The sites were enormous, huge trees, very well spaced, not cramped at all. Lots of shade !! Rest rooms and showers were clean and free !! Grounds were clean, I could of started my campfire with branches that were around the lot without buying firewood !
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Date of stay: July 2023
Value
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Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The Lorraine campground is in an idyllic setting in the midst of an Eastern White Pine forest with many sites overlooking a natural pond. We found this to be one of the quietest campgrounds we have stayed in and we have camped in 20 states and 5 provinces over the last couple of years. This is even more remarkable in light of the fact that you are less than 20 miles from Boston, a major metro area. Harold Parker covers some 3000 acres with ample opportunity for hiking, biking, and even horseback riding. Add to this the many attractions to be found in the greater Boston area makes this a convenient locale for exploring historic New England. The staff is friendly and responsive. The price is a bargain for sure, and the campsites are huge, well shaded. The bugs were not as bad as I expected and yes, you do have to watch our for poison ivy, but this campground is in a natural, beautiful environment. What do you expect, the Ritz? The roads in the campground are paved and the bathrooms have flush toilets, showers, and wash sinks for dishes. The sites are suitable for anything from tents to larger RV's. There are no hookups, but the quiet time hours of 10 PM to 7 AM allow ample time to run your generator. I would give Harold Parker the highest rating for its natural setting, solitude, and terrific location.
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Date of stay: July 2013
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Choose a site along the pond if possible. You can make reservations on line.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We were looking for a campground near Boston and where we could relax and enjoy the nature in the evening with the kids... This campground is excellent! Very clean bathrooms, cleaned two times a day, very nice playground, shaded site, next to the lake... even with the water at your own site, and all of this for 12$/night. There was'nt any mosquitos... The rangers were friendly and helpful, we are definetly going back.
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Date of stay: August 2013
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Choose the sites 79-81-83-85 to be next to the lake.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stayed at site 73 2nd/3rd week of August. Great site, secluded as much as possible from nearby sites. All sites have water, no electrical and are spaced a decent distance apart. $17 a night residents, Out-of-staters are gouged another $3. Daughter and I wanted to do some camping and Harold Parker fit the bill. Hard for me to conceive being so isolated among 60-70 foot pines. Great weather added to the enjoyment of the trip. Was able to do some hiking on the trails and a quick dip or two at the campground's unguarded (but not very deep) swimming area. Firewood on sale at camp entrance. $5 for 3/4 cubic foot of dried, aged hardwood. Burns beautifully. Ample bathrooms with hot showers available throughout the camp ground. Only one night of rain which didn't bother our tents however flooded out our neighbors at site 71. Watch out for depressed areas (Prozac won't help). Site 208 looked like a swimming pool - BEWARE! Fully agree that overlooking the water (sites 67-73) are wonderful but in fairness found other sites appealing in a different ways. Nice thing about this campground is its proximity to "civilization". Great Roast Beef place - Harrison's - a few miles down Rt. 125 on the left. Plenty of convenience stores around, too. Restaurants, and chain stores easily reached as is the Methuen Mall. Did many side trips during the day: Beanstalk in nearby Reading provided a couple of hours of walking rope bridges (some were 20+ feet in the air) and more than one ride on the zip line. Designed for kids, this adult had a blast. Trampoline World (or something like that) in nearby Methuen burnt a 12 years old's energy and the parent's "calories burned" count considerably. Did Salisbury Beach (Ahhhh, memories) and a trip to Boston for the MIT Museum's Robotics and Holograms displays which daughter is really in to and I found interesting. Wrapped up Beantown (Sorry Bostonians, couldn't resist) at the Blueman group performance. Seen 'em in Vegas but this intimate theater made it more personal. Daughter got hit with jello (I ducked) but her poncho was on. Harold Parker makes a nice base camp to explore the many options the area offers. We were always home in record time since camping so close. Of course, camp fires, s'mores and ghost stories were an integral part of the trip. And yes, the ghost stories are true. While nearby Salem, Mass. has capitalized on the witch hysteria of the 1600's, Andover both North And South Parish, had 1 in 12 inhabitants involved in the witchcraft trials as accusers and accused. The North Parish Burial Ground holds the graves of some. Camping at Harold Parker campground was, as my 12 year old, first time in a tent camping daughter remarked, "AWESOME!" She's right.
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Date of stay: August 2016Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The campground at Harold Parker State Forest offers campsites that are spaced far apart for privacy, clean restrooms with shower and kitchen wash up facilities, and family oriented activities such as a well equipped playground, a small beach, and nature talks on the weekends. The staff is courteous and helpful, and they keep the public facilities very clean. This was our first visit, and we were pleased with our campsite thinking that it was close enough for a bathroom run but with enough distance to avoid hearing early risers going in and out. What we didn't take into consideration were the open dumpsters near the restrooms. If the wind is in the wrong direction…..We also noticed that there were a lot of mosquitoes both during the day and evening. Mosquitoes don't bother my husband, but I spent most of the evening slathered in bug repellent. Another concern is that we saw that there was poison ivy growing happily near our water spigot and along the edge of our campsite. I think this is something that needs to be addressed. You wouldn't want to take little children camping and spend time keeping them away from the perimeter of your site. There is mention of gunshots, but they were very faint when we were at the campground. You do, however, hear loud traffic from the local highway in the evening. Although the location can't be beat for short hikes and trips into Salem and environs, I think I would wait till the mosquitoes die off in the fall.
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Date of stay: August 2012
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Try to avoid the campsites near dumpsters.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Campground was clean, safe and well maintained. I recommend book early in the season to get the spots by the pond. There are plenty of things to do in the area, like hiking, bicycling, swimming. Ponds nearby are so beautiful and peaceful.
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Date of stay: August 2016Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Not sure why this is titled Lorraine Park. I thought we stayed at Harold Parker State Forest. Anyway, this is a very scenic campground with nicely spaced sites. We had a site on Frye Pond & it was gorgeous! No electricity if that matters. Water is available by the sites. We were across from the bathhouse, which was clean & recently remodeled. The showers were great! There's a swimming area across from the campsites, but sharing a swim area with Canada geese just isn't my thing. The nature center was very small & not open the Fri & Sat. we were there. Staff is friendly. The list of rules is long, but enforcement isn't apparently a priority. It seemed to be pretty quiet for a weekend, but I'm not complaining.
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Date of stay: August 2015Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our visit to this campground exceeded our expectations. Compared with a nearby commercial campground, such as the one in Littleton, MA, the sites here are dramatically more spacious, private and scenic and cost considerably less.
Although there are no electric hookups or sewer connections on the campsites, most of them have a water faucet next to the road. RV owners would be advised to use a water pressure regulator since pressure at those faucets exceeds 100 psi and have a long water hose. There are bathhouses scattered throughout the campground with clean toilets, lavatories and hot-water showers.
This campground does not offer Wi-Fi, but we had a three-bar Verizon Wireless 4G signal for Internet access and phone calls. Swimming, boating, fishing, a playground, basketball courts, pavilion and a large group site are among the amenities here. There is potable water and an RV dump station at the entrance.
The park rangers were unfailingly friendly, helpful and courteous during our stay. We were able to stay there for an entire three night, four day weekend for about what we paid PER NIGHT last year in the cramped commercial campground in nearby Littleton. Unlike the commercial campground, which charged us extra, our guests and their car were warmly welcomed without any extra charges. For boating and fishing enthusiasts the lakes are idyllic. Hiking and biking trails abound. During our next visit to the Boston/Andover area we will certainly be staying here again.
We stayed here in a Class A Motorhome
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Date of stay: June 2015
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Choose based upon need for privacy or preference for a lake view.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We really enjoyed out stay here except for having to drive the whole way around the loop each time to get to a bathroom. But other than that this place was very pretty with lots of room for our little camper. Clean bathrooms and very friendly staff!
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Date of stay: July 2014
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed here for two nights as part of a larger trip. The forest itself was beautiful. Majestic trees, scenic ponds. The campsites were VERY large and spread out offering lots of privacy. This made bathrooms a bit far though. Overall a lovely campground. Showers could use some improvements as there isn't really a place to put anything down (like glasses). Adding benches to the stalls would be good. Also the shower heads are VERY low so tall people will have to bend over the wash their hair. The park itself was also very close to neighbouring towns which was nice if you want a break from camping.
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Date of stay: June 2014
Value
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Site 23 was nice/large but it is a tad bowl shaped and may be a bit soggy in heavy rains. ...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Andover area.
LOCATION
United StatesMassachusettsAndover
NUMBER OF ROOMS
89
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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Are there any historical sites close to Lorraine Park Campground?
Many travellers enjoy visiting Rebecca Nurse Homestead (12.8 km), The Stevens-Coolidge Place (8.2 km), and Samuel Parris Archaeological Site (11.5 km).
