Are you planning a camping trip to Amherst Center with your dog? We've got you covered. Finding pet-friendly campgrounds in Massachusetts is easier than ever. The Dyrt can help you find the perfect pet-friendly campsites that are scenic and easy to access.
Discover lake-side camping on beautiful 70-acre Lake Dean. Choices range from secluded tenting to big-rig friendly full-hookup sites, complete with an unmatched view of the lake and a docking space. Our Rentals include Rustic Cabins (for that back-to-nature experience), to Premium Cabins (equipped with the comforts of home – including a full kitchen, bathroom, heat/air conditioning, electric fireplace, and flat screen TV with cable) and RV Rentals, you’re sure to find a rental that’s perfect for your family! Bring your own boat or rent one of ours (kayaks, canoes, rowboats, paddleboats and paddleboards) for a relaxing cruise around the lake. Enjoy swimming at our main beach. Or for fishing enthusiasts of all ages, cast away to catch a large-mouth bass, pickerel, perch, or sunfish. We bring families and the outdoors together. You don’t need to travel far to experience being away!
$65 - $105 / night
NATURAL FEATURES Otter River State Forest was the first area acquired by the State Forest Commission in 1915 and also the first campground in the Massachusetts State Park system. Some of the forest area was cleared in the nineteenth century for small farms. After the state acquired the land, it was reforested with groves of pines which were planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. The forest of oak and hickory, northern hardwood and pines is home to numerous wild flowers and shrubs, deer, chipmunks and many species of birds. RECREATION Otter River State Forest is a popular camping and day-use facility in a beautiful area of north central Massachusetts. Its developed facilities are centered on Beaman Pond and include ball field, basketball court, volleyball court and picnic areas. Many recreation opportunities are available and include a fishing, hiking, hunting, mountain biking, and picnicking. Use the park's hiking trails or try mountain biking on the 9000 acres of the adjacent Birch Hill Wildlife Management Area. FACILITIES Otter River offers 73 campsites, three group sites, and four yurts. Comfort stations are located throughout the campground and offer hot showers and flush toilets. One comfort station is accessible, shown on the map. Each campsite is equipped with a picnic table and a fire ring. Yurts are canvas sided, cabin-like structures that can accommodate 4 to 6 people. Yurts offer bunk beds, tables with benches, and access to water and electricity. All of the yurts are accessible. (Linens and eating utensils are not provided.) NOTE: Electrical service is not sufficiently reliable for use with medical equipment. Pets are prohibited from yurts and yurt sites.
$17 - $54 / night
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invites you to come relax at Tully Lake. There are a variety of outdoor recreation activities for you and you family. Although the dam was built primarily to reduce flood damages on the Millers and Connecticut Rivers, the 1,300-acre reservoir area provides a place for you to get away from it all and connect with nature.
Tully Lake offers many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Activities in and around the lake include mountain biking, camping, disc golf, hiking, picnicking, boating, and fishing and hunting in the appropriate seasons.
The Tully Lake Pavilion is located in the recreation area and offers picnic tables and grills. Maximum group size is 50 people with parking for 25 passenger vehicles at the upper gravel lot. The recreation area has a small playground for young children, volleyball court, and a horseshoe pit. Bathrooms are provided, but there is no running water.
The 1,262-acre Tully Lake property is managed to sustain a healthy ecosystem for future generations. The thriving biodiversity of the Tully River Valley and the interconnections of our forests, wetlands, waters, and wildlife are valued and managed for the long term. Tully Lake is home to a wide variety of wildlife, from tiny insects and song birds, to large mammals such as deer and moose. Fifty-five percent of the reservoir area is wetlands, providing habitat for fish, waterfowl, song birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals such as beaver, mink and otter. The rest of the property provides habitat for upland species such as deer, coyote, fisher, owl, fox, raccoon, skunk, porcupine, rabbit, and squirrel. The forest within Tully Dam's reservoir area is composed primarily of white pine, providing habitat for owls and woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks, and white-tailed deer.
When visiting Tully Lake there are several opportunities for visitors to explore in the surrounding area. At the north end of the lake there is a tent only campground run by the Trustees of the Reservations which provides a perfect launching point to enjoy the outdoor attractions nearby. Ten miles away is the Birch Hill Dam, another Army Corps project that provides miles of trails and river to explore. The Quabbin Reservoir is also within a short ten mile drive of Tully Lake and serves the city of Boston as its water supply. The Quabbin is a unique area; there were four towns flooded to create it, and it has some of the most interesting blends of human and natural history in the region.
Please review the cancellation and refund policy at the bottom of the webpage. In general, we will require at least two weeks prior to your reservation to consider a request.
$40 / night
This recreation area is part of Birch Hill Dam
$47 - $70 / night
Scout
Quiet (besides occasional plane overhead) lots of trees, spacious sites, clean and modern bathrooms and showers, nice friendly helpful staff.
Guide
Although sites are squeezed in, it is a nice family campground. However the site I had was steep grade from steps to picnic table. Flat ground area for camper was very narrow.Tricky footing for older folks like my wife and I. Particularly since my wife uses a cane.
Scout
Site 47 pull thru. Nice clean campground ! No neighbors left and right. Staff very nice. Very noisy tho in sites by the river due to Rte 10. We enjoyed the campground. Small and cozy. Nice size sites
Scout
I just got here. Road was quite good. I believe I have the last of 4 sites. Nice camp fire area.
Scout
No camping signs. Private property
Scout
We booked last minute (2 hours before we arrived) and were met with the friendliest staff ready to help us at 7:30PM and get us checked in. Perfect spot if you don’t mind a 40 minute ride over to The Big E fair which is what brought us out to this part of MA. The restaurant was so nice, and to my surprise more than accommodating as I have celiac, they really went above and beyond. We will definitely be back next summer for a longer stay.
Scout
Paid in full for a week in July, we stay here every year. Learned in May that I had cancer and would need surgery and weekly chemo until the end of September. Contacted Forest Lake Campground in May to cancel reservation, discussed options and was told we could carry our week over for later. Just received the all clear from my Dr today. Called to make reservations and was told they would not honor our already paid week. They said we would not get our money back either. Won’t stay here again as they are not people of their word.
Guide
This campground has a lot of amenities for what you pay. You can get a site with just water, or electric and water. Can do RV or tent. Warm showers and playground for kids with communal areas. Quiet and dark both nights and the staff is very friendly, the campground is in the family. Will definitely stay here again!
ScoutGreat spot for quiet desolate camping. Several spots to choose from.
Ranger
Only the first section of the campground was open due to flooding. As a result, there were puddles everywhere.
Campsites are listed as disbursed but there are only 7 trees to separate 9 camp sites. The campsites are all next to the road and have fire circles.
There is a single pit toilet at the end of the camping area. No garbage service, no water, no cell service. Basically a camp site where you can share a fire with the neighbors.
Scout
Very peaceful! Little hidden gem! We loved our weekend away
Scout
Had a pleasant stay at Woodford State Park. Sites near T38 have a great elevated view of the reservoir. Also a nice loop trail for those looking to do a little bit of hiking.
GuideLarge, well organized camping spots along the road. The spot I chose had a beautifully built fire pit. It was a little muddy from rain.
Traveler
Dyrt says $17-$54 went through all the hoops to book one for tonight said $17 per night went to check out expecting a few extra fees, $58.50.....that's over the max advertised....DYRT YOU NEED TO GO THROUGH AND DELETE BAD ENTRIES. YOU ARE A DISSAPOINTMENT.
Traveler
First off no same day reservations or walk ups allowed, second it yells you that the fee is $17.50 per site, I expected a little added extra fee for booking etc.... check out was $58.50 per night. I would have if they weren't so manipulative about it.
Traveler
The best activities for children and adults, great amenities, clean restrooms, Awesome pool thanks to ASHTON, Thanks so much.
Traveler
We had our very first camping experience with our new camper at this campground and it was everything we could have imagined and more. It’s a beautiful campground, the gentleman and his family who own it are sooooo nice and they helped us a lot when it came to learning how to properly use our camper. All the fellow campers that we met were extremely nice. It’s a quiet campground, located right on a river. My children spent hours in it playing and fishing. Looking forward to returning.
Scout
This was our families first time staying at Brialee Campground. The cabin was absolutely beautiful and clean. The staff were friendly and helpful. The activities were great and kept my grand children busy. Swimming and the lake were fun. I cannot say enough wonderful things. We had such a great time I booked my reservations for Next July 2025 before I left.
A special thank you to Sherri for the personal tour and showing us the ropes! She is the best.
The D'Avanzo Family
Ranger
We got a sit right on the river, so that adds to this. But this place is great, a river, hiking trails, no phone signal, what else could yoy ask for? Oh yeah clean bathrooms, and guess what, they have those too!
But honestly this place is great, the staff is the most friendly DCR staff I've met, the buildings are well kept, the sites a large! I'd gladly go back, and I am!
TravelerWe rented a rustic campsite for a long weekend and it was way better than expected. The staff was helpful, the site was pretty and there are so many places to hike and the best of the Berkshires so close by. There are only two showers in each gendered bathroom, but there are so many RVs here it never was an issue. The pool is being renovated so it is currently closed.
Traveler
This was our first time visiting and my entire family enjoyed themselves so much, that we've already reserved a site for a few weeks from now. Arts and crafts, tractor rides, and of course the tubing down the river. Lots of built in entertainment for the kids! The grounds were clean, the playground was nice, and the people were all friendly. We did a late checkout for $5 extra, but the noon checkout and two dump stations would make leaving on time a non-issue as well.
Of note: We camped with friends, who were given a spot next to a large group of people (weekend prior to 4th of July is to be expected). The group were very polite and abided by quiet hours, but they were having fun and a bit loud for my buddy's 2 month of baby. They requested to move sites, and the management was super accommodating and apologetic. Helped him move his site and threw in some firewood for the troubles.
Guide
We had an excellent experience at this camp ground. The Staff and Rangers were polite and welcoming. We were able to see some boat races and played a round of disc golf on property. Once the boat races finished each day the camp was very quiet and peaceful. Had a great weekend
Guide
We had a nice weekend at Peppermint Park. This was our 2nd visit with a camper (2022 & 2024) and stayed about 20 years ago in tents.
It's family and dog friendly, has a pool, hot tub, newer playground with a sandbox, camp store with large lodge attached, horseshoe, volleyball and other outdoor game areas. There were several activities planned for father's day weekend including a BBQ food truck, BINGO, corn hole, horseshoes, and kids crafts. There is also wifi, but the signal is not great. It did save me on data usage though so I appreciated it.
There is a large number of seasonal's and everyone we interacted with was very friendly. My 11 year old granddaughter quickly made friends with some of the seasonal children. We attended BINGO, which was packed, and it was clear they are a friendly group. The grounds, pool, buildings and bathroom are all well maintained.
Our site, 111, was a nice flat grassy site with water and 20amp electric. We were sunny in the morning and got nice shade starting late in the morning. We had season sites all around us with only a few of them occupied so it was pretty quiet in our section. Sites are a bit closer together than we prefer, but do have trees and brush in between.
We were in between 2 bathroom buildings. One of them having only 1 shower, 1 toilet and sink in each side and the other had 1 shower, and 2 toilets on each side. I believe there is larger bathrooms with more showers in the lodge but we did not check them out.
Our only negative is the wood for sale is on the greener side so it takes a bit to get it going. We had the same issue 2 years ago and ended up buying lighter fluid from the store then. We did not have any with us this trip and did not want to pay camp store prices so we used sticks from the area and some match light charcoal to get it going well.
We did not venture outside of the campground this trip, but do know there are some nice ponds/lakes close by and hiking trails.
Overall it's a nice friendly campground that we will continue to visit.
TravelerCame for the boat races, very relaxing weekend
Traveler
I loved my stay here! I just stayed 1 night passing through, the drive to the campground was gorgeous. checking in was super easy. Finding my site and the bathroom was a breeze. THE BATHROOM was the best I’ve seen camping very clean and updated and honestly gorgeous. Everyone else there was super nice and quiet. Quiet hours start at 10 but it was silent after about 9 which was so amazing. I would definitely stay again!
Scout
I've stayed at Clarksburg State Park with my young son for a few years in a row and have always been consistently impressed with how clean and peaceful it is. Maybe we've just gotten lucky, but each time we've stayed, no matter how busy the campground is, it's quiet, especially at night. The park and the campground feel quite secluded for the location - very close to North Adams and other towns in that part of the Berkshires. The pond and the hiking trail around it are beautiful. We'll definitely return! My only complaint is that Massachusetts charges out-of-state residents 3x as much to camp.
GuideThis is a great campground located off of highway 2 in western Mass. I stayed in site 51 and luckily the campground was mostly empty(it was on a Thursday though and was supposed to be full for the weekend.) Each campsite has a bear box and fire ring, there is easy access to hiking trails and flush-toilet bathrooms with sinks are located throughout. There is only one dumpster though and it’s a walk to get to – store your trash in your car or drive it each night, or enjoy the walk.
The campsites are very close together without much brush for privacy, so you should expect to see your neighbors up close and personal. Some of the sites are on Cold River(which is more like a creek). The bugs were awful, especially the gnats and I did see a large tick on my fire grill, so be prepared. The best sites are on the lower loop around the water. Avoid any site next to the bathroom as the lights stay on all night and will shine directly into your tent. 49 looked really nice and seemed dark. The hike-in sites were also close together, 22 is the most private. There are baskets with wheels provided.
The rangers are friendly and sell firewood in case you need any. You’ll need to check in before going to the campsite, they’ll give you a map and they take good care of the sites. Would definitely camp here again.
Camping near Amherst Center, Massachusetts, offers a mix of beautiful scenery and fun activities for everyone. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or a family-friendly adventure, there are several campgrounds to choose from.
Camping near Amherst, MA, has something for everyone, from families to solo adventurers. Just remember to plan ahead and enjoy the great outdoors!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Amherst Center, MA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Amherst Center, MA is Northampton / Springfield KOA with a 4.2-star rating from 12 reviews.
What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near Amherst Center, MA?
TheDyrt.com has all 121 dog-friendly camping locations near Amherst Center, MA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
