Cool Lea Camp

Vulgar Hosts, Shockingly Rude. We were looking for a nice camp site in the Finger Lakes area and found Cool Lea campground in Odessa on Lake Cayuta. Everything seemed normal from the highway, but after we pulled into the driveway, we were met with a series of gigantic speed bumps that rattled our vehicle and nearly bottomed out going only 10mph. We continued up the long drive towards the office to inquire about available sites. I parked the car and approached the office when an angry man came chasing after us on a lawn mower, slammed his gear on the ground and approached me as if he wanted a fight..... This was the lovely owner of the campground. He began to yell at me about "speeding" in his campground. I tried to explain to him that we were only going 10mph (up the very long driveway, mind you..) a reasonable speed, and that his speed bumps nearly caused damage to our car. He wouldn't listen to a word. Just kept screaming to get out of his property. We were shocked. I then decided I would never give this man my money, and proceeded to leave the camp. He blocked us in at the exit and was joined by a woman and 4 children (whom we presumed to be his daughter and grand kids). I beeped my horn once to say "Let us out", and the woman began cursing at us, and flipping her finger in front of her young children. I rolled down my window to attempt to explain the situation to her, and she just continued to curse. Finally the man moved his tractor, and we were allowed to leave. Worst campground hosts ever.

We were looking for a nice camp site in the Finger Lakes area and found Cool Lea campground in Odessa on Lake Cayuta. Everything seemed normal from the highway, but after we pulled into the driveway, we were met with a series of gigantic speed bumps that rattled our vehicle and nearly bottomed out going only 10mph. We continued up the long drive towards the office to inquire about available sites. I parked the car and approached the office when an angry man came chasing after us on a lawn mower, slammed his gear on the ground and approached me as if he wanted a fight..... He began to yell at me about "speeding" in his campground. I tried to explain to him that we were only going 10mph (up the very long driveway, mind you..) a reasonable speed, and that his speed bumps nearly caused damage to our car. He wouldn't listen to a word. Just kept screaming to get out of his property. We were shocked. I then decided I would never give this man my money, and proceeded to leave the camp. He blocked us in at the exit and was joined by a woman and 4 children (whom we presumed to be his daughter and grand kids). I beeped my horn once to say "Let us out", and the woman began cursing at us, and flipping her finger in front of her young children. I rolled down my window to attempt to explain the situation to her, and she just continued to curse. Finally the man moved his tractor, and we were allowed to leave.

We had this campground booked for one week since it was relatively close to Watkins Glen. The website does a great job at making this "family friendly" campground look well maintained, but it was far from that. The sites are grass with a sorry attempt at a gravel pad that was barely wide enough for a 22' Airstream. They were also not marked at all with an inaccurate campground map. No privacy from your neighbors, and the lower spots require towing down a very steep hill that I wouldn't have wanted to try. Absolutely not worth anywhere near the price they charge; $70 a night is outrageous for this dump.

If you rely on cell service for work, do not book this campground. There was no service with AT&T and T mobile and 1 bar with Verizon. Although we checked the coverage maps before we went and they seemed to check out, the campground didn't have service. Long story short, we wouldn't be able to stay the week we reserved since both my fiance and I work during the week. When we explained the situation to the owner and asked for a partial refund, we were met with a rude "not my problem" and no common curtesy. We arrived at 6pm after a 6.5 hour drive and were left scrambling to find another campground to be able to work the next morning. Very rude, inconsiderate, and unaccomadating. Don't recommend staying here.

We almost passed on this after reading the reviews, and I’m so glad we didn’t! While we prefer boondocking to RV parks, this is a great one if that’s what you like. It’s spacious, clean, and beautiful with lots of nice extras like boat/kayak/canoe/jet ski rentals; a nice pavilion for games and socializing; a small country store; docks you can fish off and a boat launch; horseshoe pits, pool table, ping pong and more; a decent food truck and occasionally live music on weekends. The management were super nice and helpful, very easy to work with. The lake is beautiful with Lilly pads and sailboats, and there’s even a little beach lined with adirondack chairs. We paid $5 extra for a waterfront spot. There’s a lot to like at this park! Don’t miss it.
Note: location is wrong on Google maps. It’s here: (42.3617391, -76.7485179)

My husband and I left a beautiful campground and headed south… we had a friend in Horseheads we wanted to see so staying so close to the Finger Lakes for a night sounded perfect… it wasn’t. The sites are a mess. We got a spot by the rest rooms and it had a very steep drop right behind us. The other roads were steep and just kind of scary. The randomly thrown around gravel all over the place was also a nope. When we started setting up, my husband noticed the electrical box was damaged and let the office know. It was fixed but everything was so sketch about the place we didn’t even want to hook up to their water. The showers were coin operated. Our AT&T didn’t work at all. We hooked starlink up and that was obstructed every 30 seconds or so. I was nervous to even have it up though. When it was finally time to turn in for the night, a very loud group partied well into the night, screaming the words to the songs they were blasting on a radio and getting increasingly drunker. I think I was finally able to fall asleep around 3am. I wouldn’t go back if you paid me.

This is a good little campground. Our site (M19) was huge and it was very quiet. Seasonal campers and owners were friendly. Close to hiking, fishing, wineries and Watkins Glen. Only complaints were the lack of cable TV hookups at sites, WiFi only available near camp store, and swimming area was very small.