State parks prepare for camping season

KEUKA PARK, WATKINS GLEN--Even though spring has had a cool start, the state parks in the region are finishing up work to prepare campsites for their official opening. Both Keuka Lake State Park and Watkins Glen State Park will open for camping in early May, with park crews working to finish clearing, mowing and renovating the campsites for use.
Keuka Lake State Park Manager Ross Lovell said they will officially open their camping season Friday, May 6. He noted there are 150 total campsites which can hold roughly 450 people at maximum capacity, with Lovell adding 50 of these sites have electric.
"Weekends fill up immediately for electric sites," Lovell said.
The park manager noted holiday weekends throughout the summer tend to be their busiest dates, adding reservations are comparable to where they were this time last year.
One of the biggest improvements the park has made for this season was making renovations to their third and final camping restroom. Lovell said this included making everything ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant, new tiles, fixtures and lighting. He noted these improvements cost around $25,000.
Lovell added the park crews have also worked on the swim area complex as well as the lower bath house. There are three permanent staff members at the park along with four seasonal members. With lifeguards included, the total staff number rises to 15. Lovell said his crew works all winter long, noting they are actually ahead of schedule compared to previous years in cleaning and mowing their campsites due to the mild winter. This includes being able to get their bucket truck on the lawns quicker to complete their tree work.
At Watkins Glen State Park, Manager Ron Roney said the park officially opens for camping season Friday, May 13. Roney noted there are some 300 campsites at the park, 50 of which are electric. He added each campsite can hold a maximum of six people.
Some of the work Roney mentioned park crews have worked on included 10 rustic cabins, as well as a renovated bath house. He said this is the fifth bath house out of the six that has been renovated, adding it can cost between $50,000 to $60,000 to complete the work on one. Roney note the funds for this work comes from state grants.
Other work at Watkins Glen included getting the park's water and electric systems back up and running to the campsites, along with their yearly cleaning of the gorge. This involves a crew of five workers who scale down the walls of the gorge to clear debris. The scalers begin in April each year, taking 18 to 21 days to complete. The park manager also added they have two to five people brought in for maintenance and other work like chopping the wood from fallen branches and trees for the campsites.
Both parks take reservations through www.reserveamerica.com and accept reservations up to nine months in advance.