Best Glamping near West Gardiner, ME

Great campground. Bigger than we expected. Our site looked right over the water. Direct access to Maine's rocky shore. Everything you need to be comfortable including hot showers and bathrooms cleaned three times a day. A basic rec room, playground, beautiful gardens, clean sites. Rvs are so close together and some seasonal snobs, but also tent sites some drive up and some walk to more private/dispersed. Small store friendly staff. Some sites have a wooden deck for picnic area overlooking water. Laundry, wifi, made it an easy week. We had rain and wind a couple nights, tarp went over tent as not permitted in trees. Just fine. We will definitely be coming back.

We discovered this campsite in 2020 and just returned from our third year in a row camping here with 2 kids. We have only tented, but hope to bring a small camper next year. There is a small arcade, store, and 24/7 laundry. Bathrooms/showers are clean and not very busy as most guests are in RVs. Activities started up again this year, with events such as kids’ crafts, a kids vs adults water gun fight, cornhole competition, and a DJ for an evening of dancing - just on the weekend we were there. We love the proximity to the lake with easy access for kayaking and swimming. New ownership this year resulted in some updates, as well as the addition of glamping tents near the beach. The sites are a decent size and the campground is fairly quiet at night.

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.

I spent three days at this campground in July of this year during COVID. The check in staff was great and wore masks. The bathroom and grounds staff did not wear masks, even when in the bathroom with other people in there, so that was pretty disappointing. I stayed mostly on my site except to try kayaking a few times. The water was very rough because of large boat traffic, but it was still lovely. Not a lot of people on the grounds because of COVID restrictions at the time, but the campers that were there were respectful. No electricity or running water at the site. Site was a little tight for two vehicles and a tent. I camped with another adult, so no feedback about how family friendly the rest of the campground is, but all in all, I'd camp there again!