Best Glamping near Effingham, NH

Sandy Pines is located a very short bike ride from Cape Porpoise, home of Nunann's Restaurant , Mussette, Lost Fire and Pier 77. Some of the best food in the area without having to deal with the crushing crowds of the Kennebunkport scene. Ride 10 minutes in the opposite direction and you arrive at Goose Rocks Beach , the best shoreline beach on southern Maine. 

Sandy Pines has  impeccably maintained  campsites for all style of camper and tent . If you do not have either one, you can rent one of their super funky Gypsy Wagons, A Frame chalets or Glam-tents on the platform . Just add yourself and stir. You cannot have a bad time.

Our family of 4 visited Baker Rocks during a very rainy week and still had an amazing time. The campsites are private and spacious, the property is large and beautiful, close to the river. The owners are so kind and accommodating. We stayed 2 nights in the double bell tent with two clean full size beds and a 3rd night in the yurt both were spacious and wonderful, among tall trees and pines. Definitely will be back next summer! They even have animals to visit like bunnies and goats (far away from the campsites).Do bring bug spray, the mosquitoes at certain times of day were aggressive, as to be expected.

We stayed here during the COVID-19 pandemic and campgrounds were just starting to cautiously open up. There were some rules in place in order to ensure social distancing and reduce risk to ourselves and to the staff. Therefore a lot of the facilities and amenities were not available to us during our stay. No pavilion, arcade, playground, etc. 

But the point of our stay was just to get away, get outside and have some fresh air and new scenery. 

The waterfront site we had (site 38) was very nice, it's pretty spacious. The deck had furniture on it and a grill. The campground is well maintained, nice, clean. The furniture was in good shape, the grill was an older weber grill that worked great. Our site had a concrete fire pit, it looks like lots of them had a similar setup.

Waking up to the sound of the loons in the morning was wonderful. 

Our site was labeled as a 50 amp connection, but it wasn't, it was 30 amp. So double check that. Most of the waterfront sites are back in, and the only level part of the site is away from the deck and water. My wife wanted to get the camper up close to the deck so our area under the awning was close to that, which meant I had a lot more leveling to do. And when I say a lot, I mean my 5" drive on leveling blocks weren't enough and I had to put them on top of a 2x8 to level the camper out. 

The wifi actually was decent at this site - I'm surprised because 8 out of 10 campgrounds I go to that claim wifi, its slow and unusable. 

The firewood was kind of pricey. You get it for $6.50 a bundle if you buy at least 2 at a time. 

The first 2 nights there were really weird noises that woke us all up. The first night it sounded like a large Diesel engine or something was running in the distance. Kind of a low frequency sound that carried through the campsite and was hard to pinpoint. The second night, it sounded like an electrical short happening right across the street at a campsite. I was never able to figure out the source of these 2 events.

This is our first visit to Sandy Pines and we are so impressed with how well groomed this property is. We stayed in the Beach Rose section and we have full hookups. We took a mid- September vacation and love how nice it is with fellow campers spread out. We are not resort campers, but this is very nice now that children are back in school. The pool is heated and very inviting. There is a playground. So many choices of cabins or glamping tents to rent. Dogs are welcome. Big rig friendly. Very close to attractions and restaurants and stores. We will be back next year with friends. We camped in our Minnie Winnie travel trailer. The Wi-Fi is hit and miss unsecured. Mostly miss.

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.

This is one of the rare New Hampshire campgrounds that is open year round. For years I drove by this campground deterred by the run-down, deserted red building next door that is NOT associated with the campground. On a last-minute whim I called and snagged one of the final two sites for the holiday weekend, spending 3 nights here. I wanted to be someplace where I could track the baseball playoffs, so finding a place with wifi (fair, better closer to the bath house) and 2-3 bar 3G/4G Verizon access was a plus. This campground has a large number of seasonal sites, but also has sites available for the occasional camper, with discounts available if you stay for a week.

Sites are wooded, generally moderately sized, though the seasonal sites are much larger. Tent sites do not have hook-ups, but they have small shelters that provide additional protection fro the weather. Some of the tent sites are sloped. They also tend to be long and narrow, opening up to a wider area with the picnic table, fire pit and tent pad. Tent sites in the K row are near the road, so although you don't get much campground noise, you do hear road traffic.

The bathhouse is clean, well-lit, and heated (a treat on those cold autumn mornings). There's also a laundry room with 4 washers and dryers if you need to clean up or dry out after a rough day on the trails. Sites are close to each other. They've separated sites with fence panels in some places to provide some privacy. There's an inground pool, a large playground, and a horsehoe pit.

Activities in the area include very convenient access to hiking trails ranging from family friendly Surgarloafs to classic 4000-footers along Franconia Ridge, and peaks along the northern ridge of the Pemi Wilderness (Garfield, Galehead, Twins), trails to Mt Washington and the Presidentials, as well as numerous peaks and waterfalls in the Crawford Notch area. Cog railway is just a few miles down the road if you want to catch an early ride. Trails for ATVs and snowmobiles are also nearby.