Hampton Beach State Park Campground

Very new to the RV lifestyle post here, so please be patient with this post. We don't know everything. Didn't have a reservation, but was offered dry camping for $30. You have to show up at 8 am sharp to have a shot. Best to show up as early as 7 am like us. There were 9 who showed and on that day only 5 spots. We were #4. We have a 44 ft toy hauler and there were many other big rigs, so size is no concern here. Water is free if you need to dry camp. $15 if you wish to empty your tanks. Designated times for generators; very reasonable. During the stay, a camper in the hookup section departed early so we were able to use his spot for 2 days - don't expect this to happen though. We had lost plumbing on the night of day 1 due to an issue and were 2 days with no water and had to deal with an emergency repair, but with no part available in stock the rangers helped us by giving us access to a site for 2 nights of our stay (technician was able to rig the system to only work under city water pressure). Gosh the shower was to die for. The park closes its gates at 8 pm to 8 am and you can leave if an emergency. The campsite is dark at night, but very safe. Each night, a patrol officer was parked at the site, or routinely patrolled. After 8 pm its very quiet except the noise of an occasional car on the main road. If we had to pay again, we can honestly say that we would not even attempt it unless you have a spot with hookups. Grateful to be offered dry camping as an alternative, so no complaints (more on this later). The appearance of the campsite is adaquate and clean, but definately not spectacular, and this did not sit well with us as NH taxpayers. Dry camping slots are very tight, but it worked. You could hear your neighbor snoring, LOL. That's how close you are. After all, the beach is why you're here. To secure a spot with hookups, it a lottery. Maybe there is another way. We don't know. Ample spacing is suprising if you have a reservation. The hookup sites are $50. The staff, a bit of a miss here on friendliness at times because they kind of speak AT people, but it really is a tough job with many people showing up and wanting to camp and some people just don't want to accept NO because they have no space. They run a tight ship, people! It was appreciated. The prize with the location though is that its steps from the beach, and just a few more steps to the vibrant Hampton Beach shops and restaurants; $$$. We discovered a tavern called Charlies Tap House steps from the site who sold twin lobster dinners for $19.95, a steal. Rain. We had it a couple of days, but no problems with drainage. What else we learned? Love this space, but as a NH resident and seeing SO MUCH parking space empty at this state park each day and every day and about 18 dry campers placed out of the way of general parking (far back row), there is NO REASON for the state not to expand and provide proper service such as adding power and water to this spillover section. If the current slots with utilities are booked a year out and resorting to a lottery, what's that telling us? It's a MISSED opportunity for NH to not take advantage of providing the service. Providing a row for dry camping (as a NH taxpayer) is not doing the best we can do. For this location, there is not one dry camper who wouldn't pay $50 a night for full utilities in exchange for $30 a night to get nothing except the smell of the ocean. Local businesses as well need the support. In the campsite we met people from Virginia, Ohio, Texas, and more, especially Canada right down to people of NH and MA. Investment in infrastructure is a spectacular model that NH must get ahead of and everyone we spoke with is saying the same thing. Overall, a great time even though NH is not doing the best we can do.

Previous reviewer said it well. I will only add that the sites, although parking lot style, have a surprising amount of space. Also, they have gone to a lottery for 3/4 of the sites because of the popularity of the park. You can still get one (several months in advance) on RA but your selection will be limited. We didn't need to unhitch as every thing ( beach, boardwalk, and eats) is within easy walking distance. AT&T delivered excellent cell reception.. Beautiful beaches!

Nestled between the ocean and an inlet traversed by a lift bridge, this 28 spot campground is open to 3-point full-hookup RVs only - no pop-ups or tents permitted. Domesticated animals are also banned from this campground, likely due to the endangered nesting Piping Plovers that roam the area and nest in the sand dunes.

30A, water, and sewer at each campsite. Firepits and a picnic table too. Sites provide about 25' of room between each neighboring site, and the inner row is all pull-through. Road noise and the dinging of the lift bridge noise are notable at every campsite, although the noise dims the closer to the beach you get.

While neither of our campsites over our 11-night stay was waterfront (we were in the inner/pull-through row) - wow. We loved it here. We enjoyed listening to the bell indicating the lift bridge would hoist, and then watching the fishing and tour boats motor through the channel. In the early morning, seals could be spotted playing in the channel area too.

Unadvertised feature: there is first-come, first-served self-contained (ONLY) dry camping available in the parking lot next to the campground. $30/night, overnight parking in this area is garnered by pulling into the formal RV park, registering with the camp host BEFORE 4 pm, and allowing them to park you in the parking lot. This lot locks its gates at 8 pm every evening. Generators are permitted.

There is NO tree cover here - it's a beach area.

No showers are available, but the state park public bathrooms are open at around 7 am each morning.

A quick walk from the campground around the dunes pops you onto a beautiful beach which tended to be the last area to crowd on those days that everyone in Boston is tempted to head to the beach. Less than a half-mile walk along sidewalks and the concrete boardwalk pops you into a classically little-bit-trashy-lotta-bit-bustling boardwalk area where you can find restaurants, fry-doe (spelled that way), pizza, ice cream, and beach shops. A bandshell a bit less than a mile walk from the campground features nightly bands and entertainment.

The city of Hampton Beach shoots off fireworks on the boardwalk which are visible from the campground Wednesday nights at 9:30pm.

Verizon LTE offered 4 bars, and occasionally 5G would be picked up. The towers tended to get overloaded during the days, but it was very usable most of the time. We were able to get on a Starlink (satellite) cell and had great service through that service.