Best Glamping near Bennington, VT

For some, the strange people who haunt certain grounds are a plus. For the rest of us, they are just a regular feature of the land west of the great Massassippi River. Anyway, being some of the first people to hit a campground like this one early in the season certainly has it’s benefits. For one, the bathrooms are cleeean as hail, and this place is really well-appointed. Pooping in relative comfort basically makes this glamping. They even have a big ole nice sink to wash your dirty dishes (and whatever other unmentionables, if you nasty), clean water spigots, RV sites with hookups, plenty of wood for sale, forage, or barter, and flat campgrounds with concrete fire pits with built in grill grates and wooden picnic tables. All amenities are within close walking distance, which is also a plus. The trails in October Mountain State Forest are very pretty, with some grand vistas to pull over if you’re some sort of nature pervert or lookie loo. Good fishin’ and mushroom hunting and other things white folks like to do in these parts, too.

Now let’s get to the cons:

bugs- this place, at the end of May is positively swarming with mosquitoes and gnats, even in the 2 rainy and cold-ass nights we spent there, the flies were everpresent. It’s Hitchcockian; and I don’t want to make any accusations or cast aspersions, but these insects are prejudiced, at best.

massholes- these are a given. I’m one so I know.

rangers- because this is a state park, you will have ranger patrols consisting of, um, rangers, some of whom might be more interested in what’s in your coozie than others, because, you know, rules. That said, we had no enforcement issues, but then again the camp ground was empty. Otherwise, unless you’ve got one of the few yurts onthe property, the campsites aren’t far enough apart that you ever really feel secluded. They’re not too bad, though, plenty of room.

This place, overall, is a good time if it’s not below 60 and wet.

Woodford State Park is situated between Wilmington and Bennington VT in the southern part of the Green Mountain National Forest. The park surrounds the Adams Reservoir and happens to be the highest elevation of all the Vermont state campgrounds. Woodford has two beaches- a larger day-use area with tables and grills and a smaller “campers” beach in the park’s third loop. There is also an approximate 2.5 mile trail that loops the reservoir and access to canoe and kayak rentals.

My sister and I stayed in site #2, which was smaller and less covered than some of the other sites. But I was lucky to book a spot just two weeks ahead of the Memorial Day holiday. Despite a couple days of rain, I really enjoyed myself and the park. The grounds seemed well kept and the staff were helpful. Plus there’s also looks to go and see in nearby Wilmington and historic Bennington.

After some exploration, I came to the conclusion that site #23 is the absolute best. It’s my go-to for my next visit! I judge this based on privacy, shade and water views, but of course preference is subjective. Sites #11, 21, 39, 40, 45, 56, 70, 72 and 84 were also pretty great.

Overall, Woodford was a great park and I definitely recommend it, particularly to those looking for dog and/or family oriented recreation!

Beautiful area to hike. Quiet off the beaten path. There are 3 yurts available May-October (no dogs allowed in the yurts☹️. There are several tent sits available. Dogs are welcomed here! Every site has a fire pit and a picnic table.Highly recommend staying here if you are in the area!

This campground was great. Quiet, great fire pits, clean bathrooms, firewood and starter for sale plus access to day use area. The lake next to the campground is beautiful and has plenty of picnic tables and grills for use. Close to hiking trails and the city of Bennington.

Absolutely beautiful! Highly recommend renting a yurt while staying at October Mnt. Clean and super comfortable

We visited last year and were blown away by the beauty. So many things near by to exlore. Lake lauderdale state park and Vermont is just 20 mins away. We really enjoyed our stay and exploring the neighborhood.

perfect for families! there are tons of different types of campsites with either tent spots, lean tus, and a few (hard to get) cabins. bathrooms are plentiful and clean, hot showers for a small price. beautiful clean swimmable lake with a walking trail around it.

the staff was pleasant, camp sites were clean and accommodating.

Nice wooded sites. Pay showers I wasn’t too thrilled about but the new one was nice. The old bathrooms need a little sprucing up there’s no place to put your soap and shampoo, wouldn’t take much to fix that. Great lake there for kayaking and fishing. Rained most of the time but still had a good time.

Been taking my son here since he was a baby.  Great place to relax

Stayed over for 2 nights, the campground is easy to access, amenities (showers and toilets) are in excellent shape and clean. The overall conditions of the campground are great. Some campsites are more private than others, we stayed at #84 and loved it. Showers are $0,50 for 5 minutes, $0,25 per extra minute. Bundle of wood fire is $6 and big bags of ice $3. The campground was very quiet most of the day and totally at night. There is a nice ~ 30/45 minutes trail around the reservoir, easy level.

We had a great time and would stay there again!

This is a very nice campground.

We stayed in site 64 which is set back more than 2 car lengths from the road and is pretty well surrounded with trees so it feels very private and secluded. Could see one neighboring site slightly through the trees but that neighboring site was lower down so it still felt private. It was a good sized site. Not sure if we could hear any noise from route 9 or not. If we did, it was very faint and did not disturb us.

Site 64 is across the road from a water spigot and the path to the bathrooms/showers. It was very convenient and we didn't feel like we were right by the bathrooms (no compromise to our site's privacy, no noise, etc). Our site wasn't waterfront but wasn't far from path down to reservoir.

The bathrooms are BEAUTIFUL! the nicest I've seen yet. Very clean, well stocked with toilet paper and soap- convenient shelf and hooks for toiletries/towels.

The showers are beautiful as well. There are 3 individual shower rooms that lock. Each one has a bench/chair and hooks to hang towels etc. There is also a small shelf in the actual shower for soap. 

NEW for 2024: the showers do not accept quarters anymore. You need to buy tokens from the campground. It is 1 token for 5 minutes and it is 50 cents a token. The issue we encountered was that apparently people still try to put in quarters and this jams the machine. Therefore, when we put in our tokens, though we thought everything worked fine, in fact the machine did not register the tokens and we were left taking ice cold showers. When we told the office in the morning, they explained the issue and said that had we called them they could have fixed the shower. They are going to try to put some guard over the slot to prevent quarters from going in. Hopefully, this is implemented soon. They were very apologetic and gave us new tokens to replace the ones we had lost on cold showers.

The office sells wood for $6 a bundle and you can get free kindling from their leftover cuttings/sweepings. They also sell ice and some "merch"/"swag".

We really enjoyed our stay here.

Had a pleasant stay at Woodford State Park. Sites near T38 have a great elevated view of the reservoir. Also a nice loop trail for those looking to do a little bit of hiking.

I was headed from NY to ME and decided to make it a two day trip. VT State Parks have a two night minimum but as this was a Thursday I decided to take a shot. Got there in the late afternoon and a couple sites were open so it all worked out. 

This was just an overnight stop so I didn't explore much but it is definitely on the list should I get back up that way again. 

Site was shaded and private. The bath house was nice. The coin operated shower was a surprise but I had enough quarters for 10 minutes :)

Basic camping in a quiet, older campground. Very pretty beach area at the reservoir where you can paddle and swim. No hook ups available but only $20 per night for a site that was plenty big enough for a small motor home. Mostly tent campers though and spots would be tough for anything much bigger. Bathhouse was clean and had a pay shower.

Great place to camp and access nearby hiking including the AT and LT. Clean lodge (hostel) for hikers; access to a kitchen and showers as well.

Clean open and level camping areas. Prime areas are near the water some what elevated but you are able to drag your boat through on paths. Ice and firewood sold at $6.00 a bundle and it is Kiln dried so it burns fast. If it is windy I would move away from the water. Staff was young but were pleasant and accommodating and will deliver wood and ice. Great biking on paved areas.

Very clean, quiet and well-managed state park. Exactly what I’ve come to expect from the VT State Park campgrounds. The prime tent locations book quickly but those are definitely the ones to go for, as they have private access to the water. Otherwise you have to go around the lake/reservoir to swim. Firewood is very good; $6/bundle and ice for $2/bag. Helpful staff.