Looking for the best options for tent camping near Phillips? Finding a place to camp in Maine with your tent has never been easier. Would you prefer a quiet dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities? Either way, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
67 waterfront campsites including mainland, Students Island, Toothaker Island and Western Shore. Wilderness Campsites are located on the Mainland, Students Island, Toothaker, and along the Western Shore. All sites include water views, a picnic table, a fire pit and access to an outhouse.
MAINE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
The Firewarden's Trail (4.6 miles) intersects the Appalachian Trail at Bigelow Col (the lowest point between two peaks) and provides the shortest route to Avery Peak or West Peak from the south side of the Bigelow Range. Follow Stratton Brook Pond Road 0.4 mile east to Stratton Brook, the outlet of the pond, and another 0.4 mile east to the fork. Take the north fork (left) 0.3 miles to the old trailhead clearing. The trail bears northeast along an old tote road and ascends gradually 1.2 miles until the Horn's Pond Trail diverges left. Moose Falls Campsite is located about 1 mile further up the Firewarden's Trail. Shortly after this the trail ascends steeply for the last 0.7 mile until the Firewarden's Trail ends at the Bigelow Col (3815').
$100 - $150 / night
Located in western Maine just east of the village of Stratton about 40 miles north of Farmington, Bigelow Preserve includes over 36,000 acres of public land. The preserve encompasses the entire Bigelow Range, which includes seven summits. The highest of these at 4,150 feet is West Peak, one of only 10 Maine summits over 4,000 feet in elevation. Bounded on the north by 20,000-acre Flagstaff Lake, the preserve offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation. Flagstaff Lake is part of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is an historic 740-mile watertrail through New York, Vermont, Quebec, New Hampshire, and Maine. https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parksearch/PropertyGuides/PDF_GUIDE/bigelow-preserve-flagstaff-lake.pdf
$28 / night
Scout
Have stayed at all upper sites. Beautiful serene and quiet. Site 4 and 5 get some cell service. Upper two top sites beware of bears especially the right side site. Game trail heaven. Amazing little larry brook. Great flat sites except top two. Highly recommend
Legend
General: Small (15-site) campground near Grafton Notch State Park (but not IN the park). No hookups. Not all will agree with me, but I am glad no generators are allowed.
Site Quality: Sites are gravel, level, and have enough trees to afford privacy between sites.
Bath/Shower House: It is immaculately clean. Each gender has two stalls and one ADA-accessible shower. The shower has nice warm water and a great flow. There is also a very clean vault toilet.
Activities/Amenities: Horseshoes and cornhole in the lawn area in the center. Information on many local hikes. Rocky beach has tables where you can sit and relax. There are two dishwashing sinks, potable water, and a dump station.
What makes this campground shine is the owner, Mo. We’ve stayed in many campgrounds but hands down, Mo takes more pride in her campground than any other we’ve been in. Seasonal decorations, flower pots, and Mo is an on-site presence to answer questions, engage in conversation, and make sure the sites and all facilities are pristine. We stayed here five years ago and look forward to hopefully staying again in the future. About the only thing I can find fault with is the proximity to the road but even at that, road noise is minimal.
ScoutWe pulled in around 7:30 pm on a Sunday night and there were plenty of open spots. We took a huge one. Found a fairly flat area and stayed for the night.
Just enough t-mobile / starlink signal to watch streaming and message, but wouldn't be enough for remote work so we went to the White Mountain National Forest Picnic area off the main road about 5 minutes away and had great signal
Traveler
About 1km (.6 miles) of gravel road, easy enough for a big road bike, but don’t go any further as it gets rough. Plenty of trees to hang your hammock. Enough space to put up to 3-5 tents. No fire allowed. Would be really quiet if not for the road across the lake. I saw one truck in the evening and one in the morning.
Ranger
The each campsite is nice and private--I was lucky enough to get a site on the lake for my stay! The shower houses/restrooms are amazing--one big open room with a large shower, toilet, sink, bench, and towel rack. The only downside is you have to press the button for the shower to run, and it's only a few seconds each push, so you're constantly pressing a button as you're mid scrubbing. But hey--after a long day of hiking or swimming, that's no big deal!
Ranger
The campground was nice and quiet during our stay, but the pit toilets near our campsite were quite rough--super smelly and an endless amount of flies flying out of the toilet.
Ranger
The staff was very nice and helpful during our stay. There are a variety of sites to choose from and a bunch of things to do around the campground. The campground store also had a good supply of items, too. It sounds like the new owners are making improvements around the campground, so I'm excited to see how it comes along if I'm in the area again in the future!
ScoutTiny turn off with spots for a few cars and a few tents. No amenities. Riverbank access
Ranger
The main camping area has about 10 long narrow sites that have large rocks bordering each site. Each site is bordered by the road. There is a single vaulted toilet.
The paved area of the road ends just past the campground. Lots of people drive just past the pavement and then they turn around.
Across the road from the campground is a beautiful river. The sound of the river put us to sleep and greeted us the next morning.
Traveler
Great campground! Clean, well maintained, playground and heated pool. The view of the mountains was worth the price alone
Traveleramazing lil spot, a pull off the wild rocky road. very private. right next to a serene view of the lake. very mild highway traffic sounds in the distance. there was another spot at the posted coordinates for this area but someone got to it before me last night. no fires allowed here. only saw one biker and one truck full of local boys pass by in the last 16 hrs
Scout
Very friendly and helpful
TravelerWe went to this campground for the ATV event, and were pleasantly surprised. Our campsite was up in the “back” over looking the mountain. It was great. Quiet and good location.
Legend
This is worse than a rest area on the Jersey pike. The area consists of a bunch of pull-ins in an old gravel pit, and two semiprivate spots that are essentially pull offs from the pavement.
No service, no water, no electricity, 1 pit toilet.
On a paved road
20+ miles to the nearest town
Pack in Pack out.
There was one spot open, and I decided not to stay due to the sound of generators and the site being right on the paved road.
Legend
Here I am, going to ruin it... no, really pretend you didn't read this... The main campground is nice, it has some great group spots, and some close sites, even a few semiprivate ones. After all it is a campground build on an old section on RTE 16. The campground as others have mentioned is right on the river, and a wonderful river it is.
This is primitive camping, no water, no electrical, but it does have pit toilets and boat rentals and a day use area.
The hidden spots though are totally private and not at the main site but else ware on rte. 16, the ranger told me about them. They are amazing (I didn't say that)
Access is easy for any vehicle, minimal cell coverage.
They are currently doing a dig and finding some amazing artifacts!
Legend
This location is Beautiful, but it comes at the cost of privacy. When I first discovered this spot, it wasn't an official campsite, people just came here to swim and there was a fire ring. That was over 20yrs ago.
There are 4 sites, 3 have no separation between them, 1 is at the entrance, all are on the access road with 0 privacy. This area is overused, and it shows, sites are warn in and if there was room relocating fire pits and allowing some nature to come back would be nice. I managed to tuck myself into a private alcove of trees on the #1 site, but still was in full view of headlights and people driving in to see if there was space. The site I had was big enough that I shared it with a couple that had a small child, and they had their own section.
There are no service, no water, no electricity, no to little cell coverage. There is one pit toilet.
The access road in is rough, not for normal street cars.
Did I mention lack of privacy?
See pics.
Legend
Stopped in to try and camp here, all the spots were taken. There were even people camping in their rooftop tents.
Sites that I saw looked great, trails need some maintenance though, and some of the sites need clean up.
The Road is rough, but with care you can get there, just go slow.
There are pit toilets, but no running water or electricity.
All of the sites are walk-in sites.
Bussy place!
TravelerRoom for a few vehicles. Small sandy stream bank, right next to the road. More flat camping tucked in back... possibly a tent site or two.
Guide
Stayed for a quick overnight. The electric and water sites we stayed at was just dirt, no grass anywhere. The full hookups looked better from what I saw. They were very gracious on a late check out for us so we could go explore before leaving which was great.
Scout
We stayed 4 nights and everything was perfect. Staff are very helpful and nice. The store had everything we needed. The surrounding area has some much to explore
ScoutHad a short weekend stay but we were impressed at how clean and well ran the campground was! Mo was welcoming and made sure we had everything we needed. The showers were hot and spacious. We were in Site 3 and it was perfectly distanced between the store and bathrooms. Will definitely be back soon!
Guide
A small campground located at the northern end of Evan’s Notch, close to some great hiking trails. Pit toilets. Very quiet.
Guide
There are a number of nice campsites right on the lake, but even if you don’t have a waterfront site, there is a public boat launch. There is a dishwashing station, laundry facilities, showers, and bathrooms, all very clean. Perfect for fishing, hiking, and kayaking.
TravelerThese campsites are located on a dead end dirt road. The campsites are spread out so you are not on top of each other (I think there are only 8 sites on the road.) There is a fire pit but no other amenities. The site at the very top of the road is huge and has a nice stream but if you are camping at any of the other sites, you don't have water flowing by. The sites are a great size and are surrounded by trees. The road is uphill. It is very quiet except for the occasional loud motorcycle that you might hear down on the main road. My husband and I love staying here. We have stayed here quite a few times and have always had a good time. You can drive out to the main road and be right on the river.
ScoutRound barn campsites offers a dozen or so tent sites with two big group sites. It will pretty consistently have some campers, but I've never seen all the sites full before. It is right next to the stafford brook trail to hike to the top of Bigelow and you can easily hike from your campsite to the top of the mountain and back within a day. Multiple sites including both group sites are right on the water and there is a nice beach area big enough to accomodate however many people you bring. The best tent site is on the island just offshore accessible by sandbar which is usually just knee deep. The cove makes for safe swimming away from the wind and waves offshore. Great secluded spot where you won't feel crowded like at Baxter or Grafton notch areas.
ScoutBeen camping here since I was a kid and will forever continue the tradition! So peaceful and beautiful
Legend
I've stayed here a number of times and have enjoyed my stays. This is a good campground to use as a base location when doing other things. It is a small campground, but the tent sites are nicely dispersed in a small field. In the late summer the grass will be 4' tall, it's a fun location.
The RV sites are stacked about as tight as I've ever seen them though. Facilities are dated, but there are outhouses at the tent group sites.
If you stay here check out the suspension bridge and the island.
Tent camping near Phillips, Maine offers a blend of stunning natural beauty and a variety of outdoor activities, making it an ideal destination for nature enthusiasts.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Phillips, ME is Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve Wilderness with a 5-star rating from 4 reviews.
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