Best Glamping near Durham, ME

Sandy Pines is located a very short bike ride from Cape Porpoise, home of Nunann's Restaurant , Mussette, Lost Fire and Pier 77. Some of the best food in the area without having to deal with the crushing crowds of the Kennebunkport scene. Ride 10 minutes in the opposite direction and you arrive at Goose Rocks Beach , the best shoreline beach on southern Maine. 

Sandy Pines has  impeccably maintained  campsites for all style of camper and tent . If you do not have either one, you can rent one of their super funky Gypsy Wagons, A Frame chalets or Glam-tents on the platform . Just add yourself and stir. You cannot have a bad time.

This is our first visit to Sandy Pines and we are so impressed with how well groomed this property is. We stayed in the Beach Rose section and we have full hookups. We took a mid- September vacation and love how nice it is with fellow campers spread out. We are not resort campers, but this is very nice now that children are back in school. The pool is heated and very inviting. There is a playground. So many choices of cabins or glamping tents to rent. Dogs are welcome. Big rig friendly. Very close to attractions and restaurants and stores. We will be back next year with friends. We camped in our Minnie Winnie travel trailer. The Wi-Fi is hit and miss unsecured. Mostly miss.

Awesome campground. Beautiful setting, lots of trees, bordering on beautiful marsh area. Many different types of campsites: rent, RV, seasonal RV, cottages, glamping tents and cabins etc. We stayed at site 4 in Beach Rose area. Loved it. Super well maintained, owners invested a ton in upgrades. Cleanest bathrooms and showers (individual stalls) we’ve ever seen. Great location - can walk to beach on dyke road, good hiking nearby at Steele Nature Preserve. Good road biking with shoulders on many roads. Awesome place, we would return. Note that it used to be called Salty Acres but was renamed Sandy Pines.

We discovered this campsite in 2020 and just returned from our third year in a row camping here with 2 kids. We have only tented, but hope to bring a small camper next year. There is a small arcade, store, and 24/7 laundry. Bathrooms/showers are clean and not very busy as most guests are in RVs. Activities started up again this year, with events such as kids’ crafts, a kids vs adults water gun fight, cornhole competition, and a DJ for an evening of dancing - just on the weekend we were there. We love the proximity to the lake with easy access for kayaking and swimming. New ownership this year resulted in some updates, as well as the addition of glamping tents near the beach. The sites are a decent size and the campground is fairly quiet at night.

I have a love– hate relationship with KOA campgrounds. They tend to be overpriced and not consistent. You will find one that has nice sites at a decent price. Then, there are the others which are complete opposite. This KOA is on my good side.  There are lots of site choices, cabins, yurts, and tent sites to choose from.  The location is good as it is about 10-15 minutes far from the town of Freeport(home to L.L. Bean and tons of outlet stores), the pretty coastal town of South Freeport, four craft breweries and a cidery, and Bradbury Mountain State Park. The owners and work campers are very friendly and the super welcoming. Normally I am not concerned how nice people are but they go out of their way to make sure you get all the discounts you can and put you in a site that you prefer. 

We have stayed here a few times and are always impressed how well-cared for the grounds are and how and clean the common areas, bathrooms, and pool are. The grass is always cut, weeds trimmed, fire pits cleaned and there is no trash lying on the ground. There are lots of seasonal sites but they are in the back portion of the park with the transients being in the front. The park has nice super long 50 amp FHU pull-thrus in the front of the park which will fit any length RV and tow vehicle. Some of these sites are “buddy” sites with a shared patio, but are so wide that even if you don’t know your neighbors, it would not be a bother because you are far enough apart. The only downside to these pull thrus is there is no shade. We tend to be there in cooler months so shade is not a problem. However, the rest of the campground has a very park-like feel with over 50 acres there is plenty of room to roam and even a short nature trail through a wooded area. Many sites backup against the woods or are in wooded areas so keep that in mind when making your reservation. We give this park two thumbs up for their dog park which is ten times the size of the average KOA dog park. My lab had plenty of room to run and chase a ball and there were never any other dogs there which was nice. Plus, it was clean and free of dog poop! Normally, there are plenty of activities like s’mores by the fire, crafts, pony rides (yes, they have their own ponies on site), ice cream social, hay rides but this year they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We don’t use those amenities anyway so that wasn’t a problem but can see that would be fun activities for kids. We were in a buddy sites with our friends and liked the shared patio. Since we were in the open area, we were able to get both satellite with our roof-mounted dome and some over-the-air channels from Portland which is about 45 minutes away. All of our hook-ups were in an accessible place but we were also in a long pull thru and could position the RV in the site accordingly. 

Some of the cons for this park are the lack of cable, so-so wifi, and the dusty gravel roads and pot holes. There are a few restrooms buildings scattered around the park which may not be close depending on what site you are in.