I agree with many of the reviews here: the management at this campground ruined the entire experience. The check-in process is how I imagine checking into prison might feel. The owners seemed more concerned that I obey all the rules than enjoy myself. My father had already made reservations (and paid for) a tent site for two nights. When I showed up with my girlfriend, I also had to pay for two nights, plus pay an extra fee for bringing a third person onto the site. I also had to pay for a second vehicle, but here's the worst part: the vehicle that I paid to have on the campground could not be parked at the site, but had to go to the overflow lot. This is true even though there is plenty of room to have two normal-sized vehicles at the site. Had the weather been good, this probably would not have bothered me that bad; however, when we got back to the campground after dinner, it was pouring rain. After moving stuff from the car to the tent, I was faced with the decision to leave the car nearby in case I needed something in the middle of the night, or going to the overflow lot so that I could walk back in the rain. I decided to leave it overnight, but I was stressing out that I would hear a golf cart pull up at 1:30 in the morning to make me move it. He didn't. But we got up super early the next morning and started packing the car. Sure enough, Mr. Golf Cart came by with only one thing to say: "The car had to be moved to the overflow lot." We told him we were leaving a day early on our two-night stay, and he kind of shrugged and drove off. Maybe this place is good if you come every year with a large family and an RV, but for the tent camper (even the quiet, reasonable one that does a lot of camping) this place is a total drag. Find some place else to spend your money. read more

I recently completed a vacation to Fransted Family Campground and all I can say is that I signed up for YELP to write the first negative business review of my life. DO NOT GO To Fransted Family Campground if you like to whisper past 10:00pm. They strictly enforce quiet hours of 10pm by yelling at you at 10:01 hours for talking softly without your radio on around the fire. Then they wait across the street and watch you. This happened night after night even though we were staying alongside relatives and no one had complained about the noise. I also am sincere in saying the crickets were louder than us however they probably have Poisson on the way for them. Numerous Fransted Family Campground guests had similar complaints about the management and upon our leaving at 11am on our last day. We stopped to say goodbye to our associates at which time we were rudely told that we not only had to leave our site at 11 but also the park, but don't worry we can pay to register as day visitors so there's that. Did I mention people stay at Fransted Family Campground for the summer and set up shanty trailer homes. One such individual yelled at me for unlocking my car and activating my headlights. He was however trying to have intercorse on the grass with his wife so I understand his need for privacy. Fransted Family Campground was an awful experience mostly due to the rude management and I will never ever ever return. read more

Staff was rude the moment we got there. No tents aloud on RV sites. Was yelled at for setting one up. Could have been told in a much nicer manner. Empty site next to ours, asked if we could have our friends move their camper to that site, was told no they were fully booked. 3 days later when we checked out the site was still empty. Got yelled at for walking across another RV sites grass. Sites are one on top of the other around the center circle. No privacy except if near the river. Will not be returning to this campground because of how we were treated by the staff. read more

We have been camping at Fransted for about 10 years (spanning the prior and current owners. I have been camping in general for about 40 years (since I was a little kid). During that time, my perspective on what camping is has changed from camping as a kid, to camping as a teenager, to camping as a college kid with his buddies, to camping now with my wife and young kids. When I was in college, I enjoyed camping as a way to get me to places I wanted to be (for hiking, biking, oceans) and to have a great time--including some late night, noisy camping. There are some great places to camp in the white mountains of New Hampshire where you can be as loud and rowdy as you like. Where nobody will check on you or ask you to be quiet. I spent many a late night with my buddies in college enjoying cold beers, a big fire, and good music playing. In all the time I spent camping in college, we never once went to a family campground. Why would we? Why would I want to stay up very late with my college buddies with a huge fire, loud music, drinking, at campground on a site next to a family with small children trying to get to bed early? Or next to a couple trying to enjoy a peaceful dinner/campfire? The name of this campground is "Fransted Family Campground" Their emphasis on "Family" is the reason this is our single favorite campground--period. We camp here at least 3 times per year. As many have pointed out, the bathrooms and showers are clean, the campground has many great activities like hiking paths, swimming in the river, playing in the ball fields, mini golf, etc. We love these things at Fransted but the main reason we love Fransted is because of the Family part. When you are able to get your young children to sleep because the campground is wonderfully quiet, it makes for a great vacation all by itself. At Fransted, we can sit by the campfire and enjoy nature without worrying about partying neighbors. To say Fransted provides the perfect family camping trip is truly an understatement. Some people have complained here about the golf cart patrolling. I, on the other hand, can't think of a sight that makes me happier than seeing the cart patrolling quietly through the campground after 10:00pm quiet hours If you are a group of people (young or older) that likes to party and stay up late (like I used to do) there are plenty of places to camp that a great--Fransted is not one of them. If you are looking for a place that works very hard to provide a wonderful, peaceful, fun camping experience, then Fransted is for you. read more

We stayed here for four days in August and it was superb. If you are looking for a spotless campground with plenty to do, this is your place. The grounds are kept beautifully, there is a river running through the campground, a giant field for running around/playing, and hiking/biking trails. Yes, quiet hours start at 10 pm, but if you are there with kids (as we were), I don't see how this is a bad thing. The owners were very friendly and helpful with anything we needed. The bathrooms were spotless and there are free hot showers. This IS NOT a "party" campground. It's a campground to go to if you want to be able to easily access the local attractions, then have a beautiful, fun and friendly campground to return to when your activities are finished (and then have a quiet evening after 10 pm). One point I want to make: One of the things that made our stay so pleasant is I think this campground attracts the type of people who are looking for the amenities I mentioned above and who want to be able to relax and enjoy their camping experience. Everyone was friendly and everyone respected the rules...and everyone seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Don't believe the negative review bombing that has occurred below. This is a fantastic campground and we will absolutely be returning. read more

We stayed at Fransted 8/2017 and found it to be a beautiful campground with a nice family friendly atmosphere. The owners were warm and welcoming. The "rules" are like other campgrounds and people follow the rules which makes everyone's stay better. The sites are clean and many have hedge like bushes for added privacy. I would not hesitate to recommend and we will definitely camp here again. read more

Fransted Campgrounds - Campgrounds Near Me - Franconia, New Hampshire

THIS PLACE IS AWFUL.....the toilets are always full of turds floating unless your the first one to use it in the morning...the owners are rude...we have a yellow lab the most docile breed and was reprimanded by the owner who never smiles ...because we let him in the brook to swim....our kids skidded their bikes as they came down a steep hill and we were told to control our kids......these people are real jerky here....go to crazy horse or pemi river where they shuttle tubes and kayaks and you can float right to your campground and a bridge to jump off in the water....Fransteds river beach are is filled in an you cannot swim at all read more

Just back from a 3 night stay and we had a great time. The kids loved the tubing and I really enjoyed the scenery and the cleanliness. Yes they do enforce quiet hours from 10 pm to 7 am but this was not an issue for us at all. We were up past 10 enjoying our fire and talking and saw a staff member walk by and got a nod. You are able to sit and talk quietly at your site after 10 and we had no issue doing that. We wanted a place where it was quiet after dark so we could put the kids to bed at a reasonable time and sleep ourselves without other people's kids making noise till all hours so this was perfect! If you are looking for a party this is not the place, and they are very upfront with their policies. Overall we were very happy and will probably return! read more

These people are incredibly rude and unaccommodating. We have a small expedition trailer (not an RV or pop-up camper). I emailed them last July (2018) and inquired if they would allow this small trailer on a particular site and even emailed them photos. They approved the trailer on two sites. We made reservations for one of the two sites and showed up this week. The second I walk into the office, in her best sarcastic tone I get "What is that thing" My simple response was "that's my trailer." They told me I wouldn't be allowed into their campground with it for where we reserved and for where they approved it. They demanded I prove to them by showing them the emails and said they had not allowed trailers on that side of the property in years. The gentleman is now involved as well and super argumentative, but they finally relented and said we would be allowed in this time, but never again with this trailer. She then says I can't set up the trailer on the wood chips located on site (which is half the site) and says "what part of this do you not understand." Folks, I'm a 44 year old person coming here with my 9 year old son. I'm a retired police officer and I follow the rules. I walked in with a smile on my face and this is the greeting I get. I even went back to try to make peace, but still got the cold shoulder and the gentleman never spoke a word to me the entire time we remained. Even when I showed them the emails and forwarded them the emails proving I was right, they never responded to them or made any effort to apologize. I was speaking with fellow campers on nearby sites and they too shared rude run-ins with them. I suggest you come here is you wanted to be treated like a 6 year old. Plenty of other beautiful campgrounds in that area. AVOID THIS ONE So to add to it, I messed up on the reservation dates. We were supposed to go Sun-Thurs and I thought it was Mon-Fri. I got a call from them Sun eve asking if I was showing up. Obviously this was my fault, but asked if we can just move the dates. Understandably, the site we reserved was taken Thurs into Fri. I asked if we could move to another site. They said they have sites open, but refused to allow us to move for just one night, because it wasn't worth their time to have to clean a site for a one-night stay on that site. During our time there, I watched them "clean" countless sites. Took them a whole 5-6 minutes each time. They refuse to accommodate anyone and this was all before I showed up and got the incredible attitude. I understand they must deal with some knuckleheads at times and I don't have issues with their rules. They serve a purpose and I get that, but the way they treated me was totally unacceptable. Show less read more

My husband and I were looking forward to spending a night at this campground. The grounds in photos and in person looked beautiful. We took the reviews with a grain of salt, believing it's right only to judge someone on our own experience. We studied the website and overlooked the posts explaining the owners' strict guidelines and "far from warm and fuzzy" affect. We enjoy a clean and quiet campground and we wouldn't be spending the night with the owners. However, when we arrived we were told only campers staying for multiple nights were welcome and reservations were required. The website clarified that a three night stay was necessary on specific weekends and holidays, between Memorial and Labor Days. We were there in mid-September. Nothing about reservations was on the website. My husband offered to pay for three nights, explaining how excited we were to stay. The owners repeated to my husband over and over "We're just not doing it. We have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason." We are shocked that a business could be run like this ! In the end, we found a lovely campground ten minutes down the road with hosts that were warm, charming, and actually said "We're happy to have you here." We agree and are thrilled to be giving our money and spending our time with a family that is so inviting! read more

Our family has been going to this campground for 8 years as a tradition, and we trusted this campground for the cleanliness and just the beautiful area in general. The managers were very rude this last year that we came, and at 9:30 at night, 30 minutes before quiet time, we made some noise clearly causing the managers to get upset. Months later we got an email after we had sent an email to them to see if we could book a spot. The email explained how we were "irresponsible individuals that couldn't stop making noise." ... 30 minutes BEFORE quiet time. They had further banned us from the facility. Couldn't they have told us that when we left the campground the next day, instead of waiting months later to email us?! Yes. They could have. read more

If you are an avid hiker, looking to get away for some quiet or peace of mind, or just want to relax by the river, this is your haven. Karen and Gregg work continuously to keep a clean, well-maintained vacation spot for those who love the mountains. They have strict guidelines, but they are put in place so that everyone has a peaceful and enjoyable trip. If you are looking to have a huge fire, party into midnight, and play loud music, this is not the place for you. I love that you can come back from a hike (Karen has great recommendations for quick hikes if the mountains are too daunting for that day), from the craft breweries, or driving the Kancamangus, and know that you can relax and enjoy the quiet come evening. They have a store for any last-minute items you may have forgotten, free clean and hot showers, and groom each site after you leave. I have been to so many campsites and have found trash left behind or the fire pit still full of remnants. Don't bring wood, even if it is local. Just buy it there, it's not much more expensive...and it's a campground, so the income is seasonal. This year I went 5 times. Two solo trips, 1 with girlfriends, and twice with my husband. It's the best. read more

We have stayed at this campground for the past 5 years and love it. It's clean and safe and it's great for families. The patrols make us feel safe when visiting the rest rooms at night and with the kids. Most campgrounds have a 10 O'clock quiet time, so this is not so outrageous and it's why we stay here. I have been to campgrounds where people are loud and party all night and that's fine, if that is what you want to do. This is not the place. I will say that the curfew time is a bit stringent and could be a little lighter on people just sitting by the fire and quietly chatting and wrapping it up. Otherwise this place is great. Lot's to do, a variety of types of lots, fantastic location and you can leave your things at your campsite and not feel like they will walk away! Keep up the good work! read more

Just got back from a week camping. We have been camping here for a number of years and have already booked for next year. Our kids look forward to their stay there all year long. I see some negative posts and can understand some of the issues but the policies are clear and one of the reasons we keep coming back. If you are looking for a quiet, safe place to enjoy with your kids this is a great choice. We enjoy the hiking trails, stream, ball field, golf, rock painting and walking/biking around the campgrounds. At the end of the night we want to get our kids to bed and enjoy a quiet night. We do kick back and enjoy a few around the fire before turning in but this is not the place if you are looking for an evening party atmosphere. The bathrooms are very clean and easily accessible which is a huge plus. Gregg and Karen do a great job keeping this campground a real family campground! read more

We have stayed here a couple of times with our children. This past time we spent Labor Day weekend here. The entire campground was full, but it did not feel that way. All of the tent sites are spacious and wooded. There are trees or bushes separating each site. You do not find this everywhere. The sites are kept impeccable. They are clean and well mulched. The bathrooms are nice. Keep in mind, this is a campground so they are going to be a bit rustic, but they are nice and kept clean. You can not beat the location. It is so close by to many great attractions. Some that we have visited are the Flume Gorge, Cannon Mountain, Lost River Gorge, Hobo Railroad and Echo Lake Beach. It is only a 20 minute drive to Lincoln and the start of the Kancamagus Highway. A scenic one hour drive will bring you to Mt. Washington's Auto Road. At the campground itself, the tubing river was great for the kids. As far as the rules and the golf carts that other reviewers have complained about, I would expect any campground to have similar rules and appreciate the fact that they are enforced. As I said, we stayed Labor Day weekend and the place was full. Our stay was quiet, comfortable and pleasant. On a very busy weekend for this campground we barely noticed the "dreaded" golf cart going by. When we did see it, we got a nice smile and wave. This campground is wonderful and we are looking forward to going back next year for a longer stay! read more

Fransted Campgrounds - Spacious site 44 on the river - Campgrounds Near Me - Franconia, New Hampshire

Ok, I feel that I have to interject here with some clarity on how ridiculous these previous reviews are on Fransted Campground. First off, I have been visiting this campground since the year 2000. I'm a NH native living down in South Jersey right now so Fransted is my haven to retreat to every year to get away from the rat race. To say that the owners aren't welcoming and to post negative reviews about their rules is incredibly unfair. What I love the most about this campground and what has kept my family and me returning year after year is the fact that they do stick by these rules. It's called a FAMILY campground for a reason - people vacation there with their children and don't necessarily want to hear crowds of people partying at night. We are coexisting in a place separated by a thin piece of fabric ( our tents) and when children have early bed times and people are being rude and loud, those said children cannot fall asleep. My family and I just recently stayed at the campground and we couldn't WAIT for the cart to come around at 10 pm to quiet people down as we had trouble falling asleep listening to loud voices, car doors slamming, people making loud noises while walking around ,etc. That patrol is a God send as far as I'm concerned. I have been to other campgrounds and they do not do that and it was an awful experience for my children having to listen to loud music and partying well into the night. I PAY for these rules they have in place because they make a whole lot of sense to me. If you want to have a loud party or talk loudly around the campfire, stay home and don't ruin the serenity of the mountains for other people. I have a pretty good idea what state most of the negative reviewers hail from because most of the time you are the ones making the most noise. You don't like the rules, go somewhere else and leave the peaceful campground to those of us who truly appreciate the peace and quiet of being out in nature. This campground is incredibly beautiful, quiet, peaceful, and well kept. You will never find a nicer, more relaxing environment. If the owners don't abide by the rules they set for the high standards of the campground, then people like me would not return. Any good businessman/woman knows that repeat business is the best business and they aren't about to cater to a bunch of knuckleheads from the southern region so they can make a few bucks more. Go to the state campground where you are allowed to have a free for all at night if that's what you want. I will always continue to be a loyal patron of this campground as long as it exists. Thanks for all that you do to keep the standards high, owners of Fransted. read more

So I have to admit, we had orignally planned on staying at the Layfette Campground for some hiking last weekend, but when it was booked we reluctantly picked Fransted. We were a little worried we would be "chased around in a golf cart" or "watched all night" like some of the other reviews here said, but our experience couldn't have been any different. The owners, Karen and Greg, were extremely helpful, friendly and professional. They had great tips for things to do or see in the area and even recommended a restaurant that was "smelly hiker friendly" for when we got home from a particularly long (and smelly) day of exploring. The shower, bathrooms and sites are absolutely immaculate, you can tell they take great pride in their campground. We had such a good time we may go back next weekend! read more

There was plenty good about this campground that beats all others, but the super strict rules and constant management control was too excessive. There bathrooms, showers, and laundry rooms were the cleanest I've seen at a campground. And they had plenty to do for kids under the age of 13ish. But after that, the place was like living in the Third Reich. I only use this analogy because it was the one I heard mentioned by the teenagers I was with and it really did fit the bill. I was with a group of half adults and half children. It seemed like most people in my party had a bad run-in with someone in management. My only issue with them was after the "10pm whisper rule". The rules asked for low voices after 10pm, which I thought was fine when I saw it. However, they don't mean "low voices" or "whisper", they mean, it's time to stop talking and go to bed. It got to the point where my family and I would time them to see how fast they came over after 10pm while we whispered. It's was 1 minute, 33 seconds. This was on a Saturday night. I purposely left the site and walked down the road to see how loud we were being, and you could hear the river running and wildlife over our voices. Yet, they continued to ask us to quiet down and/or disperse. At one point we were asked "what day we were leaving". To me, this sounded like some sort of threat, so I replied with "In two more days, can you tell me what the weather is going to be like?" From there all I got was "I've been up for two day, how should I know". But at least he left after that. I found the whole thing actually quite comical, so maybe that's what they were shooting for. Something the family and I could laugh at them about, because it truly was that absurd. read more

"If only they were welcoming!" 4 of 5 starsReviewed yesterday NEW We would have given this campground a 5 rating as it was clean, well maintained, and located within the beautiful White Mountains, but we cannot as we do not appreciate being spoken down to and treated without even an ounce of friendliness. The woman who checked us in upon our arrival was very rude and had that offensive demeanor of talking DOWN to you, as if you are beneath her. I believe she may have been the owner as she had an air of superiority about her. We were friendly, even trying to engage her in small talk, but she persisted in her rude handling of us. She spits out the RULES as if you have already broken them and then smugly restates that which she feels you are going to need scolding on. We arrived happy and excited and left the front office shaking our heads at her treatment of us. On Saturday evening we wandered over to the ice cream social under the big tent where we saw her serving campers. Upon walking by the table I smiled at her and said hello. She looked right THROUGH me, totally ignoring me.....we made eye contact....she could NOT even return the smile. I quipped that a smile wouldn't kill her. Can I claim for sure she heard me? NO. But she turned away from me after that. It's really not a hard choice to be nice, friendly, or to smile back at someone. It's ok to be who you are, but if someone serves the public (which she does) then one should have an ounce of friendly attitude and accompanying friendly banter. I don't care about the issues surrounding the running and maintenance of a campground and if that's all she sees (issues) with every guest she checks in, then perhaps a business where she doesn't deal directly with people is more her strength, because people skills are DEFINITELY not within her) We didn't deserve to be treated like children, (and rudely on top of that), when we were giving you OUR money to camp at your campground for OUR vacation. Stayed August 2014, traveled with family read more

Staying at this campground is a family tradition now. My husband stayed here with his family when he was little. He brought me here before we had kids. And now we came back again with our kids. Franconia Notch is a gorgeous State Park, and camping's the way to go when you visit. At Fransted, the tent sites are beautiful. The bathrooms are very nice for a campground, free hot showers included. Kids are encouraged to play in the creek. They also had a swing set, minigolf, rock painting, and other activities. It's nice and quiet at night, which is a bonus when you're camping with kids. They do have rules on lights out and quiet hours, which is plenty fair for a family park with so many tent sites. But be aware of that when booking. If you have a more adult group that wants to stay up to 2 in the morning talking and playing music around a campfire, this isn't the place for you. My daughter and I left a painted rock with the others in the front, and she hopes one day to show it to her own kids. read more

My family have stayed here twice in the past couple of years and find it the nicest and cleanest campground around. There are plenty of things for the kids to do here and it is a great spot if you choose to go outside of the camp and check out all that Lincoln and Woodstock have to offer. We have never had any of the issues that the negative reviewers have talked about. The management does drive around in golf carts but have never seemed rude or anything. I think 10pm quiet time is perfect, especially since this is a family campground and most people are there with kids. If you can't be quiet after 10pm then this campground is not for you. My family had a great time and will come back for years to come. read more

I have to laugh at some of the reviews that have been written by people. When I see people upset by rules and regulations at a private campsite they have either never been camping or only gone to state and national park sites. You always pay for extra adults, this is a family campground! The overflow parking is so my kids can ride their bikes on an open road and other campers can walk without squeezing around additional vehicles. We love this place and are booked already for our 6th year. Good old time family fun, bike riding, mini golf, a large ball field for all families to join together and play games, and the brook for kids to tube and cool off. If you want to be loud, obnoxious, and disrespectful to other families enjoying their time together, please go somewhere else. The simple rules to follow: be respectful, be safe, and have family fun. read more

My family and I just spent time at Fransted Campground. We had a blast! The sites and bathrooms were immaculate. The staff was friendly and there was plenty of fun to be had. The kids enjoyed baseball, kickball, volleyball, soccer mini golf, and ping pong. When it was time to go home no one wanted to leave. read more

I stayed here for a few days in June, first time camping in years and by myself looking for som e alone time. The owners were very helpful in guiding me to activities that I might enjoy....walking along the river at the back of the grounds and following the trail in to town was nice. My tent site was spacious and I loved the wood chips which kept my tent from becoming a muddy mess during the rain that fell one night. Everything was VERY clean...no cigarette butts littering the ground as I have experienced at other campgrounds. All of the patrons respected the quite hours which I especially appreciated in the morning having been to other places where barking dogs and shouting children wake me up before Im ready. If you're a group that wants to party late into the night, this is probably not the best choice for you, If youre looking for a quiet, beautiful campground, close to all of the attractions of the Franconia area, then this is a great place to stay. read more