Best Dispersed Camping near Gilead, ME

My first ever dispersed camping experience. So freaking amazing and unbelievable. It was pouring rain when we came to NH so we tried to wait out the rain, but it was getting dark. We followed the directions given by previous reviews. Turn onto town hall rd. and keep going past the residential area until you get to gravel road. keep going straight until you see the national forest sign. about a mile later us when campsites started popping up. the first few were full since it was 7pm but we came across one right around where the pin is dropped for this location. the cliff wasn’t too steep here (i passed up a campsite before this one bc it seemed too steep for my liking) and pretty large. beautiful view of the water and even a path down to swim. 10/10 experience and i cant wait to go back.

This is an awesome spot for camping. They have a couple different spots where you can park and walk up to your site or they have sites you can pull right up next to them. Some of the camping spots have fire pits but not all. Theres a nice pond with great views and good fishing. Some of the sites are close together but there are some that are a good distance apart. The road in is pretty rough and is not recommended for sedans or lower riding cars. Overall this is a great place to camp if you’re looking for free camping spots. Also it is first come first serve

Town Hall Rd off 302 just keep going past houses until you see the National forest sign. 6-8 spots some big enough for med. camper.

Some of the camping spots were really tiny but if you get there on a good day u can find a good sized spot. There is a beautiful river right below the camping spots. If you go deep enough down the road you might be lucky enough to see a moose. While I was visiting we were driving down the road and we saw a big moose. The only problem I had was that there is no service at the camp spots. All around the campsite there were so many different kinds of mushrooms. The river also has a bunch of rocks and me and my boyfriend make rock towers.

Awesome boondocking in New Hampshire, what a treat in the east coast! Just beautiful scenery, with trees, rivers, creeks, hiking trails with a pond- we absolutely loved our time here. 

Town Hall Rd is a long road with many designated dispersed sites, all far apart from each other and all varying in levelness and size. We got lucky and snagged a perfect spot 2 miles in from the entrance sign- completely level (didn’t even need our leveling blocks) and big enough for our 26ft class c. Each site is different, but there were plenty that could fit a medium sized RV like ours. I wouldn’t recommend a giant 5th wheel or class A to come here looking for a spot. The road is dirt, but it’s hard packed and smooth, with a few dips and holes here and there. A little narrow but it’s manageable. The downside of a great road is the speeding cars and trucks- very annoying but thankfully there wasn’t much traffic in early October. I’d say more than half the sites were open when we stayed there mid-week. 

 No amenities here, just a rock fire pit to designate that it’s a spot. Please pack out your trash. Zero cell service in this whole area, but some messages popped through while we were hiking. weBoost did not help. Heavily wooded area, so it’s not so great for solar panels and probably not starlink either (we don’t have starlink so I can’t report on that).

True primitive sites. First come first serve. Awesome feel. Cool road. Great access to tripyramid hikes. Somewhat isolated.

This campsite is along the Forest Legacy Trail and while the trail is managed by one entity, the remote campsites are managed by another. The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust maintains the trails in and out while Cupsuptic Campground manages the campsites.

There is a tent platform at Smudge Cove but it is in desperate need of repair and it sounds like that's in the plans for next summer. There is a nice picnic table available as well as an established fire ring. The site is just off the water and there is a nice long dock that makes it super easy to boat into and unload. You can also backpack in and enjoy some pretty cool Maine forests along the way. There is also relatively easy access to the water by way of the rocks, beside the dock.

These sites are secluded and offer a lovely amount of privacy and rest assured, the only sounds you will hear at night are the loons!

Would call this a solid car camp spot. Went on a Saturday afternoon after a long hike and there were plenty of spots open. You can pick any spot, each one has a different variety wIth size and how deep into the woods you want to walk. No showers or bathrooms, a porter potty at the entrance but that’s about it. Only complaint I had were a couple cars kept flying back and forth down the road at night. Camp a little further in and you’d be fine

Great spot for the weekdays, hardly anyone around and got a great site right by the river (mid-sept.). We left on a Friday morning and a lot more people were coming in so I imagine it could get really loud during busy summer weekends/holidays. A lot of sites were right next to each other so if it's crowded, you might not get a lot of privacy. However, there are little camp spots all over this road, too many to count so it's a good bet of getting one, especially on the weekdays. Definitely watch out for bears though, didn't see any but saw plenty of evidence.

Take Town Hall rd off of 302 and go until it is no longer residential. You’ll see the WMNF signs and the sites begin shortly after that. We drove down the road a bit, past a few tent sites just off the road. About the fifth one or so, you pull in and the fire pit is right there. Then walk down a bit and there’s a large group site with another pit. Down toward the river there was plenty of open space so we pitched there and built a fire pit. It was one of our favorite camp spots yet! Very peaceful, beautiful and quiet. There are trout in the river and if you cross and go through the woods to the right there’s some great spots to explore further! Ten minutes from grocery/gas etc in Bartlett.

Fantastic secluded options, highly recommend getting a good spot by the river. Park staff are great and spots are well maintained. Downsides are there are few bathrooms (and they are Portojohns), and the road can be irritating/cars kick up dust as they drive by. It's also first come first serve, so be sure to get up early on Friday for a weekend campout. But this is by far one of my favorite spots!

We found a really great spot in this area. With a nice fire ring next to the river. Reasonably level spot for our van. Also there is a fun hiking trail just up the road. Camp sites are well spread out. Parking spots are small from what I saw. I don't think anything bigger than a van would be able to fit.

This is a great spot to start getting into camping with less amenities and more outdoors. I have been going there for 20 years and I still recommend it. Drive up the dirt road and find a nice riverside camp site. 3 miles of seclusion if you want. Great hiking trails directly off Tripoli . Hiking the loop trail is amazing.

We followed directions exactly as listed below. It does take about 10 minutes to reach the campsites but it’s so worth it. We passed up a couple on the left as you first drive in as they were too steep. We found our spot which had some river access and it was gorgeous. It had an above and below spot which hosted our two tents. It was clean, quiet and other campers were friendly as well. I absolutely would stay here again.

We stayed here during a torrential downpour and it was tough to find a spot to pitch the tent that wasn't going to put us in a puddle. The site has very little clear flat area for an established campsite and it took a little bit of strategy to find a spot where we could actually sleep and stay relatively dry given the circumstances.

This is a waterfront site but there isn't super easy access to the lake, but the view is pretty amazing! There is a rough fire pit that had a stack of wood next to it that was clearly part of an old picnic table. The picnic table that was in the site was, well...let's call it a "living picnic table." It was not in great shape and was actively rotting. We made it work because we had already traveled through the other available sites and they were in worse shape than this one. It did the trick for an evening but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to stay here.