Best Cabin Camping in Rhode Island

Cabin Reviews in Rhode Island

99 Reviews of 10 Rhode Island Campgrounds

• 

  Jean C.

  Legend

  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.

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• 

  Ryan A.

  Guide

  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.

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• 

  Laurie M.

  Traveler

  Jul. 19, 2023

  Burlingame State Park Campground

  Once a gem, but steadily declining.

  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.

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• 

  Jessica A.

  Traveler

  Feb. 7, 2023

  Burlingame State Park Campground

  A Camper's Campground

  Burlingame is a HUGE state park campground with over 700 sites. The location is fantastic, but with this many sites (so, with this many people), there are bound to be pros and cons.

  Pros:

  Lovely location - it's in the middle of the woods, has a pond, has pond swimming. It's just minutes to the ocean by car. Hiking and biking for miles.

  Camp store - well stocked.

  Price - dirt cheap if you are a RI resident, but pricey if you aren't.

  Spacious - even with all those sites, there's plenty of room between sites and tons of open space for kids to run around, fly a kite, play tag, hide and seek.

  Real camping atmosphere - fire rings at each site, wooded sites (and open grass sites if you like that better). Wildlife (listening to the several types of owls is a favorite pastime at night). While RVs are welcome (and we have tent and trailer camped here), this is NOT an RV resort. No hook-ups.

  Cons:

  No hook-ups, lol. This is a con in the heat of the summer if you want/need AC. 

  Bath houses - are usually pretty filthy, and that's because there are too many people per bath house, and people are gross.

  Noise / Parties / Drunks - again, too many sites means too many people and nowhere near enough park staff. On the weekends people can get out of hand with the partying and it's not uncommon to have to listen to noise late into the night. Do not come on a holiday weekend, it's packed.

  Overall, if you are a camper's camper, this is a great place. Close to CT so a day trip to Mystic is easy, close to several gorgeous beaches, close to great restaurants, ice cream, and shopping. Swim in the pond. Fish in the pond (catch and release). Bike. Hike. Hammock. Avoid holiday weekends and the heat of August if you can. Be prepared for dirty restrooms and come armed with hand soap (they no longer provide any), paper towels, and Clorox wipes.

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• 

  allison W.

  Legend

  Aug. 4, 2022

  George Washington State Campground

  Updated information! Good site.

  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.

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• 

  Joanna M.

  Guide

  Jul. 29, 2020

  George Washington State Campground

  One of my favorites

  They allow 2 cars per site. Kept very clean. Swimming area. Great for kayaking and fishing. We camp in our tent. They do allow RVs. Tons of hiking trails. Picnic tables and fire pit at each site. The folks a few miles down the road by the rotary sell giant piles of wood for $10. They do not have an on site store or sell firewood. So bring your own things. Simple but very nice.

• 

  Sean R.

  Traveler

  Apr. 28, 2023

  Whispering Pines Campground

  Went too Early

  I believe we camped there too early in the season to fully enjoy the grounds. The pool, splash pad, and nearly everything else was non operational or locked up still. Bocce ball set was pad locked, no one working the rec hall for horse shoes, shuffle board was in op. Didn't see a place for renting boats for the pond. With that said, the location is great. We drove about 10 min to some awesome trails which literally crossed the Connecticut and Rhode Island border. Back to the grounds.. again, probably because it is off season but the grounds seemed cluttered from the seasonal campers. Construction debris was evident as they are building a new welcome center currently. There was debris from seasonals as well which have the appearance of cluttered. The spots seemed a little close too. I'm rating 4 stars for the potential of the grounds if we were there at the right time otherwise I would rate 2.5 to 3 stars based on our trip alone. I believe that an in-season visit would be really nice as long as all amenities were available.

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• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  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!

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• M

  Michael K.

  Guide

  Jun. 17, 2019

  Holiday Acres Campground

  Nice campsite with very friendly people and staff

  We enjoyed this campground. It has a few bumps and bruises that could be improved but overall it was a safe place with lots of families. 

  It appeared to be mostly seasonal / long term campers and people that had developed good relationships with their neighbors. Everyone was friendly and helpful. 

  Good comments:

  Most of the campsites seem to have an open area in the middle between them that allows for maneuvering and socializing. 

  The camp store is small but well stocked and the prices are very good. 

  The beachfront is nice, the canoe and kayak rental is reasonable. 

  Needs improvement:

  Electrical at my campsite could use a little work. 

  The sewer on my site overflowed after only ~15-20 gallons of dumping.

  The swimming area has a 'icky bottom' (kid term :)) 

  The entrance / office setup is confusing. If you come in from the West you'll see an entrance, if you pull in you'll then be able to see signs that tell you to go another 1/4 mile to the office to check in. This area doesn't have enough room to make a u-turn unless your rig is pretty small. 

  After checking in, you go back out on the main road to the aforementioned entrance. 

  Overall we had a good time and the issues were minor compared to having a safe place with lots of kids and things to do. All entrances are gated with key codes and there was a security guard on staff part of the time. The office staff was super nice and understanding when I lost my way coming into the wrong gate. :)

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