Bowman Lake State Park (OPRHP)
Status: CLOSED but opens in 175 days on Fri May 16
Season 2025 Dates: Fri May 16 to Sun Aug 31, 2025
9 Month Booking Window: Thu Aug 21, 2025
Campground Overview
Bowman Lake State Park is a remote sylvan retreat known as "a camper's paradise." Scenic park roads wind through evergreen and hardwood forests to shady campsites. There is a sandy lakefront for swimmers and sunbathers, with several picnic areas nearby. The lake is regularly stocked with trout, and birdwatchers can spot as many as 103 species of birds. The park also has a nature center that stocks a self-guiding trail brochure for those who wish to stroll the nature trail around the lake.
This campground offers a large number of larger, and more private campsite than other State/DEC campgrounds.
Bowman Lake has 172 campsite, 169 are reservable, none are on or near the water. There are no electric sites. They offer some seasonal sites which is rare for any State/DEC campground.
Mar 30, 2024: 1,763 new full set photos of all sites at Bowman Lake now available. Log in with your BaseCamp account to view them all!
Sites also now show the correct campsite photos from 2016 based on the old site numbers.
Status: CLOSED but opens in 175 days on Fri May 16
Season 2025 Dates: Fri May 16 to Sun Aug 31, 2025
9 Month Booking Window: Thu Aug 21, 2025
Campground Phone: (607) 334-2718
Region: Central New York
Weekend Occupancy: Medium
Minimum Nights Reservation: 1 night
View 2,765 Campsite Photos of Bowman Lake
Reservations (Reserve America)
| Base Fee | $15 |
| Out of State Surcharge | $5 |
| Showers | multiple hot shower buildings |
| Washrooms | flush toilets |
| Dump Station | yes |
| Recycling Station | yes |
| Boat Launch | yes |
| Boat Mooring | none |
| Lakeside Rating | 2 out of 5 lakeside stars. Offers a fine camping experience with sites a distance away from water and without a water view, but does offer a smaller pond to enjoy water activities like swimming, paddling and fishing. No motorboats. |
| Total Campsites | 161 |
| Total Cabins | 9 |
| Reservable Sites | 161 |
| Lakeside Sites | 0 |
| 10ft Trailer Sites | 10 |
| 20ft Trailer Sites | 19 |
| 30ft Trailer Sites | 32 |
| 40ft Trailer Sites | 69 |
| 50ft Trailer Sites | 22 |
| Pull thru sites | none |
| Cabins | 9 |
| Hookups | no hookups, dry camping only |
| Site Pads | mostly level |
| Ground Cover | mainly sand and small gravel |
| Tree Cover | Very wooded with a mix of deciduous (majority) and coniferous trees. Mostly shady except around the beach where sites are more partially shaded. |
| Road Access | wide nicely paved roads, easy access |
| Water | Smaller round lake .4 miles long by 500ft wide. No motorized boats. |
| Beach | Medium size 270ft long sandy beach. |
| Paddling | Limited paddling options on very small lake. |
| Boating | Row boats only |
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