Best Glamping near Gloucester, MA

This is an extremely large campground.  It seems that most of them on the coast of Maine are.  We didn't get a very good sight, but the person who answered the phone basically told us that when we called and it was all they had, so I can't say too much about that either (#17).  The sight was small and between the two driveways.  All of the sights seem to have rocky ground, so I recommend a sleep pad and a footprint for your tent so you don't rip the bottom.  

Now, on to the other stuff.  There is a small playground that is weathered but in decent shape.  The pool is lovely and meticulously kept.  The grounds, bathrooms and showers are spotless.  It's 50 cents for 5 minutes to take a shower (unheard of) with hot water.  There is even hot water to wash your dishes next to the bathrooms.

They sell ice, wood ($7) and many "I forgots" in the store (bacon, milk, etc...).  They give you a security card to get into the grounds ($10 deposit).  The campground was SUPER quiet and quiet hours go to 8am (thank you)!  Only an RV about to leave made a ton of noise at 7.

I would go there again.  It was a safe place close to so many things.  The beach and everything else is VERY close but not so close as to be annoying.... 5 minutes at most.

Campground review: Camping at Boston Harbor Islands requires some planning, but you get the benefit of a remote island with minimal company. Unless you book one of the 12 yurts on Peddocks island, the camping is rustic; you’ll need to bring everything, including water. Reservations open 6 months in advance and sites fill quickly, so plan ahead if you’re counting on a particulate day. I only visited the campsites on Peddocks Island, so I can’t speak to the ones on Lovell, Grape, and Bumpkin. 

Getting there: Unless you have your own boat(check regulations on the website; you’ll need to anchor offshore overnight), you’ll want to catch a ride on the ferries to the Boston Harbor Islands. Figuring out the schedule is the trickiest part, not least because they don’t make the inter-island ferry schedule as readily accessible. Here’s the scoop: 

1. Check the ferry schedule. Figure out which departure makes the most sense for you. You may choose to leave from Long Wharf, near the Aquarium T stop on the Blue line, or from Hingham, with overnight parking available. For Bumpkin and Grape Islands, you’ll want to leave from Hingham; Peddocks and Lovells are available from either departure point
2. Buy your ticket online in advance. Some town libraries have passes offering 2-for-1 ferry rides, so if you’re a MA resident in the greater Boston area, it’s worth checking that out first. Otherwise, you’ll be looking at an extra$20 for the ferry, but that fee covers your round trip as well as the use of the interisland ferries so you can explore other islands. If you’re traveling as a family, look at the family pack for another discount. You can show the ticket on your phone when you board. 
3. Pack as lightly as possible and plan to carry or wheel it to your site. If you have a folding wagon, you may appreciate having it to carry items on and off the ferry and to your site on the island. There may or may not be carts available on the island. Peddocks has running water available, but otherwise you’ll need to bring gallon of water/person. If you want to grill, bring your own charcoal; otherwise bring a stove or bring food that doesn’t need to be cooked. You may scavenge wood to build fires below the high tide line only. No alcohol and no pets. 

The yurts on Peddocks are great, providing shelter from the elements, bunks with mattresses, electricity, a ceiling fan, table with benches, and a grill. There are 6 yurts up a small hill, with a composting toilet and water from a tap nearby. The 6 tent sites are also in this area. An additional 6 yurt sites are below the hill and in the woods, so it’s a slightly longer walk to the toilet. at the top of another hill there is an open, grassy area, also with a composting toilet, that provides group campsited.

While you’re out on the islands, take time to explore one of the others…look for sea glass on Spectacle Island and climb the hill for a view of the Boston skyline, explore the old forts and visitors centers, earn a Junior Ranger badge from the National Park Service, fly a kite, or go for a swim or kayak. In mid-August we collected handfuls of blackberries as we explored Peddocks. 

Ranger Product Review: Banner& Oak Traveler Shirt 

As a Ranger with the Dyrt, I sometimes get to test items; in this case I ordered the Banner& Oak Traveler long-sleeve t-shirt  in indigo. It’s long sleeved and super soft, but the first time I went to put it on, I realized the Banner& Oak tag along the hemline was sewn through both the front and back, so I couldn’t put t on until I removed the tag. I didn’t have scissors with me, so it was tough to get it off and ultimately I ended up with a hole in both the front and back. I’ve worn this on strolls through the woods when the weather was nice, but cool and on the foggy morning ferry ride to the island. The sleeves are not constricting and when I pushed them up to my elbows, they stayed in place while I hiked. I will say that it is a unisex t-shirt and the sleeves and body of the shirt tend to run long. I like that, but if you're petite, it may be annoying.

My first time experiencing a park in the New Hampshire Park system. We went down with a group. Pawtuckaway State Park offers a variety of landscapes, with something to do and see for everyone. The park includes a large family beach on the lake. There are many opportunities for hiking, with trails leading to many special points of interest, including a mountaintop fire tower; an extensive marsh where beavers, deer, and great blue herons may be seen.

The park lines the shore of beautiful Pawtuckaway Lake.  The 192 sites are wooded and many provide views of the lake.  Each campsite has an open fire ring, picnic table, flat areas for a tent, and a parking space. The bathhouses are equipped with running water, flush toilets, and 24 hour showers.  There are no hook-ups at any of the campsites. The park also has a camp store where canoe and kayaks are available, as well as a plublic canoe and kayak launch. Five cabins are available; each sleeps six people, has electricity, and includes a fire ring and picnic table. Pets are not allowed in the campground or beach area of the park.

A little tip about GPS: if you’re using Apple Maps, it will likely take you to a turn that is not the campground entrance, there’s even a hand-written sign on someone’s lawn that has directions to the entrance (seems to happen frequently, I guess). We chose this campground because we got a booking discount on the Dyrt app.

Pros: Friendly staff, clean bathrooms, clean grounds, gated campground with card key access in/out of the grounds, 2 pools (closed for the season during our stay), pavilion, activities/entertainment, fairly quiet during quiet hours, laundromat, playground, dog park, boating pond, Horse shoe & Basketball court.

Cons: No hot water for showers, no separation between some tent sites, strong sewer smell in woman’s restroom & on some campsites, late check-in (7:45 p.m.) was a bit tricky — an envelope with a key card and map were placed in a mailbox for us due to store/office closing @ 6 but no mention of this in the confirmation email & long wait time on hold to find out site # (not included in confirmation email). I believe they use a 3rd party company for reservations. You do not get a choice during the online booking to choose the campsite to reserve & the site # is not included in the confirmation email. The mailbox that had our envelope in it was difficult to locate & we may have not found it if it weren’t for a very kind camper that showed us when she saw us looking around confused at the entrance.

So this is a pro & a con, I will try to start with the negative & end with the positive- Our site was in a field that was near the bathrooms. We were on S1, near a septic pipe & there was a severely nauseating, strong smell of sewage coming from it; we went to the front desk the next day & asked to move to S5, as we were the only ones on any of the 6 tent field sites. They were completely fine with it & apologized saying that they recently had someone there to fix the septic concern. We dragged our things down by noon. Within the hr, there was a large canopy tent set up right in between us & the bathrooms that we were now much closer to & there was a band setting up for their afternoon show. The live band was cool but we had golf carts & parked vehicles pretty much surrounding us & some right on our campsite, it was a little awkward. Then around 8, there was a gentleman that started setting up for a comedy show that they would be doing that night. A staff member came to our site and let us know that there is an 18+ comedy show but there was a children’s movie being played on a big screen on the other side of the campground. This was a nice alternative, however it left us with 2 choices: leave our site (with a fire we just started) for a couple hrs & have strangers & golf carts directly on our campsite again or stay on our site, watch the stand up comedy show & hope our 9 yr old won’t get the jokes. We chose to stay. So, here’s the main positive about the events — the band was good & the stand up comedy was awesome. For the most part, the comedians kept it fairly clean & our 9 yr old did not get any of the jokes that were a little sassy. All 3 comedians were clearly aware that there was a child in the audience & one specific comedian (Rob Steen) said right from the get-go that he was going to keep it clean for his bit & use innuendos that would go right over his head. There’s a high likelihood that we wouldn’t have went to see the comedians if it were held at the pavilion because of it being an adult show so we were kind of glad everything unfolded like that because they were really fantastic. We might return to the campground again but hopefully would get the choice of picking a more secluded campsite next time.