Salisbury Beach State Reservation

My wife has been coming here for over 20 years. After getting married I have come here almost yearly. Our first year, the bathrooms near the back of the campground were getting rebuilt. This wasn't a huge deal because next year would be great. Which it was. Everything was clean, tidy, and well maintained.

The last two years we have had issues each time. Loud neighbors after quiet hours, we contacted the main office and I spoke to a younger person. When asking him if he can reach out to that campsite he said "there isn't anything I can do." I reminded him that it was quiet hours (I believe I called at 11:30) and we were getting to bed. I asked for his name and then he magically was able to "do something" and shortly after my call, someone was down to their site to quiet them down.

This year, the bathrooms are pretty gnarly. It looks like they are cleaned every-othet day. TP, trash, ...other things are all over the floors. I'm not sure if staffing is to blame? But things could be cleaner.

Besides that, our stay has been great.

If you’re looking for privacy and quiet, this isn’t the place for you. However, you can’t beat the location and it’s a great place to go with a group. The site pad made leveling a breeze, and it was nice to have the water and electricity- not something you always find at Massachusetts State Park campgrounds.

Let me start off by saying this is a very family oriented place it’s close off the highway and the number one thing is it the ocean is absolutely gorgeous clean beautiful and that is my favorite but on this campground there are showers there is electricity you can hook up to there’s many different sites for families couples etc. for get together‘s grilling toasting marshmallows kicking back with one of your favorite tropical drinks, after a long day at the beach and maybe a little ski ball at the arcades they have, which is all less than a five minute walk ice cream salt water taffy is all right there. Great place to go camping everything you need is right there and to note that it’s reasonable and price it won’t break your bank.

And freshwater.. and they love dogs there! The dogs are the best part of the site. The sites are all open field and very tiny. Most of the water is off limits, but it’s beautiful to be by. The campground has an active police station and patrol which is comforting. They also have quiet hours and a limit on how long you can have a fire going. Alcohol is also restricted in some areas.

Big bathhouses, convenience store in middle. The whole scenery is beautiful, close to Hampton Beach. Watch out for the black birds they'll fly into your screen tent, get in your trash and eat your 🍉 out of the rind. The sites are pretty close it's like parking lot with small yard. The water spigots are 4 in 1 and are closer to some sites then others which can cause people to get into arguments, but the staff said they are fixing it soon so each site gets its own water spigot. All sites have electric. It was windy but your right on the ocean what do you expect also the trees are awesome, they look like giant bonsai trees.

I really enjoyed staying here! The ocean is so close its convenient. My dog even enjoyed the camping!

The electrical post and water hookup were placed way behind our site and we could not reach even with our 40’ electrical cord. Park staff told us we could back onto the grass in order to reach the electric and since the ground was hard packed sand we were able to do that. All sites have a picnic table, fire pit, and BBQ grill. The camping pads and roads in the park are paved. We camped at a non-peak time so the park was not very crowded but we can image it being quite different in the summer. As there are a lot of campsites and with this being a popular beach area, the campground is probably full in the summer. Most of the sites are wide open so getting satellite is possible. We were able to get plenty of antenna channels and had a strong Verizon phone signal.

We loved paddle boarding in the river where seals were plentiful and fun to watch. There is also another winding river that goes through a marshy area that was great for bird watching. Beware of tides and strong currents in these areas as they can make paddling difficult and you may get stuck in the marsh. The nearby town of Newburyport is super cute and a must-see(click here for a link to a previous blog post about the area). We loved strolling around the town popping in and out of shops and walking along the waterfront. About 30 minutes north on I-95 is the New Hampshire town of Portsmouth which is super hip and has great restaurants. Definitely recommend visiting both of these towns if you have time. There are a couple of drawbacks about this park– the price, no sewer, short campsites, and it has the potential to feel very crowded since there are so many sites and fairly close together. At $47/night this is fairly expensive for a state park, but, you are right on the beach with good water access so that may be justification. Many of the sites are short but since you can park on the grass that turns out not to be a problem.

Overall, we liked this campground and the location. The nearby town of Salisbury is a kitchy beach town with a few restaurants and the drive north up Coastal Route 1A is really pretty. There is lots to do in the nearby area when you are not busy enjoying the beach.

Really nice park on the ocean

Clean facilities, super quick access to the beach, friendly staff, sites are pretty close together with little separation between each other. RV & tent sites available. Our family loves both the ocean & camping so it is a win-win!

Good sites, with water and 30 amp electric. Easy walk to the beach. Dog friendly, big dump site, and good prices.

This campground might not be for everybody, but if you like the beach you should give it a try. The sites are open with maybe one tree on most sites. Sites have paved and concrete driveways and lots of them have a concrete pad that would be under your awning. They recently built a new bathhouse and re-did the dump station to three lanes. Like I said it’s not for everybody weather is pretty much an open field with some sporadic trees, so very little shade. The ocean is on one side and the Merrimack River is on another side with a marsh that is great for canoeing,kayaking and fishing on another side.

Loud campers will be asked to leave, there are three shower houses the one closest to main beach is the best with handicapped accessible shower stalls

I probably shouldn’t even be writing this review because it may prevent me from being able to stay here again this summer, but this very basic campground gives you everything you need located across a parking lot from the beach. When families are paying over $2000/week to rent within steps of the campground. You can’t beat this value at this prices!

The feel here is electric, and positive. Lots of RV’s that stay here all summer long. Feels like you are in a tight-knit community, very friendly folks, packed tightly together. Just fine if you don’t mind close quarters. Everyone gets so creative with their lighting/decor, it is fun just to walk around the campsite and admire just how well (and mobile) some folks live. The place comes to life as the sun sets, and stays very quiet during sleeping hours. A very short walk to the stunning beach. Perfect pit stop on a road trip north.

Campground was great. Nice sites plenty of space and with a full park for the weekend you didn’t feel on top of each other

So we went with our two dogs. there were plenty of other people there with dogs as well. there were a lot of children on bikes and playing. The restrooms were clean. We've been back twice but not to camp. The beach was clean.

Very nice neat and clean campground. We did not like the fire rings because they had the three walls with only one opening. See photos. It was lovely to walk on the Atlantic while there and enjoy sunrise on the beach. There is a large public access parking area beside campground. Eat breakfast at Pat’s Diner just a few miles from the campground. It’s the real deal.

Fun and care free camping. A bi yearly trip. No sewer hookup. Septic truck comes 2wice a week. Right on the beach. Awesone breeze

If Hampton is full...

Still great beach spot. Close to main strip with restaurants

This affordable dog friendly campground can accommodate large RVs and small tents. It has water and electric hookups. There are three bath houses that offer free hot showers.

This Campground is almost like a desert, minimal shade hot, hot hot in the sun! You are sandwiched between the Big Beach (which is where you wanna be) merrimack river and marsh. I recommend you do a drive thru and create a map of the sites you want before you book! Some sites are awesome for hammocks and actually have shade while others are just open sites and hot hot hot! Although there is a nice breeze that always seems to be flowing (love this!) Bathhouses are questionable.. they have a big beautiful bath house but it has been "under construction" for way to long! So they have porta pottys set up outside! lol Other Bath houses have ok bathrooms and showers. DOGS! You are allowed to have dogs here which is one of the best reasons to stay! You can bring them over to the merrimack side and swim with them!! Who can beat that! The big beach is a bit of a walk from the camp ground.. I would recommend driving over or riding your bikes! Salisbury beach is great! Low tide is calm and great for walking and little kids, high tide is fun for boogy boarding and jumping waves! Overall relaxing beach camping if you have a dog and are not looking for any resort camping frills..

I don’t really consider this location as actually camping. It’s a great place to bring the kids and do beach things all day. Great Spring Striper fishing. Lots of local restaurants and the center of town is super close. We’ve camped for just fishing/beach and also camped to void driving after a summer concert in town. The sites fill up fast and there isn’t much shade. Summer has fireworks and projection screen movies. Free water for bathhouses. Awful mirrors. Like, bring your own.

It it gets windy too.

This campground is directly on the Salisbury beach. Its a pretty sweet place for families. When we arrived it was raining so there was hardly anyone here. They have shower bathrooms and some other amenities.

If your looking to party this probably isn't the place. Although it was raining, cold, and hardly anyone here they asked us to quiet down when it got later. Quiet hours are very common but when theres no one at the camp because of not so hot weather and they still complain about noise shhhhh. Its still understandable i suppose.

A short walk or drive from the reservation is the center of town. Its an old arcade pier style beach town. There is surfing, striped bass fishing, arcades, ice cream, go carts, just about everything for the kids.

Cheers!