Established campgrounds that welcome vehicle-based travelers, from public campgrounds on the way to somewhere to private camps worth a stay of their own.
We’re working on adding the latest campgrounds in Maine here.
In the meantime, BLM campgrounds are already on the public land map, with the fees and stay limits the agency publishes and a link to each one.
More than half a million of it public reserved land; over 2 million counting easements and leases
Where you can camp in Maine
The largest system is private: nearly 350 campsites across the North Maine Woods, first come and first served, twelve dollars a night for a Maine resident and fifteen otherwise, with a two week maximum per site.
Federal camping is thin. Our build of the federal recreation database finds seven campgrounds a vehicle can reach: four in Acadia, two at Katahdin Woods and Waters, and Hastings on the White Mountain National Forest. Baxter runs its own by reservation, and the state parks are a separate system again.
Developed campgrounds have numbered sites, toilets, often water, usually a fee and sometimes reservations. They are the easy night on the way to somewhere.
Dispersed camping means no facilities and no fee. It is allowed on much Bureau of Land Management and National Forest land, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether you can have a fire.
Private campgrounds and ranch stays add showers, laundry and hookups: the reset day in the middle of a long trip.
How to find a good one
The managing agency's own page is the only source for current status.
01Check the agency page for closures, fire restrictions and water before you drive in.
02Check the stay limit. Many public lands use fourteen days within a set period, but it varies by office.
03Check vehicle length limits and the condition of the access road.
04Arrive before dark, and have a second option.
Camp so it stays open
Most closures of dispersed areas follow the same pattern of trash, new fire rings and driving off the track.
01Use sites that already exist rather than making new ones.
02Pack out everything, including human waste where it is required.
03Have fires only where and when they are allowed, and drown them.
04Leave gates as you found them.
Questions people ask
Is dispersed camping legal?
On much BLM and National Forest land, yes, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether fires are allowed. Rules are set by the local office and change with conditions, so check before you go. The public land map shows who manages the ground.
How long can I stay?
Many public lands use a 14-day limit within a set period, but it varies by office and by area. The campground details on the public land map show the stay limit the BLM publishes for each site.
Do I need a reservation?
For popular developed campgrounds in season, often. Many public campgrounds are first come, first served. Recreation.gov handles reservations for most federal campgrounds that take them.
How high is Maine?
From Bar Harbor at 54 feet to Katahdin, Baxter Peak at 5,268.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,0004,0006,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
RangeleyWestern mountains services on the Rangeley Lakes byway1,549 ft
JackmanThe Old Canada Road, and the last town before the border1,200 ft
StrattonThe village by the Bigelow Preserve’s 36,000 acres1,158 ft
RockwoodUpper Moosehead services before the private forest roads1,080 ft
GreenvilleMoosehead Lake, at the gateway to the North Maine Woods1,038 ft
BethelThe Maine side of the White Mountain National Forest and Grafton Notch728 ft
AshlandThe southern way in to Deboullie by way of the Fish River checkpoint698 ft
AllagashThe northern end of the waterway, and a checkpoint of the same name623 ft
PattenThe northern approach to Baxter, 24 miles from the Matagamon gate604 ft
Fort KentThe top of the state, and the St. John Valley byway556 ft
Presque IsleFull services in Aroostook County before heading west453 ft
MillinocketThe southern approach to Baxter, 20 miles from the Togue Pond gate363 ft
BrownvilleOne corner of the KI Jo-Mary Forest357 ft
MedwayWhere the interstate meets the Katahdin region roads282 ft
MachiasThe Bold Coast, and the Cutler Coast public lands83 ft
Bar HarborAcadia, the Park Loop Road and the Cadillac reservation54 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Katahdin, Baxter PeakThe state high point. The park authority settled on 5,268 feet in 2026, the figure USGS publishes; the National Map gives 5,267 and our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 5,2635,268 ft
Sugarloaf MountainOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Franklin County4,229 ft
Old Speck MountainOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, above Grafton Notch4,185 ft
Traveler MountainOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in the north of Baxter State Park3,535 ft
Caribou MountainOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, on the Maine side of the White Mountain National Forest2,838 ft
Deboullie MountainOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, on the public land inside the private forest1,935 ft
Grafton NotchOur own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, on Route 26 in Oxford County1,603 ft
Cadillac MountainThe Park Service calls it the highest point on the eastern seaboard. Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 1,5271,530 ft
Cadillac MountainCadillac Summit Road1,530 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
