Family Camping: Summer's Affordable and Fun Option

Parents who want to introduce their kids to the world of camping during the summer can rest assured it remains one of the most affordable and fun ways to explore all of New England’s natural beauty.

There are also plenty of affordable family campgrounds within a short drive from the Portsmouth area that give families instant access to the White Mountains and the Maine mountains.

Last weekend, we decided to go camping on a whim for just one night near Bethel, Maine, which is best known for the Sunday River Ski Resort area. We made this decision on Friday and I had to scramble to purchase one of those new self inflatable tents at a nearby Walmart.

On Saturday morning, our camping trip nearly ended before it began because the weather people on every channel were predicting nothing but rain, rain and more rain throughout the weekend. We decided to go ahead and if the weather really was bad, we would call it a day and head home. Much to our surprise, the rain never materialized and the weather was clear, cool and comfortable for camping.

It took us two and a half hours to drive some of Maine’s secondary roads from the Portsmouth area to our destination, which allowed us to ditch I-95 in favor of several small Maine towns and beautiful lakes we saw along the way.

With just a day and a half to see the sights, our first stop was Grafton Notch State Park just north of Newry. There we enjoyed some hiking and beautiful waterfalls before we headed to the Pleasant River Campground back in Bethel. Other activities that families can enjoy are fishing and canoeing on the Androscoggin River. Businesses like Outdoor Adventure and Campground allow patrons to rent canoes or kayaks for a half day or full day and paddle down river after being dropped off by a courtesy shuttle service.

For $25, we pitched our tent in a relatively private site before we took a dip in the campground’s in ground pool. After grabbing some dinner at a nearby restaurant, we enjoyed a blazing campfire under a clear, starlit night before we turned in.

We made breakfast at the camp site with our Coleman stove and headed home. We made one additional stop when we took a quick detour back into New Hampshire to visit Cathedral Ledge in North Conway which offers stunning views of the Mount Washington Valley after a very short drive to the top at no cost. We also discovered a new ice cream place in the town of Limerick, Maine on the shores of Sokolis Lake on our way home that provided the perfect rest stop.

Outside of the tent and gas we purchased, we spent very little money to enjoy one night of camping in the Maine mountains making it a fun time for all.

Whenever our family goes tent camping, we never know if we will always be blessed with great weather or if everything will go off without a hitch, but sometimes you get lucky and it makes it very worthwhile and hopefully will give our son some lasting memories.

To learn where you can some good family campgrounds, check out the web sites for the New Hampshire Campground Owners Association and the Maine Campground Owners Association.