Robert S.
Yelp
Started camping here 30 years ago! For the last 5 years we have spent Memorial Day at Hither Hills. We are tent campers. This year, 5/27/17, we arrived on Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. After many years of excellent camping, this year was different! The site, in the A row, was small, even for 2 small tents. There was broken glass on the ground, a lot of it, right where the tents would go. I asked for a new site, I was told every site was taken, sold out, even though there were 20+ sites empty. But the real bad news is, TICKS, TICKS, TICKS!!! Within 30 minutes every member of our family had ticks on them! The ticks were EVERYWHERE! AND NO they do not spray for ticks, I asked! There were no large signs warning us of the danger in the park!
The tall grass next to the site was too close to the camping area, Our 8 x 12 tents were literally against the cement pad on one side and against the tall grass on the other side!. Even the "cut grass" was 6 high! This NOT an inconvenience, this is life threatening! Babesiosis, Lyme, Anaplasmosis and Erhlichioisis. This is a real hazard! Two members of my family have been in the hospital because of past issues with these diseases, NYS Parks, this one is on you. We did not wander into the tall grass, the ticks are everywhere! Yes, we wore white socks so we could see the ticks, and we saw them! Yes, we applied DEET based spray, several times a day! And YES, we still had ticks crawling on us! I pulled one off myself, and my two daughters! Was it a mild winter, yes, and that means ticks will flourish. This is a real hazard that MUST be warned against. Thinking twice about going next year.