Best Glamping near Richmond, RI

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.

Glamp Frogmore offers the privacy of camping while offering extras to make a truly unique getaway. The large tent has a couch, an extremely comfortable bed (bamboo linens, pillows, and comforter included), battery powered lanterns, a battery powered fan, and games. The private campsite has a site for an additional pop-up tent (which they will include for a fee), a fire pit (firewood included), a Coleman stove, all cooking utensils, pots and pans, and an outhouse. Take one of the trails and visit the small pond with Adirondack chairs and a horseshoe pit. The site also abuts miles of Audubon trails. Optional extras include dinner in a cast iron pot delivered in the evening, coffee and breakfast delivered in the morning, a pop-up tent, a dog bed, a cooler stocked with ice and a sampling of local beer, or seltzers, or lemonade, s'mores fixings, and homemade chocolate chip cookies upon arrival.

Connecticut is LACKING when it comes to outdoor activities when compared to some of the places around the country. That being said, it's more rewarding when you find a little gem like Wilderness Lake Campground.

While this is about 60% RVs, the tent sites are great. The host gave us a secluded spot in the back to the point I didn't feel like I was at a campground other than the fire ring. We didn't need bathrooms, water or electricity, but there was a bathroom within walking distance. It also looked like they were building a little outbuilding for Women and Men's bathrooms near the tent sites. 

The lake was quiet and we saw kids swimming in it in the morning. There was a hiking trail on the property and the host mentioned they were building a Disc Golf course on the property. Whether you have an RV, want to Car Glamp or looking to feel deep in the woods, this place checks all the boxes. It's also conveniently located off I-84(exit 70).

I wasn’t sure I would like this level of glamping, but I was pleasantly surprised. The staff was positive and helpful and that made a difference for me. I traditionally dry camp or go for semi hooked up on purpose, I just like the quieter camping. Maybe it’s covid, but it felt good to be “near” other people trying to find peace in a crazy world. So much positive about the resort, the snack bar has an awesome menu and cost is reasonable. Beer at the store wasn’t unreasonable priced. The clothing/swag was fairly priced. The facility is big enough to walk, bike, short run, the frisbee golf is the best set up I’ve ever used. I went recently(mid October) so the pools were shut down, but there was still lots of activities. The bath houses were very clean and there was music playing, another detail that sets this resort apart. The grounds, for a packed campground were actually well done with trees, and large stones around. You will hear other people at nearby sites, it didn’t bother me, in fact listening to all the various dogs barking at each other from their respective sites made me laugh. You can hear cars from 495, but once again, somehow it did not bother me. I’ve stayed at campgrounds up in NH that are dry camping, and I can hear cars on Rt 16 or on the Kanc. There is a catch, sites probably average $100/night or more, when all the amenities are up and running, it is well wort it. Shoot, I’ve stayed in hotels for $150/night with no amenities. This place has so much to do, or just sit by the campfire and drink beer and relax, or borrow a movie for free. Remember to return it or they will process the $20.00 hold. I’m definitely going back, kids had fun, I had fun. Pay ahead and get your gate codes, and you can drive right to your site, that was super convenient, see the positives keep showing up. Thanks for reading

Burlingame state park campground is 3100 acres and many of the 739 reservable campsites are well spaced out and you could obtain great privacy if you know which site to pick. The condition of the park has steadily declined since about 2016. Plans are in the work to update all bathroom facilities, but it keeps getting pushed back year after year. Burlingame State Park campground is the only state park managed by an outside corporation who assumes the day to day responsibilities for campsites, dumpsters and bathrooms. Ongoing issues, especially on holiday weekends have been noted by hundreds of campers.  The new pre-registration offered through Reserve America has been a great improvement. It allows to avoid the long lines at the check-in station and drive straight up to the gate. Lack of staff on the management level, and Rhode Island state park department level definitely shows. Rhode Island DEM is allowing this wonderful campground to deteriorate. Flooding issues during even minor rainfall is apparent in a large portion of sites, so beware which campsite you reserve. Camper created group called Bound4burlingame has filmed every campsite and put them on YouTube and has created a private group on FB where the camping community of Burlingame contributes daily to an extremely popular public forum. Best place to gain info and insight. Get campsite recommendations straight from the people who actually camp there.

We stayed at Mystic KOA in North Stonington, Connecticut, to be tourists in Mystic. Spoiler alert… we had a great stay! 

This campground is just 15-minutes from Mystic and about an hour’s drive to Newport, Rhode Island. It’s just a few minutes from I-95 and so close to Mystic Aquarium, downtown Mystic, Mystic Seaport, and all the local spots. 

It’s a well-maintained campground with 2 pools(though the larger one was closed for maintenance during our stay), lots of play areas and daily activities for little ones, and a cool“pub truck” for adult drinks. Our site(#408) was about 85’ long with plenty of room for our 45’ motorhome and toad(and then some!). It was level and gravel with a nice fire ring and picnic table. The hookups worked fine with 50-amp electric and decent water pressure. Cable TV had nearly 50-channels, but the wi-fi didn’t quite reach our part of the park. 

Due to a family issue, we needed to leave about a day-and-a-half early. We called the office as a courtesy to let them know as we were pulling out and received a partial credit for a night’s stay on our credit card. Didn’t even ask, they just did it. Thanks Mystic KOA! 

We’ll definitely be back. This is a great place to stay when visiting the coastal Connecticut/Rhode Island area.

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.