Reviews

Tom Maurer

First off. The actual tent spots are awesome. Very spacious and plenty of room between sites. It feels very private. Now to the bad. As of this writing, the majority of bathrooms are in complete disarray. A lot a bathrooms are completely shutdown or at 50%. Signs posted stating things are closed for renovations, but there are no signs of renovations… just things closed down. There is literally ONE shower available to the entire campground. I mean one! And it’s coin operated as well. I mean at a steep 30$ a night for a tent site, bathrooms is complete disarray, and forcing you to pay for a shower, I don’t see the value. At this point, I’d probably just go camp out in the national forest somewhere. Plenty of port-a-pots out there for taking poos. Just not a lot of value for a steep 30$ a night tent spot.

M

Recent reviews are accurate. The campsites are nice and I would stay at them again. Note: Most, if not all tent sites are either up or down a set of stairs and may not be accessible to those with mobility limitations. Your loops bathhouse may also be up/down a decent incline. Additionally you will need to routinely carry food/items back to your car or bear box. There was no "check in" and I only saw the host once at their site. Quiet hours were NOT enforced. The site next to ours had a roaring fire and music going still by 4:30am. The bathhouses are in need of repair. The loops ranged from no working toilets to one working toilet and there was only one working shower in the campground. The pond is exactly that, an 'unimproved area' pond with a mucky bottom and a sand/dirt beach. Good for paddling and swimming depending on the person. There is no dish washing station (wasn't expecting there to be) and you will need to take a few extra steps to clean dishes in bear country.

Joshua Kolodnicki

The sites and location are great, but the facilities are falling apart. During our stay all but one shower was broken, which is the worst of it, but in general this place isn't in great shape. Some of the signage here is in direct conflict with how they want things used. The camphost was polite about it, but it can be confusing. Nobody did anything about someone running a generator until 11pm nightly. It didn't impact us, but I'm sure it bothered the people near it. Which is just sort of the general vibe here, the place feels understaffed and underfunded. Things aren’t getting addressed because there isn’t someone to address them. It’s still probably the best campground in the area, and I would recommend staying there, but it could be stellar with a little TLC.

Patty Kolodnicki

Read some reviews about the facilities issues prior to arriving. Fortunately the bathrooms near our site (B loop) were working but no showers. The D loop bathrooms and showers were out (portable potties available) and the only functional shower (one) was the one closest to the lake and often had a line. Camp host was mostly at their site. I've been to other grounds where the camp host will walk or drive the site daily checking in on new arrivals and review the rules and answer questions. But this one did not. At one point we had our garbage and some items taken from the bear box near our site (which specifically noted it was for food and food garbage). I guess the host's understanding of the use of the box was different from ours. Sites are nice and mostly separated from others, but a few nights we heard what seemed like a generator go late I to the night, past quiet hours and wasn't enforced. Seemed the local sheriff would do a lap once a day as well. If you're staying a short time the bathroom and shower situation wasn't too terrible, but for longer trips it may be tough, especially with children.

Nicolas Stowell

Great hidden gem of the white mountains! Came here during a few week nights and had the campground to ourselves. The pond is beautiful and perfect for swimming. Only complaint is that there is only one working shower, and two working bathrooms in the entire facility…. Not sure how that works during the busy weekends!

Dalton Uber

Beautiful campground with plenty of first come first serve sites. There are bear warning signs everywhere and had a bear feet away from my hammock the second night there.

Lisa Gundlach

I have been going to Russell Pond for 40 years and didn't even think to check the reviews. The pond is still beautiful and it's a fantastic spot to access lots of great hikes... but this year the facilities and management were poor. Many of the toilets, sinks, and showers were not operational. Nothing worse than getting up in the am to go the bathroom only to encounter a line because there's only one toilet working. Also, the managers do not speak to campers who are loud until the wee hours of the night. I am all for groups having fun, but when they keep me up all night and a ranger does not come talk to them, you've lost me. Hoping something will change in the future.

Jessica Thornton

Pros :The location and pond is absolutely beautiful. Cons: Host: tried to buy firewood, host was terribly rude, not helpful. Bathrooms: Very dirty, showers were full of hair, both on the walls, trash was never taken out from inside the shower or bathroom, same dirty wet pipes left in trash for several days. Storage: it’s posted every where that you should keep your food packed away, there is no storage units at any camp site, some sites are very steep to carry food back and forth.

Alison Ford

Have stayed here before and had a great experience but something seems to be up, maybe it is a new management company. Stayed this past weekend and most of the toilets, sinks and showers were closed off. The restrooms were out of tp. The water spigot by our site was also taped off. The host was out of fire wood at one point. The campground is great, the tiered sites are really fun and the pond is beautiful but there seems to be a lack of management of the place.

Samantha Hanson

Russell Pond is beautiful, but the amenities provided at this campground aren't great. The bathrooms by the pond were closed, and only one shower room was open and cost $2.50 for 5 min. If there was a camp host, they weren't actively involved in the campground. Other campers do not obey quiet hours, and the camp host does not enforce the rules. The biggest issue were the campers next to us played music until the morning and the camp host did nothing about it. I will not be returning to this campground.

adamltw

Beautiful campground in the White Mountain state forest. Russell pond great for canoes, paddle boards. Boat ramp available. Campsites are widely separated and feels private. No hookups. At night, quite dark and allows for beautiful night sky star viewing. Bathrooms and showers were clean. Flush toilets. Conviently located near the Kanacangas scenic highway.

Navinkumar L

We loved Russell pond campsite More privacy Some of the sites are really big and nicely padded The site we stayed not padded Now we know what sites needs to picked up

Miranda Jagiello

Had a great time. Very quiet and dog friendly. I had site A7 which was secluded from other sites. Close enough to the bathrooms and showers. But you had to go down 28 stairs to get to the site, so a bit of a "hike". I was here with my boyfriend and we had no problem but I don't recommend this site if you don't like stairs. I enjoyed my stay at Russell pond and I will be back! :)

Andri Kyrychok

One of the best public campgrounds in New Hampshire. A ton of sites. Some are reserve only and some are first come. The hosts are excellent and very hospitable. If bad campers are on site (partying too late) they do a good job dealing with them. The pond is clean and open to swimming, boating or any other recreational activity. There is also a trail that follows the shoreline of the lake. Really a great choice to camp at and close to a lot of hiking opportunities.

Spike D

Hidden gem in the white mountain's. Way too busy hard to find a site.