A
Amber G.
Scout
ScoutTripoli Road
So much fun!
Went on a weekend and it was still very peaceful! Lots to do on such a beautiful back road. We stayed at two different sites each night we were there and both were equally beautiful and peaceful
Camping near Silver Lake, NH
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SUMMARY PRESENTED BY
The White Mountains region near Silver Lake, New Hampshire encompasses a diverse range of camping options, from established campgrounds to more rustic experiences. Several developed facilities dot the landscape, including White Lake State Park Campground, Danforth Bay Camping & RV Resort, and White Ledge Campground. These areas accommodate tent camping, RV setups with hookups, and cabin rentals. The Kancamagus Highway serves as a primary corridor for accessing many camping areas, with sites ranging from full-service RV resorts with amenities to more primitive Forest Service campgrounds like Covered Bridge that offer basic facilities.
Road access varies significantly throughout the region, with some campgrounds situated directly off main roads while others require navigation along forest roads. "My site was in the row closest to the road where there was truck noise for much of the night. I recommend getting a site as far away from the road as possible," noted one visitor to Lafayette Place Campground. Most established campgrounds in the area operate seasonally from May through October, closing during winter months when snow makes access challenging. Exceptions include a few year-round operations that cater to winter recreation enthusiasts. Cell service can be limited or nonexistent at many campgrounds, particularly those deeper in the White Mountain National Forest, with visitors reporting having to drive to nearby towns like Lincoln or North Conway to obtain connectivity.
Proximity to water features emerges as a significant factor in campground selection throughout the region. Several campers highlight the appeal of riverside and lakefront sites, with Danforth Bay Camping & RV Resort offering direct lake access that receives consistently positive feedback. According to a recent review, "There is a lake which was great for our lab to swim in and made for a pretty spot to enjoy a glass of wine at sunset." Many campgrounds provide strategic access to hiking trails in the White Mountains, with sites serving as convenient basecamps for exploring popular destinations like Franconia Notch and Crawford Notch. Visitors should note that campgrounds near main attractions tend to fill quickly during summer weekends and fall foliage season, with advance reservations strongly recommended during peak periods.
Best Campgrounds near Silver Lake (320)
1. White Lake State Park Campground
"Last weekend, our family stayed at White Lake State Park for four days."
"I’ve stayed here a few times and love the location and access to White Lake."
from $35 - $105 / night
Check Availability2. Danforth Bay Camping & RV Resort
"This campground is huge with over 300 sites set on nearly 200 acres and along a beautiful lake!"
"We love the golf carts and sandy beaches as well as the proximity to North Conway and Lake Ossipee. Staff are nice, quiet time is a bit over enforced."
from $40 - $85 / night
Check Availability3. Eastern Slope Camping Area
"A large wooden shelter stood over our picnic table, with a decent amount of space next to it for tents or a small camper."
"Great location with easy ride to all North Conway attractions. Nice hay ride and playground. The beach is sandy and lots of room to spread out. We visited Story Land and Mt."
4. Covered Bridge
"He absolutely loved it and there was plenty of space in the tent site for him to roam around."
"Our site was spacious and backed up to a little ravine so it was fairly private even though it was right next to the bathrooms (also convenient). We weren’t far from a hand pump water spigot, either."
from $30 / night
Check Availability5. White Ledge Campground
"White Ledge Campground is in the White Mountain National Forest and should not be confused with nearby White Lake State Park."
"Water spigot and vault toilets, dumpsters all within easy walking distance of all sites. Great spot to start Carter Ledge Trail to hike Three Sisters and Mount Chocorua."
from $30 / night
Check Availability6. Chocorua KOA
"There were some rules in place in order to ensure social distancing and reduce risk to ourselves and to the staff."
"They were wooded and in a central location close to the playgrounds, pavilion, beach and nature trails."
from $45 - $110 / night
Check Availability7. Jigger Johnson Campground
"Located on the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire, Jigger Johnson is one of those great sites that has close proximity to plenty of hiking, exploring, swimming and isn't too far from the hustle and bustle"
"earlier in the day, around 1 pm when new campers are welcomed."
from $24 / night
Check Availability8. Dry River Campground — Crawford Notch State Park
"Cool location right on the edge of the Dry River Wilderness. Great Basecamp for lots of hikes in the area. Some spots are right on the highway with not much tree cover in between so can be loud."
"This state park campground located between Rte 302 and the Dry River in Crawford Notch is a great location for exploring family friendly trails to (Sawyer Pond, Arethusa Falls, Willard Cliffs to name a"
from $35 - $40 / night
Check Availability9. Saco River Camping Area
"They have bike rentals, disc golf, ping pong table, outside big chess game, pool, outlet shopping was near by, near by historic sites, like kangamangus Highway, diana’s Bath, cathedral ledge, we went"
"People to our left and the ones behind us were annual vistors to this campground. We are new to Rving it was refreshing to be around such nice people."
10. Town Hall Road Dispersed
"Awesome boondocking in New Hampshire, what a treat in the east coast! Just beautiful scenery, with trees, rivers, creeks, hiking trails with a pond- we absolutely loved our time here. "
"There were plenty of sites to choose from and most (not all) had access to the river as well as a fire ring. Sites were on a dirt road, but it was quiet for the most part."
Drive Time
- 1 hr 29 min from Lewiston, ME
- 1 hr 30 min from Manchester, NH
- 1 hr 36 min from Portland, ME
- 2 hrs 3 min from Boston, MA
Recent Camping Photos near Silver Lake, NH
777 Photos of 320 Silver Lake Campgrounds • uploaded by The Dyrt campers
Recent Reviews near Silver Lake, NH
1447 Reviews of 320 Silver Lake Campgrounds
- MMarie S.Scout
Gunstock Campground
Apparently Your Reserved Site Is More of a Suggestion
⭐**Gunstock Campground: Apparently Your Reserved Site Is More of a Suggestion**
I don't believe I have**ever** left a negative Google review. I generally think that when something goes wrong, you contact the business, give them an opportunity to make it right, and most businesses are genuinely interested in doing exactly that.
Gunstock Campground has cured me of that quaint notion.
I reserved a full-hookup campsite for two nights. I was unable to make it there the first night, but arrived shortly after 7:00 a.m. the next morning. The camp store, where registration takes place, wasn't open yet, so I headed out for my planned hike— about six miles through the Belknaps, including summiting Rowe twice and Gunstock.
By the time I returned, I was utterly exhausted, starving, and actually feeling weak. My ambitions for the afternoon were modest:**eat something, take a shower, and collapse at the campsite I had paid for.**
The staff at the camp store greeted me warmly, checked me in, and sent me on my way.
I drove to my site. There was already a camper in it. Not merely*parked* there, mind you. They had apparently moved right in. They were hooked up to**my site's water and electric**, with water spraying from their ill-fitting hose connection and forming a rather impressive puddle underneath the camper.
I returned to the camp store to report that someone had apparently activated Gunstock's new**"Choose Any Site You Like"** camping plan. A staff member went down to speak with them and came back to tell me they were "packing up." Excellent! My mistake was assuming" packing up" meant**leaving**. It did not.
Apparently these campers had actually reserved a site**two rows away** that had**no water or electric**. Yet somehow, sometime after arriving the previous night, they had accidentally found themselves two rows over, in my clearly different site, connected to utilities their reservation didn't include.
We've all made mistakes. I've occasionally parked one space away from where I intended. I've never accidentally parked**two rows away, hooked myself up to someone else's electricity and water, and spent the night.**
But perhaps I lack imagination.
After they had now consumed about an hour of my afternoon— which, incidentally, is an hour I normally bill at attorney rates— I went back toward my site expecting to find it finally vacated.
And it was! Because Gunstock had moved these folks to another site**two spaces away from me**, apparently allowing them to pay for the upgrade they had already been test-driving. So the people who knowingly or unknowingly occupied my reserved full-hookup site, used the utilities, and delayed me from getting into the site I paid for were rewarded with...a nearby full-hookup site.
They never walked over to apologize. At that point, I no longer felt comfortable staying. It's difficult to relax at a campground when you've just discovered that site assignments appear to operate somewhat on the honor system— and that when someone helps themselves to your reserved site and utilities, management's solution is apparently to make sure *they* remain comfortably accommodated nearby. So I left. On my way home, I called Gunstock and asked for a refund. Surely, I thought, this would be the easy part. After all, I had paid for two nights, hadn't used the first, couldn't get into my site when I arrived for the second, waited while unauthorized occupants vacated it, and ultimately left because the entire experience had become so unpleasant.
Nope. Instead, the staff member **defended the other campers**. I was told they arrived late and "mistakenly" took my site. I was even told they supposedly **hadn't used the utilities**. This was particularly fascinating information for me to receive because **I PERSONALLY SAW THEM HOOKED UP TO THE WATER AND ELECTRIC.** I also took photographs. Including the enormous puddle underneath their camper from the leaking water connection. But apparently my eyewitness account and photographs were no match for the alternative version of events.
For my inconvenience, however, Gunstock did give me a coupon for a **free Bavarian pretzel**. So there is that.
I paid for a full-hookup campsite. Someone else occupied it and used the hookups. I lost roughly an hour waiting to access what I had reserved. The other campers were accommodated with an upgraded site nearby. I left because I no longer felt comfortable staying. And when I asked Gunstock to make the situation right, they refused to refund me and instead argued with me about things **I had personally witnessed and photographed**. The most disappointing part isn't that another camper took my site. Campers can behave badly. Businesses can't control everything their customers do. **What a business CAN control is how it responds when that happens. ** Gunstock had every opportunity to turn this into a mildly annoying story about a camping mix-up. Instead, they turned it into my first negative Google review.
But hey... **I do have that free pretzel coupon.**
- KKrista R.
TravelerMoose Brook State Park Campground
Like Dispersed Camping... For $42
Pros: We have the p lube nearly to ourselves, thus it was very similar to dispersed camping. Nice little campground with two small ponds (One for fishing, the other for swimming). Nothing very remarkable, though.
Cons: As others have mentioned, if you want flush toilets and pay showers, you have to either stay at the more crowded, larger loop or walk across the highway to get to those amenities.
Richard P.ScoutSebago Lake Family Campground
Find a better place!
We just came back from a big family weekend there. We had 5 sites with 19 people(including children). This is by far the most rundown campground I've stayed! Only 1 bathroom facility was functioning. Of the 3 times I tried taking a shower, I only succeeded 1 time. The other 2 times(once at night and once the following morning at 6am) I only got drops coming out of the hot and cold faucets. I tried the only 2 stalls. Speaking of bathrooms...these have not been updated since the 60s-early 70s when I was camping with the same style bathroom facilities. The children's playground should be condemned!!! At least 25% of the wood is rotted. Some steps are missing from ladders. My granddaughter was swinging in the childs swing, the bottom unlatched and she fell through the bottom. If she wasn't monkey like in holding on she would have done a face plant to the ground. After looking at the swing, I found the plastic latch broken! 2 positives: the campsites are very nice! and the beach is great! Bottom line, these owners are not putting any money back into the campground and it's facilities. They are running it into the ground. I won't be coming back again!
- ccarolyn H.Scout
Hemlock Grove Campground
Great stay! :)
Wonderful stay! Clean bathrooms/showers. Woodsy and quiet. Clean campsites with water and electric. The people were super helpful and friendly! Wonderful stay, would easy stay here again :)
Jen P.TravelerTwin Mountain Campground
Lovely and peaceful
It was everything we were looking for, right on the river, quiet and clean, the section we stayed in was all tent camping so we weren’t sandwiched in between a bunch of RVs blocking the view. There was no lights, generators or loud music. Alcohol wasn’t permitted so that really cuts down on a lot of unnecessary nonsense. Pets are permitted and our dog loved it. It was very pleasant and relaxing. Can’t wait to go back.
- JJose L.Traveler
Town Hall Road Dispersed
Dispersed it is!
Stayed 8 nights with complete solitude. Bugs weren't too bad. There were plenty of dead birch trees and beech trees for firewood. Not any evergreens though. Site 16 has two campsites. I took the further one with plenty of room. Good size fire pit, but people before me left some large pieces of wood not completely put out along with lit coals.
Nikki M.ScoutCherry Mountain Road Dispersed
Dispersed camping in white mountains
We stayed in site #5. It was grassy and had a little creek running next to it that was lovely to listen to.
- Amy D.Traveler
Ellacoya State Park Campground
Pretty ok!
No major complaints. Beautiful location, easy to get to, convenient RV hookups. Goose poop everywhere so watch your step. Showers are relatively expensive. Sites are very very close together.
Guide to Silver Lake
Camping sites near Silver Lake, New Hampshire offer diverse experiences across elevations ranging from 600 to 3,000 feet. The region experiences significant seasonal temperature variations, with summer days averaging 70-85°F and dropping to 50-60°F at night. Fall camping brings cooler temperatures and spectacular foliage displays, though sites at higher elevations can experience early frost by late September.
What to do
Hiking accessible trails: At White Ledge Campground, campers can access the White Ledge Loop directly from the campground. "We hiked the White Ledge Loop which was 4.1 miles and got amazing views. The brooks running through are beautiful," reports Sarah J. This moderate trail provides excellent views with minimal driving.
River activities: The Swift River offers swimming and wading opportunities throughout the area. "The camp itself is right on the Saco river and offers swimming, canoeing, rope swinging and fishing depending on when you there," explains Daniel S. about Saco River Camping Area. Many campgrounds provide river access points with varying depths suitable for different ages.
Family entertainment: The region provides numerous attractions beyond camping. Jellystone Park Glen Ellis puts you "right around the corner from Storyland" according to Jake H., making it easy to combine camping with day trips to popular attractions. This campground is also situated between two rivers, offering natural water activities on-site.
What campers like
Water access: Danforth Bay Camping & RV Resort receives consistently high marks for its waterfront. "Large campsites with full hookups. Beach and boat ramp with some cabins on the water," notes Michael M. The resort provides easy access to swimming areas and boat launches suitable for various watercraft.
Clean facilities: Many campers appreciate the well-maintained bathroom and shower facilities. At Dry River Campground, visitors find "clean bathrooms with showers. In addition to the full-service, handicap accessible wash house, there are vault toilets around the loop," according to Jean C. These facilities make extended stays more comfortable.
Natural swimming areas: White Lake State Park Campground provides natural swimming options beyond typical campground pools. "The lake itself is unreal, with the mountains in the background it just feels incredibly peaceful and serene," describes Angela T. The clear water and sandy beach areas make this a favorite for water-loving campers.
What you should know
Wildlife awareness: Black bears are active throughout the region, requiring proper food storage. At Jellystone Park Glen Ellis, one camper reported, "There were 2 active bears while we were there. They circled our camper at night." All campgrounds in the area advise securing food items and trash to prevent wildlife encounters.
Site variations: The privacy level can vary dramatically within campgrounds. At White Lake State Park Campground, Sable W. notes, "Our site, #02 on Loop 2, was in very close proximity to all of the neighboring sites." Research specific site numbers when making reservations if privacy is important.
Seasonal considerations: Most campgrounds operate from late May through early October, with peak foliage season (late September to mid-October) being the most crowded. "Fall camping brings dramatic temperature drops at night, often into the 40s even when days are warm," according to seasonal staff at multiple campgrounds.
Tips for camping with families
Kid-friendly activities: Jigger Johnson Campground offers natural features that entertain children. "Different trailheads located on grounds that are a short walk down to the River that's great to take a tube on and float down then walk back up," shares Sara D., highlighting activities that keep children engaged without leaving camp.
Beach selections: When choosing sites with children, consider proximity to beach areas. White Lake State Park Campground provides "a great family campground just South of Conway, NH" with a "shallow swimming area so you can feel comfortable with kids," according to multiple reviews.
Playground access: Several campgrounds offer playground equipment for children. At Danforth Bay Camping & RV Resort, "They seem to always have events & family friendly activities to keep kids entertained," notes Jake C., making rainy day entertainment easier for families.
Tips from RVers
Site leveling challenges: Many campgrounds in the White Mountains region have uneven sites. At Chocorua KOA, Michael K. reports, "Most of the waterfront sites are back in, and the only level part of the site is away from the deck and water...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." Bring extra leveling equipment.
Access roads: Larger RVs may find challenges on some forest roads. At Covered Bridge Campground, campers note "the road in for RVs is not terrific. There is about a 1/2 mile that is mostly one lane (with a drop off on one side) and if someone is coming decisions have to be made." Call ahead to confirm access suitability for your rig size.
Hook-up verification: When planning RV camping, verify the actual amperage available. At Chocorua KOA, one camper found "Our site was labeled as a 50 amp connection, but it wasn't, it was 30 amp. So double check that." This can be crucial for running air conditioning units during summer months.
Frequently Asked Questions
What camping is available near Silver Lake, NH?
What camping is available near Silver Lake, NH?
According to TheDyrt.com, Silver Lake, NH offers a wide range of camping options, with 320 campgrounds and RV parks near Silver Lake, NH and 10 free dispersed camping spots.
Which is the most popular campground near Silver Lake, NH?
Which is the most popular campground near Silver Lake, NH?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near Silver Lake, NH is White Lake State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 25 reviews.
Where can I find free dispersed camping near Silver Lake, NH?
Where can I find free dispersed camping near Silver Lake, NH?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 10 free dispersed camping spots near Silver Lake, NH.
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