The Best Camping of the Year Happens Later than You Think

Summer camping is great. Warm water, long days, nights where you can sit outside in as few clothes as you want till midnight — there's a reason it's the season everybody thinks of first, and it's a season I love too, and some of my favorite nights at this place happened in July.

But fall ...

Is its own thing, and it's not a lesser version of summer, it's a different game entirely. The bugs are gone, the woods go quiet in that specific way they only get once the leaves start coming down, and the cold does something to a campfire that August never can, it gives it a job to do. You're not sitting around it because it's nice out. You're sitting around it because you need it, and that need is exactly what makes it feel so good. Layer up right, get the fire going, wake up to frost on the rainfly and your breath hanging in the air outside the tent, that's a whole different kind of great, one that a lot of great summer campers never get around to trying. If you've never camped cold, this is your sign.

Why its worth it

Most campgrounds up here shut it down after Columbus Day. Can't blame them, it's colder, it's harder to staff, the math gets tighter. We don't close, and it's not because we've run the numbers and decided it's a smart business move. (It's not) It's because gay spaces don't get to just exist in the easy months. We need somewhere to gather in October just as much as we need it in July, maybe more, because winter is coming for all of us one way or another and it's better faced with your people around a fire than alone in an apartment counting down to spring. Staying open into the cold isn't a sacrifice we're making. It's the whole point of creating this place. (Someday, when Twin Ponds Lodge grows up a little bit more, we will be able to be open 12 months out of the year, when we can build more year round cabins, and can afford enough staff that Roberto, Ev, and I can take some days off that aren't in the coldest days of winter.)

And there's a lot happening. Every weekend through October has something on the calendar, it's a full season of reasons to be here. November gets one big weekend, our 5th Annual Fucked Up Holiday Party! December gets one more before we close it down, New Year's Eve! Four days to celebrate the end of 2026 and the start of 2027.

A Place to Gather

If you're the type who's already got good gear and knows what you're doing in the cold, tent sites are still very much in play — bring the ten-degree bag, bring the extra tarp, come prove it to yourself. If cold-weather tenting isn't your thing, we've got cabins and trailers for rent, heated and comfortable, 3 night minimum. And the Lodge itself is open and warm all season — the place to gather, warm up, and hang out no matter where you're sleeping that night.

This is fall camping the way it's supposed to be done — a little different, a lot rewarding, and full of people who showed up on purpose because the season got challenging and they came anyway. That's this place, all the way into winter.

Click here for full schedule of events.