My family was a guest at Cold Springs Campground, lot E62, from Thursday July7th through Monday July 11th.  This was our first experience camping at Cold Springs and I brought my 7 year old granddaughter along.

We had reserved this site by phone in mid-June.  I wasn’t offered any other site, nor told that the site was adjacent to 4 horse shoe pits & a shuffle board court.  Nor was I told that there was a horse shoe tournament every weekend.

When we set up camp Thursday afternoon, it was fairly quiet…so I wasn’t concerned.  However, by about  4 P.M.  the horse shoe pits were fully occupied…and continued to be so until 10:15 P.M. when the lights went off.   Many of the guys on the courts were drinking, hollering back and forth, using foul language…you get the picture.  I went  to the office explained what was going on…and asked what time the activities ended.  I was told that “no one had ever complained,” and that it would be over at 9 P.M.

Friday morning, the activities started at around 11 A. M. and continued until 10:15 P. M.  The guys were hollering back and forth…dropping the “F bomb”….drinking, etc.  Saturday the activities were in full swing at 10:00 A. M., and didn’t wrap up until 10:45 P.M….that’s right…they continued even after the lights went out.

The lights were so bright at our campsite, that I was able to sit outside and read a novel.  The noise level was so high at times, that we couldn’t hear each other conversing around the campfire.  People, children and adults alike were continuously cutting through our campsite…on foot as well as on bicycles.

This was singularly the worst camping experience that I have ever had.  When we checked out Monday morning, I asked to speak to a manager and was told that he was not available.  I left my phone number and asked for a courtesy phone call…I was told that he “rarely returns phone calls”.  I insisted that my number & request be given to him.

A few hours later, Todd called me.  I explained what had gone on over the weekend, and he said that there was nothing that could be done about it…because I had already left the campground.  When I told him that I had gone to the office on Thursday…he said that “no one had ever complained before,” and there was nothing that he could do, as I had already left the campground.  I asked him what else I should have done while I was still in the campground…and was told that I should have gotten a security guard to come and monitor the activity on the site.  Wouldn’t that have been a nice relaxing camping experience????  He would have needed to stand on our site for 12+ hours/day.

Ultimately, Todd told me that “next time I should request a different site”.   A solid 4/5ths of our experience was unacceptable.    In order to minimize the garbage that my granddaughter was exposed to, we stayed away from the site except when we needed to eat or sleep.  When I raised the issues to employees, I was told “no one had ever complained before.”  Why would I ever return?

Cold Springs bills itself as the “most fun campground in NH”.  Not my idea of fun.

E62 should not even be a campsite…it should be used as a buffer around a high activity area.

Twin Tamarack is a family operated campground located near the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire in New Hampton It’s a quiet, well maintained park just far enough away from the traffic and crowds of the town of Laconia yet close enough to be convenient. This campsite is mostly wooded with plenty of shade. The campground staff were very friendly and the facilities clean and well maintained. This park has seasonal sites as well as short stays, 2 restrooms, each with hot showers, camp store (ice, wood, groceries, camping supplies, and gifts), dumping station, and a large laundry facility.

This trip was the second time we have stayed here without reservations and were lucky enough to be given a site. The swimming pool was super clean and not too crowded as well as their beach and boating facilities.

We’ve been making Twin Tamarack a part of our summer vacations tour now for over couple of years and this is the 2nd time we’ve stayed at Adirondack here. Every experience here has been great!

The wife and I are looking forward to our trip there next year for this great experience and shopping at all the Factory Outlets.
Frank and Judy Pedder, Montreal, Quebec

We have stayed at many, many campgrounds across the country. They have ranged from excellent to fair. Mascoma Lake Campground we have to rate as poor.

It is across a busy road from a beautiful lake, and there is lake access. It is within a very reasonble distance from a small city for shopping and restaurants. Those are the positives. The negatives are that the sites are very, very tight. The campground itself is quite rundown, and their are very few activities for children. There is only a small playground, and no other amenities. There is cable tv, but the cell phone service is very intermittent, and the wifi although advertised as “limited”, in reality doesn’t exist.

Everyone we had occassion to speak with, complained about the service. We never were able to get a wifi connection for our computer even when we took our computers to the office. I would not recommend staying at this campground except for a night’s stay on the way to somewhere else.

I would not recommend Cold Springs Campground. We visited them recently and would not return.

This place is ”Party Central”. The campground is very crowded and noisy. There are kids running wild everywhere. I know this is a family campground but this place seems out of control on the weekends. Campground rules don’t appear to be enforced and there are parties well into the night… way past quiet hours.

The sites are on the small side and there’s not much privacy between them. The facilities are fairly clean during the week but it’s a different story on the weekends. I would not return.

I have camped at Rivers Bend Campground numerous times with my family over the past few years. This is one of the best campgrounds I have ever stayed at. I have no complaints about the staff except for lack of organization.

On our last trip to Rivers Bend we had a party of 8. The owner shows you to the site and makes sure everything is up to your standards. The campround is very quiet as it should be. There is a nice river (hence the name). Swimming and tubing is great. The newly installed pool is very clean. Also in previous accounts of the campground you may have heard that the owner personally dumps your sewer for you. This is especially nice.

The campground landscape is absolutely perfect. There are plenty of trees for shade and the senic river right next to your site.

Rivers Bend is one of the best campgrounds i have ever been to!

Cold Springs is a campground located just off NH Route 114, in the town of Weare… about 15 miles west of the city of Manchester. This is a relatively large campground with 380+ sites.

Most of the sites that we saw were relatively small and not very private. It was difficult to get into our site and even more of a problem to level-up… and we’re not novice RVers… we’ve driven Class A’s throughout the country for the past 20 years.

The campground has pools, a campstore, and a snackbar. The bathrooms and showers were in need of a little cleaning when we were there. The Wi-fi signal at our site was poor and seldom worked.

The biggest issue with this campground is the lack of rules enforcement. This place is an absolute zoo in the summer. Camping etiquette is non-existent. We witnessed both children and adults cutting through others sites, vehicles inconsiderately parked, and little or security enforcement at all. Some campers party well into “quiet hours” while their kids roam about the campground without supervision. Golf carts and motorcycles speed around the campground during the day and into the night.

If you like to party, don’t care about your camping neighbors, and have kids that will eventually grow up to be just like you, you’ll love this place. If you’re a camper with well behaved kids or you just want some peace and quiet, I recommend that you avoid Cold Springs “Camp Resort”.

We have camped at Quechee Pine Valley KOA many times over the past six years.

The sites are average size, mostly level, graveled and nicely landscaped. The showers and bathrooms are clean and well maintained. It has a great laundry room with a folding table and since it’s next to the pool, you can swim while you wait. The general store has camping basics and gorceries. The staff is friendly and helpful.

We stayed here for the first time this year, June 18-20 under the new owners. They have already made improvements with the addition of a large pirate ship play structure to the playground. My six-year-old had a great time playing on it. We will be returning in July and were told that a fenced dog park as well as cabins are being added. Now, we can invite our RV-less family and firneds to join us.

It is close to Quechee Gorge and Woodstock VT and is just a beautiful place to camp.

Champlain Adult Campground is in an excellent location and has great facilities, but we do not expect to return because camping should be enjoyable and relaxing.

We are a NYC-based professional couple in our 30’s, we drive a VW Westfalia, and we have camped all over the U.S. -Martha’s Vineyard, Glacier National Park, Bahia Honda, Big Sur. We’re experienced.

In August of 2009 we booked a week of outdoor fun at Lake Champlain Adult Campground. It seemed like the nicest property in the area. Hands down the facilities and location are outstanding: manicured grounds, spacious sites, gorgeous views, clean restrooms, nice fellow campers. But by the end of our (shortened) stay we decided not to return.

The posted speed limit is in this campground is 5 mph. And 10, even for the first 100 yards upon on arrival might as well be a felony. -We learned the hard way. It was 4 pm, we’ve been driving for 6 hours, we’re anxious to get to camp, and we almost miss the turn because the road sign is a bit small. No biggie, we think, and we turn in at about 15 mph. A man (JC) was cutting the lawn, and right away he yelled at us to slow down. We slowed down quickly, but safely, and continue toward the office. When he got to the office he reminded us: “Five MPH is the cardinal rule!” and “seasonal campers are number one around here, and they don’t like dust!” Despite our apologetic response, this is how things began.

After realizing who we were and that we had paid in advance for most of our stay, JC took us to our site. Very nice. Since it was getting dark, our focus was setting up, but JC returned twice in the space of two hours to collect the rest of the fee. And he could not accept a debit or credit card payment. Cash or check only. We apologized again and explained that we would get cash as soon as we had a chance to go to an ATM, and we continued to set up camp. Then we departed to visit some friends nearby. Dinner at our friend’s home turned into an overnight stay, so job one upon our return to camp the next morning was to pay the fee. Cash. In full.

The next few days we had a good time swimming in the beautiful lake and dock area, running, biking, cooking out, and enjoying the spectacular sunsets and other scenery. But JC never seemed far away. I felt like we were under constant surveillance.

Our friends. She is 70 and he is 80. We met them on the beach of the Bay Islands on our honeymoon. They have owned an historic camp in Grand Isle for 40 years. Since they were so gracious on our first night in Grand Isle, we wanted to return the favor: Home-made paella cooked over an open fire in my Dutch oven, and a good Malbec. Things were fine until JC showed up just dinner to let us know that our guests had “parked in the wrong place” and “Who are you? Why haven’t you registered? I pay $35,000 per year here in liability insurance, and guests are required to pay a $6 visitor fee”. We enjoyed the rest of the evening, but in the morning my wife and I decided to cut short our stay.

We departed unannounced two days before we had planned to go and we spent an impromptu additional two days in Montreal before retuning to our home in New York City.

We represent the future of upscale camping. This campground is in a gem of a location but we will not return. Our suggestion: raise your rates a bit, hire professional to manage your resort, and stay out of the way. Until then, we’ll camp elsewhere.

With New England fall foliage near peak, we decided to spend an October weekend camping in Central Vermont. We’ve always been aware of Lake Champagne Campground as we have passed thru the area many times. This time we decided to give them a try.

The park is conveniently located a short distance from I-89, exit 4 in Randolph Center. Once you leave the Interstate you climb up a relatively steep grade for about a mile to the tiny town of Randolph Center. A left at the top of the hill, a right past “Floyds” General Store and you’re there.

Check in was quick and easy. The campground owners were very friendly and accommodating and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. The park is situated on the top of a ridge with a view of the campground and hills to the east. The property is large… about 100 acres and a lot of that is open area, mostly grass… lush, deep green and regularly mowed. Most sites have a view and are in open, sunny field areas but there are a few locations with plenty of shade. The tenting sites are really nice… isolated from the rest of the campground and in the woods. Sites are relatively level, on grass or gravel. Pull-thru sites can accommodate even the largest rigs and have full hook-ups including a very generous cable TV lineup.

The facilities were clean and well maintained. We noticed the little extras… like a basket of dried flowers on the counter in the rest room. The main office (photo above) has a very small campstore with just the basics. However, just outside the campground is Floyd’s General Store which is where most campers go to pick up their groceries. They have a large rec room with ping-pong, pool and a few pinball and video games.

As you pass thru the campground and decend down open fields you’ll see “Lake Champagne” (photo right) which is actually a small swimming pond with picnic tables, grills and rest rooms.

On the other side of the pond is a pavilion with one side open to views of the beach. Inside is a large central fire pit and tables (photo left). Although it was late in the season and the campground was only about 20% full, the fire burned and there was plenty of wood available to keep it going.

Our stay was brief but enjoyable with only one disappointment… The Lake Champagne Campground website advertises “WI-Fi available”. However the range was extremely limited and the vast majority of their sites were well out of range. I wandered throughout the park with a laptop trying to get a signal without any success. Our site was relatively close to one of two transmitters on the property but no luck.

Other than the Wi-Fi issue, this was a great little campground and one that we would confidently recommend to our friends. We’ll be back next summer!

Clean. Quiet. Comfortable. You can’t say much more about this campground. Newfound RV Park is located about 10 miles west of I-93, exit 23 in the town of Bridgewater, New Hampshire.  The campground is very near spring fed Newfound Lake, considered to be one of the cleanest inland lakes in the United States. We had the opportunity to stay at this campground during the first weekend of August.

Newfound RV Park is a small (45 sites) “big rig”, pet-friendly campground.  Our check-in on a Friday afternoon was quick and the  attendant was pleasant and accommodating. The campground has a paved entrance, but the interior roads are gravel… wide, and well maintained. Just about all the sites here are pull-thrus… except for 5 “brook side” back-ins. Each site is level and has a fire ring and picnic table. All sites are full-hookup, some with cable TV.

The showers, rest rooms and laundry facilities are open 24-hours a day and are very clean and well maintained. They have a large pavilion building with pool and ping pong tables and plenty of room for gatherings. We spotted a small book lending library in the pavilion as well.

They have a camp store but quite honestly is was sparsely stocked. You won’t find any refrigerated items like milk or eggs so be sure to get your groceries before you get here. They do offer firewood and propane.

It’s a good thing we had cable tv because Bridgewater, New Hampshire is fairly remote. Our over-the-air digital antenna did not pick up a single tv channel. They do have free wi-fi and the signal was relatively strong and seldom dropped out. Other amenities include a nature trail and a dog walking area.

There are no scheduled activities here, and not much to do to keep kids occupied. It’s just a clean, quiet, comfortable place to be. It makes an excellent base for exploring this part of New Hampshire. If you’re looking for a campground to just relax and get away from it all, Newfound RV Park is the perfect place to spend a few days.