Westcott Beach State Park – Henderson, NY

Westcott Beach State Park was such a wonderful surprise. New York State Parks are always beautiful but this park just has something special about it. I wasn’t prepared for how much I was going to love it here. The best part of this park is the large expanse of pristine Lake Ontario shoreline on Henderson Harbor. At first glance, you wouldn’t think that this has so much to offer, but it was one surprise after another.

Please note: some posts may contain affiliate links which means we could earn a small commission if you purchase products from our site at no additional cost to you.

Camping

Westcott Beach State Park’s campground was really impressive. There are 136 campsites and eight cottages available at Westcott Beach State Park. What I love most about the campsites here is that they are large and wooded sites. The sites aren’t really all that private, but the trees more than make up for that. The trees here are clearly old, and it gives the campsites character. Quite a few are lakefront, but you aren’t directly on the water. What is fantastic about this campground is that the camping area has its own private stretch of beach. Although swimming is not technically allowed because there are no lifeguards on duty, It is fantastic just wading in the water and relaxing on the sandy beach.

There 2 separate campground areas within the park. The smaller camping area is near the cottage and these sites are all-electric. This area is located on the other side of Route 3 and is almost completely separated from the main portion of the park. Most of the hiking is located in this area. Most of the campsites in the park are down by the beach and are a mixture of electric and non-electric sites.

Activities

Most of the hiking trails are located across the street(Route 3) from the park. There are approximately 3.2 miles of hiking trails in total. The trails can also be used for cross-country skiing.

This park is not lacking in fun activities to keep everyone entertained during a visit. there are large open fields for playing soccer and football as well as a baseball field and basketball court. Each campground area has a large and modern playground facility.

Day Use Area and Beach

There is a large Day Use Area near the beach that is filled with picnic tables and grills. There is a long shoreline where people can enjoy the lake without having to hang out in the swimming area. There is a beach house that has showers and changing rooms as well as toilets. Kids will enjoy the enormous modern playground. There are also several picnic pavilions that can be rented through the park service.

The swimming area has a roped-off portion in the lake and there are lifeguards on duty in the summer. The seagulls really seem to enjoy playing in this part of the park as well. We had a great time watching them frolic in the waves that approached the sandy beach. This park is exceptionally clean and we saw lots of park employees cleaning up trash and doing routine maintenance around the beach.

Boating

There is a small boat launch within a cove next to the beach. Several boats can be docked here and there is day-use dockage as well as overnight. One of the things my kids enjoyed the most was walking out on along the stone piers that surround the boat launch. This was an excellent fishing spot and we were able to enjoy the lake away from the crowds on the beach. The bass fishing is excellent here.