Best Glamping near Mars Hill, ME

This was a great two day tent camping trip. KOA’s are not always known for their tent sites but this one has a decent amount of them and the DMZ area between the RV’s and the tents is adequate so your not pitching your tent right next to an RV: our campsite was slightly off the beaten path which was exactly what we wanted. Good quite relaxing weekend . They have recently installed a new pool here so if it gets hot you have that great amenity. They also have the mining for gems activity that you see at some KOA’s and all my kids enjoyed that. The bathrooms were super clean. Kids enjoyed finding frogs in all their ponds. They have also added two “glamping tents” which look nice. The family enjoyed this so much we plan on making this an annual trip to this specific campground. This used to be “my brother place” campground and from what I gather significant upgrades have been made. Disclaimer : I know one of the owners but my review is honest.

Shin Pond is this sprawling mix of campground, cabins, restaurant, event space, gas station, convenient store, and off-road vehicle rentals. The campground has about 30 campsites and is separated into two sections bisected by Route 159 (which is busy with loud logging trucks and UTV’s). One side has 50-amp campsites and cabins and the other side is 30-amp. There is a separate area for tents that is really pretty and sits along a brook that divides north and south Shin Ponds. 

Sites are grass with very little gravel and, as we found out, they can be very soft. We pulled into our site (#21) and before we knew it our 45’ (47,000 lbs) RV was stuck. Unbeknownst to us, three inches of rain had recently fallen and our site which was downhill was saturated. The campground owner had to pull us out with his huge tractor which as we found out was not the first time a camper had to be pulled out of a soft site in that campground. Luckily, it was a pull-in site so he could attach a chain to the hitch on the back of our RV as there is no way to pull from the front without causing damage. 

All sites have water, picnic table, and fire pit. There is no sewer but there is a dump station and a “blue boy” for you to use and dump your own tanks. They do not have a pump-out service. The dump station is easy to access and has a hose for you to flush your tanks and a dedicated potable water spigot. The dump station is at the back of a busy parking lot that serves the restaurant, laundry, bath/shower house, and the fuel pump so it can be quite busy and congested. We didn’t eat at the restaurant but others said it was very good. There is also a well-stocked store which sells a variety of souvenirs, food, beer, ice cream, and camping necessities. 

No cell or internet reception with our Verizon phone. The campground does have wifi but the signal was not strong enough to get reception reliably at our site. You pretty much have to be at the office in order to get it but that’s ok because they have lots of picnic tables and places to sit. 

Shin Pond rents Polaris UTV and snowmobiles, canoes, and kayaks in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter. We went on a UTV ride one day and were treated to some beautiful views. Just a few miles down the road is a short hiking trail leading to Shin Pond Falls and another trail that runs along the Seboeis river which is a beautiful hike. The campground is close to the northern entrances to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and Baxter State Park which is the major reason why we stayed there. We loved exploring these parks where you have access to beautiful hiking trails and lakes and ponds and is not as crowded as the southern areas. Note that dogs are not allowed in Baxter State Park and there are restrictions on vehicle sizes. The nearest town is Patten (about 15 minutes away) and has a hardware store, gift shop, full-service grocery, fuel, restaurants, and the Lumberman’s Museum.

I stayed here for 4 nights and enjoyed the Crown of Maine balloon fest, geocaching, fishing, and exploring. This is primarily an RV park, although there is a section dedicated to tent camping. There are HUGE, level, terraced sites stretching up the hill. My site(74) was so large that there could have been 4 vehicles with teardrops and had space left over; others used their space for RVs or There’s a picnic table and fire ring. Verizon cell service was good; wifi is available near the camp office/store. 

Clare was quickly responsive to emails and friendly.

Hookups are either water/electric or water/electric/sewer. If you need to use the dump station, there’s a charge for that. It’s located just across from the office and can make for tight entry if someone is dumping while you’re arriving. Many of the sites are pull-through, which means the hook-up location is not an issue, but for the back-in sites on the hill, the hookups are on the ‘wrong’ side. You’ll either need to pull straight in(for many rigs, it looked like that was doable, or run the cords under the trailer. 

A centralized bath house offers clean showers and flush toilets. Tent sites separated from the RV sites, some up a hill with a combination of small shaded sizes tucked into the woods and an open grassy area for ones farthest up the hill, but there are a few sites(4-8) are all wooded. Site 12 is a small bunkhouse. 

Shade was at a premium. The small tree at the back of my site afforded minimal shade; I sat on the shady side of my teardrop for some relief from the 90+ temps. The pool was closed for renovation. Laundry is available; you need to stay in the laundry room while it's in progress. A game room is also available with ping pong and foosball.

The Aroostook river was down the hill and across the street. Swimming, kayaking, canoeing, ATVing, fishing, biking, and hunting are all activities to keep you busy. Don’t have a canoe or kayak? They’re available for rental at the campground. They can also provide a shuttle. If you’re preference runs to golf, there’s an 18-hole course next door. A number of the sites near the top of the hill are seasonal; they are clean and neat. 

The hilltop location provides a great view of the sky, but you will experience some light pollution from RVers who are fans of rope lights and other lighting and don’t necessarily turn them off at night. The moon hadn’t risen yet, but I didn’t need a flashlight to make my way to the bathroom at night.

Cabins are available for year round rental, both at the campground and more remote locations.

We were interested in kayaking on ponds and streams in the KAWW or Baxter State Park. Since we have a trailer and our buddies have a RV, we new we could not get into South Branch Pond in BSP. We decided to try Shin Pond Village Campground, a privately owned place in Mt. Chase on the way to the northern entrance of BSP.

The campground is right off Route 159, which is now a scenic by way in the KAWW National Monument. Although our sites were close to the road, there was so little traffic it really didn't matter! Sites were flat and open, with decent privacy for a privately owned campground. There was a really good store and a great diner attached to the main office building. Campfire wood was abundant (and for sale by the campground) and each site had a picnic table, fire ring, and fire place to cook on.

The campground is between upper and lower Shin Ponds, with easy boat access to both. We were about 15 miles from the northern entrance of Baxter State Park (BSP), so we chose to travel to South Branch Pond to spend the day kayaking. A great choice as you can see from the pictures.

There are not many camping options in this area of Maine, but that’s o.k. because this is a nice one and we had a pleasant week there. Campsites have very nice grassy patios and ours was super spacious because we were on the end and there was a nice tree that provided shade. One of the pluses of this campground are the walking trails that are adjacent to the park. There is also a mowed path down to the Aroostook River which is across the street from the campground but when we were there the water level was extremely low.

Campsites sits on top of a hill and there is a tight winding road that you must navigate to get up there. We were able to navigate it with our 45’ RV and tow car but we had to go slow and take up the whole road. Some campsites are side by side facing the wrong way with shared patios (i.e.,“buddy sites”) but there was enough space between them so you didn’t feel like you were sitting on top of each other. These buddy sites are ideal if you are traveling with friends.  Our site was close to our neighbor but since their RV faced the opposite way our their patio was on the other side and didn't bother us.  Seasonal campers make up about 50% of the park but most just come on weekends so the weekdays were pretty quiet. It appeared that they kept the transient campers in together and seasonals together. Some of the sewer connections are not conveniently located so you may need extra sewer hose. Luckily, our pull thru site was long enough that we could maneuver around to get close to the sewer without needing an extension.

The campground is close to town which is a bonus. There are hiking trails nearby that have some great views from atop. We liked Haystack Mountain which is just a short 10-15 minute walk to the top of the mountain with great views. The countryside is pretty to drive around and we found a huge field of blooming sunflowers that were stunning. There is a farmers market downtown that had lots of great produce and baked goods. This area is known for their potato industry so roadside stands selling 5 lbs. sacks were everywhere.

Overall, we really liked this park and its location. The price was great at$240/week for 50 amp full hook-up. Can’t say enough about how nice the grass and our site were. So many times patios are dusty, sandy, or hard gravel but this one was lush and nice and we really enjoyed sitting outside. There is actually more to do in the area than we expected and may be back some day.