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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.
$28 / night
MAINE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
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.
Guide
Loved this campground! Quiet and pretty private spots - outer loop a bit more. Great facilities w wash sink - nice camp store and not at all too close to town! 20 min drive to Mt Washington (be sure to check weather as we had rain at the campground which was ice on the mtn so we couldn’t go to top/they stopped us halfway.)
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
TravelerWe stayed two nights at P-08 and loved both times. The side we stayed at is more for larger campers and is much quieter than the larger side. Paid showers, that’s a bummer, but we make do. Nice camp store, great access to rivers for fishing. Pulled an 8” brook trout out of a 10’ wide stream onsite. Awesome experience
GuideWe booked 2 nights and stayed for 3! Nice small campground with very clean bathrooms and showers! Staff was friendly and mountain biking trails were good and easy to get too.
GuideWe did not have reservations so our pick of sites was limited. There are several styles of sites here from tucked in/private to open areas and not so private sites. Bathrooms were clean and there is a nice wash station to do dishes. Campground is well maintained. We came for easy access to mountain biking trails!
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.
Nestled in the stunning landscapes of Maine, Rangeley offers a variety of tent camping options that cater to nature lovers seeking adventure and tranquility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Rangeley, ME?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Rangeley, ME is Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve Wilderness with a 5-star rating from 4 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 32 tent camping locations near Rangeley, ME, with real photos and reviews from campers.
