Weekend Camping Guides: Northeast

Arrive at Lake Placid KOA and rejoice. You’ve made it! Celebrate by meeting up with your neighbors-for-the-weekend at an ice cream social, teeing off on the mini golf course, or catching movie night. Take it easy tonight: there’s plenty of weekend for fun-having and you want to avoid camper burnout.

Here’s where the action happens: you’re waking up in the heart of the Adirondacks, steps away from some of its best trails. Grab the mountain bike or hiking boots (or skis in the colder months!) and start adventuring on Whiteface Mountain. When you’re pooped, take the edge off with a beer at Lake Placid Pub and Brewery or cool off in the heated pool before a night full of marshmallow roasting and ghost-story telling.

Grab the mountain bike or hiking boots (or skis in the colder months!) and start adventuring on Whiteface Mountain. When you’re pooped, take the edge off with a beer at Lake Placid Pub and Brewery or cool off in the heated pool before a night full of marshmallow roasting and ghost-story telling.

Quell end-of-trip blues at The Wild Center before heading home. Like we always say, there’s no better place to reflect on a weekend well spent than a human-sized spider web above the Adirondack treetops.

New Hampshire is another great weekend getaway. Set up camp at Chocorua KOA and go for a sunset paddle on Moore’s Pond before stuffing your face at an ice cream smorgasboard. Between the upper body workout and the caloric overload, sleep will come easy.

Kick the day off with a pancake breakfast before heading out to hike or bike the trails of New Hampshire’s White Mountains (and be sure to make a pit stop at America’s Largest Glacial Rock). When you return to camp, be sure to check out theme weekend activities, which vary from crafts to cook-offs to hoe-downs, where you’ll find friends to share s’mores with over a Saturday night fire.

Before you’re homeward bound, hit up Hobo Railroad and reflect on your good times during a train ride with scenic views of the Pemigewasset River.

Or maybe a beachy trip to Cape May, New Jersey is more your speed. Drive down to New Jersey’s southern tip and set up home base at Seashore Campsites, Beachcomber Camping Resort, or Holly Shores Camping Resort. Before you tuck in for the night, head over to the Physick Estate, where you can have first-hand encounters with the earthbound spirits of humans and canines alike. That’s right. Prepare to cross “meet a ghost dog” off of your bucket list.

There’s plenty of sun, surf, and sand to be had at America’s first seaside resort so get to it, camper. Afterwards, visit Wildwood Boardwalk for a mega ice cream cone and some old-school rollercoasters (preferably not in that order) before heading back for a campfire well-earned.