Although the tent sites are a distance from anything, the main areas of the campground are fantastic. With a full calendar of events (some free, some cost $) you will never be bored. Quiet time is quiet time which is great for families.
No entry fee and for the most part all states welcome without sticker fee or hassle. Just pull up and have fun. No camping
It doesn’t get much better than camping away from others!!!! Pretty basic shelter.
Have stayed in the ten sites many times as well as hiked on through. It’s very clean and always well kept sites. Amenities are cleaned daily.
Man I love his place. Quiet rv and tent site park. Portopotties scattered about and showers and such near the entrance. Tent sites are nice and isolated, but not scary far apart. Lots of wildlife so keep your food sealed… Nice walking trails and free kayaks as available. I always get site 1, it's in its own area with pretty flat terrain. To reserve, fill out the form on the website and you'll get a confirmation. You can pay at the office when you check in. they'll also bring firewood to your site.the kid that works there is really nice but I always forget his name!
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:
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
This is glamping campground. It has a pool, game rooms, and everyone is packed in pretty close.
I personally like state parks, lots of room and trees. I didn't feel that at Normandy farms but you might love it
Super easy hike, will take a few hours! A great little campground like all state parks around! I'd recommend it, downside, no dogs allowed
Stayed in Section 2 on M Rd which has the the electrical hook ups. M road is nice because you're backed up to the woods on the odd numbered side. These sites are also spaced fairly well far apart and private, some more than others - on M13 which stayed, it was at least 50ft on either side. There are no water hook ups but plenty of water spigots every several sites so easy enough to fill up water jugs.
Drawbacks of M13 in particular is that it was probably the most slopped on the rd but still pretty minimal. We also found a lot of trash on the site - we poked around other sites on the rd as people came/went and they didn't seem to have this problem. Seems like we may have just caught M13 at an unlucky time ( we did pick up a lot of the trash around the site that others left behind to help clean it up and makes us not feel we were sitting among trash)
Firewood was $5/bundle so pretty reasonable. I didn't personally use the bathrooms but other said they seemed new.
Because of the trash issue I would have given 4.5 but so we value private, spaced out sites I leaned on the 5 star side.
My girlfriend and I went here on a thursday and stayed till Saturday, so the camp was a little more empty then normal but it was a great little place. Nice views of the lake, swimming, wide open sites, not too over crowded! I'd definitely go back! Close by to Miller state park (NHs oldest state park), Garwin falls (beautiful little water falls you can swim in)
We stayed in a lean to for the Cotopaxi Questival In April. It ended up raining and in the mid 60s the entire time so it was great and kept us dry!
Driving around this place is definitely not a typical campground but more of a luxury camp because of all of the amenities.
That being said it was very nice and felt safe. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 star is because you can hear the highway nearby so it didn’t really feel like a campground. That’s a preference though.
Check out some of our videos from the competition! We found a little skeleton in our lean to so we made a short video, haha!
It seemed like there were a lot of restrictive rules compared to other campgrounds that made camping more stressful.
We went camping with a group of 5 people spread out onto two sites. We arrived after dark and our friends were able to pick up a parking pass for us ahead of time. It was easy to find the campground and our site.
Restrooms are easy to reach throughout the campground and there is a shower house near the entrance to the campground (no quarters necessary). Stores for extra food or forgotten materials can be picked up in town a 10-15 minute drive away. We enjoyed our time here and will be back!
Pros: Nice campground with big private spots. Nice bathhouse with pay showers. Pretty, man made lake with a beach area for swimming and paddling. Cons: no hook-ups yet it cost $36 for out of state residents plus the fees which put it up to $44. Also only one bathhouse so port-a-potties along the road. Another thing we found was that the park staff here and elsewhere in RI were very lacking in knowledge about basically anything. Overall a nice place but pricey for anyone but RI residents.
A smaller campground but that always makes for a more private feel. Some of the sites have amazing wooded platforms for your tent that definitely came in handy on those rainy nights. Close to some great hikes.
We were able to book site 112 at the last minute and the staff waited for us to arrive. Although they were very friendly, they dropped the ball when it came to cleanliness and park security. We had other campers arrive back at their tent sites across from ours at 11pm and they were inconsiderate of all the sleeping campers with their lights already out. After Midnight I called the office and emergency line but got only the office answering machine. There was a host in a site 2 down from the party and nobody came to address the noise. I had to go and ask them to quiet down twice and lower their spotlight they were using to cook with. They stayed up (about 15 of them) til after 2am. I did email the owner and let him know the situation so I was able to contact someone about it, and he was going to check into it and where the ball was dropped by the staff not patrolling the campground like he said it was supposed to be. We had water and a 15 amp power box at our site and it was great for a tent but not for anything else. The sites are very close together. If you have kids, they have a lot of things for them to do, but when you want to get sleep, it wasn’t the beat place to stop.
Very easy to get into Boston by train. Level sites, quiet, and very clean restrooms make this a perfect spot for touring historic Boston, Concord, & Lexington.
We were just here for a couple of nights in August. Had everything we needed: 50 amp, water, sewer. It was field-style camping, which I don’t mi d at all. Nice easy in and out of sites, lots of activities on the weekend, and nice area overall.
The hosts were very accommodating. We got a nice spot backing up to the river. Very secluded, clean sites. There was not sewer drains, but it’s ok, they have a nice dump station on your way out. The camp store has some fishing gear and tubes, so the kids could float down the river.
Loved this place. Campsites had nice spacing in between. Perfect sized lake to swim and kayak
Gorgeous campground. It’s red clay instead of sand. I knocked a star because I think the swimming area could be bigger and raked.
Family friendly. Staff is nice. Campsites are big and we'll spaced. Bathrooms are best of any campground. Highly recommend.
This place is pretty awesome if you’re looking to see a show at the nearby Comcast center. It’s cheap, quiet, and affordable and very close (maybe ten mins or less to the venue) I’ve been staying here for years and love it!
Great campground. Close to town, but feels like you are in the middle of nowhere!
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!
So noisy we only stayed one night. No privacy. Tents parked a few feet apart. We had smokers on both sides and our camper was blue with their smoke. Heavy drinking and loud voices all afternoon and evening. Many had their car radios blaring, all on different stations. Outdoor bingo game was done on a loudspeaker that penetrated every inch of the grounds. Drunken campers were banging on our door after midnight thinking we were the camper they were looking for. Nightmare!