Connecticut State Parks · Connecticut
Gillette Castle State Park River Camping
Connecticut State Parks · Connecticut, United States · in Gillette Castle State Park
- Sites
- 1
- Hookups
- 1 no hookups
- Season
- May 1 to September 29
- Drinking water
- No
- Restrooms
- Yes
- Showers
- No
- Dump station
- No
- Laundry
- No
- Pets
- No
- Elevation
- 230 ft
- Dark sky
- Bortle class 4
- Cell coverage
- T-Mobile weak · AT&T weak · Verizon weak (carriers' 4G LTE filings to the FCC, 2025-12; not measured here)
- Nearest town
- East Haddam
- Address
- c/o Gillette Castle State Park, 67 River Road
- Phone
- (860)526-2336
About
Gillette Castle State Park River Camping is a Connecticut State Park (Connecticut River boat-in) campground with 1 sites near East Haddam. A single boat-in primitive tent site on the Connecticut River, accessible only by canoe/kayak/boat; composting toilets open year-round. No electric or water hookups at individual sites. Reservable through Connecticut State Parks' own ReserveAmerica contract (connecticutstateparks.reserveamerica.com), up to 11 months in advance. Connecticut's camping system is uniformly reservation-based - no first-come-first-served-only campground was found in this state's system.
Fees
$5 per person per night (Connecticut River primitive boat-in camping rate; same rate as Selden Neck State Park's published fee for this river-camping program - no separate published rate exists for this specific site). Pets are NOT allowed here - this is both State Park land and backpack/boat-in primitive camping, and Connecticut DEEP's policy excludes pets from both categories explicitly ("prohibited in State Park camping areas"; "not allowed at backpack camping sites"). (ctparks.com/camping, confirmed live.)
Weather, month by month
| Month | Typical high | Typical low | Coldest night | Hottest day | Years with a night below 32°F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 24° | -1° | 50° | 11 of 11 |
| February | 38° | 26° | -12° | 63° | 11 of 11 |
| March | 48° | 34° | 14° | 66° | 8 of 11 |
| April | 58° | 42° | 29° | 82° | 4 of 11 |
| May | 66° | 52° | 37° | 85° | 0 of 11 |
| June | 73° | 59° | 52° | 90° | 0 of 11 |
| July | 81° | 68° | 60° | 91° | 0 of 11 |
| August | 80° | 68° | 59° | 90° | 0 of 11 |
| September | 75° | 61° | 51° | 88° | 0 of 11 |
| October | 62° | 49° | 38° | 79° | 0 of 10 |
| November | 48° | 36° | 22° | 69° | 5 of 10 |
| December | 40° | 31° | 13° | 60° | 10 of 10 |
Mid-month figures from 2016–2026 of daily weather at this spot (ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0), in °F. Typical is the median; coldest and hottest are the extremes seen.
Nearby campgrounds
- Selden Neck State Park River Camping · Connecticut State Parks · 1 mi · 4 sites
- Devil's Hopyard State Park · Connecticut State Parks · 6 mi · 21 sites
- Hurd State Park River Camping · Connecticut State Parks · 9 mi · 1 sites
- Rocky Neck State Park · Connecticut State Parks · 12 mi · 152 sites
- Hammonasset Beach State Park · Connecticut State Parks · 13 mi · 548 sites
All public campgrounds in Connecticut · Every state and province · Facts read from the operator 2026-08-25. Confirm fees, rules and current status with the operator before you go.