Hammonasset State Park Campground

   I had a hankering for East Coast seafood, so I picked Hammonesett Beach State Park for Connecticut. Our 2nd state of 5.

    Hammonesett Beach has a huge campground. They divide the loops with names. I unfortunately chose Pequot. This loop has THE WORST bathrooms/showers on the South side of the campground. Looks like they were built in 1950s with rotten wood siding. Dirty. The showers were outside the bathroom- there was a bench & hooks OUTSIDE! We found out all the other loops had modern bathhouses.

 My first impression of this campground is it's loud, crazy busy & there's traffic noise from the beach road. I actually liked it! This is a fun campground for families. There were kids on bikes, scooters, skateboards,roller blades. Watch your speed! They don't always watch out for your car.

  I found out most people stay through Sunday & leave on Monday. There were still lots of campers left. Lots of tent campers. 

   I chose site 14 on the Pequot Loop because I thought I would have a view of one of the ponds. There was tall vegetation, so that was out.

 The sites on the other side of the loop were right by the main beach road. Noisy during the day, but quiet at night. 

  There are some sites with shade, but most are sunny. 

   There's no electricity at most of the sites. Our site was full sun(yay for the solar panel!). On Beach Road in the campground there's 2 rows of full hookup sites, but they go FAST! I tried.

NO PETS! Including dogs.

   No WiFi, but there's cell service. At least 5 dump stations. 

 The beach was popular. 

  There was a stream running from a pond that kids were playing in. 

 They have a beautiful Nature Center. A couple of easy hikes through one of the preserves.

  This was a good base camp for the area. Gillette Castle & other state parks are within driving distance. Connecticut is a beautiful state!!

Der Camping Platz ist in der wunderschönen Natur gelegen. Das Personal ist sehr freundlich und die Camping Plätze sind grosszügig und gut gepflegt. Das Preis Leistungsverhältniss ist ebenfalls sehr gut. Einziger Nachteil: in den Waschräumen brennt die ganze Nacht das Licht und es gibt keine Türen. Damit wird aus den Waschräumen ein zu Hause für Moskitos und Ungeziefer…

Bathrooms are a health hazard, have not been cleaned in who knows how long. Poop is smeared on the walls, floor and toilet. Showers are horrendous. There are young children that have to use those showers and bathrooms. I wouldn’t want to bring my kids here!!!

This campground is very close to our home. Our family has camped here multiple times. Pre pandemic it was less busy. Now, most every site is full. If you are looking for a site it’s best to book far in advance. If it’s last second, check periodically through out the day to see if there have been any cancellations. We have lucked out a couple times this summer.

We have seen varied conditions of the restrooms and showers but have always found the family restroom on the side of the buildings have always been in great condition when we go.

Sites range from larger and grassy to smaller and a little more rocky and dirt.

Camp store has a small variety of camp supplies, drinks and food.

You need to either bring your own fire pit or rent one from the store. Here you can also purchase bundles of wood here as well.

Just down the road; Lenny and Joe’s, Donahue’s Madison Beach Grille, Clam Castle, Hammonasset Package Store, Dunkin Donuts and Cohen’s Bagel Company. There is a Stop & Shop (grocery store) within a 10 minute drive.

Had a great time, did some snorkelling & fishing ! 

Will tell friends & will return!

This was my first visit to this park and campground and I was a bit shocked by how crowded it was; however I had a great experience. The place is very family friendly and seems to be the area to settle in for a week with a camper or tent city. I was a solo car camper staying just for one night and still had a pleasant time. The sites are open to one another, do not count on trees for privacy. Also, the site says camp fires allowed, but you either need to rent a fire pit from the camp store or bring your own ring.

The beaches where pretty

Everything is close and you can bike practically everywhere

Nice and clean bathrooms,beautiful beaches but sites don’t have full hock-up, just a few have water and electric, no sewer. The do have dump station. They are very strict with controlling the entrance and if your name is not on the list they won’t let you in. There is a small convenience store,sites are very spacious, Bring your bikes because it’s a huge place and it can be a hike to the beach.

Campers are summer regulars and willing to assist with any help even share a camp fire. Faculties clean and well kept

**We’ve read some reviews , but we surprised how nice this place is , large sights , mostly families , not loud , descent bathrooms, warm showers , nice beaches , great hiking and bird watching . **

**Friendly staff . Amazing sunset scene . We enjoyed , mid August staying for 3 nights , if we had time , would’ve stay longer . **

This campsite is near the shore in my home state of CT. It took a little over an hour to get here. Our spot was near a large salt marsh.

The park and beach were full occupancy for campers without reservations. I saw no tents - maybe due to COVID. There are ample bathhouses but the one near me is locked up. I suspect the others may also be closed.

A pair of geese and their goslings came to visit. See video and pictures.

No campfires allowed without a fire pit. You can rent one at the small camp store for a $20 deposit plus $12 first night the $2 each night - pay in advance.

Sites are large and clean. My site has trees for shade and a place to hang my hammock. But the park officials made me take it down :(.

Water hookup but no electricity on our sites. Water for drinking only was on my site but you can’t connect with a hose to your camper in most of the less expensive sites. There are more expensive sites with full hookups but no Wi-Fi.

Price of my site is very affordable around $20 a night.

I saw 2 dump stations near exit. Supermarkets a few miles down the road.

Easy to walk to the beach. Plan to kayak. There is a boat launch at Meig’s Point where you can drive 100 feet from the water to unload from your car. Lovely small beaches, walkways and jetties for fishing or photos of nature.

This is great if you like the beach

Beautiful Connecticut beach sits just steps away from your campsite. Well kept showers and bathrooms are abundant and the camp store has the majority of what you need. You can ride your bike from your site to the playground, store, beach, local ice cream shop, coffee shop, or our family favorite, meig’s point nature center. We make it a point to spend at least a week here every summer!

Good family campground with access to the ocean. No fire pits in the ground but you can bring your own ($50 on Amazon) or rent one (bring cash). I've done tent camping here in the summer but don't know much about the RV side, although I believe they have dump stations and such. Restrooms and showers are pretty good too, but typical campground bathrooms. 4 stars cuz I'm not a huge fan of the beaches, if I could give 4.9 stars I would.

Very convenient if you want to go to the beach every day, but the campsite itself is very busy and crowded, usually with a lot of families and kids. Can’t use hammocks here, and you need to rent a fire pit. Nice if you want the location, but not the best for actual camping

Wife and I stopped here as our halfway point to Maine from Baltimore. We do not regret it! We got there late and couldn't check into a normal site but the park did let us use the emergency stop off area to set up a tent. The ESO area was located in the park and we had a nice shaded field right near the bathhouse to set up. Full access to the bathhouse and park facilities. It's $14 cash to use the ESO and well worth it if you need a place to stay on a extended trip. We can't wait to come back for a longer stay! We had to be packed up by 8am which was no problem because we went down to the beach in the morning and sat by the water. The park opens to public at 8 so we had almost an hour without any real crowds. The staff was nice and the facilities were clean, wish we could have stayed longer. Great place for families and don't forget your bikes! Very flat and plenty of riding!

The beach area is very user-friendly with several parking lots as well as pavilions to break from the sun. Large bathrooms with showers and dressing rooms complete the amenities and several vending machines for snacks are available. Lots of shells and rocks so bring shoes. 

In addition to the beach, there is a beautiful area adjacent known as Meig's Point. It is here you can follow a short trail through a partially wooded area straddling the beach. The beach is littered with boulders deposited by the glaciers. The views are beautiful and the rocks and stony beach give a connection to the time of the glaciers. Two information kiosks help to explain the evolution of the area. Across from here is a bucolic salt march. Beyond that is the nature center, another area to investigate.

We’ve been going to Hammonasset for years as a large family gathering. Most sites don’t have hook ups so you have to run off battery and water storage tanks if you have a RV. My biggest gripe is lack of any enforcement. No one enforces the parks rules so some groups tend to be rowdy later in the evening, children on bikes darting in front of moving cars. Nice thing is it is fairly inexpensive and there’s several beaches to choose from.

We love this place. Beautiful beach. Fishing. Swimming. Crabbing. Camp store. Clean facilities. Large flat sites.

Going after Labor day weekend has many perks! Water may be unusually warm. Campground traffic was sparse. Sunrises spellbound glory. 6 Friends came for day visit & were mesmerized by everything!

I am not an overall fan of populated camping sites. This one is acceptable, to me, because of the abundance of trails and wildlife you can venture out to see and my stars are based on that. Not to say the camp site does not deserve 4 stars. It does, there are more than the needed amenities here. Not to mention town is a few minutes away.

I don't have photos of our site, I was mainly interested in photographing our encounters. There is an abundance of the campsite photos on here already. Here you will find, what is around when you look for it.

Our site was nice though, we tried to go to a quiet spot, end of the designated grounds, away from campers in general. Flat, room for the tents. Firepit had a grill top over it. We basically just slept there and were taking trails and enjoying the beachfronts the rest of the trip.

This is a great family camping area. We saw a lot of kids having a blast. Not recommended over a major holiday weekend or anything unless you don't mind crowds. We tried to go on a lazier weekend in August.

We saw a lot of awesome birds, a turtle and deer. My favorite was the Great Horned Owl

Perfect beach camping for families. The sites are spacious, mostly flat and grassy. If you do your research in advance you can secure sites with some shade for the hot afternoons. All have convenient bathhouse access which includes men’s/women’s/family shower facilities, toilets and an outdoor sink area for cleaning dishes etc. No matter where your site is you are only a 5-10 minute walk from the beach. If you don’t want to spend everyday on the beach there’s a nature center and walking/biking path on site as well as many attractions nearby (Mystic Aquarium, Mystic Seaport, outlet shopping). Quiet hours are 10PM-7AM, great for the little ones and, honestly, after a full day on the beach all of the adults are exhausted as well. Our crew has a tradition of booking sites with other families early in the year so we can grab a whole row of sites… we book one extra as a communal site for meals, fire, etc. The kids are able to take over the road with bikes, scooters, chalk, whatever! Stress-free, easy family camping! The only reason I give this place 4 stars, and this the the fault of the State of CT, is that people can smoke on the grounds. There was an individual that smoked throughout the day right outside the family restroom and there are butts on the beach. Get with the program CT!!

The campgrounds wAs good. The beach and bathrooms were dirty. The beach had garbage on it. Dirty diapers were laying around. Bathrooms on the beach looked like they were never cleaned all season.

Clean and beautiful state park. Beautiful camp area. Walking distance from the beach with some good waves.

This campground is very open and spread out. Easy to set up a tent next to your vehicle. Major plus being so close to the beach. On site bathrooms as well.

The actual beach isn't too nice; not soft sand, broken shells, and cigarettes. However, the campgrounds have nice facilities like a shop, good showers, a playground, and volleyball courts. Be noted PETS ARE NOT ALLOWED in the summer. We were not aware of this.

This date run campground is grey for a few reasons, the biggest being : the beach! We enjoy the good size, clean, grassy campsites and the open space. The kids can ride their bikes all over the park safely and the bathrooms are clean. Only down fall- sometimes there are loud late nights, and dogs are not allowed. We love this beach and look forward to our stay every year

The campgrounds are clean and spacious but very open, being a beach there are a few campers who enjoy staying up quite late and listening to music. I don’t mind the noise but the nats (little black flies) make it nearly impossible to enjoy an evening. The beach is a short walk away from the camping site, but the camp sites do fill up FAST over the summer up until school starts back up so if you plan to camp, BOOK AHEAD!

Campground has lots of grass, and wide range of site options. Some are out in the open and others have more shade or trees, but all in all it is a lovely place. Short walk to the beach from the campground. There is a little refreshment stand near the beach where you can get simple food and beverages. Sites for tents and rvs. Plenty of space so doesn’t feel crowded!

Beach is in a protected cove so it has a relaxed feel, and the campground is protected/wooded and inland, so no crazy ocean winds.