Best Campgrounds near Caratunk, 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.

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.

The each campsite is nice and private--I was lucky enough to get a site on the lake for my stay! The shower houses/restrooms are amazing--one big open room with a large shower, toilet, sink, bench, and towel rack. The only downside is you have to press the button for the shower to run, and it's only a few seconds each push, so you're constantly pressing a button as you're mid scrubbing. But hey--after a long day of hiking or swimming, that's no big deal!

The campground was nice and quiet during our stay, but the pit toilets near our campsite were quite rough--super smelly and an endless amount of flies flying out of the toilet.

The main camping area has about 10 long narrow sites that have large rocks bordering each site. Each site is bordered by the road. There is a single vaulted toilet.

The paved area of the road ends just past the campground. Lots of people drive just past the pavement and then they turn around.

Across the road from the campground is a beautiful river. The sound of the river put us to sleep and greeted us the next morning.

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!

This location is Beautiful, but it comes at the cost of privacy.  When I first discovered this spot, it wasn't an official campsite, people just came here to swim and there was a fire ring. That was over 20yrs ago.

There are 4 sites, 3 have no separation between them, 1 is at the entrance, all are on the access road with 0 privacy.  This area is overused, and it shows, sites are warn in and if there was room relocating fire pits and allowing some nature to come back would be nice.  I managed to tuck myself into a private alcove of trees on the #1 site, but still was in full view of headlights and people driving in to see if there was space.  The site I had was big enough that I shared it with a couple that had a small child, and they had their own section. 

There are no service, no water, no electricity, no to little cell coverage.  There is one pit toilet.  

The access road in is rough, not for normal street cars.

Did I mention lack of privacy?

See pics.

Stopped in to try and camp here, all the spots were taken.  There were even people camping in their rooftop tents.

Sites that I saw looked great, trails need some maintenance though, and some of the sites need clean up.

The Road is rough, but with care you can get there, just go slow.

There are pit toilets, but no running water or electricity.

All of the sites are walk-in sites.

Bussy place!

Great place to stop for a swim, but camping is not allowed here.

Be prepared with everything you need the closest town is Eustis about 20 miles south.  Nice location, but it has an access road going through the campsite to a private in holding and they use it.  The night I was there they drove through 3 times. There are also locals who like this spot and don't respect the tradition of hanging something at the entrance or putting up a barrier, I had 4 people drive in to see if the site was available.  

If you want privacy go somewhere else, if you want views and don't mind people coming and going this is a nice spot.

The drive into this spot is a little rough, I wouldn't bring a normal height car into the site as the road looks like it can get deepish puddles and has some rocks that could catch bumpers.

Fires are allowed with a permit only, do your research first the number listed doesn't have area codes and they need to be gotten in advance as there is no cell signal.

If you're on your way to Canada and need to rest this might be a good choice. 

If this spot is taken there is a paid campground just 5min up the road, closer to Canada.

We stayed 4 nights and everything was perfect. Staff are very helpful and nice. The store had everything we needed. The surrounding area has some much to explore

Round barn campsites offers a dozen or so tent sites with two big group sites. It will pretty consistently have some campers, but I've never seen all the sites full before. It is right next to the stafford brook trail to hike to the top of Bigelow and you can easily hike from your campsite to the top of the mountain and back within a day. Multiple sites including both group sites are right on the water and there is a nice beach area big enough to accomodate however many people you bring. The best tent site is on the island just offshore accessible by sandbar which is usually just knee deep. The cove makes for safe swimming away from the wind and waves offshore. Great secluded spot where you won't feel crowded like at Baxter or Grafton notch areas.

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.