We made a reservation based on the recommendation of a friend who stayed here years ago. My wife and I had our friend's daughter with us for the weekend, so we took her camping at Blueberry Pond Campground in Pownal, Maine.
Pros:
- Connie (owner?) was very sweet on the phone when booking and when we checked in.
- Wooded, private sites with plenty of space for a tent, car, chairs, etc.
- Tent site #12 was right next to a big field which we ended up having exclusive use of for frisbee and nigh sky watching
- There's a pool (kids love pools)
- 5 min drive to Bradbury Mountain State Park
- 35 minutes from Portland
- Clean (bathrooms, tent site, general campground)
- Great for families and kids; very SAFE location and overall feeling
Eh's:
- There are many RV sites... probably more than tent sites, which adds a different vibe to the place if you're tenting.
- There were many dogs at the RV sites... all yapping and barking all the time
- RV people get up and start having a rollicking good time very early (and we were up at 730am!)
Does this make it seem like I'm anti-RV camping? I'm not, I don't think...
Cons:
- "Quiet hours of 10pm - 8am strictly enforced!!" ... NOT SO MUCH. There were a few other families with kids near us, and it was great when everything got quiet around 9pm (when our young friend was tuckering out). Not great when around 10pm a car pulled in joining a tent site across the way and made lots of noise until 3am. 3AM is a terrible time to finally get to rest when you're with kids all day. Especially when the RV'ers wake you up at the sound of the rooster.
- The "noisemakers" included a member of the staff/ daughter/ relative of the owners. We saw her working when we checked in, and then later when she brought her light-up hula-hoops to the site nearby. Her late night light show kept our tent feeling like a wooded rave for a few hours.
- Public shaming of driving 10 MPH. oops! The MPH for the campground is 5. We went to the store after setting up our tent, and upon returning were driving too fast. As we slowed (approaching the stop sign at the office) a man (owner?) jumped out in front of us with his hand out and hollered "5 miles per hour!!!!!" in front of all the folks he was sitting on the lawn with. (from them: "where are they going?" "campsite 12!"). We came to a full stop, gave a thumbs up, and continued to our tent site at 3 MPH just to be safe. I'm sure this is my "stuff" but it made me feel weird for a little while....weird enough to include on this review I guess!
Overall:
I would probably come back, but asking young camping ravers to "please keep it down" at 230am sucks, so that leaves a sour taste. There's always a risk of loud neighbors when you share a wooded bedroom with dozens of campers, so the pros outweigh the cons here. Hopefully if we do come back, I'll remember to not use such a lead foot when driving. Again, Connie was a gem. read more