RV Campground Review – Boston Minuteman Campground, Littleton, MA

September 9, 2017 by libertatemamo 13 Comments

A forested, cozy and very “state park like” private park ~1 hr outside of Boston, MA. Good location for exploring the city (with a train-ride in).

Link to park here: Minuteman Campground, MA
Link to map location here: Minuteman Campground, MA

1. Site quality = 3/5
   Pretty decent sites here with just a few dings. The campground is set in a mature forest with tall trees so there are lots of shaded sites and the entire place feels very “state park like” in atmosphere. The road that goes through camp is somewhat narrow (in spots), somewhat hilly (in spots) and bumpy, but do-able for rigs up to 40-feet (I’m not sure I’d go larger here). Sites themselves are gravel/dirt (either back-in or pull-through) with gravel/dirt “sitting areas” containing picnic area and fire pit, and they are arranged to fit the forest (no boring private park side-by-side sites here!). Trees provide lots of shade and very decent privacy and separation. It all feels very cozy and relaxed. Biggest ding is there is quite a large variation in site size and levelness. Some sites are lovely and large/flat whereas others (on the hilly sections) are shorter or quite unlevel. The latter are no problem for tenters or smaller rigs, but there is definitely a limited selection for bigger rigs! The front desk has a solid grasp of which sites can fit which size so definitely make your size clear when you book. Lastly sites nearest the entrance/road do get some road-noise whereas sites in the back are nicely quiet. For hookups there is a mix of full hookups (either 50A FHU or 30A FHU plus cable TV) or electric/water (30A only). The different types of sites do have different feels:
   • 50A FHU sites: These are the largest/flattest and most big-rig friendly but there are only 19 of these in the campground so definitely a limited selection! In our opinion nicest 50A FHU sites were #78, #80, #81 plus #1, #2. The middle-section FHU (site #55-60) were closer together and had less privacy, while the sites nearest the entrance (#67-71) were too close to the main road (and so had road-noise). We had site #1 which was huge (lovely!), very quiet and easily accommodated our size (we’d chose the same again if we returned). Paul’s dad had site #3 which was not quite as private as ours, but also fine for his size. These sites cost $60/night.
   • 30A FHU sites: These are a mix of some smaller sites and some larger ones. We thought the outside-facing sites #77, #79 and #87, #88 were the nicest/largest, but some of the inner sites were also nice. These sites cost $56/night.
   • 30A/water: These are generally the smallest sites in the campground and really best-suited for small trailers, pop-up campers or tenters. There were a select few larger options (specifically B-F) which could fit bigger rigs. These sites cost $48/night.
   • Cabins: There are also 3 cabins (one and two-room) for rent which looked nice from the outside, although we were not able to see the inside. Cabins cost $67-$81/night.
2. Facilities = 2.5/5
   Flush toilets and showers here. Main ding is that the facilities are on the older size (plastic walk-in showers, older shower curtains, fixed shower heads with somewhat variable temp/pressure), but other than that they were impeccably clean.
3. Amenities = 4.5/5
   For a small campground this has an incredible number of amenities! There is an on-site pool (small, but nice), game room, lounge room, kiddie playground, game area (with volleyball court, bocce ball, horse shoes, you-name-it). There is also on-site laundry room with several machines ($2.00 wash $1.50 dry), on-site propane, book swap and small camp store. On-site dump station too. It’s amazing what they cram in here! Only ding is the internet. There is free WiFi, but like most campground WiFi it’s gets overloaded and doesn’t always work (we found it very iffy while we were here).
4. Location = 4/5
   This is a good location to explore Boston and the surrounding area. You are within 20 mins drive from the Commuter Rail into Boston (park and ride from West Concord) or 40 mins drive from the Subway into Fenway. You can also drive directly into town in ~1 hour. You are also within easy driving (~20 mins) of all the stores and shopping you could want including Trader Joe’s, Costco and more. Only ding is that there is nothing much of interest right next to the campground. You do need to drive to get your sightseeing done.
5. Pet friendliness = 5/5
   Very paw-friendly spot. Good space in camp, plus there’s a nice little pet-walk around the back and a lovely (quite large, shaded) fenced-in off leash area too. Polly really liked it here!

Overall Rating = 3.8
BONUS ALERT: Camp in a forest just ~1 hr outside of Boston!

Summary: There are limited RV camping options around Boston and we wanted a nice, clean FHU campground for a few days to explore the city with my dad and Paul’s dad and stepmom. This campground popped up as one of the best-reviewed private parks in the area, plus it was easy driving distance (~20 mins) to the commuter rail into town. It worked out perfectly for our needs. The campground itself is set inside a mature forest and has a very “state park like” feel with wooded dirt/gravel sites, nice “sitting areas” containing picnic table & fire-pit and very decent privacy and separation (thanks to the trees). Sites are a mix of back-ins and pull-throughs offering either FHU (30A or 50A with cable TV) or electric/water. Biggest ding is that there is a ton of variation in size and levelness. The camground is quite hilly and some of the sites are very small (especially the 30A/water back-ins) whereas some are quite large and spacious (particularly  the 50A FHU pull-throughs). For bigger rigs there’s a limited selection (only 19 50A FHU sites!), so definitely call ahead and check they can accommodate your size. Also some of the roads through camp are also quite narrow/curvy so I’d say 40-foot is about the max size you’d want to take in here. Outside of the sites the setting is great. There’s an incredible amount of amenities for such a small campground (swimming pool, playground, game room, bocce ball, volleyball court, basketball half-court as well as propane and laundromat) plus some wonderful touches for dogs (nice little dog-walk around the back, plus a very lovely fenced-in off-leash area). Campground owners/hosts were super friendly and helpful, and for visiting Boston it worked out perfectly! The campground provides detailed instructions on how to get into town and we were happy to be able to take advantage of the various public transport options, both for our downtown visits and Fenway Park. It wasn’t cheap, but totally worth it for the few days we were here, plus we really enjoyed the forested and quiet setting. We’d certainly return!

Extra Info: Good, usable cellphone signal (4 bars ATT 4G, 4 bars Verizon LTE and T-Mobile Binge On worked great). Free on-site WiFi, but it was iffy while we were here. Total ~100 sites. Sites cost $60/night (50A FHU plus cable TV) or $56/night (30A FHU plus cable TV), $48/night (30A/water). Site prices are for 2 people only (additional $10/night per additional person, $4 for child aged 6-8). Discounts for Good Sam’s (10%) and weekly stays. Big Rigs should call ahead to check before coming since larger rig spots are limited!

Extra, Extra Info: OTHER CAMPING: As I mentioned above there are not a ton of camping options close to Boston, but there are two Public Parks -> Winter Island Park (on north side of Boston. Looks tight, but sites fit up to 45-ft and waterfront views are an option here!) and Wompatuck State Park (on south side of Boston. Almost entirely 35-ft max sites, although there are five 40-ft sites listed online) that are cheaper, reasonably close to town and rate very well. Clock HERE for location and reviews on Campendium.