Best Campgrounds near Brownville Junction, ME

General: One of three AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) lodges in Maine’s 100-mile wilderness. This one is located on Long Pond and has 12 cabins plus a bunkhouse. One of the cabins is ADA-accessible. There is a lodge with a living room, dining hall, games, and small store. 

Cabin Quality: Eleven of the cabins are very basic with varying amounts of sleeping arrangements. The ADA-accessible cabin has two bedrooms, electric outlets, and a bathroom with a shower. 

Bath/Shower house: If you are staying in the bunkhouse or a non-ADA-accessible cabin, the bathrooms and showers are in the main lodge. There is also a sauna.

Activities/Amenities: Three meals per day are included. A hearty breakfast and dinner plus a bag lunch. Dietary restrictions are honored. When there is a small group of guests, meals are served family style; for larger groups, they are served buffet style. Rowboats, kayaks, and paddle boards are available at no additional charge, but the wind was too strong for us to get on the water when we were there. In the winter months, snowshoes are available. You can also cross-country ski from but need to bring your own skis. The hikes are awesome! I hiked the Third Mountain Trail directly from the lodge. Signage was excellent. I also hiked the Gulf Hagas Trail, but this requires a drive to get to either of the two trailheads. Don't even try for cell service!

Note that this lodge and cabins are accessible by an approximately 20-mile dirt road from the west and 15 miles from the east. Your fee includes a hefty parking/road use fee. The staff was very present and provided excellent service during our two-night stay.

Checked out these sites for an upcoming visit. Stayed down the road at Sandbank this time. If you are tenting this is preferable as Sandbank is open to RV's and is noisier.

Some changes to regulations since Jean's review in 2021.

No fire permit is needed if you use the fire ring provided

First-come-first-served only for a single night. Reservations from recreation.gov are recommended for longer stays or on weekends. $8 reservation fee, free camping up to 14 days, no refunds.

Her photo of the campground map is still accurate.

I wouldn't call this a campground--more like a spot for 3 vehicles to park overnight. Quite a few logging trucks zooming by and kicking up dust during our stay. One pit toilet. Conveniently close to the start of Loop Road.

The fact that we had water access from our campsite makes this a 5-star experience for me. Sites were private enough and showers were available, although the "comfort station" is about a mile walk away from the campsites. The electrical outlets didn't work in any of the bathrooms, either, so bringing a blowdryer was useless. But that's just a minor inconvenience--everything else was great.

Stayed for two nights after Labor Day. Only one other camper in the park and we never saw them but occasionally we could hear a voice. Other than that, it was quiet.

There are about 9 campsites, each with a picnic table, a fire ring and a large camping and parking area for each site.

The best feature of this campground is the view. There is a Lake on both east and west sides of the camping area. Three sites are view of both lakes from the camp sites. I woke up to a view of one lake and my wife saw the other lake from our camper.

The campground has three pit toilets. The large size of the camp sites makes it feel more secluded than it is

We did hear something like a lumber mill operating one morning. Not sure what that was all about.

A Ranger stopped by and visited with us. He then offered us a brochure on the camping area we are planning to visit next. Nice customer service right at our camp site!

Baxter State Park is “forever wild” meaning primitive with no potable water, pit toilets, no wifi or cell service. Spectacularly beautiful with many mountains to climb and trails to hike, including Katahdin—the conclusion to the AT. No RVs or pets permitted. There are moose and black bears.

Nesowadnehunk Campground is the most remote accessible campground in the Park. The Nesowadnehunk Stream is excellent for fly fishing. The trailhead for Doubletop Mountain is here as well. There are grassy fields and incredible night skies. The tent sites are of two types: grassy field or in the woods along the Stream. The lean-tos are generally 4 person AT type with a fire pit and picnic table at each site. There are 2 cabins, one ADA accessible and a bunkhouse. Reservations for all sites must be made through Baxter State Park. There is an entrance fee to the Park itself for non-Mainers.

Seboomook is a truly magical place! We go twice a year for a week each time. The silence is incredible. There is no cell service. WiFi only at the store during generator hours. This is a place to go to disconnect and be with family, friends, nature. It’s a wonderful place. The road in can be rough at times. Real rough at other times. And occasionally smooth sailing.

The rugged, rough road is totally worth it. Bring more than you need and enjoy the peace and quiet. We boondock with a generator on the further away sites. Much quieter.

July and August or later at the best times. No horse and moose flies!

We recently spent a four-day retreat at Baxter State Park, specifically at the Daicey Pond Campsite, staying in one of their no-frills cabins. I love this place and poppy playtime chapter 3. These cabins offer a truly basic experience, devoid of modern amenities such as internet access, cellular service, plumbing, or public water supply. Visitors are required to bring their own water and rely on outhouses for restroom facilities. While the cabins do provide beds, linens are not included, necessitating guests to bring their own. Additionally, visitors must come prepared with their own water, food, and cooking equipment, such as a Coleman Stove. The park boasts a plethora of scenic trails, offering opportunities for hiking along picturesque rivers to witness cascading waterfalls, exploring serene lakes, or trekking up mountains for breathtaking views. For a nominal fee of$1 per hour, visitors can rent canoes, allowing them to traverse one lake, embark on a short half-mile hike to another lake, continue their journey with another canoe, and eventually reach a remote lake untouched by human development. This experience serves as a refreshing escape from our technology-driven and interconnected lives.

This is an out of the way campground in Baxter. Our site required a walk in. Plenty of firewood for purchase at ranger station. Within striking distance of hunt trail and the higly talked about slides/falls.

We have loved Katahdin Iron Works for a long time, it really is how camping should be. No hookups/power/water. Bring everything in and bring everything back out with you. There are outhouses near the pleasant river sites. Last time we were up there the rule was no units over 44' total with truck and camper. These sites really are best for tents or very small campers.