Tent Camping on Long Island at Wildwood State Park and Camping Packing List

Backstory:

My friends and I have been talking about doing a cross country road trip for years now. But with gas prices soaring, and me being impatient, we thought it would be fun to test the waters and go pitch a tent somewhere local before road-tripping.

We wanted to camp at Hither Hills State Park in Montauk, but it booked up really quickly. Which is understandable, because Airbnbs in the Hamptons are at least $400 a night, so tent camping is a cheaper alternative in a prime location.

Wildwood State Park:

I did some research and decided to book Wildwood State Park.

It is on the north shore of Long Island, on the Long Island sound close to Riverhead, in Wading River. It is about an hour drive from my house. My parents and older siblings had camped there before, so we thought we would give it a go. 

There is a 2-night stay minimum. You can bring up to 2 tents and 6 people per campsite. You can also bring one car into the state park. It is $20 to bring a second car and you have to park it on the outside of the camp, but it doesn’t really look like anyone was checking to see how many cars were at the campsites.

We booked a campsite with a platform. Our campsite was A04plat. It was a close walking distance to the bathrooms, but a little far away from the beach and the hiking trails.

There was well water right across from our site. The bathrooms/showers were semi clean, but the facility was brand-new looking. It was nice that we could park a car on our campsite so we could keep all our personal belongings in the car without fear of them getting wet or stolen. There was cell phone service in the park which was nice.

The park was very crowded with lots of families around. Every night there were celebrations and parties. There were babies crying and car alarms going off every night. It was definitely not a peaceful weekend getaway. At night the state police drove around and patrolled. There was even a camp store selling ice, firewood and toys during the day.

In total: it was $77 to rent the campsite for the two nights with the two cars. 

Things to do: 

·      Hiking: We got up at 7am Saturday morning when the sun started coming in our tent and our next-door neighbors started cooking breakfast. Peter, my twin brother and Boy Scout extraordinaire took us on a 4-mile hike in the woods around the park. We were done exercising by noon.

·      After lunch we grabbed our beach chairs and bathing suits and headed to the water where there is a rocky beach.

·      We watched the sunset on the Long Island sound.

·      We played cards at our campsite.

·      We roasted marshmallows over the fire.

Packing list:

·      Tent

·      Rain cover/tarp

·      Ground stakes

·      Sleeping mat/pad or yoga mat

·      Sleeping bag

·      Pillow

·      Headlight/flashlight

·      Lantern

·      Camp chair/beach chairs

·      Cooler

·      Tumbler, metal mug

·      Folding table

·      Firewood

·      Reusable water bottles

·      Boots/sneakers

·      Shower shoes/flip-flops

·      2x socks per day

·      2x underwear per day

·      Sweatshirt

·      PJs

·      2 towels (one beach, one shower)

·      Bathing suit

·      Hat

·      Sunglasses

·      Toiletries with Chapstick, baby wipes and hand sanitizer 

·      Sunscreen

·      Bug spray

 

For the campsite:

·      Bottled water

·      Steel wool

·      Bin/bucket to wash dishes

·      Sponge

·      Soap

·      Tablecloth

·      Napkins

·      Utensils

·      Plates

·      Cups

·      Paper towels

·      Gas camp stove

·      Skewers to roast marshmallows

·      Clothesline

·      Fire pit 

·      Mixing bowl

·      Tin foil

·      Measuring cup

·      Cooking spray

·      Tongs/spatula

·      Cooking pan

·      Metal tray

·      Serving tray

·      Speaker

 

Food:

·      Breakfast-

o   Eggs

o   Bagels

o   Pancakes

o   Butter 

o   Syrup

o   Cream cheese

o   Orange juice

 

·      Lunch-

o   Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

o   Bananas

o   Oranges

 

·      Snacks-

o   Granola bars

o   Hummus and chips

o   Guacamole and chips

 

·      Dinner

o   Hamburgers and buns

o   Hot-dogs and buns

o   Corn

o   Ketchup

o   Mustard

 

·      Dessert

o   S’mores

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