Family Campground on Beautiful Cayuta Lake
Located on the shores of beautiful Cayuta Lake just minutes away from Ithaca, Watkins Glen and Montour falls New York, Cool Lea Campground is a family oriented privately owned and operated campground offering Full Hook Up, Water and Electric sites plus primitive tent sites along with a cottage, cabins and rental camper.
Imagine enjoying an early morning cup of coffee at our lakeside pavilion while watching the Eagles and Osprey fish for their breakfast or making smores over your campfire as you relax to the sounds of nature while staying on one of our tent sites. Don’t forget you can also come down to our pavilion on a Saturday night to dance to one of the area’s top bands.
Cool Lea Campground offers a wide variety of activities for young and old, from scavenger hunts, movie nights, kids fishing tournaments, Cornhole Tournaments, Karaoke and Trivia nights plus Saturday night live entertainment and more. See our activities/event section for more information.
If you feel like exploring the nearby area, take a short drive to Montour Falls and Watkins Glen to check out the beauty of Shequaga Falls, Aunt Sarah’s Falls and Eagle Cliff Falls. You can add Ithaca Falls, Butternut Falls, Taughannock Falls to that mix as well.
Some of New York States finest wineries are located nearby, and for you racing fans Watkins Glen International Raceway is just a short drive away.
About Cayuta Lake
Cayuta Lake is approximately 380 acres with 4 miles of shoreline and a maximum depth of 26 feet. Named after the Seneca Princess Kayutah, legend has it that the princess was kidnapped by a hostile tribe, and her mothers’ tears filled the valley to form the lake.
Love to Fish? This is your lake. Cayuta Lake offers great fishing with Bass caught up to 5 lbs. or lager, Walleye, Pickerel, Perch, Black Crappie along with an abundance of panfish to top things off.
Bring your boats, jet skis, canoe, kayak and enjoy a day or two on the water.
Cool Lea Campground offers free boat launching for campers along with canoe, kayak and boat rentals.
Reviews
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I brought a group of first time backpackers to Camp Cool-Lea and it was the perfect place to ease them into camping. The highest hill campsite easily accommodating all 7 of our tents with ample space for us to spread out and get privacy. Bob kindly brought up some wood for a campfire without us even asking and he met us at the entrance to the camp to save us the walk to the office. We spoke a number of times leading up to the trip and he was extremely helpful, flexible and excited to have our group come out. We brought some canoes out the day before we arrive so that we could paddle on Cayuta Lake during our stay and the other campers were super friendly, curious and kind and we had great interactions with them as well! The bathrooms, grounds, lake front and campsite were all really tidy, well landscaped and well cared for. Our visit was wonderful and I hope we'll visit this spot as part of our trip every year!
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What great campground, well maintained and very welcoming. Bob and Elvis made our stay so nice; we booked another weekend. Live band on the weekend made for good entertainment. Not far from Watkins Glen if you’re looking for something more to do. Rest rooms were clean and stocked. Rates are reasonable. Highly recommend.
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This campground has the warmest, friendliest seasonal campers and staff. I’ve been there three times this summer and the vibe has been so relaxed and fun. They’ve had some awesome entertainment, and the food truck is truly an asset. Thanks to the manager, Bob and his German Shepherd, Elvis for making everything so inviting!
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Quiet setting with lake access, tent sites are wooded and secluded. The swimming area is nice for children and we enjoyed kayaking on the lake. The lake is a lake has fish, seaweed, Lilly pads, beavers. It’s not a chlorinated pool if that’s what you want.
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