Customer Reviews

Foghorn Outdoors New England Camping: The Complete Guide to More Than 800 Tent and RV Campgrounds

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We just returned from a trip where we intended to stay at Surry Mountain Camping Area - rated an 8 in "New England Camping". When we arrived there Friday evening we were very surprised at the condition and cleanliness of the "campground". There was trash in several of the sites that looked like it had been there a while, run down trailers and it was clear the campground has not been well maintained for some time. With two small children, we had no choice but to forego our deposit and leave. In fact, we didn't even get out of the car. While I'm sure this is an oversight (had the authors even been to this site?), I can't say that I will be using this book for planning future camping trips.

My husband and I planned a 6 hour trip to a campground in Maine. When we arrived there, the campground was someone's backyard and the "silver lake" was down the road and across the street! The so-called sites were muddy spots that were so small we could not get our camper in the them. We pulled out this book and located a campground 12 miles up the mountain that we loved so much we booked for next year. We should have consulted the book in the first place!

I have the second edition (1999) and admit that I have used it only a few times so far. While it's unfortunate that a previous reviewer had a bad experience, the authors clearly state in the beginning of the guide that the number ratings indicate scenic beauty of the campground, not overall campground quality: "...ratings are based solely on scenic appeal and do not reflect quality issues such as cleanliness of the camp or the temprament of the management, which can change from day to day." Users of the book would be wise to note this distinction and not blame the authors when a campground fails the cleanliness test.

I find this book to be very reliable on rating the natural beauty of the campgrounds. For example state parks are normally have high ratings while the "chain campgrounds" tend to have lower ratings. Keep this in mind while using the book. I use this book along with online ratings (to find out temperment of owners & cleanliness of sites) to make my decision. This method has worked well for me so far. This is the only book I found that lists all the campgrounds in New England. It really helps us find a campgrounds in specific areas.. then I start checking online reviews.

This book reviews over 800 tent and rv campgrounds and rates them from 1 - 10 (10 being the best). Detailed description of the campground and amenities. Another plus is the campground is assigned a number which corresponds to a map of the area or state.

This book is just what I needed as I was looking for suggestions as to where to go camping -