Best Glamping near Bridgewater Corners, VT

My family loves this camp ground right on the CT River. It has RV sights and cabins they keep the campers busy with fun activities for kids and grown ups. This is what I would call a Glamping campground then a roughing it campground but it’s still amazing.

I tent camped here while doing some fishing in the area.

Baker Rocks had a host of different camping options onsite including tent platforms, yurts, and cabins. I booked one of the tent platforms.

The site had a large tent platform they could fit multiple tents, a brand new picnic table, a fire ring (with a free bundle of firewood), two chairs by the fire ring, and even a few strings of solar lights around the camp area.

The tent sites are within the wooded area around the property and felt very secluded. There was a bit of road noise overnight.

The facilities here were great. There is a full bathhouse with individual rooms for showers and sink/toilets, with running water.

Around the campground there was a little beach along the Baker river. I only caught a few minnows when fishing but that may have been more to do with the angler. Along another bend of the river were two chairs for taking in the scenery.

Check-in was super easy with the camp hosts who were very flexible with timing and wanted to make sure I had a great stay. The property and individual sites are deliberately designed with guests in mind.

I would definitely stay here again if I’m in the area and might try some of the glamping options as well.

Our family of 4 visited Baker Rocks during a very rainy week and still had an amazing time. The campsites are private and spacious, the property is large and beautiful, close to the river. The owners are so kind and accommodating. We stayed 2 nights in the double bell tent with two clean full size beds and a 3rd night in the yurt both were spacious and wonderful, among tall trees and pines. Definitely will be back next summer! They even have animals to visit like bunnies and goats (far away from the campsites).Do bring bug spray, the mosquitoes at certain times of day were aggressive, as to be expected.

This campground is the number one rated in Vermont for a reason. The staff were wonderful, the sites are pristine and picturesque, the faculties are decorated with wildflowers. We met a number of AT through hikers, who were very willing to share their adventure stories.

Plenty of space between sites. Decent bathroom situation--I've seen better and I've seen worse in Vermont. The (AT&T) cell phone reception was pretty good, but could be slow at times (which could be because of the area or because of the busy fall color season.)

Beautiful campground in south central Vermont.  On a lovely emerald green small lake with nice beach. Good for fishing and kayaking.  Well kept. Was very quiet when we visited though I suspect it's much busier in mid summer.  Near Manchester, which has numerous great restaurants and a fabulous bookstore.

This is a pretty small State Park, so it fills up quickly. The sites on the pond are beautiful if you can get one! The campground has a small beach, boat launch and it's right on the Cross Vermont Trail. I stayed in October and it was really quiet and relaxing. There is absolutely no cell service for miles, so plan accordingly.

We just finished six nights at Emerald Lake State Park.  Camping at Vermont State parks is always top notch.  We had a lean-to site and good privacy from the sites around us.  There was plenty of room for our tent and screen tent.  Everyone was respectful and quiet, even on the weekend when it was busier.  Bathrooms were cleaned daily, showers were fine.  50 cents for 5 minutes and then extra time for each additional quarter.  Two bars of AT&T.  Manchester was an easy 10 minute drive away for provisioning, and we enjoyed a great hike to Lye Brook Falls (the trailhead was around a 20 minute drive).  We would definitely come here again.

This campground is easy to access, though owing to that one can hear traffic on the nearby road. The lake is beautiful, clear and clean, and there is a beach with sand for swimming. We had our trail bikes so took advantage of the Montpelier-Wells Rail Trail (Cross Vermont Trail), accessible directly from the campground. The site was directly on the lake and clean. The folks working check-in were friendly and helpful. The lake is really nice for kayaking or swimming, and has some loons, but when we were there it carried lots of noise from other sites. The place is gorgeous, but a few knocks because of the noise level. I would go back again though!

When we first heard of the North East Kingdom of Vermont, we had no idea where people were talking about, but something idyllic and natural came to mind. Ricker Pond State Park fits beautifully into this landscape. Getting here isn’t direct or easy, but the reward is worth it. Leave your mobile devices off, because cell towers haven’t quite made it to this quiet corner of the woods. 

The pace here is slow, even by campground standards, but this adds to the charm. A wide array of rustic cabins, lean-to shelters, and traditional tent campsites scattered throughout the park along the shores of Ricker Pond.  No electrical hookups to be found, so bring your solar panels if you want power.  There is a ton of space between sites -- we could barely see our neighbors or hear them.

The staff have gone the extra mile and planted flowers along many of the choicest camping areas. Campsite amenities include a toilet block with pay showers and flush toilets, but no electrical or water hook ups. The water is delicious by the way, so don’t bother with any bottled variety– this is the good stuff. 

Paddling out on the lake has to be the best way to enjoy this wonderful area. With boats available for rent, you don’t even need to bring your own. Check out this quiet corner of Vermont and simply forget about it all. The nearby town of Groton, has a gas station with a small grocery store for all the most important staples (marshmallows, chocolate, bread, beer) at least one small restaurant, and the library offers free wifi 24/7 if you really must connect for a few minutes.

I’ve been visiting Ricker Pond for nearly 20 years (except for the years that I don’t book enough in advance and aren’t able to secure a spot for my desired length of stay). My favorite lean to site is directly on the water, private, and fills up fast. My favorite cabin site, is set back from the water, is private, and also fills fast for the season. I LOVE venturing to Vermont every summer & staying at Ricker. There is an electrical outlet in the basic cabins, quarter-run showers, and an excellent country store/restaurant a few miles away that has anything you may need and might have forgotten. Tents/RV sites are also available. Book in advance for the best availability!

I've stayed at 10 of the state parks of VT. Gifford Woods takes the cake in friendliness of its staff. The park is amazingly clean, well run, located just of RT 4 and very near to Killington, Vermont. It has multiple lean-to sites which are in wooded areas. Cool stone bathrooms and playing fields for kids but the highlight (for me) is access to the Appalachian Trail. The AT runs directly through this park. While on a 4 state section hike I traveled by foot through this park. The ranger gave me an ice cream, pointed me to the showers and then chatted with me for an hour about my hike so far. He also gave me a ride to the Inn at Long Trail to pick up a resupply box since I was a few days behind schedule and low on food. I'll always remember his kindness. Living just across the state line in NH, I have frequented Gifford Woods on 4 other occasions for day hiking with family. Enjoy! I sure did!

Unfortunately, we stayed here on a pretty rainy weekend in June, but I have nothing but good things to say about our visit to Half Moon Pond. We stayed in site T06, which is right on the water. We were easily able to go straight from the tent to our kayak, which was so awesome. 

The bathhouse was very clean, the swimming beach is small but perfect, and there are even cabins for rent on the other side of the pond. Bomoseen State Park is right down the road, but I recommend staying at Half Moon and taking advantage of the large swimming area at Bomoseen, as well as all the cool ponds, lakes, and hiking trails nearby. 

Of all the Vermont State Parks we've camped at, Half Moon Pond is high at the top of the list for its privacy, quiet paddling, and proximity to other cool attractions. I wish I had more photos to share, but rain...

This is a nice state park located near the Quechee Gorge, a lovely place to explore and play. Vermont State parks often offer lean-to options and Quechee is no exception. If you don't have a tent, you still have a dry structure; if you do have a smaller tent, you can even pitch it in the lean-to. It give you some security for those wet camping trips that inevitably hit at some point in the summer!

The sites are broken up into several smaller loops; sites are large and private. A few of them are Y sites that make a nice setting for families and friends camping together. Sites are back-in, generally level with lots of space to pitch a tent. No hookups, but a dump station is available. There's a large field that a few of the sites back up to. Bathrooms were clean, showers are coin-operated, so bring your quarters. Firewood available for sale. Groceries are available nearby.

Take time to walk down into the gorge and explore the river. It's a great place to cool off. You'll need to walk back toward the visitor's center (there's a trail that will take you over to the parking lot) for the descent. At the top, check out the visitors' center. Farther afield you can visit the Billings Farm and Museum, explore trails at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP, enjoy scenic Woodstock. There's an annual balloon festival and even if the balloons don't fly due to weather, there's music and other entertainment. Lots of small shops and markets in the area. In Quechee, VINS has a canopy walk and raptors; check out their calendar for events. Traffic can be a beast during

Gorgeous sites. Upper Loop sites are spaced further apart. Wooded. AT goes right through the campground. Lovely late summer camping experience. Can’t say enough good things about Gifford Woods.

The campground at Gifford Woods State Park is a hiker's campground for sure. The sites are large, private, and wooded, and there are clean restrooms with hot showers. The highlight is the hiking, both in the park and just outside of it.

The Appalachian Trail runs right through the park and you can hike up to Deer Leep, around Kent Pond, or to Thundering Falls right from the campground. Nearby hikes include the Bucklin Trail to the top of Killington, Sherburne Pass to Pico Peak, and Canty Trail to Blue Ridge Mountain. So many choices!

We stayed in the Elm lean-to, which sits up on a wooded hill. The only down side is that the lean-to opening faces the road instead of the woods, which would have been better for privacy. A minor issue, though.

Apple and Hemlock are awesome lean-tos if you can get them!

I tent camped here before doing a section hike of the Appalachian Trail and it was one of the best campgrounds I’ve stayed at before.

The sites have some privacy and woods in between, though the tent sites vs. shelters and cabins were mostly closer to the access road. All sites were super clean and had a picnic table and fire ring. Most sites had a built in cooking fire structure (vs. a fire ring) they looked great for camp cooking, though my site (T01) seemed to be the only without it.

The facilities were well-maintained, there were water spigots everywhere, and though I didn’t get a chance to enjoy, there were lots of activities right there (volleyball lawn, the AT running right through the campground, mountain bike trails).

I didn’t stay in them, but the cabins and lean-tos looked great for group or family options.

Kent Pond was also just across the road for water activities, and I saw at least one fly fisher out.

Killington was also right nearby for restaurants and other needs.

I will definitely be coming back to explore more!

Cute little Campground, similar to others built by the CCC in the 1930s. Site 16 is one of the smaller sites and is not super level, but we were able to get the Subaru backed in and relatively level for camping. Bathrooms are super clean. Staff is friendly. Seasoned firewood available for purchase ($6 a stack). The sites on the lower loop are closer together. Get a site in the upper loop if you can, but no complaints for not making advance reservations on July 4th weekend.

Great campground with many hiking trails and a peaceful pond with fishing across the street. Clean bathrooms and showers and great cell service for people working while camping! Stayed at site 15 in the lower campground for a few nights and it was level and spacious but pretty close to neighbors compared to other sites. Then we moved to lean to ELM in the upper campground and it was a nice private site. It was perched on a hill but we were still able to park and sleep in our van next to the lean to. Highly recommend!

I will start with the ONLY drawback, and it is dramatic at best. For like 30 minutes a day at around 5pm (I was there Thursday to Monday) you would hear (pistol) gun fire. Its most annoying the first day, then you get over it.

Moving on…

This is absolutely the best kept and cleanest campground I’ve ever been to.

The staff… ALL amazing, always cheerful, helpful and seemingly happy to be there! (I encountered cleaning, maintenance, desk, and store staff!)

The smaller loop is newest, and if you can handle camps being tightly spaced, you’ll get prime access to the seemingly brand new facilities which i always found to be clean and tidy (and bug free with decent toilet paper). The showers were nicely sized, immediately hot and the cost/time is generous!

The larger, upper loop has hugely spaced out spots that are more open due to less undergrowth, but still seem private as i walked by them on my way to the Appalachian trail access, halfway up the large loop.

Simply awesome easy-ish trails in both directions. Expect a 2 mile trip either direction to see cool stuff (see bottom for notes)

Wood is great, slow burning, large pieces for $6 a bundle, which are generous in size.

NOTES I came across (polite and private) families and happy dogs (surprisingly mostly well behaved, one off leash on a trail but still friendly).

Edit: Turns out my battery died while i was here AND THEY HELPED ME JUMPSTART IT! 🥰🥰🥰

This campsite was amazing. Each site had a fair amount of isolation and trees surrounding it, and the mosquitoes aren't too bad there either. 10 minutes away is the trail head for the Bucklin Trail (one of the most difficult trails for Mt. Killington).

Also, the campsite lies directly on the Appalachian trail, so for a shorter or less-intensive hike, walk about 2.5 miles to the Deer Leap Overlook for some incredible views of the mountain ranges nearby.

We have stayed at this campground twice and have been so happy with it every time. The facilities are great for a state park and the sites are large. It’s a smaller campground which is really great. It’s just a short hike back to the pond, which is very pretty and is along the Appalachian Trail. Very centrally located and takes no time at all to get to Killington and Rutland.

From the drive to the park, to the friendliness of the manager Brittany, to the facilities, and the hiking trails, this park met our every expectation. 

This was our first camping with our two adult pups. One can be a barker depending on certain triggers. So we stayed in one of the lovely rustic cabins. We love hiking and there is no shortage of hiking trails in and around the park, including the AT that runs right through the park. 

I can't say enough good things about how well the park is maintained. Bathrooms were frequently cleaned and the park was meticulously maintained. We drove by another VT state park too, and maintenance crews were seen blowing the leaves etc. and in general taking good care of the parks.

Gifford Woods is definitely on my list of must return to parks...We like to try new parks, but this one earned the spot to be a return spot.