Need help with tent camping in central NY state in Sept.
 

We are a retired couple going on a three-week motorcycle trip from South Carolina up to Maine in mid-September. On the return trip, leaving Portland, ME, I am looking for a nice camping spot in the "Schenectady/Poughkeepsie/Syracuse/Binghamton region. I prefer not to stray too far north of the I-88 corridor, as we will be heading toward Virginia the following day. We have a nice pull-behind trailer with the bike for our tent and camping essentials, so we don't want to be in a RV park - unless they have a well-separated area for camping. Don't want to be on a cement pad with two behemoths on either side. We do need hot showers (No more going to sleep without bathing first.....BTDT). Not having a lot of luck with my random searches online. Too many poor reviews. Thanks!

I am not familiar with specific sites in that area but NYS has an excellent network of state parks that have camping facilities. Depending on the park they range from cabins to tent platforms to tent sites, all with direct parking access. Look on the NYS Park system website for a map of parks.

The only park I've stayed in that are is Lake Taghkanic state park north of Poughkeepsie. The problem is that it's primarily access is from the Taconic State Parkway that does not permit trailers. On summer weekends the park gets a large influx of down-staters & large groups using the lake/beach area (which is separate from the camping area).

Another nice park in the Albany/Schenectady area is Thacher park. It's not far from where I90 meets I88. To get there you'd take local roads from the west side of Albany near I87/I90 interchange, then you could take local roads to the west to connect to I88 I've hiked / biked that park several times but never camped. https://parks.ny.gov/parks/128/details.aspx

I'm sure there are various other parks, likely closer to the interstate but none I'm familiar with.

In the western part of the Catskills look at Little Pond campground. It is not too far from NY Rt. 17 to connect to I-81 near Binghamton. Reservations are through ReserveAmerica.