NJ through New England - Campground Ideas Needed

[AJMom]

Hello All,

I posted a few months ago looking for ideas for our summer trip, and finally have at least some plans in place but would appreciate some additional ideas and/or input.

The plan so far...

Nights 1-2 - Southern NJ to Clinton, CT - 2 nights at Riverdale Farms Campground

Night 3 - to Freeport, ME at Cedar Haven Campground

Nights 4-6 - to Thomaston, ME at Saltwater Farm Campground

Nights 7-9 - to Acadia NP, either at Bar Harbor Campground or Smuggler's Den, not sure yet

Nights 10-13 is where I would really appreciate some help and campground suggestions.

My husband doesn't mind pushing through the one long drive from Acadia to NH so that we can spend 2 days in the White Mountains area, then we'll probably stop in Waterbury, VT (Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory) before heading back to NJ. So We need a campground for 2 nights in the White Mountains, and two more campgrounds somewhere between Waterbury, VT and NJ on the way home.

Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Crowe]

how many days to do Acadia, would 4-5 be too few, we don't need to hike every trail.

Definitely not too few, possibly leaning towards too many, depending on what you want to do. It's not a big park but if you plan on biking, hiking, horseback riding, driving the loop road, going up to Cadillac Mounting and/or hanging on Sand Beach (be forewarned the water is COLD) you can easily fill up 4 or 5 days. If you are more a "casual observer" then 2 would probably be fine.

[Crowe]

[I[how many days to do Acadia, would 4-5 be too few, we don't need to hike every trail.

Definitely not too few, possibly leaning towards too many, depending on what you want to do. It's not a big park but if you plan on biking, hiking, horseback riding, driving the loop road, going up to Cadillac Mounting and/or hanging on Sand Beach (be forewarned the water is COLD) you can easily fill up 4 or 5 days. If you are more a "casual observer" then 2 would probably be fine.

[bukhrn]

how many days to do Acadia, would 4-5 be too few, we don't need to hike every trail.

[AJMom]

Tvov wrote:
Acadia is really neat to explore. If you have bicycles, the "carriage roads" give you miles of biking roads. They are a little hilly, but really easy to bike on. Tons of hiking. One great thing about Acadia is that most of the scenic areas can accessed by car (or at least gotten very close to), so major hiking is not necessary. Athough.... if you are in shape for hiking, lots of great hiking trails.

The "Beehive" is a neat, quick hike that has you climb a steep but relatively short trail that leads to a great scenic overlook - although, almost every at Acadia has a "great scenic overlook".

Oh, one very important thing about hiking in Acadia -- the distances are VERY hard to estimate by eye due to the hills. The maps are accurate, but many trails are up and down steep hills. Just keep that in mind when planning your hiking route.

If possible, visit "Thunder hole" at night. Really cool to experience the booming of the surf in the dark.

Make sure, at least one morning, go to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see the sunrise. You will be the first people on the continental United States to see the sunrise. Besides that, it is a really neat sunrise!

Oh, and one more thing... you may want to spend more time at Acadia than you've alloted.

DH and I visited Acadia a few times many years ago, and definitely plan to take our boys to the Beehive...we've just been waiting till they were old enough! We hope to bring bikes, but are not sure yet. Thanks for the suggestions!

[AJMom]

Tvov wrote:
What are you driving, and if a MH, do you have a toad? Riverdale is just a place with hookups. Nice enough campground, but nothing really to do there. If you are going to spend a whole day there, you will probably want to get out and about.

We have a motorhome, but no toad, so are considering renting a car for the Maine part of the trip. We picked Riverdale because we have a site with its own private little fishing dock (my boys are very excited about it!), and just wanted a place to relax and decompress away from home before we head farther north. Thanks for the suggestions!

[AJMom]

loggenrock wrote:
Rather than back-tracking all the way from VT to Clinton, CT, seems like I recall some CG's in NY just west of the Hudson River - around Rte 87... think there's a KOA over there... ST

Good idea, looking into that!

[Tvov]

Acadia is really neat to explore. If you have bicycles, the "carriage roads" give you miles of biking roads. They are a little hilly, but really easy to bike on. Tons of hiking. One great thing about Acadia is that most of the scenic areas can accessed by car (or at least gotten very close to), so major hiking is not necessary. Athough.... if you are in shape for hiking, lots of great hiking trails.

The "Beehive" is a neat, quick hike that has you climb a steep but relatively short trail that leads to a great scenic overlook - although, almost every at Acadia has a "great scenic overlook".

Oh, one very important thing about hiking in Acadia -- the distances are VERY hard to estimate by eye due to the hills. The maps are accurate, but many trails are up and down steep hills. Just keep that in mind when planning your hiking route.

If possible, visit "Thunder hole" at night. Really cool to experience the booming of the surf in the dark.

Make sure, at least one morning, go to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see the sunrise. You will be the first people on the continental United States to see the sunrise. Besides that, it is a really neat sunrise!

Oh, and one more thing... you may want to spend more time at Acadia than you've alloted.

[DHDB]

If you are going to Acadia then I would suggest Smugglers Den in Southwest Harbor. Be sure to stop at Rats for your local seafood. I know it doesn't sound like much, but you will be pleasantly surprised.
When in the N Conway NH area, I would suggest Glen Ellis CG in Glen NH. It is on the other end of the N Conway strip and closer to Mt Washington. You can tube the Saco river right from the campground. The river runs right by it.
I have not been impressed with VT CG's. Still haven't found any I really like. You would have better luck in W Massachusetts (Berkshires area). Pine Acres (Oakham, MA) is directly north of rt 84 (Sturbridge, MA) and is a very nice CG.

[Tvov]

AJMom wrote:


Nights 1-2 - Southern NJ to Clinton, CT - 2 nights at Riverdale Farms Campground

What are you driving, and if a MH, do you have a toad? Riverdale is just a place with hookups. Nice enough campground, but nothing really to do there. If you are going to spend a whole day there, you will probably want to get out and about.

Hammonassette State Park is nearby (a fee to get in), nice place to check out the water - Long Island Sound.

Madison (next town) has a nice town center to check out, and especially one more town over, Guilford, is neat to walk around the town green. Guilford's town green is consistently voted one of the top small town New England town greens.

[Flintstones]

Enjoy your trip, we were not impressed with the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont. A closed production line, tiny samples, full priced ice cream, and a dead flavors cemetary were hardly worth the drive. Lots of better things to see on the great state of Vermont.

In New Hampshire, I would suggest Danforth Bay camp resort in the Mount Washington Valley, just south of North Conway. Or head
over to the Gilford/Laconia area and enjoy Zip Lines, Segway tours, and Tree top adventures at Gunstock Ski area.

In Vermont, Sugar Ridge RV Park in Danville is excellent, as is North Beach Campground in Burlington.

[LarryJM]

mguay wrote:
To me...your trip north is planed ok. I will tell you that we have no problem when traveling back from Fl going from Fredricksburg VA to the White Mtns in one day. We are ok with smelling the roses at the destination rather than along the way.

The answer to your White Mtns CGs could be like this. The route from BH to B&J is primarily US RT 2, which runs through the northern end of the White Mountains. While in our neck of the woods, I recommend a trip to the top of MT Washington. There are 2 sides of the Mt to do it on . On the Gorham side is The Auto Rd. You can drive yourself, (depending on what you are driving)! Or go on a guided tour in a van to the top. The other way is on the Bretton Woods side which would be The COG Railway. Both are great expierences! If you chose the Gorham side there are 2 CG's. Timberland and White Birches, which are both in Shelburne NH. On the Bretton Woods side in Twin Mountain there is a KOA.

From Acadia to Gorham is about a 5hr drive. Then from Gorham to Waterbury is another 3 or so. The Bretton Woods side will not be in your direct route to Waterbury...but not that far out of your way.

On our trip to Maine several years ago we did the COG railway to Mt. Wash and stayed at the KOA you mentioned and highly recommend doing that option since it's something you won't forget and the same builder of the COG railway at Mt. Wash IIRC did the one that existed at one time in Acadia NP and a few traces still exist there.

Larruy

[loggenrock]

Rather than back-tracking all the way from VT to Clinton, CT, seems like I recall some CG's in NY just west of the Hudson River - around Rte 87... think there's a KOA over there... ST

[AJMom]

Thank you for the ideas! I think we'll do this:

Night 10 - Stay in the Conway area for a night (Saco River Camping Area if they'll allow one night), then the next day drive the Kancamagus Highway, stop in Franconia Notch and visit the Cannon's Aerial Tramway and Flume Gorge, head to Polly's Pancake Parlor for lunch, and...

Night 11 - Stay at Fransted Campground (if they'll allow one night) then head to Ben & Jerry's and a few other stops.

Night 12 - Stay near Hinsdale, VT (possibly Hidden Acres Camping Resort) - make a few stops throughout the day.

Night 13 - Last night - back to Riverdale Campground in Ct before heading home to NJ in the morning

[GaryWT]

I see that it is CT to ME and that will not be bad. We like Hadley Point in Bar Harbor. In NH not sure where in the White Mountains you want to be. Check out Fransted Family Campground, Lost River Campground or Woodstock KOA. These are all near route 93 on the western side. In Vermont, look into Quechee KOA, not far from route 89 and 91. From there it is about 45 minutes to Ben and Jerry's. If you want to be closer, Lake Champagne is in Randolph Center. There is a great cider mill down the street from Ben and Jerry's. Good luck.