallen branches, and it gets genuinely dark at night. Bring flashlights, hike in daylight where possible, and wear proper footwear. Markdale sits in Grey County in the southern Georgian Bay watershed. The Blue Mountains ski and recreation area is 40 kilometers south, with skiing nearby in season and wine and beer tasting in the surrounding countryside. Book early for summer and ski-season weekends.

from $128/night

Sparrow Pond Campground

84 RV Sites, 12 Cabins, 3 Tent Sites

Sparrow Pond Campground in Waterford, Pennsylvania, offers 84 RV sites, 12 cabins, and three tent sites in Erie County, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 45 feet. Pondside, valley view, and shaded back-in categories join full-hookup and water-and-electric tiers, with an outdoor pool, recreation center, and clubhouse. Eighty-four sites span back-in, back-in water-and-electric, pondside back-in, shaded back-in, valley view back-in, and pull-thru categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted, sized to 45 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Naming categories by outlook — pondside, valley view, shaded — tells you exactly what you are booking. Confirm your tier, as the water-and-electric category does not carry sewer at the site. Twelve cabins and three tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills, dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with a pond supporting fishing, and a recreation center, clubhouse, game room, sports courts, basketball, volleyball, walking trails, hiking, a playground, and pavilion filling the grounds. Live music and planned activities run through the season, stargazing is good under the rural sky, and the property operates as a wedding venue. A state park, casino, and boating are nearby. Presque Isle State Park's Lake Erie beaches and the lakefront vineyard corridor running west toward Ohio are both within practical range. Summer is the season in the Lake Erie lowlands, with fall harvest drawing wine-country traffic. Reserve ahead.

from $64/night

Hidden Lakes Family Campground

28 RV Sites, 4 Tent Sites

Hidden Lakes Family Campground in Montville, OH, offers 28 RV sites and 4 tent sites, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service. Sites come in five categories — back-in 30-amp, back-in 50/30-amp, lakeside back-in 50/30-amp, pull-thru 30-amp, and pull-thru 50/30-amp — each carrying water and electric with a fire pit and picnic table. There's no sewer at the site, so plan on the on-site dump station. Maximum rig length isn't reliably published, so call with your dimensions before booking. The campground is gated, with a bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, and a recreation center. Check-in runs 2pm to 6pm with a noon checkout, and late arrivals can't always be accommodated and may incur an additional fee. Pets are welcome. An outdoor pool, a beach, a pavilion, a playground, basketball, horseshoes, and natural lakes fill the grounds, with swimming, fishing, kayaking, boating, stargazing, and themed event weekends through the season. Montville sits in Geauga County between Ohio's Lake Erie wine country and the outer suburbs of Cleveland. Rates for sites and tent spots are on the booking page. Note the check-in window before you plan a long driving day.

Tiny Village Parry Sound

Tiny Village Parry Sound in Ontario, Canada, provides a distinctive lakeside and Georgian Bay camping retreat in the Parry Sound District of the Canadian Shield, where the famous Thirty Thousand Islands of Georgian Bay—the largest freshwater archipelago in the world—create a labyrinthine boating, kayaking, and canoeing environment of extraordinary natural beauty in a protected UNESCO Biosphere Reserve recognized as one of the most ecologically significant freshwater landscapes on Earth. Positioned in the landscape surrounding Parry Sound where the Canadian Shield's exposed Precambrian granite meets Georgian Bay's open water in an island-studded shoreline that Canadian summer cottage culture has treasured for over a century, the campground provides a natural gateway to one of Canada's most celebrated outdoor recreation environments. The campground's facility reflects the outdoor recreation and cottage-style character of Georgian Bay camping: a beach for swimming, boat docks for guest watercraft, boat ramp, boat rentals, kayak rentals for exploring the island passages of the Thirty Thousand Islands, a lake, showers, bathrooms, general store, firewood, walking trails, playground, and recreation center serve the practical and recreational needs of guests whose stays center on the bay's paddling and boating opportunities. Canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding, volleyball, hiking, and the birding and wildlife watching that the Georgian Bay's protected shoreline consistently delivers provide organized and independent recreation across the full outdoor spectrum. The cabins accommodate guests seeking enclosed lakeside accommodations. Parry Sound's position on the eastern Georgian Bay shore provides the administrative and commercial center for the Thirty Thousand Islands corridor, where the Town of Parry Sound's waterfront, the Gateway to the 30,000 Islands cruise boat operation on Georgian Bay, and the Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts—home to the Festival of the Sound classical music festival each July—create a cultural and natural tourism infrastructure of surprising depth for a community of Parry Sound's size. The Canadian Shield's exposed granite outcrops, the silver-gray shores of Georgian Bay, and the boreal forest that frames every water view create the visual identity that the Group of Seven painters immortalized in the Canadian landscape painting tradition. The Georgian Bay Islands National Park, a 13,000-hectare park protecting 63 Georgian Bay islands and the Beausoleil Island's full range of Georgian Bay ecology, provides the most pristine and accessible wilderness island camping in the Thirty Thousand Islands corridor through a water-access-only park that rewards paddlers and boaters with complete island solitude. The Killbear Provincial Park on the Parry Sound peninsula provides developed beach and hiking access to Georgian Bay's granite headlands and the abundant wildlife that the park's Massasauga rattlesnake population, black bear community, and rich bird life represent in one of Ontario's most biologically diverse provincial parks. Tiny Village Parry Sound operates seasonally from late spring through early fall in the Georgian Bay's Canadian Shield climate, with the July and August summer season representing the peak of Georgian Bay's boating, paddling, and cottage culture when the Thirty Thousand Islands' warm bay water and the 18-hour northern summer days create ideal conditions for extended water recreation. The Festival of the Sound in July and the fall color season through late September and October—when the Shield's maple and birch forest transforms the granite island landscape into vivid color—create the most culturally and visually distinctive seasonal opportunities for guests whose Ontario visit extends beyond the summer camping peak.

Lake Wapusun RV Resort

37 RV Sites, 3 Cabins, 6 Tent Sites, 3 Glamping Sites

Lake Wapusun RV Resort in Shreve, Ohio, offers 37 RV sites, three cabins, six tent sites, and three glamping sites on a lake in Wayne County, with 20 and 30-amp water-and-electric service and rigs accepted to 45 feet. A beach, boat rentals, golf cart rentals, and a jumping pillow anchor a family resort behind a gated entrance in Ohio's Amish Country. Thirty-seven back-in sites carry water and electric on 20 or 30-amp, sized to 45 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables — note there are no sewer hookups at the sites, though a dump station is on site. Three cabins and three glamping sites serve guests without a rig, and six tent sites cover simpler camping. A general store, propane fills and exchange, laundry, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side, with WiFi throughout. Well-behaved, vaccinated pets are welcome but must be leashed outside your vehicle or attended in the fenced off-leash area. Recreation is the resort's focus after a full redesign. A lake with a beach supports swimming, boating, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and paddle boats, with boat rentals on site and inflatable water toys in season. A clubhouse, game room, craft room, and pavilion cover indoor hours, with basketball, sports courts, gaga ball, and a jumping pillow outdoors. Golf cart rentals, walking trails, a dog park, and a playground round it out, and food trucks, live music, and planned activities fill the calendar. On-site dining and a wedding venue complete the property. Mohican State Park, Malabar Farm State Park, the Ohio State Reformatory, Amish Country, and area wineries are all close. Summer family demand is the peak — reserve ahead.

from $32/night

Hickory Hill Camping Resort

130 RV Sites, 9 Cabins, 4 Tent Sites, 6 Cottages, 5 Lodges

Hickory Hill Camping Resort in Bath, New York, offers 130 RV sites, 20 cabin, cottage, and lodge units, and four tent sites in the Finger Lakes Southern Tier, with 30 and 50-amp full hookups, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 60 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. A dedicated Big Rig back-in category joins premium sites, alongside a splash pad, mini-golf, and fitness center. One hundred thirty sites span 30/50-amp back-in, 50-amp back-in, premium back-in, and Big Rig back-in categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with cable TV, sized to 60 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. The dedicated Big Rig category removes the guesswork for large coaches. Twenty cabins, cottages, and lodges and four tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills, dump station, restrooms, showers, firewood, and a concierge handle the practical side. Reach the resort at [email protected] or 607-776-4345. A splash pad and outdoor pool anchor the summer, with mini-golf, a disc golf course, fitness center, recreation center, craft room, sports courts, basketball, bocce ball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, and a jumping pillow filling the grounds. A lake, pond, and creek support fishing, with walking trails, hiking, golf cart rentals, a pavilion, and community fire pit besides. Live music and planned activities run through the season, and the resort operates as a wedding venue. Watkins Glen, the Corning Museum of Glass, and the Finger Lakes wine trails are all close. Summer and fall foliage drive demand. Reserve well ahead.

from $55 $48/night