Little River State Park, which is part of Mt. Mansfield State Forest, is home to central Vermont's largest and most popular campground. The campground has 81 tent/RV sites, 20 lean-tos, and five cabins. Restrooms have flush toilets and hot and cold running water, and three of the four restrooms have coin-operated hot showers. A sanitary dump station is available, but there are no hookups. Within the campground, there are swimming beaches, play areas, a boat launch, ball fields, and boat rentals for campers (for day use boat rentals and swimming, see Waterbury Center, State Park). Adjacent to the park are miles of hiking trails for campers and day use visitors that take in the rich cultural and natural history of the area.

Remote camping: The remote campsites can be reserved online or through the Reservation Call Center at 1-888-409-7579 starting May 19. Those not reserved are first come/first served. Information about open campsites may be found at each access area. Simply find a vacant designated campsite, pitch in and the park ranger will come by to get you registered. Campsites may be used by any single party for up to 7 days with no fees. Every remote campsite has a maximum occupancy of 6 people, unless otherwise posted. There are privies at these sites, but there is no potable water. View remote camping page here.

Today, Little River State Park is one of the most popular parks in central Vermont. Waterbury Reservoir is particularly favored for boating with a portion of the reservoir devoted to quieter uses. Angling for bass and trout is as popular here as water-skiing.>

Enjoy swimming beaches, play areas, boat rentals and a launch, and miles of hiking and mountain bike trails in the adjacent Mt. Mansfield State Forest. Self-guided history and nature trails are located close to the camping area.

Little River State Park Campground

Little River is one of my favorite campgrounds ever! A group of friends and I decided to get one last camping trip in before winter hit - and we came across Little River on this website. Most sites were taken (as they usually are) so plan your stay well in advance. I'd recommend sites 26 (where we stayed), 27, 40, 51, 77 and 81\. There's also a few easy historical hiking trails within the campground if you don't feel like leaving for a whole day to hike! For those who stay up late to stargaze - getting down to the reservoir at night can be a little tricky - but its worth it to see the moon/stars reflect on the water.

Little River is a must-do

We visited here with our 5 kiddos for 2 nights late July 2016. The facilities were clean, the small playground was great, and the small boat launch and beach kept us in the water.  The hiking trails are really good--the actually pretty steep. There are lots of old foundations hidden on the trails that are fun to discover.

Great Mid Summer camp trip

Had a great one week stay here on the reservoir. Staff was friendly and helpful. Bathrooms in "B" were just redone.

Family friendly camping

There are many beautiful backcountry campsites right on the water only accessible via the water. Great local overnight spot with flat tenting, privies, and picnic tables

Right on the water

This is, by far, our favorite park to bring young kids to. First of all, the ranger-led programs are the best we’ve seen. When we were there in the summer, we went on mushroom hunts, a guided paddle, a ghost walk, and we learned about bird migrations. Programs are offered on the weekends through the summer. The park is right on the Waterbury Reservoir, so there are lots of opportunities for swimming, fishing, and paddling.

There are two camping loops, and two beaches in the park. We prefer the B beach because it is grassy and the swimming area has a sandy bottom. We also prefer the B loop for camping, but all the sites are lovely. When reserving, we always try and get a spot close to the water, some spots are a bit of a walk, but the park is busy through the summer, so we take what we can get.

There are lots of trails for hiking - one leads to an old abandoned house and another to an old cemetery. I recommend bringing bikes here to get around. Also, there’s no cell service anywhere in the park.

Awesome park for kids!

This is the only campground in the area I will stay at. It has so many benefits, I may not be able to do it justice in this review. The sites are huge. We fit two camper vans, two tents and put up a 20x20 rain tarp on Site 5\. The site was freshly raked when we got there, and the leftover wood was stacked next to the fire pit. Picnic table easily seats 8\. Lots of bathrooms around the park, each with showers. Firewood and Ice, along with some necessities are available at the office. Cell phone service is touchy depending on where you are in the park. There is fresh water available. Lots of activities to do here, from the Nature Center and hiking trails to seriously wicked mountain biking trails designed by Mr. Knight overlooking the reservoir where boating of all kinds is allowed. And the fishing in the river below is quite stellar. There's even an abandoned town up on top of the mountain for younto check out.

One super state park campground for the entire family

Little River State Park is located just outside of Waterbury Vermont so it’s an ideal location for jumping off on other adventures! There are so many great stores and restaurants nearby if you want something else do to! The park is on the shoreline of Waterbury reservoir so there is boating (rentals available) and plenty of fishing. There is also ALOT OF HIKING!

Beautiful and in a great location 

My wife and I went here for our first ever camping experience together when we started dating. We had a small tent, it ended up raining most of the trip, we got soaked. The staff at the campground were so nice, they let us change into one of their cabins. They are such a nice addition to their campground, allowing you to have more space but still be in the wilderness. Since then we’ve been back two other times and would go back in a heartbeat. The reservoir is beautiful and it’s close enough to great food and drink in town.

Can’t get enough!

Amazing state park on the Waterbury Resevoir.  Hiking trails all over the place, beach for campers, and a boat launch and dock.  You can keep you power boat on the dock, or small paddle boat on the shore!  Sites are large, facilities are clean.  State park so no hook ups.  When looking at the map it looks like the sites are waterfront, but in reality most are peekaboo views at best due to being far above the water and heavily treed sites.  There are a few with great views, the lean-to's are great and have great views.  Book early for weekends and holidays, they book up fast!

Great place on the lake 

I've stayed here a couple of times and both times had a blast. Canoeing or kayaking on the lake is great and there are paddle only sites available.  Some of the best sites ore up on a bluff with views over the lake a towards sunrise. 

  

This is just a great place for a getaway.

Wonderful site, great overall location

This is a large campground with many opportunities to hike and/or mountain bike on different trails. Also a large reservoir with boating access and stunning views of the fall foliage along the water. We stayed at site 13 our first night. It’s one of the first campsites when entering and shared driveway/camping area with site 14. It was nice but a lot of better sites in the park. We also stayed at cherry lean to which was on a slight hill (pretty level once you are up the hill driveway) and it was spacious and nice. Once again it was a shared driveway with the lean to next door but still allowed privacy and great views of the water. It’s not level with the water and has a steep hill down and not accessible from the site

Enjoyed this campground 

**General:** 70 tent/RV sites and 20 lean-to sites plus five cabins divided into two areas on Waterbury Reservoir. 

  

**Site Quality:** Good separation and decent-sized, wooded sites. 

  

**Bathhouse/Shower:** Basic but clean 

  

**Activities:** Boating, swimming, and hiking. Plus a nature center.

  

We came here to hike the Dalley Loop Trail (which is a great trail full of history), but we wish we had camped here instead of the private campground 45 minutes away where we did stay. The access road is a bit rough but navigable by all vehicles. The park is beautifully maintained and there are many more trails to explore so it is on our list for a return trip to Vermont!

Nicely wooded sites

Nice, wooded sites. The restroom is a bit dated and dingy, but clean. The shower is coin-operated and could offer a bit more privacy (the stall wall is quite low and right next to the door entering the restroom.)

We generally enyojed our stay. Really nice reservoir. However the campground is a bit pricey and doesn’t offer dishwashing sinks. You need to somehow fill water in some kind of bucket and then make a mess on your campsite..