Best Glamping near Saco, ME

More of a compound than a campground. It’s a tourist event park but great if you have kids… my particular site was for a tent and it was up against the fence where the maintenance garage was hidden. Right next to the road. So yes lots of family glamping fun. But not for those looking for a more visceral Maine camping experience.

We stayed in the MainelyGlamping Camper Glamper which is a mobile glamping unit for hire. It was Memorial Day Weekend and we had a three night night stay. We loved the campground and it is great for our eight year old daughter who can safely ride her bike around with the other kids at the campground, enjoy the beach and enjoy the playground, but it still provides my husband and I with some relaxing/peaceful time together in the woods or sitting on the beach. We had two paddleboards which are add-ons with the MainelyGlamping package and we spent some time on one of the calm clear mornings paddling around the lake which was amazing.

We've been there twice and have reservations for next year. Some sites are in the woods, some are in the field. The pool and restrooms are spotless. There are yurts, power and water available, plus tent-only sites. Highly recommended.

Great campground. Middle of the woods, on the Saco river, with all your friends, no electricity, off your phone and enjoying the moment. Best for College kids and partiers between mid July & early August. Never a dull moment

This campground is really just mean to house people who plan to tube or boat down the Saco river. They have fire pits but there are not bathrooms only portopotties. There is a camp store. Most of the patrons are younger and are drinking most of the time, but that’s what it’s meant to be. Very basic campground.

We booked this site during the Independence Day holiday. It was wicked hot, but being right on the river made it easy to jump in and cool down. Our site was a good size, but in a tucked away dead end area of the campground. Part of the area we were in seemed to be a bit of a dumping ground for wood and ash cleaned up from sites. There was also a path down to the river for tubing close by. There is also a great big beach right on the Saco River that was excellent! At night they did wagon rides around the campground which our little ones really enjoyed. Not a bad campground overall, while it bills itself as family friendly it also very much a place to come and party.

**Campground Review: **

Dixon’s Campground is located on US Route 1 in Cape Neddick, Maine, just minutes from the coast and about an hour south of Portland. Dixson’s Campground is a medium sized private campground that has tent only and water& electric tent/RV sites, as well as three yurts. The campground also has full hook up sites for seasonal guest that sit out on a separate area away from the transit campers. I have included a campground map in my pictures for your orientation. Most sites are wooded with lots of shade. There are a few grass sites with more sun near the office. The sites vary from small and close together to large with some privacy. All style sites include a picnic table and fire ring. 

Check-in was easy and the staff was very helpful in providing info and answering questions about the area. A host guides you to your site and assist you in positioning if needed. The campground is gated and you have to“rent” a swipe card to access the gate for$10 (cash) and you get your$10 back when you return the card at checkout. The roads in the campground are a little skinny so if you have a large trailer you may want to consider your site location appropriately or you may get stuck in a curve or have a challenging time backing into your site. We stayed on site 84 on this visit. The site was level and well shaded, but small yet worked with our teardrop trailer. 

The bathroom were new and very unique here (I have never experienced this style before; see my pictures). The bathroom closest to us had two toilet stalls and two shower stalls each with their own direct outside access. Sinks for hygiene were on one end of the bathroom and sinks designated for dish washing only were on the other side of the building. The Bathrooms and showers were very clean. The showers are metered and cost $0.50 per 5 minutes, so don’t forget your quarters! There is also a trash dumpster and recycle bins at each bathroom. 

Firewood and a small camp store was available at the office. There is a full grocery store about 10 minutes away. 

We found good cell phone service with Verizon throughout the property. The campground did have wi-fi and it worked ok at our site. 

The campground also has a heated pool, playground, and outfitter that provides rentals, lessons, and guides. There is no laundry at the campground, but we found one about 10 minutes away. 

Dixon’s sits between two tourist towns so there is plenty to see, lots of great restaurants, and close to beaches. Many restaurants are dog friendly (at least on the patio) and the beaches at this time of year are dog friendly after 6PM. We really enjoyed walking the beaches and checking out the lighthouses in the area. The only down side of being near two tourist towns is that traffic can get thick at some points in the day. 

We really enjoyed our stay at Dixon’s and the surrounding area to the point we have marked this as a definite stop when we make it back to Maine again.

**---------------------------- **

**Product Review: **

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At this campground, I tested the Red Ledge Thunderlight Jacket. This rain jacket from Red Ledge is very handy to have in your gear list. It is available in multiple colors (I got black because I somehow get dirty while camping) and is very lightweight. There is no liner so works great in the summertime heat, but is still loose enough to wear a fleece or something underneath. I also like that there are multiple draw strings to tighten up the fit if desired (waist, cuffs, hood, and headband). The pockets are large, deep, and close with zippers. The jacket also comes with a stuff sack so you can roll it up and easily stow it in your day pack or pocket in your car. We did experience light to heavy rain during periods of our stay and the jacket is highly effective and I had no soak throughs even the heaviest rain. I highly recommend this jacket and it’ll be a part of my normal outdoor gear set.

I have a love– hate relationship with KOA campgrounds. They tend to be overpriced and not consistent. You will find one that has nice sites at a decent price. Then, there are the others which are complete opposite. This KOA is on my good side.  There are lots of site choices, cabins, yurts, and tent sites to choose from.  The location is good as it is about 10-15 minutes far from the town of Freeport(home to L.L. Bean and tons of outlet stores), the pretty coastal town of South Freeport, four craft breweries and a cidery, and Bradbury Mountain State Park. The owners and work campers are very friendly and the super welcoming. Normally I am not concerned how nice people are but they go out of their way to make sure you get all the discounts you can and put you in a site that you prefer. 

We have stayed here a few times and are always impressed how well-cared for the grounds are and how and clean the common areas, bathrooms, and pool are. The grass is always cut, weeds trimmed, fire pits cleaned and there is no trash lying on the ground. There are lots of seasonal sites but they are in the back portion of the park with the transients being in the front. The park has nice super long 50 amp FHU pull-thrus in the front of the park which will fit any length RV and tow vehicle. Some of these sites are “buddy” sites with a shared patio, but are so wide that even if you don’t know your neighbors, it would not be a bother because you are far enough apart. The only downside to these pull thrus is there is no shade. We tend to be there in cooler months so shade is not a problem. However, the rest of the campground has a very park-like feel with over 50 acres there is plenty of room to roam and even a short nature trail through a wooded area. Many sites backup against the woods or are in wooded areas so keep that in mind when making your reservation. We give this park two thumbs up for their dog park which is ten times the size of the average KOA dog park. My lab had plenty of room to run and chase a ball and there were never any other dogs there which was nice. Plus, it was clean and free of dog poop! Normally, there are plenty of activities like s’mores by the fire, crafts, pony rides (yes, they have their own ponies on site), ice cream social, hay rides but this year they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We don’t use those amenities anyway so that wasn’t a problem but can see that would be fun activities for kids. We were in a buddy sites with our friends and liked the shared patio. Since we were in the open area, we were able to get both satellite with our roof-mounted dome and some over-the-air channels from Portland which is about 45 minutes away. All of our hook-ups were in an accessible place but we were also in a long pull thru and could position the RV in the site accordingly. 

Some of the cons for this park are the lack of cable, so-so wifi, and the dusty gravel roads and pot holes. There are a few restrooms buildings scattered around the park which may not be close depending on what site you are in.

Campground Review

Friends and I have started a Memorial Day weekend camping tradition and during a visit here last fall two of us decided this would be our destination. White Lake has large sites, a gorgeous lake with a pair of resident loons, and proximity to the White Mountains National Forest (hiking galore, river, history), the Saco River (tubing, etc.), and Conway/North Conway tourist attractions.

The lake is clear, the swimming area is shallow for quite a distance so you can feel comfortable with kids, and there is a separate boat launch area. If you don’t have your own boats, they offer rentals of kayaks and paddle boats. On the day you leave, you can enjoy the beach, but you will have to park in the registration parking lot. You may want to bring bicycles or plan to walk a lot to get to and from the beach.

There are multiple loops, some offering water views. The water view sites are just that…views. There are some short trails leading to the lake from the sites, but for most of them they are down a little hill. A few of them even offer lean-tos.  Most of them can accommodate smaller RVs as well as tents. There are no hookups, but there is a dump station. Sites are close together. There are also a group camping area and a few family camping sites. Although many of the sites are reservable online, some of them are held back for walk-ins. Our sites are now first-come, first-served, but we reserved them last year. Memorial Day weekend, there were still vacancies, but during my Labor Day visit last year sites were full very early Friday morning. Quirky thing about the sites...the maps and the posts in loop 1 just show the basic number, but in the reservation system, loop one numbers are in the 100s (i.e. site 44 becomes site 144) No pets.

The bathrooms at the beach include flush toilets, but no showers. In the campground there are coin-operated (2 minutes/$0.25), hot and clean showers.  I also noticed that showers are available in the bathroom next to the campground store/office, but they are locked when the office is closed, so I didn’t get a chance to check them out. The bathroom serving our area (we were in A loop, sites 44 & 46) could use some maintenance. The toilets don’t flush well at all; the flushing mechanisms need to be replaced. They need to fix this (it was a problem when the season closed last fall, too) to earn that 5th star)

Our neighbor ran his generator ALL.NIGHT.LONG. the first night, but a ranger spoke with him the next day and he shut it off. He ran it during the 5-8pm time slot after that, but we didn’t have to deal with it overnight again. Glad that they addressed it. Your noise experience will vary depending on your neighbors. There are a lot of families here.

Our sites were large and level, but after we pitched our screen tent we realized there were ground nesting bees all over. They didn’t bother us, but it was disconcerting to see them lining the edge of the screen. A little online research showed us that they nest in the spring. It was late spring, so black flies were our biggest challenge! Plan accordingly.

There are some small stores, a gas station, and a Dunkin Donuts just outside the campground. Full shopping needs can be met in Conway and North Conway. During my two stays here (as an adult; apparently our family camped here when I was a kid, too), we kayaked, swam, hiked to Champney Falls, and another hike in the Ossippee area, and went tubing on the Saco (do this earlier in the year when there’s plenty of water on the river!). Mt Chocura is a great nearby hike.

Product Review: Midland Radio  X-Talker T75VP3 Two-Ray Radio.

As a ranger for the Dyrt, I sometimes  have fun opportunities to try out equipment while camping. For this particular trip, I was camping with several others and we anticipated times when we’d split up for a bit or hike at different paces, so it seemed like a great opportunity to test the Midland Radio X-Talker T75VP3 Two-way radio. I found it more challenging than I anticipated just to decide which radios to test. I had to learn a whole new vocabulary to understand the implications of the different specifications; once I received it, I needed to read the manual to figure out the various menu options and how to make the changes. I have a copy of the manual downloaded to my phone for easy reference!

Here’s why I chose this package:

• 1. I liked that the radios have rechargeable batteries and a charging base, both via USB. If the battery dies and you need a back-up, you can use AAA batteries. They charged quickly and I found the battery life was quite long on stand-by.
• 2. They have long-range capability with high and low power settings, though you need ideal conditions to maximize this.
• 3. I could use it on low power without a license.

4. Weather: you can find the local weather forecast as well as receive weather alerts. I may not have cell service everywhere, but I can generally get the radio feed.

Real life:

It worked well over a mile with a combination of lake and trees. I arrived before others and went off to explore, so I left a radio at camp and asked them to radio me when they arrived. When we went hiking in the White Mountains, part of our group went faster than the others, so to radio allowed us to keep in touch even while traveling separately. These are not the staticky transmissions of my childhood walkie-talkies; messages are transmitted clearly and easily. We didn’t encounter any traffic on the radios, so we didn’t bother with the privacy codes.