Winslow Park And Campground

Winslow Park and Campground is a busy 100 campsite and park run by the town of Freeport, ME.

We stayed in site #1 and were pleasantly surprised to not have any neighbors that night, which meant our site seemed larger than it ordinarily would have. The sites are small- similar to what you would find in an RV park. They are large enough to fit long class A and large tow vehicles into, but not much room is left between you and your neighbors, and there are few if any trees separating the sites.

There are warm showers, but we did not find them to be very clean. Regardless, we did enjoy our stay at Winslow. There was a concert going on when we arrived, but the park was less busy when everyone left for the night. The sunrise over the bay view we had was absolutely incredible- we loved our waterfront view and it was definitely the best park about this site.

At $50, this was also one of the more expensive sites we’ve stayed at. The view was definitely worth the price, but I don’t know if I would stay again simply because the RV park feel isn’t really our favorite aesthetic.

Either way, we appreciated the proximity to Freeport and the amenities and view at the time!

Of note: we visited the House of Hounds on Sniffspot the next morning so our dog could run and play- that ended up being one of our favorite things we have done on this trip. Omar has a beautiful open field that he lets people bring their dogs to play in and it was absolutely divine- especially since our guy doesn’t love other dogs so we can’t rely on dog parks for exercise. He enjoyed having the whole field to himself!

This campground is a great option for relatively inexpensive campsite in an area that can have camping costs reach$65-100/night. The park is located on Casco Bay in the town of Freeport(home to L.L. Bean’s flagship store{which is open 24/7} and many other outlets). The views are great and you have a beach, boat launch and nice park at your disposal. The only downside– there are no hook-ups. I would book this campground all summer long if there were hookups. One nice thing about having no hook-ups is that you can either pull in or back into the site to maximize your view and not have to worry about how to run your hoses. Sites are on grass and some are right on the water with amazing views of the bay. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. Many other sites don’t have a water view but offed shade and more privacy. The waterfront sites are always booked so you don’t get much privacy. Personally, I want the water view so you better book early. Reservations can be made online and by doing so you can view pictures of individual campsites. Dogs are allowed for a$1 fee but are not allowed on the beach which was a bummer since our lab was eyeing it the entire time. There are hiking trails in the park so our dog loved that. Kids love the huge playground and there is an amphitheater with weekly concerts. Since there are no water or sewer hookups, a dump station and bathrooms are available and water spigots scattered about the campground. We got plenty of over-the-air television channels out of Portland and our Verizon phone and hotspot worked great. There is a boat launch onsite which makes it super easy if you want to paddle in the bay but beware there is a 9-11’ tide so watch the charts and plan your trip so you don’t get stranded and have to port your watercraft across a sinking clam flat. 

Other reviews mention some not-so-nice encounters with staff but we did not have any.  People didn't seem overly friendly but that was fine with us as we weren't trying to make friends.

Some of the places we love to visit when in the area Bow Market, the Maine Beer Company (which has great pizza), and Harraseeket restaurant in South Freeport which has great fresh seafood and a water view. You are just a short drive from Portland so we spent a day down there visiting the Old Port, the art Museum and eating at Duck Fat(a favorite restaurant of ours). Another nearby camping option is Recompense at Wolfe’s Neck which also has great waterfront views and is on a really cool farm.

I went to Winslow Memorial Campground last weekend and had such an awful experience. A man named Lee who was some kind of “park ranger” harassed my friends and I relentlessly for 2 days straight. I was trying to relax around a campfire for two days after a very long week of busting my ass at work. We weren’t there for more than 3 hours before we had our first visit from “Ranger” Lee. For some reason he assumed we were there to cause trouble and stir up mischief, when in reality nothing could be further from the truth. He was exceptionally rude and inconsiderate to us. In particular, he was nasty to a woman in our camping group. I’m not sure if he was having trouble in his home life and trying to take it out on someone, but he talked down to her like he thought she was his misbehaving daughter. His behavior was unacceptable and unprofessional at best. We were asked to leave the campground one night early, and offered no refund or recompense for the way we were treated. Do not go camping here! And if you do, expect to be harassed by the staff and treated like children. Extremely negative experience, and I have camped all over this state. Nothing has ever been this bad.

I stayed at Winslow Memorial Park and Campground two times this summer. The park is well maintained and it is in an ideal location. The first time staying there my friends and I purchased three sites so we would be able to enjoy nature and the company of good friends. Our first experience was wonderful and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery during the day and at night we sat around our campfire and quietly conversed. We did not have any issues or complaints the first time, which is why we chose to wait over a month for a vacancy for this specific park. 

With that being said, our second time was tragic. It has almost been a full week since our second visit and I am still devastated by the events that occurred. The second time we took the same approach by purchasing several campsites, all next to each other so again, we could enjoy the company of one another and still be outdoors. We also were sure to choose campsites in a location that was not near any other campers, because we are respectful of other people. 

Our friends and I enjoyed our second stay up until we were introduced to Lee, a person who works for the campground and never relayed to us his title or how he is associated with Winslow Memorial Park. We quickly learned that quiet hours at the park were from 8am-10pm each day. Lee arrived on our campsite at precisely 10:03 pm. The first time he showed up he asked my friends to quiet down, which admittedly we hadn’t realized how loud we were being. So, we immediately lowered our voices and turned off the soft music we were playing. After the first time, Lee returned to our campsite two more times stating that he could still hear us from a quarter mile away. Mind you, after the first time Lee arrived on our campsite several people from our group chose to go to bed which left us with approximately 5 people still awake and quietly communicating. In the midst of the three visits to our campsite, Lee cornered two of my friends who walked to the bathroom and told them “if you don’t quiet down I will get the police involved.” How is it ever appropriate to follow people, invade their personal space, and harass them?

The second two times Lee came to our campsite, he spoke down to us and was disrespectful with his request. At one point during our conversation he told us “you need to go to bed.” I cannot express enough how uncomfortable I felt being told to“go to bed” from a man who, 1. never told us his association with the park and what authority he has and 2. has absolutely no right to tell a group of ADULTS to go to bed. The third time that he came he told us the same thing, that he could still hear us and that“he couldn’t go to bed until we were sleeping.” This and being told to go to bed is incredibly inappropriate for ANY establishment. I did not pay Winslow Memorial Park to be harassed or to be baby sat. 

Finally, Lee was especially rude to me, a 26 year old female, who chose to take the lead on the conversation after he chose to continue to harass us. I asked him if there were any patron complaints and if it was him who had an issue with us, he openly admitted that there were no patron complaints and that it was all him. I remained calm and respectful the entire time, although I had every right to become defensive. After being told to go to bed I told him that I had an issue with that and it made me uncomfortable and he said“don’t be mouthy with me.” Clearly, Lee is a misogynist who does not have the ability to respect his patrons in general, but specifically females. Also, after being threatened with the police to escort us out of the park just because we were still awake and he did not like it… I explained to him that we had been drinking enough to which we did not feel comfortable to drive. He replied with“that’s not my problem.”

Lee treated us as if we were teenagers who were“up to no good and looking for trouble,” the absurdity in this is astounding. My friends and I are in our late twenties with the oldest being in his 50’s, we are all adults, most of which are college educated and have full-time jobs. The next morning, Lee arrived on our campsite again at 8am with another man who did not even say hello, and said“I strongly suggest you pack it up and leave.” I again asked him if it was him who had a problem with us or if there were other patron complaints and he again admitted that not one single person could hear us and no one complained. He also told us how“I’ve had kids stay here and get too drunk and drive around the park.” I am unsure how telling this to us was relevant considering the night before we told him how uncomfortable we were with the idea of drunk driving AND we are not kids. The fact that he openly admitted to this is proof enough that he profiled us when we entered the park and we never stood a chance. 

Lee left us alone for the rest of the day, but completely discouraged, 7 of our friends chose to leave because Lee had completely RUINED this experience for us which means there were significantly less people to make noise. At 5 pm, the police arrived to“escort us out of the park.” We stayed on our campsite because it was down pouring all day and we were still being quiet. The police officers are not associated with the park in any manner and were simply doing their job. They were respectful towards us and both were wearing masks. They allowed us about an hour to clean up our things and leave. 

This was a vacation that we were all greatly looking forward to because our first experience, without Lee, was incredible. We loved the park and the good company and we could not wait to do it again. Lee ruined our vacation, essentially stole our money, because we lost a night of camping, and made us all feel unnecessarily worthless. Lee also never socially distanced himself from us and not once was he wearing a mask while interacting with us. I will NEVER return to Winslow Memorial Park and I will absolutely NEVER recommend it to anyone, in fact I will be sure to tell my peers and family not to camp there.

Let me preface this review by saying that this was our second visit to Winslow Memorial Campground. The first time our group visited, we had an excellent experience. The grounds are beautiful, the sites are well spaced and not cramped, and we had no problems with the staff.

With that said, our second experience this past weekend was a horror show. We were a group of people, ranging from our late twenties all the way up to over fifty years old. We reserved and paid for 4 campsites, knowing that it was going to be down pouring rain all Saturday. From the time we got set up at 8pm, to the time we were eating breakfast at 8am, Ranger Lee had visited our campsites 5 times. He harassed us, spoke down to us, and was downright rude to us on multiple visits. He maintained that we were being too loud and “this isn’t a place to party”. We were not yelling, screaming, or partying. We were a group of friends, drinking a few beers and having a few laughs around a campfire.

Quiet hours at this campground start at 10pm. Ranger Lee was at our campsite at 10:03, and on his first visit threatened to kick us out of the campground and call the police on us. He was particularly rude to two of my female friends who were attempting to have a civil conversation about what exactly we were doing wrong and how we could remedy it. I believe he had a problem with women, as he immediately spoke down towards one of them, and changed to a condescending misogynistic tone as soon as she spoke up to ask him a question.

Throughout the night between 10 and 12pm, he came back to our campsite 2 more times, and went as far as cornering one couple that was with us by the bathrooms and warning that he would make us all leave the campground and if we had had too much to drink to be safe to drive “that was our problem”. Between these hours, people started to go to bed, and we continued to get quieter and quieter, trying to be respectful but still attempting to to enjoy our stay. The final time that he came to our campsite, the 3rd time in less than 2 hours, there were 5 people sitting around a fire, speaking at a whisper, and he said he could “hear us laughing a 1/4mile away” and told us that “it was time to go to bed”. The level of disrespect and disregard that it takes to tell a group of 30 year olds that they need to go to bed is nothing less than astounding.

The next morning he came back with a highlighted list of rules of the campground and “strongly suggested that we pack it up and leave” otherwise the cops were going to get involved. We had two people there of color, one African-American and one Peruvian-American and he would not even give them the time of day to speak to him when they each asked what we could do in order to comply with his rules. I believe that in addition to being a misogynist, he may have had a problem with POC, as he was downright rude when they attempted to speak to him.

At no point during any of this did we become rude or overly agitated. We all kept our cool and kept our heads, even though we were understandably very frustrated with the way we were being treated. When we asked him if they had gotten any complaints about us from other campers he clarified that they had not, it was only that he didn’t like the noise. It’s clear to me that when we entered the campground he profiled us, and had a predetermined idea of who we were and what we were there to do. Ranger Lee continued to harass us until half of the campers left one night early breaking down our gear in the pouring rain because we were so dejected and frustrated with the entire experience.

One of the worst experiences I have ever had at a campground. If his actions are any reflection of the values this establishment represents, I strongly recommend against going there. If I could give a 0 star or a negative star review I would.

Winslow Park is a hidden gem. Not because it's a wilderness camping experience, but because it's a throwback to a time when people would pack a cabin tent or hitch up a camper trailer and take their families to a friendly, safe setting with a variety of old school recreational amenities. Things like swimming and boating. A playground, basketball and volleyball courts. A nature trail and covered group picnic pavilion. A game room where children can play board games and foosball. Opportunities for kids to just run around, toss a ball, bicycle and explore in a safe, sheltered setting. And on Thursday summer evenings, the chance to spread out blankets on a broad grassy green, unpack a picnic supper and enjoy a music concert amidst commanding views of Maine's scenic Casco Bay.

Winslow Park offers a mix of wooded and grassy campsites that accommodate both tent and RV campers. Note however, there are none with water/electric hookups. Basic amenities include a beach, boat ramp, bathroom and shower facilities and a dish washing station. Firewood is available within the park. RV'ers will appreciate the onsite dump station. For those who prefer "glamping", the fully furnished, four bedroom Harb Cottage is available for rent by the week or the month.

If you stay at Winslow, a few things not to be missed: walk or bike past the camping area and follow the main park road into a dense stand of pine. It opens up at Stockbridge Point which features two rocky promontories you can walk out on. This is a stunning place to be at sunset, sunrise or (with the help of a good headlamp) on a starry night. If you bring bicycles, don't miss the opportunity to pedal the 7 or so miles back along Staples Point and South Freeport Roads to US Route 1. There, practically across the street, you can treat yourself to a well-earned frozen confection at Mainely Custard. Biking there means guilt-free indulgence!

Finally, Winslow Park makes an excellent and economical multi-day base of operations for exploring Maine's mid coast region. In addition to L.L. Bean and outlet shopping in downtown Freeport, there are day hiking opportunities of a more wilderness character at nearby Wolfe's Neck State Park and Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary. There's also Portland with its historic Old Port, bustling foodie scene and legendary craft brew culture just 20 miles down the highway to the south, and destination towns like Brunswick, Belfast and Boothbay Harbor within easy drive to the north.

Insider tip: if you're planning a visit in late May or early June, call ahead and inquire about the Browntail Moth situation. It's a noxious nuisance that seems to be peaking along Maine's south/central coast these past few years. For some people it can produce very annoying poison-ivy like symptoms. It's a complete non-issue after June, so either plan your visit for mid to late summer, or consider motels or camping inland if you're visiting Maine earlier in the season.