Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Chepachet, RI

The campground is close to relatively easy hiking trails and Portsmouth Dog Park. Clean site areas, but many are on a slight slop so leveling blocks are needed. We Took one of the nearby Trails get to the Portsmouth Publick House restaurant, which is dog friendly, for lunch. The waterfall along the blue trail is picture worthy.

I've never camped in Rhode Island, so I was curious to see what a state park campground had to offer. Rates are reasonable for state residents, but quite high if you are out-of-state, given the amenities. There are no hookups, but dump stations are available. Bathrooms have flush toilets and coin-operated showers. There's a small beach at the pond, a boat ramp, and proximity to wildlife refuges and the ocean. It's a HUGE campground, with 700 sites and 20 cabins. Canoes are available to rent.

There's a nice playground, a camp store, and a naturalists cabin. Trails are available for hiking and biking. The beach is sandy and there's a small parking lot there, but I suspect most people walk to it. No alcohol allowed. 

I didn't see more than a handful of level sites, with varying degrees of slope, but many are quite large. If you have an RV, plan to level; if you have a tent, be sure to bring good mattresses to protect you from the roots and rocks and orient your head to the uphill side. Most of the sites have some degree of visual separation from their neighbors, but there are places where it's hard to tell where one site ends and the next one starts. Site have fire rings and picnic tables, but if you plan to cook over the fire, bring your own grate or plan to use sticks and/or aluminum foil. 

If you don't have a tent, consider reserving one of their rustic cabins. These offer two sets of bunks (no mattresses) and a small porch with a picnic table and fire ring outside. Some are located along the pond.

3-4 bar cell phone coverage. No road traffic. East Beach is nearby, but parking fills early.

We chose this spot for a family weekend. Sites are spacious. Water from nearby facet. Because it was local and had history behind it. Rhe campground is within a state park and is built on a old military base. You can still see some bunkers with their vents all around the campground. Blue Mountain spring water can be found right near campground for some refreshing water. We brought our chow chows and their was a great harbor side dog park a short drive away along with some swimming. I would visit again.

Beautiful clean campground! Great for kids and pets. We love taking the dog to the dog beach for a swim.

Camp store is great, fun fishing on the lake and tons of activities for the kids.

First things first- no bugs!! That’s right I didn’t know what I was missing till I notice I wasn’t getting bit alive by mosquitoes!!! They spray for them!!! So you can enjoy the outside without the pesky bites that come with camping!

Then of course there is the luxury of having two pools, a ton of fun activities for kids, (fishing , dog park, horseshoes, tennis, basketball, etc)! It’s probably my favorite spot in New England merely for all the luxuries that come with this site!!!

Plus you are close to Gillette and shopping!! Can get better then that!

Bowdish Lake Camping Area is the worst campground we have ever been to and we travel fulltime! Their website states: $1,800-$3,600 per season (look for yourself on their website if you don’t believe me). We get there after reserving site Blue 65. They then charged us $3,900. Why? We have no idea! Then they charged us an additional $75.00 for our truck. Why I don’t know? Then they charged us an additional $50.00 for having our own kayak. Then they charged us an additional $50.00 for a small dog, $100.00 for large dogs (by the way they have no dog park). Then they charged us an additional $100.00 for cable. Then they charged us an additional .50 cents per kWh ( which cost us an average of$250.00 extra per month). The public facilities are filthy. They do not supply any toilet paper, hand soaps, hot water, etc. They charge you an additional charge by coin operated showers (cold water only) that are crawling with spiders, bugs and cobwebs.

This park was very nice, but they advertise being 5 miles away from historic Newport, and it’s more like 8. There are zero bike paths that are immediately accessible and Newport drivers are not walker/biker friendly. No sidewalks on the Main Street to get you here. Ubers and Lyfts can be scarce and very expensive depending on the time of day. Between $16 to $78 rides…so, if you’re not towing, just something to be aware of. Neighbors were super nice and there is a great dog park (we think it’s city owned) with super nice doggo humans. Was good for a short stay - we just wish we had known how far out it really was because we really would have loved to spend more time downtown.

Miles and miles of country/forests surrounding pine acres, however pulling in you’ll soon realize how much goes on inside the campground. AWESOME pools (very kid friendly), parks, dog park, hiking trails and even sections off of the trails to find your own private beach on the water. Went there in a tent rather than our camper, which turned out to be better. Tent sites were very dispersed and way up on the top of the mountain. Camper sites seemed a little close but worth the sacrifice due to the incredible environment. On the more expensive side but worth the money if you have kids. Another big plus was the abundance of wood to get from fallen trees (not having to pay for the expensive bundles at the store) and the size of the fire pits

I really wanted to like this place. It's in a very cool area that I didn't expect to be so awesome. First main issue was how bad the cell reception is. Normally, I'd day that's a perk for camping but we're full-timers and work on the road so it is important for us. Next, the place is massive and they are more about make money than making people comfortable. What could easily be a very nice and spacious pull-thru spot are 2 back to back back-ins. Unless you're lucky enough to get an end spot, those are pull-thru. Pros: awesome dog park, great office with laundry, activities, arcades, adult only room, community campfire, indoor pool with lifeguard, the staff is nice, there's a lake for swimming, boating, catch and release fishing. Their basketball court is on a shuffleboard court, playground is nice though. Close to Old Sturbridge Village and many cool hikes and MA cities.

This is resort camping, so don’t come here expecting seclusion out in the woods. The sites fit a family tent, picnic table, fire ring (with plenty of space for chairs) and a vehicle. You don’t have any boundary or open area between sites. The resort shines in its amenities (4 pools, big dog park, disc golf course, bike park, many fields, full program of events, pristine bathrooms and much more). What is just (if not more) impressive as the facilities is the service. The staff goes way above and beyond (opened the playground early for my kids, one driving by me as I was carrying a trash bag to dumpster stopped and told me to toss it in the back of his truck because he was already headed that way (saving half mile walk), and too many more to write in a simple review. It’s much more RV centric than tent camping (80/20 if not more), but there’s a few sections dedicated to tents. Highly recommended, just remember it’s more outdoor resort and not at all living in nature with no people around.

Okay, I will try to update this information on the Dyrt site, but I’ve had mixed success getting that to stick. So if you are confused about things like location, let’s knock that out first:

This campground is located near 2185 Putnam Pike, Chepachet, RI 02814. It’s by Bowdish Lake, near the Connecticut border. This is a cool area of Rhode Island that I enjoyed getting the chance to explore a little bit. Great Italian restaurant if you don’t feel like cooking (Mr Z’s By The Lake) and some historical sites like a very nice covered bridge to the northwest.

Full water and electrical hookup and a very unique and fun play area for kids. The lake access is excellent, obviously. Pay showers of varying degrees of cleanliness. Open to tents, but clearly preferred by the RV crowd.