Winter Island Park

The location being on the water makes for this a great place to camp. However, in reality, it is a modified parking lot with hook ups. That's ok as long as you understand that it is with a water view. All of the spaces with a #16 as is 13-15. Just avoid 10, 10A, and anything along the large hanger. Site 10 has the entrance to the park on one side, and the sidewalk to the beach on the other. It's a traffic zone. Very weird place to have an RV site.

The staff was VERY nice and very accommodating. It is walking distance to a nice beach area and a lighthouse. Be aware that getting to this park is challenging but doable. You need to drive through downtown Salem with narrow roads and some tight turns. It is worth the effort.

I had a water view (as opposed to waterfront) site, which was essentially in the parking lot right at the entrance. Sound horrible? It wasn't due to the views, the surrounding park (old fort, beach, marina), the staff, the location, and the clean facilities. We ended up having a great stay here. I could see us coming back and staying longer to soak in more of the surrounding towns. There is a grassy area with RV parking as well, but those do not have views of the harbor.

Nothing much to add that the other reviews haven't already stated.

We booked 6 months in advance.

The spots by the water have no privacy and are very tight.

The spots in the field have a little more privacy, very tight, and no views.

We booked site 52 which I think is the best because there's a couple of trees to the passenger side which offers privacy. We actually enjoyed the site. No other site had privacy like this.

1.5 miles down into Salem. We actually walked everywhere, racking up 20 miles before the week was over.

The dump wasn't hard to get to, yes its tight, but nothing compared to the drive into Salem.

And with that, be sure to take the right streets. Not to scare you, but there was a camper there with the back rear of the RV sheared off from how narrow these roads are.

But we also saw a huge diesel pusher with a full size truck as a toad so I guess anything is possible.

Halloween in Salem was a treat, I just wish we would have done this years ago when the kids were smaller.

Lots of history in the area, and definitely worth stopping through.

VERY quiet at night!

This is a fascinating little park, which at some point in its long history added camping as an afterthought.

The sites are located willy-nilly, seemingly placed wherever someone at some point in time thought: "oh, an RV could fit here!" None of the sites have any privacy. The RV sites in the 'RV field' - 42-52 are level and ring a central dirt parking type area. Site 53 is in this area and has a bit more space than the others, but it is not level front-to-back (we noted RV making it work with blocks). These sites all had 50A & water.

RV sites 10/10A are very awkward; snuggled right between the entrance/exit roads to the day-use parking lot/boat ramp area. Sites 1-5 back up to an old Coast Gaurd building and face a pretty busy day-use parking lot. Sites 12-15D have a lovely view of the water/marina moorings from one end of your rig, but the other end backs up to the day-use parking lot. These sites are also quite snuggly and are completely asphalt pads (parking lot edges).

If we returned (we would!) we would try to snag one of sites 12-15D. If you're going to be crammed in, you might as well have cool views/boat activity viewable through your windshield. We do assume it would get noisy in the morning/throughout the day with cars coming and going, however.

Tent sites 11 and 35-41 are right next to the roadway and have zero privacy.

There is no dump station at this park. You are given an access code to use the water treatment center a bit less than a mile down the road. You cannot take a sewer buddy to the treatment center - entire rig or nothing. Also, big rigs will likely have an 'interesting' time entering the water treatment plant. We decided to forgo dumping after our stay due to the impossible turn radius for our 40'er into the entrance of the treatment plant when coming from Winter Island Park. The dump station at the water treatment facility is for use by Winter Island Park guests and city residents.

The bathrooms are usable. 2 showers per marked male/female gender and a few toilets for each. Not filthy, but not overly clean. Water has good pressure and nice temperature options. Day users also use these facilities.

There is a quaint little beach that can be used for sunbathing or wading around in. Mostly sand, but rock obstacles make their presence known.

Winter Island Park has an interesting history and a few signs around the park note various happenings in it. From local gallows to Coast Gaurd facility, it's now a well-loved local park.

There is a path linking the park to downtown Salem; about a 1.5 to the edges of city activity. You can also walk/bike to Salem Willows in less than a mile, where you'll find an old arcade, a few beach-type food stalls, and lovely views.

Getting through Salem and into the park wasn't the most fun drive we've done, but it was doable in our 40'er+towed.

this is the first time I ever felt like I was camping in the city. The sites vary from open field to waters edge overlooking the harbor. We were just passing thru and we’re able to get a field site. There is a nice beach and the Harbor views were great. Not much privacy but the campground was quiet. Try to get one of the campsites overlooking the harbor. Didn’t use any of the facilities so I can’t comment.

Reserved our site just a few days before our arrival (October 5-7) using the ReserveAmerica website. The site we selected was a back-in site against the hangar within the asphalt lot. It had a water view and we were able to watch all the boats being pulled out of the water at the boat ramp for winterization. 30A electric and water were available, with wi-fi generally unreliable over our stay.

We were able to get from campsite to downtown Salem within 10 minutes... so it was exactly what we were hoping for. The park is a stop on the trolley, so at $18/person that option is available.

The campground shares its grounds with the historic Fort Pickering, so there is some exploration that can be done close to camp. The lighthouse and beach were a popular location for some local photo shoots and one engagement during our stay.

The dump station is off-site, but not far. It is at the sewage treatment plant just down the road (on the left as you leave the park, less than a mile from the park gate). You have to pull up to the closed gate and use a box phone to call the station chief for access, then follow the signs around to the back of the facility. There is a key on a lanyard to unlock the padlock. It took me a second to figure it all out... I honestly felt like I was in one of those escape rooms for the first few moments.

While the facilities within the park were generally clean, they were seemingly primitive and doors were kept open, despite a state-wide Triple E alert following some deaths, so I tended to stay away from them.

Before I book any RV site, I thoroughly research and look at it to avoid any big surprises. I knew our spot would be parking lot style, and I knew there would be no privacy between RVs. This is coveted real-estate very close to Salem and this RV park is the only game in town. I am very thankful the City of Salem makes this available to RVers and campers. The experience is about location in this case, not the amenities this RV park doesn't have, or the lack of privacy.

Getting there was quite a drive through town on a Friday afternoon from 95, but easy to find and check-in was a breeze. They give you a tag for your vehicle and offer a card key for after 10pm entry. If you need the card key, you just leave $20. deposit and they promptly return it to you when you return the card. Our site was 013, on the water, and awesome. Although it is all pavement, the sites in our row were plenty big and wide. Plenty of room for a large rig, plus toad next to you. Sites were clean and have picnic table. Water/electric hookups were behind our site and were shared with site 012, next to us, so luckily our neighbor had long hoses because it was a reach for him. Our site was level for us but our neighbor did need levelers. We walked around the campground and to the grass RV area and they looked like they required leveling.

We couldn't have been happier in our spot, backed up to the beautiful harbor. It was very quiet given there is a parking lot right there- mostly harbor use. We weren't bothered by this at all. This is a public harbor area with people walking about. There is a large covered gazebo type structure, closer to the entry and near the grassy RV sites, that can be rented for functions. When we were there, a wedding reception was being held and the campers near that area may have had the pleasure of smelling the food and hearing the music for awhile.

We did not use the restroom facilities at all. There is a small camp store that sells sundries, t-shirts, condiments, etc. If you need groceries, stock up before you come in to the park.

We walked about a mile to take the ferry into Boston and then took the train back to Salem, walking about 1.5 miles from the train station. Nice, easy stroll on sidewalks through residential areas both times. Fort Pickering adjoins the campground and is a quick walk.

They offer free dump station services and it is about 1/2 mile away at the sewage treatment plant. The instructions they give are VERY clear, including map and satellite photo with arrows showing the gate to enter and the path to take. We had no problem finding it. The only thing that we found that could pose an issue was construction going on right next to the dump station so unless you can back in, it wouldn't work. This is most likely temporary and was in mid-September 2018.

Overall, we LOVED our stay here and close proximity to Salem and would definitely come back.

Getting there through the little streets of Salem is exciting - but it's do-able in a 35' DP towing a Jeep.

There are two sections. We stayed in the RV field which is about 9 spaces in a grass and dirt lot. Sites are close together - very - but level with water and 50 amp. Park WiFi worked most of the time.

The other section is on the asphalt parking lot near on the water, again very tight. But the views of the marina here are sweet.

All the attractions in Salem and the ferry to Boston are close by. The Salem trolley comes to the park - a great option. Small beach on the island, next to the park.

The dump is off site. If you're doing to use it, drive there in your toad or towed first. The directions they give you don't include an address so you can't use your GPS. There are no street signs and we never did find it. We gave up rather than getting our rig stuck down small side streets.

Whilst walking around this seaside park, if you did not see the experimental Tide Control Valve - - look for it - - it is small and unassuming - unmarked - installed at private expense in the 1990's.
When asked, "Does it work?" the response was, "We have not missed a single tide since it was installed."
It is the only such device on the whole East Coast of the US - - and cost the government not ONE PENNY.