Youth Camping Area

For youth organizations, scout troops, and educational groups across the New York region looking for an immersive and protected outdoor experience, the Youth Camping Area in Henrietta, NY, offers a unique solution. This designated camping facility is not a general public campground for families or individual RVs, but rather a specially reserved area for pre-approved groups within the sprawling natural landscape of Mendon Ponds Park.

The area provides a structured, yet rustic, environment where young people can disconnect from city life and connect with the natural world. It serves as an essential resource for character-building, outdoor education, and community strengthening activities in the Greater Rochester area. Operating under the umbrella of the Monroe County Parks system, the area ensures a safe, supervised, and well-regulated setting for group activities.

This dedicated space within Mendon Ponds Park, which is the largest park in Monroe County, allows leaders to focus on their programming—be it merit badge work, team-building exercises, or simple campfire storytelling—without the distractions of a general public campground. Groups must reserve their time and adhere to specific guidelines, ensuring the area is maintained for its primary purpose: fostering a love for the outdoors among New York's youth.

Location and Accessibility

The Youth Camping Area is situated within the expansive Mendon Ponds Park, a 2,500-acre natural landmark approximately 10 miles southeast of Rochester, New York. Its setting on Hopkins Point Road in Henrietta, NY, places it conveniently close to metropolitan centers while feeling completely removed in a wilderness environment.

• Address: Hopkins Point Rd, Henrietta, NY 14467, USA
• Local Context: Henrietta is a town within Monroe County, serving as a suburb of Rochester. The location is easily accessible from the New York State Thruway (I-90), making it a manageable drive for groups traveling from Buffalo, Syracuse, and other parts of Western and Central New York.
• Park Setting: Mendon Ponds Park is a nationally recognized landmark due to its unique geological features—specifically, its glacially created kames, eskers, and kettles. This provides an excellent educational backdrop for the camping experience.
• Reservations Required: Access to the Youth Camping Area is strictly by reservation only, designed for scout and other recognized youth groups. This limits general public traffic and ensures the area is preserved for its intended use.

Its strategic location provides the dual benefit of convenient travel for local New York groups while offering an immersive, large-scale park experience that feels deep in the countryside, ideal for genuine group camping and nature observation.

Services Offered

As a dedicated youth group site within a large county park, the services are tailored to support primitive tent camping while ensuring safety, hygiene, and connectivity to the wider park's recreational resources. The amenities are designed to be functional for groups that are largely self-sufficient.

• Group Tent Camping: The area is primarily designated for tent camping for youth and scout groups. Groups must provide their own tents and most camping equipment.
• Year-Round Availability (for youth/scout groups): Unlike the family/public campground in Webster Park, youth and scout camping in Monroe County Parks, including Mendon Ponds, is often available year-round, allowing for winter camping and special off-season group events.
• Public Restroom Access: While the sites are rustic, campers have access to nearby public restrooms within the larger Mendon Ponds Park system.
• Drinking Water: Access to potable water is available within the park, typically near the main lodges or facilities, crucial for group safety and meal preparation.
• Proximity to Park Facilities: The Youth Camping Area is located near key recreational areas within Mendon Ponds Park, allowing for easy access to activities like hiking, birdwatching, and utilizing the available lodges or shelters for programming.

The focus is on providing a secure space where groups can manage their own experience, backed by the essential infrastructure of a major county park.

Features / Highlights

The primary highlight of the Youth Camping Area is its immersion in Mendon Ponds Park, granting campers direct access to unique natural and recreational features that are integral to the park's status as a National Natural Landmark.

• National Natural Landmark Status: Groups camp within a landscape featuring significant glacial landforms (kames, eskers, and kettles), offering an unparalleled opportunity for educational hikes and geology lessons.
• Extensive Trail System: Mendon Ponds boasts over 30 miles of self-guided trails traversing woodlands, wetlands, and open fields, perfect for orienteering, nature studies, and long-distance hiking.
• Wild Wings, Inc. Interaction: The park is home to Wild Wings, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to housing and rehabilitating injured birds of prey. Campers are near this facility, which offers unique viewing and educational opportunities related to New York's wildlife.
• Hand-Feeding Chickadees: A famed feature of the park's Bird Song Trail is the population of chickadees that are accustomed to being hand-fed, creating a memorable, close-up nature experience for campers.
• Non-Motorized Boating: The park has areas for non-motorized boating, kayaking, and canoeing on the ponds, providing water-based recreation (available seasonally and typically requiring a car-top launch).
• Multi-Use Fields and Recreation: Nearby park grounds include areas for sledding in the winter, multi-use athletic fields, and newly added Pickleball Courts, expanding the range of available group activities beyond the campsite.

Contact Information

Reservations for the Youth Camping Area must be made directly through the Monroe County Parks Department, which manages this facility.

• Address: Hopkins Point Rd, Henrietta, NY 14467, USA (This address identifies the location within Mendon Ponds Park.)
• Monroe County Parks Department General Phone: (585) 753-PARK (7275)
• Camping Reservation Line (Winter/Year-round): (585) 269-4544

Groups interested in booking should call the dedicated reservation line for current rules, availability, and specific requirements for youth group camping.

What is Worth Choosing this Campground

The Youth Camping Area in Mendon Ponds Park is unequivocally worth choosing for any registered New York youth or scout group seeking a dedicated, immersive, and educational outdoor retreat. Unlike commercial campgrounds, this facility is purpose-built for the needs of organized youth programming, offering a controlled environment that prioritizes group activities and safety.

The sheer size and natural heritage of Mendon Ponds Park—Monroe County’s largest park and a National Natural Landmark—provide an unmatched classroom for nature study, hiking, and physical activity. Groups benefit from the combination of primitive camping areas for skill-building and easy access to the modern recreational and safety resources of a fully operational county park, including lodges, extensive trails, and supervised facilities. By choosing this location, group leaders secure a site where their educational mission is supported by the unique geography and the supportive infrastructure of the Monroe County Parks system, making it the premier choice for youth development in the Greater Rochester area and beyond.

Youth Camping Area

Hopkins Point Rd, Henrietta, NY 14467, USA