Best Tent Camping: New York State

Aaron Starmer is a freelance writer and editor specializing in children's novels and travel guides. His far-flung adventures inform much of his writing and include chasing down leopards in Kenya's Maasai Mara, rafting through the Grand Canyon, crossing mountain passes in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park, tripping over iguanas in the Galapagos Islands, and swimming beneath waterfalls in Tahiti. When closer to home, he takes every opportunity to explore the mountains, lakes, and rivers of New York, New Jersey, and New England. He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey with his wife Cate. Cate Starmer has reviewed New York City restaurants, written a guidebook to camping, edited dozens of non-fiction books, and produced a daily-updated travel blog. She received a dual degree BS in marketing and tv-radio-film from Newhouse School at Syracuse University and a certificate in Editing from New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Whether it's horseback riding in the Colombian jungle, running the NYC marathon, or trekking to a backcountry hut in winter, she is always up for a new challenge--especially if it involves an adventure that can be turned into a story. Timothy Starmer has always been an outdoor enthusiast and spent most of his childhood seeking out remote and wild areas whenever possible. During a brief hiatus from Brown University during 1997, he drove across the United States for six weeks, camping the entire way. Along the way he explored many of the West's national and state parks, including Canyonlands, Yellowstone, Arches, Bryce Canyon. At the trip's conclusion, he headed down to Australia, where he backpacked for a few months exploring the eastern Outback, the Great Barrier Reef, and the caves of Tasmania, as well as traversing the Tasmanian World Heritage Area along the Overland Track. Tim currently works in upstate New York as a timber framer and can still be found exploring the wilds whenever possible.

• Long Island 1 Sears Bellows County Park 2 Watch Hill 3 Wildwood State Park Catskills and Hudson Valley 4 Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park 5 Devil's Tombstone 6 Little Pond 7 Mills-Norrie State Park 8 Mongaup Pond 9 North-South Lake 10 PeekaMoose 11 Taconic State Park: Copake Falls Area 12 Woodland Valley Central/Leatherstocking and Capital 13 Bowman Lake State Park 14 Cherry Plain State Park 15 Delta Lake State Park 16 Fair Haven Beach State Park 17 Glimmerglass State Park 18 Green Lakes State Park 19 Max V. Shaul State Park 20 Moreau Lake State Park 21 Whetstone Gulf State Park Adirondacks 22 Adirondack Loj 23 Alger Island 24 Ausable Point 25 Brown Tract Pond 26 Buck Pond 27 Cranberry Lake 28 Eighth Lake 29 Forked Lake 30 Indian Lake Islands 31 Lake George Islands 32 LAKE HARRIS 33 Lincoln Pond 34 Little Sand Point 35 Luzerne 36 Meacham Lake 37 Putnam Pond 38 Rollins Pond 39 Sacandaga 40 Saranac Lake Islands Thousand Islands 41 Mary Island State Park 42 Wellesley Island State Park Finger Lakes 43 Buttermilk Falls State Park 44 Keuka Lake State Park 45 Stony Brook State Park 46 Taughannock Falls State Park 47 Watkins Glen State Park Western New York 48 Allegany State Park: Cain Hollow (Quaker Area) 49 Lakeside Beach State Park 50 Letchworth State Park