Charge Pond Campground — Myles Standish State Forest

I'll be honest and say that I'm a stealth camper and this review was written from that perspective. It isn't by choice, mind you, it's just that coastal MA has very few places you can legally camp in peace (away from all the families and drunken college kids) and the prices many parks/campsites will ask per night is just ridiculous if you're like me and don't intend to use their power, showers, bathrooms, etc.

So with that being said, this park is definitely not the place for someone like me. The paid campsites they have available are exactly what I described above: little to no privacy, lots of loud kids, lots of loud 20-30-somethings definitely not drinking in a dry park late into the night, and reservations (that need to be booked before 2pm the previous day, even if open lots are still available) starting at over $20 a night when adding tax and "handling" fees. Now technically speaking, camping in the park off-campsites isn't prohibited (theres no posted signs or regulations on their website or at the park headquarters that explicitly say you can't, nor any state laws against it - I've done my homework as I don't want to be arrested), it's clearly frowned upon given my observations in the numerous times I've camped here. Local police fly up and down the main roads and bike paths (which is super dangerous) through the park all night, flash their searchlights through the woods, and sit in parking lots revving their engines like teenagers with their first car. The place really doesn't give off a welcoming vibe. I get that they might be trying to scare off any homeless people who take refuge in the woods, but if those are the methods they're using I really don't wanna see how they would treat someone if they caught them.

So if you're like me and would rather just go find your own quiet spot to camp out for the night by a small fire, even if it meant slipping $5 into a box by the entrance, look elsewhere. Myles Standish State Park is not the place for a lonely night in the woods. I've only been able to keep coming here because I camp responsibly, I keep a low profile, and I live about 20 mins away so I come in by bicycle. If I had better options I'd go elsewhere but driving to western MA, NH, VT, ME, or even NY where dispersed camping in state and national parks is more commonly allowed just doesn't make sense when it's only for a night or two.

TLDR: if you like solitude in nature go somewhere else if you have the means to, if you don't have the means to then stealth camp - just don't do anything stupid and screw it up for the rest of us!

Pros - the campground is lovely to drive through and the sites are fairly nicely design with some privacy between sites (some sites have more some have less).  It's also nice to have access to the multitude of hiking trails and ponds.

Cons - the works.  We stayed around Charge Pond on a Friday and Saturday night, and even though the park has clearly stated quiet hours of 10 pm to 7 am (which includes generators), it was one of the loudest camps I've ever been to.  Several camp neighbors in our loop were up well past 1am loud as hell - talking loudly, screaming and yelling - even their kids!  And one site had their trailer generator running all night - there was absolutely no patrol of this campground at all, which is unacceptable on weekends in my opinion.  This place attracts some really awful people - there were several spots of vomit in the road Saturday morning, and on Sunday morning a neighbor could be heard at 6 am puking his guts out in surround-sound.  That plus the general noisiness, disrespect of other campers, and lack of patrol would keep me away alone, but the state of the facilities topped it off.  The women's room in Charge Pond loop A was filthy - it wasn't super outdated, but just not clean at all.  Every surface was absolutely disgusting, they had a 5-gallon plastic bucket to serve as the bathroom trash, and the entire place smelled like urine.  To top it off, when using it Sunday morning every single stall was out of toilet paper, and the whole place had very clearly had not been cleaned since Friday night.  I know campground bathrooms are usually not the best, but this was definitely one of the worst - I've used vault toilets that were cleaner!

I will never stay here again.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we camped at Myles Standish. We were in the Charged Pond area, in loop F. The campground doesn't have hook ups, but there is a dump station with water and water available around the loops. The lower part of the camp ground is set up in different loops. While this is a large campground, it didn't feel that large as the loop probably had 50 sites. Our site was wooded and pretty private for a state campground. We had plenty of room and the site had a fire pit and picnic table. Each loop has one bathhouse. Ours, unfortunately, did not have hot water. We were told if we wanted it, we could go to any of the other loops. The bathrooms had two showers and three stalls, two sinks. There were at least three outlets in the women's room which was convenient for a quick cell phone charge. 

The check in process was a little challenging. We arrived later in the day and had hoped to get our pop up set up by dark, but the check in process took almost 30 mins between waiting in line and a VERY slow attendant. He was more worried about my out of state phone number than getting us checked in. He also kept trying to put us in a different section of the campground. I finally pulled up my reservation to show him that I was in the Charged Pond area. 

Our daughters rate campgrounds by their bathrooms. I was pleasantly surprised that they received at least one cleaning during our time there. But regardless, the bathrooms weren't that clean. It wasn't the worst bathroom (thanks Yosemite for setting that standard), but it could have been a little more attended to. It scored a - "not so bad that we'd never come back" rating from the girls. 

The bike trails through the part are great and we enjoyed them. Paved and mountain bike trails. The map they give you at check in isn't very good - hard to read and a little blurry. We picked up a nice printed, folded map at the visitor's center in town and it was much nicer and easier to read the trails. Take the map with you as the bike trails were a little confusing.

We also enjoyed the various kettle ponds. We kayaked one morning and enjoyed watching the people catching good sized fish around us. The beach (at least at Charged Pond) had a nice sandy section and a bathhouse. 

The town of Plymouth is about a 10 min. drive if you need anything. We never saw a camp store or even a place to get ice. But we didn't look that hard either. 

I was surprised that it was fairly quite and not busier on a holiday weekend. We felt most people respected quiet hours and there were even empty sites in our loop. 

We will definitely go back. It was a nice, quick getaway.