Best Campgrounds near Carrabassett Valley, ME

General: Small (15-site) campground near Grafton Notch State Park (but not IN the park). No hookups. Not all will agree with me, but I am glad no generators are allowed.

Site Quality: Sites are gravel, level, and have enough trees to afford privacy between sites. 

Bath/Shower House: It is immaculately clean. Each gender has two stalls and one ADA-accessible shower. The shower has nice warm water and a great flow. There is also a very clean vault toilet. 

Activities/Amenities: Horseshoes and cornhole in the lawn area in the center. Information on many local hikes. Rocky beach has tables where you can sit and relax. There are two dishwashing sinks, potable water, and a dump station. 

What makes this campground shine is the owner, Mo. We’ve stayed in many campgrounds but hands down, Mo takes more pride in her campground than any other we’ve been in. Seasonal decorations, flower pots, and Mo is an on-site presence to answer questions, engage in conversation, and make sure the sites and all facilities are pristine. We stayed here five years ago and look forward to hopefully staying again in the future. About the only thing I can find fault with is the proximity to the road but even at that, road noise is minimal.

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 staff was very nice and helpful during our stay. There are a variety of sites to choose from and a bunch of things to do around the campground. The campground store also had a good supply of items, too. It sounds like the new owners are making improvements around the campground, so I'm excited to see how it comes along if I'm in the area again in the future!

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.

This is my 2nd year returning to lone mountain river front camping in Andover Maine. The peace and tranquility here is tough to beat. We reserved a river front site which are primitive, meaning no hook ups of any kind. Also reserved a water/electric site. Best of all wide open field with incredible dark sky seeing. Full moon this year. Oh well. Owners here are super friendly and keep the property in terrific shape. Bathrooms / showers very well maintained . The location gives you mountain weather which can be changeable, be prepared & check forecast. Great WiFi in RV sites. Not so much on river. Site has a small store. Ice, wood ect. There is a general store in Andover called Mills general store. All in one stop. Food beverage gas fish stuff. You name it it there. The web site is well put together and easy to navigate. Prices are comparable to going rates.

Here I am, going to ruin it... no, really pretend you didn't read this... The main campground is nice, it has some great group spots, and some close sites, even a few semiprivate ones. After all it is a campground build on an old section on RTE 16.  The campground as others have mentioned is right on the river, and a wonderful river it is.

This is primitive camping, no water, no electrical, but it does have pit toilets and boat rentals and a day use area.

The hidden spots though are totally private and not at the main site but else ware on rte. 16, the ranger told me about them.  They are amazing (I didn't say that)

Access is easy for any vehicle, minimal cell coverage.

They are currently doing a dig and finding some amazing artifacts!

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.

Stayed 5 nights mid August 23.

stayed on primitive sites along Ellis river. very quiet and peaceful.

As most campers know last summer was about as wet as it gets so

mosquito population was a little bothersome. Camp fire wood was also 

very damp. On the one night we saw clear sky I was amazed how a dark sky

looks being from Boston area. we got chased out by rain a day early.

Fast forward to 2024 with reservations for the same site for a week in mid July

 taking advantage of free day offer for 7 night stay. Bring my 8" HD celestron this time.

 Hoping for some clear night sky for some awesome seeing.

oh ya Verizon worked well for me and they do have WIFI although weak in this area.

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

There are a number of nice campsites right on the lake, but even if you don’t have a waterfront site, there is a public boat launch. There is a dishwashing station, laundry facilities, showers, and bathrooms, all very clean. Perfect for fishing, hiking, and kayaking.

This location has stunning landscape, but getting there is somewhat difficult. I used a Google map to find the path, but it didn't take me to the exact address I was looking for. But that's alright, I was able to locate doodle cricket where I needed to through

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.

Been camping here since I was a kid and will forever continue the tradition! So peaceful and beautiful