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Located at the western end of the scenic Kancamagus Highway, this campground serves as an excellent place to start your White Mountain adventure. The nearby Lincoln Woods Visitor Center is the jumping off point for numerous hiking trails leading into the Pemigewasset Wilderness; the Kancamagus Highway is an extremely popular scenic byway with numerous hiking, picnic, and swimming spots; and the town of Lincoln offers many amenities. Hancock Campground has 56 wooded sites.
$27 / night
The park is divided by Route 53. 19 tent/RV sites and 7 lean-to sites are on one side of the highway in a heavily wooded area, and 17 tent/RV sites are located along the perimeter of a grassy open area near the beach. There are restrooms with flush toilets, hot and cold running water and coin-operated hot showers. There is also a concession stand selling snacks, drinks and beach toys.
Nearby hiking trails to scenic vistas, waterfalls, caves, mountain lakes and streams provide outstanding hiking opportunites. Mountain biking trails are also nearby. There is fishing and boating on Lake Dunmore (canoe, kayak, rowboat, and pedal boat rentals are available at the park).
$35 - $45 / night
$20 - $38 / night
Above the notches and surrounded by an international border, Pittsburg New Hampshire’s lakes and streams form the headwaters of the Connecticut River. Thousands of protected acres of forest keep the water pure and wildlife active. Explore the forests on the expanding network of hiking, ATV, biking, snowmobile, and logging roads, or just sit back and enjoy the tranquility of the lakes and rivers. Our 30 site campground on a hillside spruce forest has sites for the everyone from tents to 40ft RVs. In addition, we have a variety of free and low-cost “extras” that help you relax and make the most of your time in Pittsburg, including direct access to the Cohos hiking trail, waterfront on 1st Lake with free paddleboat use (1/2 mile from campsites), and a full schedule of Saturday events throughout the summer. Please enjoy planning your trip with us, and always call or email if you have questions. There is no ATV trail access from the campground.
$25 - $45 / night
$125 - $500 / night
Legend
This easy-to-access campground has made it on my list of places to stay.
There are two loops of sites, some deep in the woods with great-looking trees, others in a field, and some in between. There are even sites with stalls if you're into horses.
The bathhouse looks typical and clean.
Not much cell service, but some in places.
Easy access to a lake and a picnic pavilion.
Noticed more than a few sites that I could hang at.
Guide
Open year round. Most sites are close together with very little privacy
A few sites are pretty much right on the river which is awesome. There's a nearby swimming hole. Campground is only short drive away from an endless amount of hiking options
LegendI just spent a cold rainy, snowy weekend camping here in January, and had a blast. The campground is plowed, sites have their access plowed with various widths depending on the site. The sites are a little close together, and for winter there was a number of them being used.
The campground is close to Lincoln, NH so if you need supplies you can easily run into town for food and drink. It's even closer to Loon Mtn and the Pemigewasset wilderness allowing for some amazing outdoor activities.
There are many dumpsters and bear boxes throughout the campground, the walk-in sites all have bear boxes. Every site has a fire pit. The campground is easily accessible by pavement.
LegendThere are hiking trails right from the campground, which we always appreciate. You can also go down to the water and rent a kayak or canoe from the rangers. Camp fees are $28/night, plus $5/day per adult for state park fees.
There is a dump station and drinking water on site, but the spigots for the water are not threaded. We tried our water bandit, with messy wet results. (Apparently you can’t use those if the other end of the hose is pressurized.) Luckily, we found we could unscrew the head of the hose at the dump station and had no problem filling our tank with potable water.
Each site is so different and may or may not fit an RV. Some sites are so sloped I don’t even know how a car would camp there. Some sites are out in the open grass where you just find a spot within the site that works for you. We saw fresh moose poop on a hike but sadly no moose or other wildlife. There are bears around the area though so please be bear smart when camping here.
Showers are something like $1 for 8 minutes, quarters only. The lean-to sites are really cool, and if I was tent camping I think they’d be so fun to sleep in. They have food compost bins here, but the rangers keep forgetting to unlock the bin, so you just have to ask them. There’s also a book exchange library and adorable little gnome habitats set up in the campground. We had a pleasant stay here.
RangerSome pros and lots of cons. We stayed at a walk-in site by the river.
I never fully appreciated just how much camp hosts do. There was no ranger and no host. We arrived early on a Thursday, hopeful we could get a spot by the water. There are only two spots that are truly private in any way. They were both taken- fine. However, one of the groups had not registered and stayed until 4 or 5pm until everyone else had already set up for the day…then they left! So uncool. The site went unused because at that point, no one was going to move all their stuff. Maybe a camp host would’ve noticed that?
The sites were FILTHY with trash, dog poop and food waste. Pretty crazy considering this was supposed to be a bear area. There was also a bad smell wafting around, hmm…maybe because of the trash and dog poop? Stepping in dog poop and trying to clean off your boots is a significant bummer. The site we were stuck at also had ashes and chunks of wood all over the picnic table. Cleaning up this much in order to feel comfortable really sucked.
There was no running water at any of the pumps and the pit toilets were quite full.
There is a bridge nearby but the river covered any vehicle noise very well. It was also nice to be right off the highway and five minutes from town, yet it felt like a proper national forest experience.
There’s an upper loop with drive in sites. They didn’t seem very private and you could see the road. I wouldn’t stay up there.
Being by the river was beautiful. I would stay here again, but with more preparation for the campground’s limitations.
Legend
We showed up on a busy Memorial Day weekend without reservations and the staff was kind enough to give us their last leanto. This place has access to some of the best hiking and paddling in the state.
LegendHancock is a first-come, first-serve campground close to the visitor center as you enter the Whites. It is also close to Loon Mountain Resort. Camping at this campground provides you river access, or is relatively close to the Hwy, depending which site you choose. One area is your standard campground - parking area, tent area, next site. The other area, only for tents, is a communal parking area with walk-in campsites near the water.
This campground had clean pit-toilets, no shower, spotty cell service, and both trash and recycling dumpsters, which were nice to see!
ScoutI’ve stayed here a few times, and I’ve enjoyed each visit. The day use section has a wonderful beach with a swimming area and boat launch. Large trees provide shade on a grassy lawn, and grills are available. The concession stand is open during day use hours. The camp sites near the beach are in a large grassy field, and across the road, the campsites are wooded, and some have lean tos. The hiking trails nearby are very nice. There are bears in the area, so be aware and store all food properly. My family loves camping here.
ScoutI’ve been here dozens of times, grew up going here every year and hiking rattlesnake. We make the trip from RI. Love to lake access, secluded camping, the hiking and remote area.
Planning on revisiting next summer, even in august the nights get to a good sleeping temperature a vast majority of the time.
I guess only negative thing to say is they changed the site numbers years back and we thought we booked the best site next to the River fro, past experiences but it was the one next to the bathrooms after they changed the site numbers without a warning.
TravelerFall in New England can’t be beat
TravelerVacationing here from NJ. We decided to take our jeep and test out our rooftop tent at this site. We were so impressed at the beautiful scenery especially across the street from the beach. This was definitely our favorite campsite we’ve ever been to this far. The bathrooms were super nice, the campground itself was really clean too!
TravelerGreat campground. Stayed at site #32. This side was near the street but at night there is minimal traffic. Higher side is by the river so the preferable side to stay on.
There is an area for tents only where you park in a lot and walk to the site.
This campground is first come first serve.
Some of the restrooms have running water. Some are only privies.
As for showers or areas to wash dishes, i was not able to find either. There is potable water.
Stayed here the night before i started the Pemi loop, and it was perfect.
TravelerMost amazing spot I’ve ever camped and not too many people. Used the tent sides a quick hill walk down from the parking lot. River great for splashing around and nearby path to Lincoln Woods trail.
LegendThis state park has a little bit of everything. There are sites with electric hookups as well as some without. Some sites are in the middle of a grassy field while others are tucked in the trees. Site size various pretty vastly as you travel through the campground. There are two main loops, one is more secluded and spaced out than the other. The campground loops have bath houses, complete with coin operated showers. Park staff were attentive and restrooms were being cleaned with frequency.
There are more remote walk-in shelters on the Osmore Pond, located within New Discovery State Park. The shelters are rustic, have shared outhouses between a few sites, fire pits and small picnic tables. The remote sites are spaced nicely around the pond along a hiking trail that skirts the perimeter. The walk from the parking area to the shelters varies, depending what side of the pond you are camping on. If bringing a full-sized cooler(or other large/luxury car camping items) be sure you are heading to a site closer to the parking area. It would be a challenge to get some of those larger, heavier items to sites across the pond from the parking lot.
TravelerWe have stayed here a few times and really enjoyed sites and hospitality!
GuideStayed here for two nights in late December. Site #40 along the river was close to the bathroom yet had plenty of privacy from other sites. The campgrounds were well cared for and the staff was friendly. There are some nice looking tent only sites we plan to experience come springtime. Water would have earned it five stars.
TravelerWe’ve been going to Hancock for a couple of years now. We just saw our first bear in the campground which was awesome. We love the location and being at that elevation the stars are amazing at night. Lots of fun to be had whether it’s hiking, seeing waterfalls, stargazing, swimming in the Pemigewasset River, shopping in North Conway, eating at one of the many local restaurants, etc. There’s something for everyone and this campground is dog friendly too. Great sites that are well maintained and clean bathrooms.
ScoutWe camped here Wednesday-Friday on one of the riverfront tent sites. We arrived around 11:15 am and got the last site on the river, which had a nice little opening to the water and had a bit more tree coverage to separate us from our neighbors; the only remaining sites otherwise were a bit small and clustered together or tandem so that we’d have lots of foot traffic through and around our site. These sites were carry-in only, which wasn’t convenient, and it was a lot of work to carry all of our gear from the parking lot to the site (the main part of the path was a hill).
Big negative: Our site was completely swarmed with bees. We checked a few vacant sites to see if maybe it was just our site, but we found them all around, including all over the cars in the lot. They calmed down in the evening once it got chilly, but otherwise, they were constant. They were the worst on our last day; we planned to hang out, make breakfast, enjoy the river, and take our time packing up. But they were unbearable and we had a couple stings, so we rushed to pack up and left early, which was very disappointing and felt like a waste.
The river access was great, though the water was very low. We appreciated having a bear box on our site, especially since we couldn’t keep anything in our car. It was big enough to fit our grill, cooler, trash, and bag of groceries. The campground also has flush toilets, which was a big plus, since most other campgrounds in the area only have vault toilets. There were vault ones near our site, but I preferred to walk a bit further to the flush ones. They were near the campsites by the main road; the traffic was loud in this area and the sites didn’t have bear boxes, but there were no bees to be found.
We’d likely stay here again if something was done about the swarms of bees, and would probably bring some sort of cart to get our stuff from the car to the site.
TravelerAwesome state park. Right along a long rail trail where you can put in many miles and not even know it. Swimming and boating is a short ride in a couple different directions, Osmore pond, Kettle pond, or Ricker pond. We stayed at the Eagle leanto and is perfect for hanging multiple hammocks. Close enough to the bathrooms too. There were squirrels that would spend lots of time throughout the day sending loose the green pine cones and then come down and chew them up. Pretty entertaining except for when they drop them on your tarps.
GuideI camped at New Discovery this weekend, the sites are well separated and private. The grounds are beautiful and well situated to enjoy Groton State Forest. My complaint is in regards to the maintenance of the facilities. The Women’s bathroom ran out of toilet paper and was never replaced. More upsetting was that the soap container was empty all weekend. At a time like this hand washing is more important than ever! It was very disappointing!
RangerThis campground is in a good location to explore the kanagamus highway and the white mountains! It is close to Franconia notch and plenty of hiking/other activities. Bathrooms and running water available! Nice spot.
LegendWe had a last minute change of plans to our hiking trip due to a delay. We wouldn’t have the time to hike into our pre planned area before dark, so decided to set up shop here. This place was actually pretty great. Each site was pretty large and most of them had access to the river. Which had nice areas for swimming and wading. Each site had its own bear box and it was only a short hike down from the car. The park connected directly to some beautiful AT trails that we took advantage of the next day. It was also pretty cheap! $12 or $15 if I remember correctly. All self registration.
GuideI couldn't believe how large the lots were. While they arent super far from one another, they are large enough that they seem further than they are. Nice beautiful wooded area, we were able to put a tent and hang a hammock for sleeping. Price was very reasonable. The bathroom closest to us was having a running water issue, but it wasn't a big deal for us the lean too lots looked nice too if you're looking for coverage. It was a little close to the road, but it isnt a major road so I looked at it like a reasonable alarm clock. The lot was freshly raked and there really wasn't anything we didn't like about the site. Campfire pit had a grill!
GuideThis place is a gem. It closes after the first snowfall of the year and will not re open untill it all thaws. But head here in the fall to see the beautiful colors. Outhouse toilet no running water but there are wells to get fresh water. Hiking all over around here.
GuideCamping here is always nice since it never closes. Near the river allows for relaxing nights.
ScoutI stayed at Hancock campground in mid April this year. Great clean accessible bathrooms, beautiful grounds and large campgrounds. Leashed dogs are allowed. There are both walk-in and drive up tent sites. The walk-in sites are directly next to the beautiful Pemi River. Great overall would return again.
LegendI haven't stayed here, but I checked it out on Columbus Day weekend because it's one of the few campgrounds open year-round (plowed, unlike Lafayette Place, which is walk-in) in the White Mountains. Most of the reviews talk about the walk-in tent sites, but there's more to this campground that is located along the Kancamagus Highway just before the Lincoln Woods Visitors' Center.
If you're a tent camper and don't mind carrying your gear downhill to a site, drive straight ahead to a parking lot. A few of the sites (3 & 4) are accessible from the far end of the parking lot, but for most of them you'll head down the steps in the middle with sites in two levels branching out on each side. Sites are large, but close together and although you're in the woods, there's not much to separate you from your neighbors. Even sites 10-20 are directly on the water.
Sites 22-55 are suitable for RVs and tents. Those on the back side of the loop are close enough that you can hear the Pemi River running below. A few of the sites are pull-through. There are no hook-ups, but water available via spigots and flush toilets are available - except in winter. I'd recommend sites on the back side of the loop to provide some more distance from traffic noise. I chatted briefly with a host who remarked that sites on the western end of the loop have some cell phone coverage, unlike the rest of the campground.
If you stay here, you're only a few miles from Lincoln where you can pick up any necessary supplies. This end of the Kanc your nearest hiking options are Lincoln Woods and Greeley Pond for family friendly trails, or Lincoln Woods to head into the Pemi wilderness, including peaks in the Pemi loop and Owl's Head. The Hancocks are via a trail at the hairpin on the Kanc. Franconia Notch and its many hiking trails and the multi-use trail are a short drive away.
Bring cash or a check to pay your camping fee in the iron ranger. Fees cover the first vehicle; a second vehicle is an additional $5.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near North Hartland Lake?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near North Hartland Lake is Hancock Campground with a 4.2-star rating from 28 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near North Hartland Lake?
TheDyrt.com has all 6 equestrian camping locations near North Hartland Lake, with real photos and reviews from campers.
