Best Tent Camping near Lowell, MA

Tully Lake Campground is located in Royalston, MA, which is a northern part of Central Massachusetts, near the New Hampshire border. It is a State managed campground, and reservations must be made through Massachusetts Trustees of Reservations. There are some prime camp sites with direct access to the lake, but suggest you be prepared to call early in the morning of the first day State Campground reservations can be made, if you want one of these!

This is a "Carry In" campground. You park at the entrance, register with Ranger. Large wooden wheelbarrows are provided to bring your gear to your camp site. (This means no noise or disturbances from cars entering your camp sites.) There are individual sites, and 2 group sites, if you are camping with a group. Canoes are available to rent to explore Tully Lake. Most parts of the lake are suitable for swimming, and some camp sites offer direct entry into the lake for swimming, canoeing, or kayaking. If you'd like to hike with children, there is an easy hike close to the entrance, along Doane's Falls, a series of 5 waterfalls along an ascending path through a wooded area. The views are beautiful, and it's not unusual to spot professional nature photographers at various points along the waterfalls. Bring your cameras or smart phones to capture some of these breathtaking views! And of course there are longer, more challenging trails for more experienced hikers. There are family oriented programs offered, and dogs are allowed, on leash only. Cell service is spotty to non-existent for some providers within the campground. But a short walk or drive away from the campground you can get connected again.

The bathrooms are located near the entrance to the Park, and include flush toilets as well as coin operated, hot showers, open 24/7. There are sinks beside the building, where campers are asked to wash their dishes, rather than at the camp site. A fire ring and picnic table are provided at each camp site. If you've forgotten any gear or need groceries, there's a Walmart just a 15 minute drive away, open until 12 midnight.

The staff are quite friendly, helpful and informative. If you enjoy "old fashioned" family tent camping, without the noise and presence of cars and RV's near your camp site, (or cell phones!) this is the place for you. Enjoy!

We stayed at Harold Parker State Forest Campground during Memorial Day Weekend. Reservation through Reserve America was a breeze. Check in till 9:00 pm was convenient. Checkout by 11:00 am but we paid for an additional night to be able to leave at night the day we checked out. Totally worth it!

Nice large campsites. The sites’ privacy is very diverse. You could be tucked away from everyone or closer together depending on the site you choose but they are all pretty decent in size. All sites have water which is a plus. All have a fire pit/box, charcoal bbq and a picnic table. Most of them are drive in. 

Quiet hours from 10 am to 7 am. No alcohol allowed (although I didn’t see an actual enforcement of this rule and guess it’ll happen only if people act out). Rangers are constantly patrolling. Felt pretty safe at night. You can’t bring wood. Bundles are $5 each and it burns really well. 

Lots of biking/hiking/walking trails, a nice small pond/beach, boat access, a few basketball courts, a volleyball court and a common huge fire pit added to the fun. A ranger ran a program to teach about the area fauna which was pretty interesting for kids and adults alike. 

Bathrooms were fairly clean although small and showers were free! Some sites were right in front of a lovely pond and there were many group sites available as well. 

The location is pretty good. Salem, Andover, Boston Are accesible while staying here. Close proximity to Richardson Ice Cream which you CANT miss if you decide to stay.  They have cheap but amazing ice cream, mini golf and battling cages which was entertaining for my whole crew. 

It rained a lot during one night of our stay and the site (301) did not flooded at all. All sites seemed in pretty good shape the morning after as well. 

Beautiful and will recommend to families with small kids, groups and couples too.

Five friends and I decided to compete in Questival, which came to Boston for May 11-12, 2018. There aren't many campgrounds open in Massachusetts this early in the season, but Harold Parker State Forest was! I snagged a group campsite since we'd have four tents. We had to set up after dark, so we wound up congregating in one corner of the group site. When we woke up we could see just how HUGE the group site was! We had 4 two-person tents; you could easily fit 3x that number of tents. PLENTY of flat ground to set up on, and we were far enough back from the road that we never heard or saw other campers arriving, even though we know most other Questival competitors stayed at this campground. It was about a 5 minute walk to the bathrooms and showers, and potable water was available right on the site. Even though it was early in the season and not very leafy, we could only occasionally see our neighbors' headlamps. There were 4 or 5 fire pits, 5 large picnic tables, and 3 driveways that could fit two cars each. Great value for the cost! We were pleased with the privacy, space, cleanliness, and amenities.

We stayed here for a night in mid October, as they were getting ready to close for the season, so more than half of the campground was closed off. But the part that we did see was awesome. Each site was huge, separated from its neighbor, private, mostly flat, and beautiful. No hookups in the campground, and sites are hit or miss with tree coverage, some sites may have enough opening for solar or starlink, but I wouldn’t count on it. 

There are hiking trails throughout the campground, but our dog got covered in ticks so watch for that. There are water spigots throughout the campground and a dump station. Showers were free and nice and clean, and you can control the temperature and let the water run (no button to push). 

The dump truck driver was there picking up garbage and I asked him about recycling and he said they have their own transfer station where the waste is sorted, so all recycling and garbage goes into the dumpster. 

We paid $23 for a site because it was primitive season, but I think normally it’s $25. No other taxes or fees were charged. There’s a little store in the ranger office with basic supplies and gifts, ice cream, fire starters, ice, etc. There’s also a little free library exchange behind the office. And to top it off, we had cell service here. Great stay, highly recommend! Beware of ticks!

Stayed for a weekend (1 night). Easy access to a bathroom (which was very clean). Quiet neighbors, everyone around us observed the quiet hours (10p-7a) and even during the day no one was super loud. Very respectful drivers made biking feel fun and safe for kids. Campers beach was lovely. Sure the water was a little weedy, but we didn’t mind. The lake is a great spot for kayaking (although it is a little bit of a walk from the parking lot with a heavy boat) and the sunset on the lake definitely didn’t disappoint. Nice partially shaded and level site with good access for backing in our small trailer. Playground, camp store, convenient check-in at office, firewood available for $6, lots of trails and fairly level for easy biking. State park camping (no hookups) but there’s a dump station near the exit and water spigots dispersed around the campsites. Absolutely would go again.

First of all, the location is a little quirky and I think I only arrived once without a wrong turn! Watch the GPS carefully. That said, it’s very close to Hampton Beach and you can easily drive or bike over. The campground is parallel to US1, so there is some road traffic noise. Some of the tent sites overlook the marsh. The tent sites are definitely tighter than trailer sites. Some sites back up to each other and it takes a moment to understand where one ends and the next begins. 

I was here early in the season and placed in a seasonal site with water/electric. Site was level. Neighbors were friendly. The bathroom was a short walk away and spotless. I did notice that in the tent areas, the main bathrooms are supplemented with portable toilets. Sites are mostly wooded, which will offer nice relief from the heat. It's a nice base for exploring the area.

There’s a gated entry and turtle-speed limit that they take seriously. The pool was not yet open. There’s a small store onsite for ice and essentials. All the big box stores and a number of restaurants are nearby. For a change of pace from seafood, I picked up Shane's Texas Pit BBQ and brought it back to my site. 

You may request a reservation online, but you have to confirm and pay for it via the phone. You’ll need to arrive before 9pm to check in. Bring $10 for a cash deposit on the gate card. Only 1 vehicle and 1 camping unit (tent or trailer) allowed on a site.

Downside: They charge for showers, the amount and duration is unclear and the duration varies depending on which shower you choose! Given the rates they charge, this seems petty.

My site (number 1) was good for not being on top of my neighbor but it was next to the tanger station. Some sites are pretty out in the open, close to the campsite road so they feel less like the woods. I would say the best site that feels most like you are in the woods and have the most space is 28. I would book there. The pond is kind of deceiving. There are 2 roped off spots where you can swim and those spots are small and not deep.  You cannot have floats. So its better for a quick dip than a hang out. Bathrooms are fine. Could use one more as its a hike in the morning when you really have to go(!) depending on your site. One thing with my site (1), it was listed as a shaded site but it absolutely was not a shade site. During mid day there is no shade at all. In the morning, as the sun rose (when I took the pics) there was some shade but thats because the sun was still rising. It was big enough to fit a 10 and 12 person tent with a canopy. Not all sites are that big but this one worked. Verizon service was limited to none depending on location, ATT was good

*CAMPGROUND REVIEW*

This campground is definitely a dazzler and I was fortunate to visit on a quieter weekend. I was able to enjoy an especially picturesque sunset over the lake and I would definitely visit this spot again, especially with how accessible the campground is. There is a nice stretch of sandy beach at the campground as well as canoes and kayaks for rent. The convenience store at the campground had essentially everything you would need for a good camping trip. Definitely do your research on the different site numbers because some sites are much more private and scenic than others. Each site is equipped with a picnic table and fire pit as an added bonus.

Pros: 

-Within a short driving distance from the Boston area 

-Lakefront sites available 

-Canoe and kayak rentals available 

-Well stocked convenience store 

-Reasonable cell reception

Cons: 

 -Can get busy during peak camping times 

 -Some sites have a lack of privacy

*PRODUCT REVIEW*

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time. During this trip, I took out a pair of Red Ledge Rain Pants. While it didn’t rain during my camping stay (great from a camper perspective, not so great from a reviewer perspective), I was able to try out the general fit of the pants. They have a nice stretch fit to them and a certainly one of the more stylish options as far as rain pants go. As is true for most waterproof gear, they run on the warmer side and don’t have a ton of ventilation so they may not be the best choice for hotter weather. Although I didn’t get to test out the pants in a camping setting, I did wear them a few days ago while making the 1.5 km evacuation route trek from my apartment to the flood shelter during one of the biggest typhoons to make landfall in Japan. After about 25-30 mins of walking in record breaking-ly heavy rain, the pants started to saturate around the knees and the upper thigh area started to get a bit soggy. That being said, this is probably the most extreme possible test setting and they did hold up reasonably well. Due to the aforementioned, I would recommend using these pants as a waterproof option when skiing/snowboarding in warmer weather where you still want a snow barrier but may not necessarily need the insulative warmth offered by actual snow pants.

Pros: 

-Stylish look 

 -Stretch fit 

 -Waterproof 

 Cons: 

 -Trap heat 

 -Not typhoon proof