Best Tent Camping near Salem, MA

I stayed one night here to experience Salem during Halloween at a tent site. Positives are access to Salem, Uber and Lyft are available though scarcer as the night gets later (10:30 pm), it is also on the trolley line if you need transportation during their business hours, great view for sunrise. Negatives are there is no privacy at the sites, everything is very open, fires must be off the ground, and the bathrooms are old and may not be stocked.

This is a city park with a beach and a campground. This is a no frills campground, though there is a playground and beach. It’s less than 2 miles from Salem and on the trolley line.

we have tent camped here 4 Times. its so clean and beautiful

I haven’t been tent camping in years but this past weekend I stayed while attending the Levitate festival. I was very comfortable, the bathhouses were clean. Can’t wait to go back!

Facilities are very clean. The staff are great. We book a site every year. The tent sites are large and well maintained.

Nice RV campground with alot of seasonal residents. Plenty of tent sites. On site general store with grill. Fishing and swimming on property along with a club house.

Overall, a well maintained campground with clean bathrooms and clean clear pond to swim in. Tent sites were good sized and not right on top of other people.

My daughter and I were traveling from Buffalo NY to Maine and I got too tired to drive. we tent camp. the owners were very nice and allowed us to tent, and set up at night, and it was a very nice stay, but it’s definitely not very private and setup for campers. my daughter loved the pool.

Clean facilities, super quick access to the beach, friendly staff, sites are pretty close together with little separation between each other. RV & tent sites available. Our family loves both the ocean & camping so it is a win-win!

Need to make reservations before 2pm!! This campground is nice and calm with a lot of space and bathrooms. There are water hookups at tent sites. Didn’t have any issues, just it is a little expensive for someone from out of state. We paid $54 because we are from Ohio

I was so impressed by how well the grounds were kept and how clean the bathrooms were. The tent sites were large which was great as we had two tents at ours. The park is very dog friendly for camping as well as hiking. The trails were very well marked and really conveniently close by to the campsites.

Will definitely be returning!

I've used it twice just as a stopover between the coast and a vacation in VT, both times coming in dusk and leaving after dawn, using a tent site to van camp. Chosen because I travel with dogs. Didn't check out facilities other than bathrooms (clean and convenient). LIke it very much for the kind of use I need.

I would probably nitpick stay at this park again. The site we had paid for was not given to us. The shower in the bathroom did not provide hot/warm water until the end of my shower, and then the water would not turn off. Also, the lady camping beside us was tent camping, and she literally smoked weed the whole time she was there. We have children, and while she was there, you couldn’t do anything outside without smelling it. Overall, not the best campground.

This campground is beautiful, the tent sites are set up right on the water. Other than loosing power twice due to mother nature its been a pretty good stay. They have a special beach for your dog if you're a puppy owner like me this is one of the only campgrounds that is very pet friendly. They also have free DVD rentals for those rainy days and some games up by the office if you have kids its also a wonderful campground.

This campground offers basic campsites, with electric available on RV sites. Many of the RV sites are located in the main parking lot; others are in a field just to the right of the entrance. Tent sites tend to be grassy, but not all offer parking on site, so choose carefully. They do not permit tents on RV sites and vice versa. None of the sites offer much privacy. You can explore the beach, launch a boat (paddle or motor), catch a sunrise, or explore the remnants of Fort Pickering. There's a trail around the park with markers, but they're not well maintained. Stay here if you want to be near the water or explore the region. FYI - the dump station is not on site; ask at the office about arrangements for this.

I'm often asked about the best place to camp when visiting Boston and options are limited close to the city. This is one of two campgrounds located <25 miles from Boston with good commute options into the city. If you choose to drive, beware that traffic is a nightmare and parking expensive, but if you have a group that may price out to be less expensive than the commuter rail. The commuter rail is 2 miles from the campground and during peak season a shuttle runs between the campground and Salem.There's a high speed catamaran that runs to and from Boston (though stopped due to CoviD-19 in 2020), but it's expensive. The MBTA offers a special weekend commuter rail pass with their online app. 

Salem offers plenty of sightseeing options, including the National Park Service Salem Maritime NHS, the House of 7 Gables, Peabody Essex Museum, and the Salem Witch Museum. Farther afield, the seacoast towns are worth exploring and you can catch a whale watch out of Gloucester.

Not far from Boston, making this a nice escape but also a pretty crowded day use park and campground. Excellent hiking, beach, wildlife-filled wetlands, girding, geology, forests, and water to enjoy. Pretty serious trail up and around some mountains, to a fire tower, ponds. There are at least three campground areas, one of which is on an island and has tent sites along the water. If possible, reserve those to ensure the best spots (the sunrise!), but all of the campground sites are nice.