Best Campgrounds near Sandown, NH
Campgrounds near Sandown, New Hampshire range from state parks with developed facilities to private campgrounds with cabin options. Pawtuckaway State Park Campground, located about 10 miles northwest of Sandown in Nottingham, offers tent sites, RV spots, and cabins with access to a lake for paddling and swimming. Bear Brook State Park Campground in nearby Deerfield provides similar accommodation types with additional hiking and biking trails through New Hampshire's largest state park. The camping landscape includes both public lands with basic amenities and private campgrounds featuring full hookups, organized activities, and seasonal availability typically running from May through October.
Road conditions throughout the region remain accessible for most vehicles, though some campground approach roads may narrow with tree obstructions that challenge larger RVs or trailers. Most campgrounds require reservations, particularly for weekend stays during the summer months when sites fill quickly. "The sites are super private, the rangers are friendly, and the mosquitoes are ferocious, but I can't give a campground a bad review because of the mosquitoes," noted one visitor about Pawtuckaway State Park. Weather conditions vary seasonally, with comfortable temperatures from late spring through early fall, though New Hampshire's notorious black flies emerge in May and June. Cell phone coverage varies throughout the region, with Verizon users reporting 1-2 bars in more remote camping areas.
Waterfront camping receives consistently high ratings from visitors to the area, with several campgrounds offering direct lake or pond access. Campers particularly appreciate the wooded privacy at Pawtuckaway State Park, where many sites provide views of the lake while maintaining natural separation between neighbors. According to reviews from The Dyrt, Bear Brook State Park offers "extremely family-friendly" camping with amenities including "trails, play structures, camp store, beach, and even a small baseball diamond." The camping experience in this region balances natural settings with convenient access to small towns and attractions. Most developed campgrounds provide basic amenities like picnic tables, fire rings, and access to bathhouses with showers, though primitive sites with fewer facilities are also available for those seeking a more rustic experience.