Best Tent Camping near Island Pond, VT

I tent camped at site 6 for two nights in early September for a trail volunteer event for the Cohos Trail I and had an awesome stay.

For facilities, there is a camp office (though hours were not consistent), basic camp store, coin op showers, coin op laundry, a big dish cleaning station, and clean bathrooms.

For activities, this site is awesome for fly fishing folks since it’s a short walk from one of the best spots in NH.

I saw lots of folks kayaking and canoeing and there’s a public boat ramp a short walk from the campground. There was a sign for rentals but I didn’t see any available. This may be for earlier in the season.

The sites vary in terms of privacy. The lakefront sites were spectacular but you are close to your neighbors. I was in site 6, in one of the small loops off the waterfront drive. These spots were close together but were separated by some brush to make them feel more secluded. The tent sites in the outer loops looked to offer more privacy.

This campsite was full the weekend I was there and very lively during the day but very quiet and peaceful in the evening.

Lake Francis is way up in NH so this does feel remote. The main activities are hiking, fishing (both fly and from the boat), and I saw a host of folks ATVing.

I would definitely come back on account of the great fishing and peacefulness at night.

First time tent camping in the most beautiful place! Would highly recommend if you are looking for a place to recharge.

My wife and I spent 10 days at this remote tent site. Our site was on the far western end of Kettle Pond and the only tent site in the remote camping area. A trail that goes around the pond is easily accessed from site 10. We were able to watch the Loons teaching it's chicks to hunt for food. A bit of work to get to this site but every bit worth the trade off for peace n quiet!

Camped here twice in 2023. Once tent camping in July and the other was in our TT on Columbus day weekend. While the sites may be a bit close, they have everything to will need for a pleasant stay.

Large, new Adirondack shelters and tent sites. Get the shelter....only $4 more per day ahd huge! All the facilities are phenomenally well maintained.Clean bathrooms and awesome showers! Love this place!

Step walk in and out though most of the tent plat forms have amazing views. I have stayed here twice and had great experiences. A outhouse is located at this tent site as well as pump-able water, bear boxes and a shelter. Great place to stay on the Pemi Loop. It is a carry in carry out campsite.

Kettle Pond is a classic northern pond set in Vermont's Groton State Forest. Besides the group camping area, which can get busy, the pond has six lean-tos (across the pond from the group sites) and one tent site. They've got fire pits, crappers and a fair amount of privacy. The first two lean-tos are a few hundred feet apart. But the rest are fairly private, spread out along a trail that rings the pond. You must park in the lot and walk to all these sites. The farthest, most remote site, is about a mile from the parking lot. Here's a map: https://vtstateparks.com/assets/pdf/groton-remote.pdf

Great place to stay along the Pemi Loop. Water is pump-able at the intersection to the tent-sites. A outhouse is located near the shelter and platforms. A cooking area is provided. Bear boxes are right next to the cooking area for overnight use. Carry in carry out does apply here. Overall great place to stay.

Rudy's looked mostly to be an RV park, so my stop was maybe not the usual for this campground. I stopped for one night while I was thru-hiking the Cohos Trail in New Hampshire and had a great experience. There seemed to be much more space at this campground for RV and van travelers, though I didn't check out that part of the facility

I booked a tent site beforehand and on arrival had the choice of right next to Clarksville Pond or another area that I didn't check out since pondside sounded amazing, so my review is specific to the tenting experience.

I stopped by Rudy's before my hike, and they held onto a food drop for me (in a sealed big plastic container) for free, and held onto some extra gear for me so that I didn't need to carry it 

There are maybe ~3-4 tent sites right along the edge of the pond, in front of a few permanent cabins. They are basic tent sites right on the grass, with a fire ring and a picnic bench. The sites were flat and the views were amazing along the pond. 

I was able to get in a morning fly fishing session 5 feet from my tent! The wind was a bit high so no luck for me, but I saw the fish jumping when I stopped by after my hike to pick up some gear I left. Kathleen, the owner of the property, offered a free fly fishing lesson during my stay, but I had to decline to keep up the pace of my hike.

There was also access to the bathhouse with free heated showers, full bathrooms, and coin-op laundry. This was a great free amenity after 7 days on my hike for a necessary refresh.

The owner and other residents of the campground were super friendly. This was a great stop along my hike to refresh and connect with a few folks along the way.

Great campground with a mix of full hookup and tent sites! Many sites along the river and nice grassy sites near the front. Sites were spacious and well maintained. The campground is perfectly located for access to Franconia Notch. Highly recommend. The only negative was a mini-golf course that was falling apart but they still charged for to use.

A huge campground with showers, camp store, RV sites, and tent sites. During the summer months there are regular nature programs through Discover the Power of the Parks. Bike trail that runs the length of the park can be accessed here, as well as trails to Lonesome Lake, Kinsmen Mountain, Canon Mountain, and the Franconia Ridge Loop which includes Mt. Lafayette.

The section for campers is huge and the section for tents is significantly smaller, essentially an open field with almost no privacy for the tent sites. In general, the campground is immaculate from the general store to the bathrooms to the pools. It's perfect for families, as they have many kids activities planned throughout the week. That being said, there's constantly children running around yelling and walking right through your campsite with no care in the world.

Quiet little park on Ricker Pond. I have been camping at this park for 50 years. 3 generations of our family get together when we can. The pond is great for swimming, kayaking, fishing and exploring. Plenty of things to do in the Groton State Forest as well. Plenty of prime lean-to and tent sites on the wate. Site #8 is our favorite but it is very popular

We went tent camping and seemed to be one of the few tenters. We stayed at base camp 1C. It was a very nice site near the water with water and electric. However not a lot (any) privacy. The bathrooms were very nice and there were showers, though not a lot of water pressure. The camp office folk were very nice. The site was large enough for my 10x12 tent and an ez up and to park the van. Site also had a picnic table and fire ring with Cook rack on it. Gorgeous view of the lake, just wished for more privacy

This is one of the rare New Hampshire campgrounds that is open year round. For years I drove by this campground deterred by the run-down, deserted red building next door that is NOT associated with the campground. On a last-minute whim I called and snagged one of the final two sites for the holiday weekend, spending 3 nights here. I wanted to be someplace where I could track the baseball playoffs, so finding a place with wifi (fair, better closer to the bath house) and 2-3 bar 3G/4G Verizon access was a plus. This campground has a large number of seasonal sites, but also has sites available for the occasional camper, with discounts available if you stay for a week.

Sites are wooded, generally moderately sized, though the seasonal sites are much larger. Tent sites do not have hook-ups, but they have small shelters that provide additional protection fro the weather. Some of the tent sites are sloped. They also tend to be long and narrow, opening up to a wider area with the picnic table, fire pit and tent pad. Tent sites in the K row are near the road, so although you don't get much campground noise, you do hear road traffic.

The bathhouse is clean, well-lit, and heated (a treat on those cold autumn mornings). There's also a laundry room with 4 washers and dryers if you need to clean up or dry out after a rough day on the trails. Sites are close to each other. They've separated sites with fence panels in some places to provide some privacy. There's an inground pool, a large playground, and a horsehoe pit.

Activities in the area include very convenient access to hiking trails ranging from family friendly Surgarloafs to classic 4000-footers along Franconia Ridge, and peaks along the northern ridge of the Pemi Wilderness (Garfield, Galehead, Twins), trails to Mt Washington and the Presidentials, as well as numerous peaks and waterfalls in the Crawford Notch area. Cog railway is just a few miles down the road if you want to catch an early ride. Trails for ATVs and snowmobiles are also nearby.

This campground was small and quiet with majority of sites for tents only. The river was super calm so we were able to take our paddle board out and explore the waters. They have a small camp store and vault toilets but they were pretty clean. Overall a great campground in the northern area of NH! We stayed at site 18 which was next to a large field with tent sites on the river. Luckily no one was camping around us this weekend and it felt like we had the place to ourselves

Stayed here in May 2018 and really enjoyed the quiet town of Gorham in the White Mountains.  We came in early May so it was still early in the season but we had a wooded tent site in the back of the campground and felt very secluded from the rest.  Lot's of great hiking within an hour of the property including Mt Madison, Mt Washington and a little further out is the Flume Gorge in Lincoln that I highly recommend.

This campground was fantastic! Tucked away in a beautiful part of Vermont, the campground is right on Groton Lake with a swimming area and designated boat launch. There's also an access path to the Montpelier & Wells River Rail Trail. 

The campsites are really nice with tent sites and leanto options. The overall facility was really well kept. What stood out the most at this campground was the staff! I was having car issues and the staff was extremely helpful in helping me fix the problem! They kept checking in and asking if I needed anything, helped me research solutions, and even on their own time tried to tinker with my car to figure it out. It was above and beyond expectations! I really enjoyed my stay here and will make a point to come back.