At first I really didn't understand the reviews on this place that are less than three stars. Then I looked again at how many places those people have reviewed and it seems to me someone has a vendetta against the current owners. We really enjoyed camping at this campground. They offered a lot of amenities and activities as well as large, semi-private sites. Our site was level and had a picnic table, a fire pit, electric and water. We also felt like we had no neighbors as there was plenty of green space between our campsite and the next. We had no issues with mud at all. We had NO issues at all. This campsite offers laundry, men's and women's bath houses, a general store, gem hunting for the kids, bouncy houses, a swimming pool with a waterslide, kayaks and much much more. The staff was super friendly and helpful! We had a great time here. It was quiet for the most part and we stayed over Labor Day weekend. Definitely will be back went in the area! read more

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This was my family's spot when I was a kid. The last time I was there I was 15 and now I'm 31. There has been a lot of improvements since then. This is a great spot if you have kids. They added this awesome slide to the pool. The pool is nice and clean but the bottom is peeling. They also have some inflatable jumpy houses and a playground with this huge jumpy thing. I did go in the public bathroom and looked at the showers. It all looked clean. We stayed in a cabin. C1 to be exact. I could've picked between C1 and C2. After seeing both we wish we picked C2. It was a lot newer but a different layout. You can tell there was a newer air conditioner also. They are adding a bunch more that are still under construction. C1 wasn't the worst but I wouldn't stay in it again. The negatives of the cabin. When we arrived the cabin was so hot and the air conditioner was weak and dirty. They really need to replace it. It took an entire day for the cabin to cool down. There's really no windows to open up and you can't leave the sliding door open because there's no screen and bugs get in. There was a TV but didn't really work. Also the cabin was pretty dirty. It needs a major cleaning. There was still coffee grounds left in the coffee pot so we didn't even touch it. My kids feet would get so black from walking around barefoot. I cleaned the floor and the cloth was black. Positives of the cabin. You can fit 8 comfortably. There was a queen bed in its own room. A queen in the loft. The loft was small. You can't stand up or anything. A bunk bed and a pull out couch. You have to bring your own linen. It has a full kitchen and bathroom. There was a picnic table and also a fire pit. It comes with a gas grill that worked great. Plus what a view by the water! To sum it up I gave it a 3 because it's a nice place but the cabin needs some work. I won't book cabin C1 again. If you have kids this is a great place. They have events pretty much every weekend. It's quiet with lots to do and the staff were very nice. Also close to Salisbury and Hampton Beach which are great places to visit. I will definitely be returning next summer! read more

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My daughter was introduced to this campground while at an RV show. They said all the right things and the pictures were encouraging. The first thing that welcomes you are the overly stuffed dumpsters and the rusted appliances waiting for pickup. The website boasts of a new restaurant and playground arriving in 2017....it's 2018 and no restaurant or playground or organized activities! This place is mostly seasonal campers and boy they accumulate plenty of crap on their spots! One morning we woke up to no water. No one came around to inform us or put up a notice that water would be off for 3 hours! The staff seriously has a communication problem. We paid a discount rate of $55 and I expected more than a pool and pothole roads! P.s. A chair in the laundromat would be extremely helpful. read more

Overflowing trash is the first thing you see , complete with broken picnic tables and discarded furniture . Main road is okay but the side roads are dismal and a pain to maneuver a truck and camper around the piles of gravel that never seem to be getting spread. Bathrooms were absolutely disgusting, worse I've ever seen. Showers were nasty. The "new playground in 2017" is in pieces in a landscape trailer. Pool was very nice which was a plus for the kids as there is no playground and the bouncy area was open for exactly 2 hours the entire week. The arcade was broken . Never saw any staff making the rounds . Main water pump blew and no one ever went around and informed any of the campers. Not worth the money they charge to stay here . read more

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RUN!!! The place is a joke. I was a seasonal for 6 years and every year the owner claimed it would get better. It never did. He did however lose everyone's key deposit every year and forced you to pay another $40 because you've already paid 3500 to keep your camper there. He would not give me back my $200 deposit. It was always "going to be sent" he is a thief. Second, there is not a river. You will not be kayaking. The pool the summer of 2019 was "refurbished" and the bottom is crumbling so bad that they put the men's room shower mats on the pool floor....Gross!! He added a slide, it has a lip that cuts the kids backs. Then the pool lights were shocking kids. He said it was their fault for being too close to them. No workers at all!! Store is never open and neither is the pillow pad that cost me $150 for the season. You can only buy wood from his guy which will cost you about $40 extra. He will not let other wood deliveries through. This is a great camp ground if you own a motorcycle and like hearing them with blaring music at the wee hours of the am. The plus to this is if you are one of these Harley guys, you pay about 1k less then the families. There are also people who live in their campers year round so don't expect your propane to be full when you return in the spring. There are so many nicer places with more to offer. They claim they have a basketball court, but it's unusable. The pool is gross and no volleyball court. No security, but the police come a lot!! On the plus side, there are some nice families, but many have had enough and left too. read more

Yes nothing but a mudpit!!!! Horrible campground!!! No TV cable. Power out because workers doing work. Bobcats parked in front of our cabin.had to keep sweeping floor in cabin because of all the mud!!! Waste of money!!!! Kelly T read more

Woukd give it a minus 0 . This place is nothing but a mud pit. After paying for a full season, I left as after 6 weeks of sitting in the mud. Campground is dirty, not well kept. The owner would not move me as he said he had mo other seasonal sites, but in mediation said that he could make any site in green a seasonal site. If that was true, why didn't he not move me...so I left rather than sit in the mud, worst site in the campground. I lost a lot of money by leaving. Being an elderly widow looking for a place to enjoy the summer , I truly picked the wrong place. Save your money and look around, there are some nice campgrounds in the area that are so much better than this dirty mudpit with an owner who will take advantage of you. Luckily a few weeks later I found a campground not far from Exeter Elms and had the best summer ever on a beautiful lake. read more

First of all 4 stars because there's always room for improvement until you die. As a seasonal for 15 years I can say I know for a fact that sewerage is not used to fill the pool nor does it make puddles throughout the campground. I also know for a fact that whenever any of us help out it's because of the sense of family and community not obligation. To try to sabotage a place who's owner and community tries to make everybody's experience a positive one and sign the review with a name never registered as being in the park is childish and cowardly. Please come and see for yourself. Donna Elliott read more

This place is up for auction. The owners dont put anything back into it. We were first year seasonals. They tried to get more money from us saying we weren't paid in full. Bank statements said otherwise. We had to pay,$450, to have a huge dead tree cut down that was right over our camper. I spent the Summer cutting it up. They turn against everyone that helps them including us. Charge way too much money for firewood and dont allow outside firewood to come in. Store is never open. The best thing that can happen to this place is that the owners lose it at auction otherwise stay away. read more

The worst campground ever A fly infested place it's nothing but a big SwampThey tell you that they'll Come and empty out your tanks for you which We had to call them several times I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy Piss poor management read more

They have no staff, no security, filthy bathrooms with horrible showers and now it's infested with Gypsy moths that crap on everything. They advertise a heated pool, but owners never heat pool. Roads are in need of repairs. Wifi only works at store, not at campsites. Place looks like Shanty town. Crappy junk on seasonal sites. There is no activity directors so kids run around unsupervised all day. Activities get cancelled very often. Owner expects seasonals to run activities. The place is full of drunks who are always fighting and staggering around campgrounds. The septic system is horrible and you smell septic frequently, trailers are not connected correctly so raw sewage drains into groundwater, which is used to drink and fill pool. Beware, positive reviews are from seasonal campers who owner coerces to post in exchange for prizes. Last season there were multiple drug related visits from Exeter Police, including an overdose. With no security and owner never on site, would you want to bring your family here? read more

Yikes!! I stayed here last week. I will start by saying that I have done a lot of camping in my day. I've seen some great campgrounds and some not so great campgrounds. That being said, I have to warn you about the very weird vibe at Exeter Elms. The majority of the campers here seem to be residents who have taken over the place in a strange kind of "Deliverance" way. Many (not all) have let "their" campsite become a messy cluttered site that takes away from the potential this place has. Some of the "residents" are scary. My family and I joked that we living in an 80's horror/zombie movie. One night I went to check out the Bingo game at the rec area. I felt like I walked into a scene from The Night of Living Dead. People just turned and stared at me and my two kids. No one said a word to us. They just stared through us. Creepy! Even my kids picked up on the strange vibe. One of my daughters went to the store to ask about the arcade. She came out and told me a man told her it was "down the cellar" as he opened a door down to a dark basement. She ran!!! Honestly, I have never experienced anything like it in all my days of camping (all over the U.S. and Canada) and I have been camping since I was 8 and I'm now 46!!! read more

My family (husband and two daughters) camped with our friends (family of three) for a weekend in New Hampshire. I found Exeter Elms on line and took a chance. Usually, I have great camping experiences by exploring different areas. We're seasoned campers, in tent and trailer camping. We were just going for a weekend, so I figured tenting it would be fine. Thankfully, it was just one weekend, because I would have found somewhere else if I was trapped there for more than 48 hours. I'll note the good stuff first - nice roadways for kids to bike around; a well-stocked little store with true camping basics, not simply junk food; the pool was clean and well maintained. BUT, that's like putting lipstick on a pig because the management stinks. I had called ahead to let them know we'd be arriving very early Saturday instead of Friday night. Nobody informed me I'd need a gate key. I had to wait a half hour, even though I called the contact number in the morning. Upon checking in, the clerk was surly and I had to kill her with kindness. We arrived at our side-by-side sites to blasting music. Lots of children were wandering around, but really unattended. I make my kids "check in" every half hour or so. I never saw any security or a manager on a golf cart, checking in with guests. The music and loud noise went on all day and well into the night. I'm all for music and conversation, and a few beers, but cursing at 3 a.m. and roaring fires was the mainstay. I had rap on one side and Mariachi music on the other. I was woken several times and even a blunt "keep it down" from me didn't work. Many sites were filled, but I noticed people got the hell out of Dodge as soon as possible on Sunday morning. When I checked out the clerk didn't ask me about our stay, so I volunteered that the music went on all night and the drunken swearing was over the top. She said "we have security" to which I replied, "Well, you didn't have it last night." Lesson learned Exerter Elms is off my go-to list. We're going to Saco River in a few weeks and will return to the Beach Family Camping that we discovered a few years ago, where I know management and fellow campers won't put up with the crap I delt with at Exeter. read more

Place is a joke, roads are all flooded out. Place is infested with gypsy moths. No kids activities..no activities at all. People around us kept us up till 3am last weekend. They don't have security, place is pretty crazy. Never again!! read more

My family stay at Exeter Elms campsite was a huge disappointment to say the least. I was so excited for this trip and didn't even shop other campgrounds as it was the same place my family went every year 30 years ago. Taking my children to see the ocean for the first time was a no brainer for me since I already knew a nice quiet place to stay that was a stone throw away from the Hampton Beach Strip. Our first view pulling in was the sight of over full dumpsters and trash on the ground. I thought to myself that's not appealing however maybe tomorrow is garbage day and pushed any negative thoughts out of mind. (Later to observe this pile of trash remained everyday for the 5 days we were there). We then checked in and were informed our site was moved one over. No big deal, it's still in the general area of the play park and bounce pillow my kids have been talking about for weeks. We get to our site and very early on we realize why our site was moved as we were setting up camp in a swamp. The ground was mush and remained that way for our entire stay. Honestly if my kids hadn't been in the car riding for 6 hours I would have gone back to the office to request a different site. We have to trudge on we told ourselves... During our set up we then realize the play park and bounce pillow are in shambles. Literally there's caution tape wrapped around bits and pieces of play park which is all disassembled and scattered around. My kids were devastated. At this time I would have packed up and found somewhere else to go had we not have completely set up our site. Our plan was to spend a bunch of time at the campground letting the kids enjoy all the activities listed on the website. Don't waste your time with that, the website is extremely deceiving. The kids activities are only on the weekends nothing at all during the week for vacationers. The store closes whenever, although the hours are posted. The restaurant didn't open the entire time of our 5 day stay right in the heart of summer. The bathrooms are run down and haven't had any upgrades with the exception of a coat of paint and countertop in 30 years. That's not so bad as the showers having the same disgusting hair balls and scummy hair ties which did not get cleaned our entire stay. There's a secondary bath house that is completely out of order. The pool needs some real maintenance as the tile pieces were falling off as my children swam and there's a pool shower that doesn't even work. The surround of the pool has cigarette butt containers which were overflowing and did not get changed. The canoes for rent look like they have been beaten time and time again. The so called river that flows through is really a stagnant swamp anyways so the canoes are really a moot point. Not sure why the 2 stars, I was feeling nice... Talking with some of the locals it sounds the campground has changed ownership and it's clearly not getting managed properly. Sad my kids didn't get to have the experience I had at their ages. We won't be returning, we will most definitely be back to the area but wouldn't waste my time or money on this campground again. read more

My wife and I used to go every summer to this campground. Back then, this was a great place to spend a few days or a few weeks. Now, since the original owners left/sold it/whatever, it has gone downhill. My wife and I tried to rent a site and couldn't find one that was maintained like they used to be. The old owners would take sand and/or dirt to fill in low spots in a site to help water to dissipate. All the sites we saw were lakes with their fire pits completely filled with water to the point where a fire was not going to start or stay started. When these issues were brought up, we were treated with contempt and a nasty attitude. With this being said, I cannot with a good conscience, recommend this campground. Unfortunately, the other campgrounds in the area are not any better. Exeter Elms used to be the pinnacle, now it's just like all the others. read more

So called river tent sites are a joke! Covered in pine needles and pine cones and crap and are in no way ready for someone to setup in, can't even tell what is and what isn't a tent site in the horrible mess, bathroom by tent area is disgusting no showers in womens side and toilets over flowing and mens side only 1 shower kinda works if your able to get quarters in it without jamming. I must say I've been camping a good part of my life and this is the worst I've stayed at and that being said we packed up a day sooner to get out of there, very run down and uncared for place. Do your self a favor and go some where else! read more

This campground has sites from tents to high end RVs. A fully stocked camp store and game room for the teenagers. A swimming pool, river for boating and fishing. Fully functioning bathrooms, showers and laundry. Playground for the youngsters. Pavillian and picnic areas for larger groups. Weekend events for all ages. Dances, movie night under the stars and game nights. Canoe rentals. Lots to do . Ample sites complete with fire ring, picnic table and hookups. Water at all sites. Well treed. Centrally located to all seacoast attractions. My family and I have stayed here every summer for the last 6 years. Never been disappointed. Highly recommend to family campers. read more

This place is great they have a bunch of new upgrades including a jumping pillow a real cool gem mining station for the kids next to the general store it has changed a bunch in the last year with staff and camp maintenance the kids loved it and will definitely be back next year read more

This campground is not what you think! It is run down, no internet at camper site, no cable TV, smells of sewage, the roads will shake you to death and tear up your vehicle. This campground has mostly people that live here and there is so much crap at most of the campsites. I would not recommend anyone staying here. read more

Do not stay here. First of all you have to buy their fire wood which they charge you $50 for. Our first night we had them deliver us some and not only do you not get enough for the price but what they gave us was so wet we couldn't get it to light. Talking about wet, the night we arrived it had rained on and off all day. Out of the 5 sites that we reserved for our group only two of them were dry enough to set tents on. We used the other 3 swamps to park vehicles. The showers cost .50 for 5 minutes of water which never gets hot no matter how many quarters you add. This is not a family friendly park. The place is very quiet and occupied by mostly older retired people who complain constantly about noise. The park employees drive around with attitudes critiquing every move you or your kids make. I don't have anything nice to say about this place and we won't be staying again. read more

The campgrounds itself were fine. However, it felt like there were MANY families there that stay at the campgrounds so often that they consider themselves a permanent community. We stayed there and were berated constantly by both staff and campers for various things that we either were A) innocent (but assumed guilty immediately), or B) not the only ones committing these acts. For example, we were yelled at for driving too fast on the campgrounds (we were going 7 mph in a 5mph... please tell me a car that idles at 5mph, because I never once touched the gas pedal) and we were chased down by a camper (not staff) to be yelled at, though he had to be going at least 15mph while chasing us. Also, we were yelled at for being loud exactly 10 minutes after "quiet hours" began, though we were not only quieter than 2 neighboring sites but also inaudible from about 10 feet away (I walked it off and stopped when I could no longer hear our site)... and then 2 hours before quiet hours ended in the morning (it was around 6am) I heard many people and children screaming and slamming doors, waking me up very early. All in all, the fellow campers acted like their sites were THEIR property, like we were intruding on their lawns and disrupting their family dinners. They were able to get the staff to yell at us a lot, probably because we never complained to anyone about anything so they automatically assumed we were the trouble makers. Maybe the staff pandered strictly to their returning customers and saw us as a nuisance because we were not regulars. The staff acted like crooked cops on a power trip. Regardless, we felt threatened, harassed, stalked, and unwelcome for about 95% of the time spent on this site. The place seemed to be "families only", perhaps if we had children with us they would have left us alone more. I will absolutely never return in any capacity, which would probably be just fine with them. I was nothing but respectful to everyone, and I was never shown an ounce of respect back. The fact that we all woke up and weren't tied to trees was a huge relief. These people are nothing but back-woods, adult versions of the "Children of the Corn" movies. read more

We used to go a lot and people and staff weren't amazing but they were nice enough to return. It is pretty local to me and was an easy way to get away without going far. It is beyond terrible now. Apparently there was a divorce and the staff was happy to share all the gory details. A shame really. No one respected eachother never mind the visitors. It is now a nightmare! read more

Camping is 50% what YOU make of it. This place gives you a good outline/a few options to make being in nature that much better. I've been camping in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and outside the U.S & I must say Exeter Elms family campgrounds is a must. Going either as a couple, 3+ friends ,3+family, or 9+ family. With my girlfriend alone, we went twice this past summer and stayed in two different spots the 2nd time was that much better/spontaneous. We planned our stay the morning of & had everything we needed on the campground after only 4 hours after we thought to go camping. We built the tent, set up our firewood pile, planned our menu for the next 3 days and relaxed. We went swimming at the campground's pool & pedal boated down the lake located in the middle of the campgrounds. We had packed just enough food& bug spray; having a successful camp.( Spiders in the door ways of bathrooms are combative after hours; beware! ) There are many activities but in good company you are sure to have a good camp. Thank you for making camping peaceful! read more

I have been to many campgrounds over the years, I use to bring my children Exeter Elms several times a summer was a great quiet Family campground, friendly staff & clean campground with minimal problems. Returned this year for the first time in 15 years & will not be returning, The place is a dump and a large number of the clientele seem a little sketchy, people & staff are not friendly at all only friendly person was the women in the office. People playing loud music, starting up their trucks reven their engine nothing was done must be because they are regular seasonal people was 4am before they went in and we could finally get some sleep. They advertise wifi/internet well there isn't any unless to walk up by the store and hook up to their hot spot, That didn't work for me as I am on call & need to be available to receive emails & texts. The heated pool was ice cold, the canoes that are available for rental are discusting I wouldn't touch them never mind sit in one, and the area where you would put your canoe in is a pile of dirt! As we walked around the camp ground many of the sites had old items junk items just hanging around on their sites, there was one almost directly across from the camp store god only know what was on that site hard to identify some of the items other than to say a bunch of junk! Some of the campers on some of the site were just deployable, felt like I was walking though a ghetto neighborhood, the music playing at the pool was not appropriate for children at all. Bathrooms were always dirty. To think you go to a family campground and have to be concerned about drugs being sold at the camp ground is very concerning yes their are drugs being sold there and there have been previous arrests there for the sale of illegal drugs. I can say thank goodness my children are grown now as if they were younger I would have not even stayed. We did check out early and will never be returning. Very sad to see what was a very nice Family Campground at on time go down the tubes so badly. read more