Pawtuckaway State Park Campground

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.

Pawtuckaway State Park has three sections: Big Island has a few good sites along and above Pawtuckaway Lake. Otherwise the Big Island campground is a ramble of inconsistent quality with many sites lacking grading and site preparation. A flat site? Dream on….One risks flooding the tent in so many of the sites. 

Horse Island probably has the best sites with water views and better shore locations except for a stretch of sites such as 44; 45; 46; 47; 56;54; 53; 58; 60; 68; 62…that seem to face a residential neighborhood across a narrow cove. A very good site on Horse Island is site# 1…but, there are several reasonable choices…if you disregard level site prep. 

Neals Cove has an extremely rough access road throughout the loop that needs A-Z maintenance and grading. What happens to vehicles on this road in wet seasons? 

Throughout the park be wary of sites with steep driveways both up and down and poor leveling and lack of grading. My site was# 90 on Big Island; and, it was so steep that I dared not put the car on the slope when rain was threatening. I noticed that site 156 was a good ADA site and since it was vacant overnight, I parked the car there. 

The campground was only about 10% full when I camped there in late September. This is a deep forest so all sites are shady.

Only 2 stars because of neglect and poor engineering throughout.

This has quickly become my favorite place to camp solely because of the sites all being in wooded areas that aren't cramped, and also for the kayaking. The lake itself is beautiful and so fun to be out on the water. There are a bunch of small islands throughout the lake to pull up on a sandbar and hang out, or swim around for a bit. The water is clear and clean in most parts of the lake, and the campsites are all in nice shaded areas that aren't super crowded or close to one another. Only heads up I would say is to be aware that this is a carry-in, carry-out park...meaning you need to take your trash with you. They do not have dumpsters for you to throw your garbage away on the way out.

You really can't go wrong with choosing a site here though. Big Island has the most choices, but very few (if any) are actually waterfront sites. Horse Island is where most of the waterfront sites are, which are super convenient for kayaking in and out directly from your campsite. They have a small beach area to hang out at, as well as another location to park and put in kayaks or canoes at Neal's Cove. If you don't have your own gear, they offer rentals at the main camp store, but I think they have to be returned by 5pm. If I remember right, they had sit-in kayaks, sit-on-top kayaks, canoes, and a few paddleboards as well. So there were plenty of options, but it's first come, first serve.

I've stayed at both a waterfront site on Horse Island and a wooded site on Big Island now, and both times were great experiences. Can't go wrong camping here.

We stayed for a beautiful weekend in late September. It’s a big campground with some incredible waterfront sites available on both Big Island and Horse Island. We were further in, at site 87 (I don’t recommend it—it’s next to some kind of water tank that makes a lot of high-pitched noise). Some issues with cleaning the bathroom during the weekend, but things were mostly handled well and we were impressed by the warm shower and the way the campground is addressing COVID.

The beach space is nice with a ton of parking. We rented kayaks ($65 per boat for any type, with paddles and life jackets included) and spent a couple hours paddling around the lake and visiting some of the dozens of small islands and rocks around the lake. With the changing leaves, it was absolutely beautiful. There is a lot available at the camp store (firewood was $6).

I’ve seen a lot of reviews about noise from other campers, but the thing that made me decide we probably wouldn’t go back was the near-constant droning sound of what we guessed was a nearby motorbike track. We listened to engines all day Saturday and again all day Sunday, both from our site and while out kayaking on the lake. Even though we never figured out where it was coming from, it was loud enough to interrupt conversations.

This campground is not the same as it was like 15 yrs ago. Nice lake and plenty of space on sites. The mosquitos were extremely vast throughout the campground, like swarms of them just very prominent both day & night. Drunken fight at a campsite down the way woke us up around 2 a.m. We heard loud screaming and a woman yelling & crying “don’t, stop”. I urged my husband to please go check on the situation. As he was getting his bearings together and shoes on, we heard glass breaking, tires screaming, a loud crash and a car speeding off that you could hear racing through the grounds. We ran over to the site that had a raging fire burning and assumed that was the site. Bottle of vodka looked like it was thrown into the fire with lots of broken glass everywhere in different areas on the site. It looked as though the car they sped off in backed or ran into a tree trunk on the site. The fire was very high, close to the trees around it so we called the campground and they urged us to call the local pd, we did and the pd took the info and said they were sending out someone to look for the driver that had left just a few mins prior. The pd advised us to not put the fire out and wait for them to arrive to the campground. We waited 15 or so minutes and the fire had spread pretty far outside the ring at this point so we called back and were told they’d be there soon & they will put out the fire. My husband & I waited another 5 mins then my husband said to heck with it, put the fire out because the alcohol all around the pit and throughout the site was making it spread even more then we went back to our site. The next day, the owner offered to comp us for the wknd and furthermore offered us another wknd for free. We took it, they apologized and asked for us to give them another chance (it was my husbands first time there & like my 8th or 9th). We returned a few wks later and couldn’t sleep bc of all the very loud partying that happened both nights on multiple sites until the wee hours of both mornings. We decided we won’t be returning. Now that about 7 years have passed, we may try them again maybe to see if the guidelines are being enforced better now but are unsure & hesitant. The staff was friendly & apologetic.

*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

We camped for a weekend here in a group of 6 people on Horse Island spread out over 2 sites. Checking in at the park office was easy and we received our parking pass. Each campsite can hold two vehicles.

There are several bathrooms placed all over the campground with toilets, sinks, and showers (no quarters needed). There are also water spigots placed around which is nice to refill containers.

I only give 4 stars due to two issues: One of the showers was unusable as it was FILLED with insects. After scoping out a few other bathrooms the problem seemed to be isolated to just that one.

Secondly, the park office seemed to be out of firewood the whole weekend. We were able to find some at the grocery store ($18 for 3 small bundles), and a random house selling some ($10 for the equivalent of 4 small bundles).

Nonetheless, we had a great time, undisturbed by all around us, and we did a 5 mile round trip hike to the the Pawtuckaway Fire Tower (view from the top attached).

Thank You!

We stayed here twice, once in September 2013 and then again in September 2018 and it is one of my favorites.

In 2013  -site 25 was a little challenging since it was on a downgrade and we were hit with a an unexpected 36 hour downpour and there was only one suitable spot for our tent since the terrain is very rocky.  After a few hours of constant rain I realized the water runoff from the road above and the driveway all ended up flowing right under our tent into the lake. At least I was able to experience a water bed for the first time in my life.  

The closest bath/shower was well kept, with four bathroom stalls and the one huge shower, I imagine that the wait times in the summer months might be a hassle but in the off season it was hardly used. 

In 2018 we stayed in sites 110 and our friends stayed in 109 on Big Island.  Those were wonderful sites, level with great views of the lake and are situated  right across from the bath/shower.  It was in need of an upgrade but with several facilities throughout the island we had other nearby options for a shower.

I forgot the daily visits from the ducks, like clockwork morning and dusk a family of ducks visited looking for grub and although most feed them bread, I know that's not good for them so they left unsatisfied.  

The next day I bought uncooked Quaker Oats and some grapes  that I cut in quarters for them, after that visit I realized that they would never leave so we became less generous.  Eventually, they realized we were on to them.

Lovely wooded campground where you can swim, hike, kayak, bike, canoe, fish, boulder, geocache and explore to your heart's content. Generally large and level sites, many with water access, Make your reservation well in advance if you're planning to visit during peak season or if you want a prime waterfront site. Sites on Horse Island will cost you $5 more than those on Big Island, but many of the sites are directly on the water, making it easy to slip your boat into the lake from your site. There's a campers only boat launch on Horse Island. Much of the lake is better suited to paddle craft rather than motor boats due to it's shallow nature and rocks. The an expansive beach as well, a camp store and boat rentals.

I've had a weekend when my neighbors were playing loud music all afternoon and stumbled drunk through my campsite after dark and other weekends when it was hard to tell there was anyone around.

Driving around this past weekend I did notice that some of the sites had damp spots; site 71 was the worst with deep mud on the long approach. Site 73 is near the bath house, but it has a long approach that provides a little privacy and it's higher than the surrounding sites with water access. Sites in the 3-15 range are waterfront, but they're higher off the water. Site 43-45 are great. Those along the southern edge of Horse Island offer a more level entry. Roads are narrow and many of the site entrances are narrow with rock/tree obstructions in places that may make backing in more of a challenge to thsoe with trailers or RVs. No hookups.

The bath houses are tired, but they offer free showers. Would love to see them renovated and brightened up. Big Island also has cabins available. Phone coverage is poor (Verizon); can usually get texts out. If you want to geocache, download the info for offline use!

If you are used to camping with pets, you'll need to visit outside of peak season as they are not allowed in the campground Memorial Day to Columbus Day and never on the beach.

It has a longer season than many campgrounds in New Hampshire, running to the end of October, and you can generally get a site last minute if you're waiting on the weather and don't need/want a water site. Its proximity to Boston makes it great for a quick getaway.