Best Campgrounds near Dexter, 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 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.

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.

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.

We have tent camped in several of the sites 4X in the past 3 years.  10/28/23 was last visit for the year.  We never see many trucks or people.  The sites are quiet, peaceful, very clean and outhouses are always in excellent condition.  We thank the folks who care so well for the sites.  We got there in a compact SUV 3 years ago, but go by truck now.  The road in off the Capital Road has deteriorated a fair amount in past year, due to rains, we believe.  Don't make the trip if you expect good roads, but if you like logging roads, this area is wonderful.

If you want to get away and have a moment for yourself, this is the place to be. You can enjoy the unbelievable sunrises or sunsets across the pond (which is over 7 miles long), or you can relax in your camper or tent. The food is fantastic too!

This is a hidden gem. We really enjoyed this campground and the good people staying there. I would go back and stay longer next time.

We stayed 7 nights in site # 24. We had water & electric and there is a dump station onsite. Our site was waterfront we were right off the beach. The site was level and had some shade. If you have a small camper you can pull in forward and your door opens to the water. I couldn't pull in I had to back in yet having the dinette overlooking the lake was nice. Everyone was so nice and helpful. The lake has 26.5 miles perimeter  and a maximum depth of 124'. We had loons come in close to our site. Saw an Eagle too. 

We sat our chairs in the water and cooled down everyday and floated on our noodles. Great relaxing place. 

The owners Shawn and Margaret do a nice job maintaining the campground and enjoy taking a dip at the swim beach like the rest of us. 

There is a playground, a nice area to keep kayaks if your not on the water.  There were adirondack chairs along the beach and the nice grassy area overlooking the lake. There are boat docks for smaller boats and some floating docks you can swim out to and enjoy. 

There is a small store where the office is and a group bonfire pit every evening many of the people gather there. 

There are some seasonal sites some are set up so nice. 

They offer a pump out service twice a week which is nice. 

The town of Ellsworth  has everything you need. Walmart, home depot, the Global beverage store, laundry places, and best of all Martha's Diner. The best eggs benedict with ham. Shawn recommended it.  Bangor isn't far either. 

There is a vintage/antiques place called Relics that has great finds. 

Dorr Lobster and seafood market serves lobster & crab rolls and sells fresh seafood. We bought some cooked, picked lobster meat and made lobster Alfredo for dinner.  Very tasty! 

Finn's Irish pub is good to. we had a good meal there it's on Main street. My husband had corned beef and cabbage I had Shepherds pie. 

We found a great mobile Repairman that fixed our slide out while we were there. It broke the 2nd week of June and we couldn't find anyone to fix it. His name is Chris Burbelo his number is (207) 322-4526. He did a great job it was a cable slide and we'd had the motor & gear replaced before we left florida. It wasn't bolted to the wall correctly & it tore from the wall broke the chains and the cables all went slack. We spent 2 months with the slide stuck in. Chris works at a RV place in service and does side work on his spare time. He did several things for us and did a great job. Worth a million!

Thank you Shawn and Margaret for the great experience and Chris B for fixing our slide out.