Best Dispersed Camping near White Mountain National Forest, NH

We spent 3 nights backcountry camping on Catamount Island in Cranberry Lake and absolutely loved it! The sunsets from the island were truly incredible. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. Ours had an extensive pile of dry wood, too. There is a decent privy tucked back in the woods. Bring your own TP though! Also, you will either need to bring your own potable water or filter from the lake, so don’t forget your water filter.

In addition to many cool places to kayak from the island, there are a few hiking trails where you can land your boat and hike for a few hours. The Curtis Pond hike was our favorite and there are some incredible beaver dams along the way. While the mosquitoes weren’t bad at the campsite itself or while kayaking, they are terrible on the trails this time of year; so bring your bug spray, or better yet, bug shirts! The millions upon millions of dragonflies help make up for the mosquitoes!

The Village of Cranberry Lake (which is accessible from the lake) has some supplies, but not much except the very basics at the general store.  You’ll need to head to Star Lake or Tupper Lake for anything of significance.

Backcountry camping is first come, first served…no reservations necessary or even possible. No permit is needed. The only fee is if you want to park your vehicle in the state park while you are camping on the island, it is $8 per day.

a 20 mile ride of just woods on a bumpy road. Pretty cool! Surprisingly the place wasn't that populated as I expected it to be. I went to a accessible campsite near the dam so I can pull stuff i needed from my car. The restaurant in the town had great food, the staff were nice, and had two cute dogs!

Beautiful campgrounds... clean.. friendly..

amazing lake for kayaking and boating.

sites not crowded together.

Primitive site on the beautiful south eastern end of Stillwater. A short hike in to a great beach for swimming or paddling.

We’ve stayed here many times in tents and hammock tents. The swimming is fantastic- water is clean and clear.

Because you can’t make a reservation here sometimes there’s competition for a spot. There is a good fire circle with space all around. The trail down to the beach is only about a hundred feet, but it is downhill.

This site is close to the trailhead for the Stillwater firetower, an original Adirondack firetower.

Even in cold rainy weather we had a phenomenal time at Stillwater. Our spot had gorgeous waterfront to it, a stone fire circle where someone had left extra fire wood, and ample trees. The season had had unusually low water all over and it left a really unusual landscape on the beach to explore. We can’t wait to come back!

This is a small primitive site. No services, but a very beautiful spot. There’s a small fire ring, and access to the lake for swimming or fishing. 

Sunday lake has always been lovely and quiet and a great place to take youth campers. 

Take Stillwater rd. to McCarty road, the trail is 0.3 miles To Sunday lake. Space to park two cars or a small RV off the road.