Best Campgrounds near Machias, ME

Amazing lakefront lot, very private and comes with a big common area to BBQ and clean Port-a-Potty on the top of the 1 acre sloped lot. Brought our own kayak to enjoy Gardner and Second Lakes!

Cobscook State Park is beautiful. The park is big, and many sites are very far apart - we had almost complete privacy.  There are both reservable and non reservable sites.  Some sites have Adirondack shelters.  All sites have picnic tables and fire pits.  The majority of the tent sites and small rv sites, and some larger rv sites, are on the water.   We stayed at 2 different sites - a waterfront site and non waterfront - and both were scenic and private.   There is no water/electric/power at any site.  There are water stations around the park, as well as a bath house and dump station.  The park rangers are friendly and helpful. There is a lot of wildlife and waterlife - we saw many seals and cormorants in the water, as well as a few eagles.  You can launch a kayak from your campsite, or from the large  dock/boat launch area in the park.  Kayaking should be done with prior research to ensure familiarity with the tide changes (which are up to 20 ft) and currents, which are strong and dangerous in certain areas of Cobscook Bay.   There is a great map published by Cobscook Shores that shows recommended kayak areas and tide access.  It includes the launch that is in the park.  https://cobscookshores.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CS-System-Map.pdf  

 There are also a few open areas for picnicking or just relaxing, as well as a play area for kids.  There are a few nice, relatively short and easy  hiking trails that run through the park.  One of the trails is right at the entrance, so you can park there if needed. For more advanced hiking, the Cutler Preserve land, Boot Head, and Quoddy Head are all nearby and offer incredible hikes of varying distances, up to 10 miles.  Quoddy Head also has a lighthouse that is a popular attraction .

Campground is large but very well designed. About half of the sites are spacious but others are more crowded. Very well maintained with cleaning crew in everyday to maintain restrooms and trash receptacles. The campground has access to ocean trails and Cadillac Mountain. No showers in the campground but private showers are available right outside the campground. The park shuttle has a stop at the campground and I never had to drive out of the campground. It was awesome since I visited at the busiest time of the year.

We spent 3 nights in Acadia National Park. Our first night was at the Blackwoods Campground and the last 2 were at the Schoodic Woods Campground. This review is for Schoodic Woods. 

Before visiting Acadia I didn't realize that the 2 areas of Acadia National Park are pretty far from each other. Blackwoods Campground is on Mount Desert Island and is only about a 10 minute drive to Bar Harbor whereas Schoodic Woods Campground is on the Schoodic Peninsula and is closer to an hour away. I found Schoodic Woods to be more peaceful and more spaced out than Blackwoods. It felt further removed from the usual action of a national park. The sites were large and private. We stayed in a long, pull through site which I honestly tend to avoid because they sometimes feel less private but that was definitely not the case here. Our site had electricity, water hook ups and a fire ring. 

The bathroom (no showers) was probably the nicest and cleanest I've ever been to at a campground. 

There are several hiking paths from the campground including one that takes you down to the bay which is about a mile away. The Schoodic Peninsula has a ring road which you can drive around and we stopped at Schoodic Point which was spectacular- huge waves crashing against the rocks. The small town of Winter Harbor is also only about a 5 minute drive from the campground. 

All in all, I really loved this campground. We had a very peaceful time!

Busy but nice sites-all are pull through- fairly flat and wide for some privacy. Facilities clean-no cleaning station or hot water. Busier part of the park but very central to all - stayed here 2 nights in the RV/non-electric loop and then had a spot at Seawall which was much quieter and private (stayed in tent only on seawall…) short walk from campground to small ocean vista. Also left from the campground to hike Cadillac Mtn South Trail (no pass needed!)

Most private national park camping sites I’ve ever experienced

The KOA staff were very friendly and helpful, the facilities were very clean, and the store was well-stocked. The sites were a bit close, but the neighbors I had during my stay would be out and about during the day if I didn't happen to be out and about in Acadia NP or Bar Harbor myself... so that kind of made up for it. The first few nights of my stay was spent in the "Premium" section where we were on the other side of the road from the "Oceanfront" sites--it almost felt like Oceanfront sites when Big Rigs weren't blocking the view. The next 5 nights we were at an "Oceanfront" site, which was really great and worth the extra money to watch the seals, birds, and easy access for kayaking. HOWEVER--despite knowing privacy isn't really something you can find at most KOAs, it was SHOCKING to me the lack of social awareness some people have at sunset. Despite being next to the public oceanfront area (where lovely chairs and tables are provided) people would literally walk to the Oceanfront campsites and stand there snapping photos or just hanging around at sunset, even if my husband and I were sitting down at our picnic table eating our dinners and trying to enjoy the sunset together. (Picture provided [with blocked faces) of just one of the couples one evening standing right next to our firepit... maybe 10ft from where we were setting up dinner on our picnic table.) So... be prepared with how to handle that if it's something you think may bother you, too.

Little bit of noise, but ok

Pay no attention to any reviews that are a year older as there are new owners now. The prices have tripled and there are 7 pages of rules you have to sign off on!! This campground has lost its personality! The previous owners were fantastic and extremely accommodating. New owners are invisible and everything is automated online and pricing is ridiculous! This used to be a very busy place but not anymore! I hope the new owners figure it out before it’s too late!

Stayed for two nights after Labor Day. Only one other camper in the park and we never saw them but occasionally we could hear a voice. Other than that, it was quiet.

There are about 9 campsites, each with a picnic table, a fire ring and a large camping and parking area for each site.

The best feature of this campground is the view. There is a Lake on both east and west sides of the camping area. Three sites are view of both lakes from the camp sites. I woke up to a view of one lake and my wife saw the other lake from our camper.

The campground has three pit toilets. The large size of the camp sites makes it feel more secluded than it is

We did hear something like a lumber mill operating one morning. Not sure what that was all about.

A Ranger stopped by and visited with us. He then offered us a brochure on the camping area we are planning to visit next. Nice customer service right at our camp site!

We just spent 4 wonderful nights here and it is possibly my favorite campground, ever. The campground is relatively new and although they could have fit more sites in here, I am so glad they did not. The sites are carefully designed so that although you might hear your neighbor you likely will not see them. We sleep in our van and also have a tent for storage and changing. Every tent site has electric, and water is available at the bathhouse. There is also a dishwashing station there, as well as trash, recycling, and food scrap bins. There are no showers, but you can wash up in the bathhouse and also heat water at your site for a quick wipe down. That was fine for us for 4 nights. There are some negative reviews on here about the lack of showers but maybe this is just not the campground for them. There are plenty of other campgrounds in the area that have showers. If that's what you're looking for ....

We stayed at A48 and loved it.  The driveway is deep, so we felt very secluded, especially at night. The only thing we didn't like about this site is that the fire ring is in the middle of the site.  We moved the picnic table to the side and had room, but it did. limit our options for the tent a little bit. 

This is a dark sky park so no string lights or anything like that and as a result it is also VERY quiet at night. Very dog friendly and everyone seemed very responsible as far as no barking and picking up after their pets.

At night we drove over to Fraser Point and took amazing photos of the northern lights. Not for the feint of heart, though — it is VERY dark! This is such an amazing campground, I almost don't want to tell you because it feels like a hidden little secret!

This campground was in a good location to access Acadia National Park. Some nice sites, but definitely at a premium. No extra amenities. We were given a site along the highway, and I was very unhappy there. The site isn’t even in the main campground area. I would have stayed somewhere else if I knew that’s where our site was located. No privacy and it lots of road noise. I did not want to sit outside. Our picnic table was in shambles and chunks of the table fell off when my son tried to sit there. It was in usable to us.

Overall, this was a nice place to stay. The laundromat was helpful. The bathrooms were fairly clean. We had a beautiful view from our campsite! Not all campsites had full hookup and we were told that one of the dump stations worked, but as we were leaving, we realized it didn’t.