Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park
Reviewed Oct. 26, 2018

Nice base for exploring Crawford Notch

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 few) or longer excursions to Mt Washington and other peaks in the Whites & Presidentials. Story Land is an easy drive, too, if you have young children.

Fees are a reasonable $25/night. Facilities include clean bathrooms with showers. In addition to the full-service, handicap accessible wash house, there are vault toilets around the loop. Cell service is poor to absent throughout Crawford Notch. If you need to connect, drive south toward Bartlett or North to Bretton Woods.

Sites are spacious, level, and wooded, though some have no real demarcation between them. This can be good if you are with friends and reserve sites side by side (2 & 3; 12 & 13), Because most of the sites are on the outside of the loop or opposite sides of the road, you won't feel surrounded. There are no hookups. Site are back-in. A few of the drive-to sites include small lean-tos. In addition, there are a few sites that are more secluded, set back further in the woods and providing a tent platform as well as a fire ring and picnic table. The entire campground is close to the road, so you will hear traffic noise. Sites 27-31 are particularly close to the main road. Although sites 2-7 appear to be far from the river, it's still just a short walk. There's a formal trail to the river from the back of the loop, near 16B (lean-to). Reservations open 11 months in advance. Mid-Oct to Dec 1 sites are walk-in only. Pre-register online and bring your print-out with you to save yourself some time.

There's no camp store, though they do have firewood for sale if you see someone. During the peak season, i expect the sites fill up in advance, but this early in the season there were sites available for Friday night when I checked in (though most only for 1 night; Saturday night was definitely harder to come by). If you haven't stocked up in advance, your best bet for groceries when coming from the south/east are Grant's Supermarket at the junction of 302 & 16 or your choice of major supermarkets in Conway.

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Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018
  • Review photo of Dry River — Crawford Notch State Park by Jean C., October 26, 2018