Best Campgrounds near Hope, ME

Always a great campground, we ended up staying there most visits to bar harbor

The sites here are nicely wooded and have a decent amount of separation between most of them BUT the campground is located too close to the road and, with the exception of sites 84-87 and cabins 8-10, you will hear road noise in your site. Options are 10 rustic cabins, tent sites, partial and FHU sites. 

The bathhouse was very clean and there are both outdoor and indoor showers; both looked nice although we did not use them. 

I thought $50 for a tent site was a little steep but it was all the potential extra fees that irked me:

*$30 site lock to ensure you get the site you want when you reserve. I took a chance and was able to get the site I reserved without paying this fee

*$4 weather guarantee (allows you to cancel due to inclement weather). I didn’t bother with this one

*7.95 if you need to hook up to WiFi. We were able to use our own portable WiFi

*$10 to use the dump station (we found another place that charged $5) 

Aside from the fees and proximity to the road, this is a nice campground with a host of amenities: pool (which I was surprised was still open on October 1), horseshoes, laundry, dishwashing sink, a playground, and trash pick-up at your site. There is also a path to the shore with picnic tables, and chairs. Repairs to the sea wall are in progress so caution was recommended.

Tops’l Farm offer the best of glamping.  Located in Waldoboro, they create a wonderfully balanced experience between the outdoors and glamp.  While their model continues to evolve, camping is not available on all days/weekends.  They create special weekend camping events and retreats.   We participated in a weekend camping event that included a farm to table meal on Saturday evening in their barn.  They had recommendations for places to visit during the rest of the weekend, which we did not do.  

Their model is a stay that costs a price, plus a lot of a la carte “extras” that you can order.  We ordered Friday dinner and wine;  and breakfast for one morning.  Depending on the weekend, ‘extra’ offers could also include yoga, foraging, s’mores kits, etc.  

Tops’l Farm has both cabins and glamping tents.  The bath house is very nice for a camp bath house, with soap and shampoo.    The cabins are full of creature comforts, including nice sheets and blankets, lanterns, and an overall beautifully appointed space that is still rustic.  Each cabin has a fire pit.  

The farm dinners offer delicious food with ingredients from local farms.  The food is delicious, simple and very satisfying all at the same time.  The barn that they hold the dinners in is simple yet elegant.  There is a camp store where you can buy beer, wine, snacks and other basic items.  

They truly curate a lovely glamping experience.  It isn’t cheap, but if you want a glamping weekend, it’s one of the best.

We loved our stay at the blueberry fields!   This is private land that the owner rents to campers.  We stayed in campsite 2, where the land is open and flat, and there was plenty of room for our rv.  There are 4 total campsites, and each  offers a slightly different view and sense of privacy.  The owner met us when we arrived.  Dogs are allowed.  It is dry camping, with no hookups, and generators are not allowed.   The owner had a picnic table set up with flower boxes in it, and there was a nice fire ring. They will sell you wood if you need it.  There was one other camper at site 1, and we could also see the owners house, but both were far enough away that we had a great sense of privacy. There was a shared porta potty available for use for all of the campsites.  The land was quiet and peaceful - it is acres of blueberry fields, which create a special sense of being in nature. The site we were at had a nice tree, which framed the site. The owner was very responsive to questions we had, and responded quickly.   The area was very quiet - at night we only heard the crickets and the wind.

You are close to Castine, Ellsworth, Blue Hill, Deer Isle and Stonington.  There are numerous hiking trails in the area that can be found on All Trails, as well as easy places to kayak from, the closest of which are the Brooksville Town Landing, or Bucks Harbor public boat launch.

Small beautiful campground right on the water. Away from the busy stuff but close enough to visit it if you want.

We thought our camp site was perfect . There was just enough privacy for us. Plenty of trees between us and our neighbors. The showers were easy to use and got hot fast, 5 minutes was honestly long enough. The area was nice and clean. There was even a great view when walking my dog. Acadia was about 16-20 minutes away depending on where you wanted to go. Would definitely stay again.

This campground is beautiful, in a great location and perfect for tent, camper van or very small trailer camping. 

We stayed on two sites due to the availability of the waterfront site we wanted.

The first night we were on site C29. This site was OK, it had water and electric, was level and easy to park a small camper on. The site also had a view of the ocean across the street and down the boat ramp. With that said, the site wasn't as private as others as it was on a corner

The next two nights we stayed on site B7. this site also had water and electric, the site was private and had a tent platform. There was a nice view of the water and direct water frontage, the water access was pretty steep so you probably wouldn't be launching a kayak or swimming from it, but probably could cast a fishing line if you wanted. Most of the waterfront sites can not accommodate a trailer so we lucked out with this site. It appears sites B5 and B6 could also accommodate a small trailer. 

As for the rest of the campground, it was very well maintained, bathrooms and showers were always clean, campers were quiet and respectful. 

The gathering spot is a good place to grab a coffee or pastry, I just wish they had a small camp store for supplies. 

Proximity to the main attractions at the park and Bar Harbor was also great.

Nice and quiet during our stay. Friendly staff and clean facilities.

We had a pleasant stay. The roomy showers were a great surprise!

Everything was fine , except the owner, very weird !

It is nice campground quiet

The Bar Harbor KOA delivered what it promised, but I am not sure we’d return.  There are 196 tent, cottage, KOA Airstream, and personal rv sites, some of which are on the water.    Some rv sites are full hookup, some only electric and water, but there is a dump station onsite.  It is a very family friendly camp, with lots of activities for kids.  The camp store is large and well stocked.  The staff was very friendly and helpful.  You can order, and they deliver to your site,  nicely bagged firewood and have daily garbage pickup.  The bathrooms are clean.  The Island Explorer bus for Acadia National Park stops at the campground, so you have easy access without driving, if desired.  You reserve a type of site, and then for an additional fee can reserve a specific site, if desired.  

Our waterfront site 344 was terrific - gorgeous view, and one of the larger waterfront spots.  We could launch our kayaks directly from the site.  (If you don’t have a waterfront site, there are 2 water access areas that anyone can launch from).  The kayaking from the park is very good, with protected access into Mt. Desert Nartows. 

 There were great sunrises and sunsets at the park .  The water access areas has a number chairs for sitting and relaxing, or people walk out on the rocks.  During the sun set, a lot of people are out on the rocks, which are directly in front of some of the waterfront sites, including site 344 - so you may be sharing your area with others.  The location is an easy drive for downtown for Bar Harbor, North East Harbor and South West Harbor.

My challenge with the KOA is the sites were so close together and it was very crowded.  Everyone was really packed in, with no buffer between sites.  The 339 - 342 sites were literally bumper to bumper.   It is a very, very busy campground.   If  you are looking for privacy and peace and quiet, this is not the place to go.

I value the reviews left here, so I felt I needed to leave an honest review in hopes it will help someone else. We stayed here for almost 2 weeks. During that time there was a sewage smell near the bathhouse. The sites are not level and most are not shaded or very wide. We also had brown water and were extremely thankful for our multiple water filters. We paid for a 30 amp service, but had low voltage the entirety of our stay. The solution that was proposed, was that we remove our Watchdog EMS and Surge protector. We decided to keep our Watchdog on. They had several campsites on the same breaker, something we have never seen at any campground in our 3 years of travel. On our last day, we didn't even have enough voltage to keep fans running inside our RV. Please be aware that low voltage seems to be an ongoing problem as an RV behind us had an electrical cord burn up while we were there.

We were greeted with the most amazing, kind and service oriented staff! Just wonderful to see these days. Our site was a pull through and it was wooded and flattish. Some rocks on boulders, but we fit in fine. We were right next to a tenting site. Kind of close, but we managed to put the back of the RV toward their site. It is dog friendly!!! Lots of things to do on grounds and around this area. We had a great time. Plus, they have nice hot showers for free. No quarters here! lol In short, we loved our time here.