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Best Tent Camping near Lincoln, RI

787 Reviews

Wooded areas surrounding Lincoln, Rhode Island provide several tent camping options within a short drive. Buck Hill Campground, located west of Lincoln in the rural parts of Rhode Island, offers primitive tent-only camping in a heavily wooded setting along Wakefield Pond. Water's Edge Campground in Coventry provides walk-in tent sites with more amenities, including showers and toilets. For those willing to venture slightly farther, the Arcadia Management Area in Exeter features multiple tent camping areas including the Arcadia Backpack Camping Area and Frosty Hollow Camping Area, both offering designated tent campsites in a natural forest environment.

Most tent campgrounds near Lincoln feature basic amenities with varying levels of development. Buck Hill Campground provides rustic tent camping with minimal facilities, offering large group sites that can accommodate 10+ tents each. Sites are set on natural terrain with limited grading, and campers should expect basic restroom facilities or porta-potties. Water's Edge Campground offers more amenities for tent campers, including electric hookups, picnic tables, and shower facilities. Fire rings are common at most sites, though fire regulations may vary seasonally. Campers planning backcountry tent camping in the Arcadia Management Area should bring adequate water supplies, as potable water access is limited at primitive sites.

Tent campers at Buck Hill report the area is "heavily wooded without much else around and very few amenities," making it ideal for those seeking a no-frills camping experience. The sites along Wakefield Pond provide opportunities for canoeing, kayaking, and swimming in clean water with several easy entry points. According to reviews, the campground is best suited for those looking to "unwind, fish, and cook" in a natural setting. The large cluster-style sites make this location suitable for group tent camping experiences. During summer months, Boston Harbor Islands State Park Campground offers a unique tent camping alternative, with visitors noting that while getting to the islands requires planning, "you get the benefit of a remote island with minimal company."

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Best Tent Sites Near Lincoln, Rhode Island (10)

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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Lincoln, RI

20 Photos of 10 Lincoln Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Lincoln, RI

787 Reviews of 10 Lincoln Campgrounds

  • Jean C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Mar. 1, 2020

    Burlingame State Park Campground

    Huge campground, not many level sites.

    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.

  • Jean C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Mar. 2, 2021

    Fearing Pond Campground — Myles Standish State Forest

    Wooded sites near a pond

    There are 2 Fearing Pond loops at Myles Standish State Forest, the H & I loops. The H loop entrance is closer to the Charge Pond loops and is higher above pond. This loop is better suited to the larger trailers/tents with more space to drive around a loop , but some spots have slopes. The I loop's best feature is a small beach that is easily accessible from all sites. They've done a lot of site restoration and the fact that it didn't open in 2020 helped. In spite of that, many of the sites have awkward approaches and there is a large parking lot closer to the bathroom. There are no hookups, but there is a dump station available. Water is available, but no electric hookups. Fire rings and picnic tables provided.

    The forest has miles of biking trails, ponds for swimming, fishing, and boating, and even cranberry bogs to explore (though harvest is late in the camping season and this section is not open at that time).

    Cell phone coverage is poor to absent in the forest, so download maps for offline use prior to your arrival.

    Plymouth is nearby for a any forgotten provisions and for sightseeing. Erickson's ice cream cafe is near the entrance if you need a treat!

  • Jean C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Nov. 27, 2020

    Scusset Beach State Reservation

    Coastal campground open late in season

    Scusset Beach offers an extended camping season, although the extended season is restricted to self-contained units as the restrooms are turned off.  Also, there are only 5 designated tent sites during the peak season, so if you want to tent camp here, you'd best make a reservation well in advance.. You cannot reserve an RV site for a just a tent, though if you have a trailer, you may also have a tent on the site. The 5 tent sites have their own fire pits, but the RV sites must use a community fire pit, though in mid-November, just before the campground closed for the season, RVers used the firepit at a tent site that provided some additional protection from the wind.

    The RV sites have paved parking pads and picnic tables, but the area to the side of the parking pads sometimes slopes away, so it's less usable for chairs, etc.  In the 2020 camping season, every other campsite was closed (thus the picnic tables across the entrance of the parking pad). Some of the sites, 32 34, 36, are along the back of the campground closer to the trees/scrub, and so have some degree of privacy and protection as compared to the others in the wide open park.

    The campground is on the north shore of the Cape Code canal and provides access to a sandy beach, a jetty, and the Cape Cod Canal Trail for biking and walking. There's a nice playground for youth. You can fish from the shore or jetty, No need to cross the bridge to the Cape. Plymouth is also nearby to explore.

  • Ryan A.
    May. 15, 2024

    George Washington State Campground

    An OK Campground but not Great

    Camped out here for two nights after reading about this place in the"Best Tent Camping: New England" book. It's better than the other campgrounds in Rhode Island that I looked at (Burlingame, Fort Getty) but isn't my favorite campground. If you're not a Rhode Island resident the fee for most sites is$36/night. Is it worth it? Eh, probably not unless you're really jonesing to camp for a weekend in the Ocean State. 

    It does have some great things going for it, namely the hiking trails and views of the lake. There are some tent-only sites which are numbered T1-T5. I stayed in T5 and it was the best of the bunch because it had the most privacy and space, including a grassy area. The other tent-only sites were fairly small and if you go to any mixed use sites you run the risk of having an RV next to you. The A1-A7 sites are remote and hike in, but you're going to have to hike either 0.4 or 0.6 miles through some uneven terrain. The next best group of sites would be 19-24 which are on their own small loop near the lake. 

    The things I didn't like were the streetlights over the port-a-potties that shine all night. There is a manned gate where you check in and you have to get let into the campground during the day, but at night the gates are wide open and it seems like some people know this because there are a few oddballs around in the early morning. There is swimming at the lake but it looked way too dirty. 

    Overall the place was managed very well, the sites were cleanish and the grounds were taken care of. The employees drove by at least once an hour, I thought they were collecting trash from dumpsters but the only place with a dumpster is near the entrance. I couldn't figure out why they kept driving by so often. I had a good time, it was relaxing and scratched the camping itch.

  • K
    Aug. 20, 2022

    Fort Getty Campground

    No shade no rule enforcement. Great place for a big group to party if that’s what you want.

    Loud campers in large groups.

    Rules regarding quiet hours, no generators, number of tents per site and late arrival and setups were not enforced.

    People next to us crammed 8 tents on 3 sites. I counted a group of at least 20.

    There is no privacy, people were constantly walking through our site and stepping over our tent guy lines.

    People partied until 2:00am and woke up at 5:30am shining headlights and idling cars.

    Bathrooms were dirty, sites boundaries not marked and crammed together. No shade.

    Beautiful location, rangers were nice.

    RV folks were surly, seemed like a lot of them stay there for the entire season. One said hi, the rest stared when we drove by.

    We booked and paid for two nights and left first thing after just one night.

  • Our Greight Escape ..
    Oct. 27, 2020

    Bourne Scenic Park

    Wonderful campground!

    We stayed here for a season and loved it! The staff from the front desk to the front gate are incredibly friendly and welcoming!

    Pros-

    Front office is open late (9pm)

    Offers wood, ice, fire starters, hoses and adapter cap for gray water drain.

    Country Store

    Ice Cream

    Amazing views of the canal.

    Bike path along the canal, easy access.

    Lots of playgrounds for different ages

    Bounce pad (in-ground)

    Pool

    Stair access to canal bike path.

    Dump station

    Inexpensive to have visitors\

    Located near so much! Walmart, Market Basket, Target all within 15min.  

    Cons-

    No on site drainage for black water (grey takes an adapter). You will need a poop tote.

    Lots of tight spaces

    Anyone can pay to access canal, so they can access any campsite even without staying there. 

    Highway noise.

    BRIDGE TRAFFIC- if you know you know.

  • Laura M.
    Aug. 25, 2018

    Burlingame State Park Campground

    Nice campground

    Super large sites, store is adequately stocked, nice lake/pond. I came here because of the location. Super close to the beach. This is a state park, no alcohol is allowed, quiet time strictly enforced. Nice family campground. No hookups.

  • Lee D.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 7, 2024

    Burlingame State Park Campground

    HUGE state park

    General: HUGE state park with over 700 sites. It does not fully open for the season until May 1 and when we were there in mid-April, only two sections, Fish Camp and Mills Camp were open. The Ranger station is staffed 24 hours a day, with a ranger on site until 11 pm. You need to show your pass to get inside the gate leading to the campsites. There are no hookups in any site (as far as I could tell). Sites are designated for tents, small trailers, large trailers, and RVs. As with other RI state parks, non-residents pay double the price of residents which kind of ticks me off (I don't mind a nominal upcharge but double is excessive IMO).

    Site Quality: The site numbers throughout the park are painted on rocks but the sites themselves are not very clearly defined. There is no designated camping pad. Our site (114) had a water view but was not level. It was large enough for us to park horizontally and make it work for one night. Some sites had excessive roots and also were not level. Some picnic tables have been replaced with new ones, but others badly need it.

    Bath/Shower house: The one in Fish Camp was adequate and clean. There is hot water, but you need to run it for a while before you get any. There was no garbage receptacle, and the toilet paper is so thin, that you can see through it. Showers are $.75 to get it started for the first three minutes. After that, the amount per minute increases to $1, $1.25, $1.50, and so forth. Machines take up to 22 quarters. There is a change machine at the Ranger Station. I did not use the shower so I cannot comment on how well they work. 

    Activities/Amenities: There is a camp store that offers wood, ice, coffee, basic groceries, propane, and canoe rentals. It was open with limited hours during our stay. Fishing, boating, swimming - all in season. Even though the park was only about 10% occupied, there was a strong Ranger presence. He circled our small loop three times just before check-out time and wanted to make sure we were leaving not a minute past the designated time. 

    This was just an overnight stay for us in a convenient location but there is no way I would stay at the height of the season!

  • Jean C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Mar. 2, 2021

    Barretts Pond Campground — Myles Standish State Forest

    Small campground near a small pond at Myles Standish

    This campsite loop at Myles Standish State Forest is closest to the headquarters and borders a small pond with beach. In addition to tent/RV sites, there are 3 yurts available with bunks. Sites that appear to be near the pond are pond view rather than pondside. Approaches to Yurt JC and J5, J 26, J27 are sloped. J14 is a little awkward. J33 is probably among the largest and nicest with a pond view. The sites aren't as large as those in the Charge Pond loops, but it's a smaller campground.

    The loop has flush toilets and showers. Water is available, but no electric hookups. Fire rings and picnic tables provided. Cell phone coverage throughout the forest is poor to absent; download maps for offline use if you want to be sure to know where you are or find directions. There are miles of bike trails and ponds for fishing, swimming, and boating. There's a larger beach and picnic area at College Pond.

Guide to Lincoln

Tent camping near Lincoln, Rhode Island offers several options within a 30-minute drive. The area features mostly mixed hardwood forests with elevations ranging from 200 to 400 feet above sea level. Most campgrounds in this region operate seasonally from May through September, with limited availability during spring and fall shoulder seasons when temperatures can fluctuate between 40°F at night and 70°F during the day.

What to do

Water activities: At Boston Harbor Islands State Park Campground, campers can explore multiple islands by taking small inter-island ferries. "During the day you can take small ferries to a variety of other islands to go swimming or explore. This is a great adventure for kids," notes Martha H. The islands feature swimming areas, hiking trails, and historic sites.

Hiking opportunities: Explore the trail systems at Arcadia Backpack Camping Area in Exeter, where paths wind through dense forest and connect to the larger Arcadia Management Area's extensive trail network. Trails range from easy walks to more challenging terrain suitable for mountain biking or horseback riding.

Historical exploration: The Boston Harbor Islands offer unique historical structures to explore. "We found all kinds of bunkers and a brick house," reports Jess G. about Lovells Island. Many campers combine hiking with discovering these remnants of coastal fortifications and early settlements.

What campers like

Island seclusion: The Boston Harbor Islands State Park Campground provides an unusual camping experience with minimal crowds. "Camping at Boston Harbor Islands requires some planning, but you get the benefit of a remote island with minimal company," explains Jean C. The limited number of camping spots means peaceful evenings despite proximity to Boston.

Sunset views: Waterfront camping spots offer exceptional sunset viewing opportunities. "Sitting on the beach watching the sun set over Boston was awesome and made everything entirely worth it," shares Jess G. about her experience on Lovells Island. Evening beach bonfires are permitted in designated areas below the high tide line.

Family-friendly environments: Camp Nihan Education Center provides an accessible camping experience with amenities suitable for first-time campers. "The group site is super close to parking and yet the terrain is rugged enough that it always felt like we were really in the woods," reports Michael V. This balance makes the location popular for family groups with young children.

What you should know

Reservation requirements: Boston Harbor Islands campsites fill quickly due to limited availability. "Reservations open 6 months in advance and sites fill quickly, so plan ahead if you're counting on a particular day," advises Martha H. Weekends during summer months typically book within days of reservation windows opening.

Transportation logistics: Frosty Hollow Camping Area in Exeter requires a high-clearance vehicle to access certain campsites during wet conditions. For Boston Harbor Islands, transportation planning is essential. "Getting to the island was a bit of a hassle. We live in Boston and took all of our gear on the T to the harbor by the aquarium," explains Jess G., detailing the multiple ferry connections required.

Water availability: Many primitive camping areas near Lincoln lack reliable drinking water. When camping at Boston Harbor Islands, Jean C. advises: "Pack as lightly as possible and plan to carry or wheel it to your site. If you have a folding wagon, you may appreciate having it to carry items on and off the ferry and to your site on the island."

Tips for camping with families

Educational opportunities: LeGrand Reynolds Horsemen's Camping Area in the Arcadia Management Area offers access to nature programs during summer months. Camp Nihan provides similar educational benefits, as Michael V. notes: "The camp is also adjacent to Breakheart Reservation, which had a great shallow pond with life guard on duty as well as bike trails and a range of different hikes."

Accessibility considerations: Choose campsites based on your family's hiking abilities. "The yurts on Peddocks are great, providing shelter from the elements, bunks with mattresses, electricity, a ceiling fan, table with benches, and a grill," explains Martha H., describing accommodation options that might work better for families with young children than tent camping.

Seasonal activities: Summer months offer the most family-friendly programming. "In mid-August we collected handfuls of blackberries as we explored Peddocks," shares Jean C. about her island camping experience. Regional campgrounds typically schedule organized activities for children between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.

Tips from RVers

Size limitations: Most tent camping areas near Lincoln cannot accommodate RVs over 25 feet. Even designated RV campgrounds have limited space for large rigs due to narrow access roads and smaller campsites.

Seasonal availability: RV camping options near Lincoln operate primarily from May through September. "It's back open and lovely," reports Tim S. about Boston Harbor Islands, which had previously been closed during COVID restrictions. Check current operating schedules before planning an RV trip to any regional campground.

Transportation challenges: For Boston Harbor Islands camping, RVs must be left at mainland parking areas. "If I had the chance I would bring my own boat," advises Brandy G., noting the convenience this would provide for transporting camping equipment to island sites.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Lincoln, RI?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Lincoln, RI is Buck Hill Campground with a 4-star rating from 1 review.

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