Public land camping
Camping in Massachusetts
5 federal places to camp in Massachusetts, from National Park Service and Army Corps of Engineers, on the land they sit on.
- 5
- federal places to camp
- 4 National Park Service, 1 Army Corps of Engineers
- 6
- campsites you can book ahead
- At the 5 places that take reservations on Recreation.gov. The rest are first come or not listed there
- 571 ft
- the highest of them
- Indian Hollow
- 2
- counties with federal camping
- 1 gateway towns, each with three or more within 30 miles
The Massachusetts campground map
Select a pin for its elevation, its sites and its page. Switch on forest roads or BLM routes to see how you get there, and use the finder for a campground, a town or a peak.
Interactive map. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select any point to see which agency manages the land. Arrow keys pan and the plus and minus keys zoom when the map has focus. A list of every state with its share of federal land is on the Explore page.
Map layers
Legend
Federal land, by managing agency
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment
Federal campgrounds, by agency
- Forest Service
- Bureau of Land Management
- National Park Service
- Army Corps of Engineers
- Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife and others
State and local land (USGS PAD-US)
- State land
- County and city land
- Regional agency or district
- Land trust or conservancy
BLM roads and trails
Roads Managed for Public Motorized Use
Road
Primitive Road
Roads Managed for Limited Public Motorized Use
Road
Primitive Road
Trails Managed for Public Motorized Use
Trail
Trails Managed for Limited Public Motorized Use
- Trail
Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map
Roads
Roads open to all Vehicles, Yearlong
Roads open to all Vehicles, Seasonal
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Yearlong
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Seasonal
Special Designation, Yearlong
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails
Trails open to all vehicles, Yearlong
Trails open to all vehicles, Seasonal
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Yearlong
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Seasonal
Trails open to motorcycles, Yearlong
Trails open to motorcycles, Seasonal- Special Designation, Yearlong
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" in Width, Yearlong
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" or Less in Width, Seasonal
BLM Wilderness
Wilderness Area
Wilderness Study Area
BLM recreation sites
- Camping
- OHV area
- Trailhead
Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.
Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.
Select any point to see who manages the land.
The map could not start in this browser.
It needs WebGL, which is turned off or unavailable here. You can still browse public land by state, or use the BLM’s own maps.
Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.
Camping near a town
No town by that name has three federal campgrounds within 30 miles. Try the county list below.
Every federal campground in Massachusetts
5 places
- Bay View House cabin or lookout Park Service · Cape Cod National Seashore · Barnstable County 42 ftelevation 1site n/alongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Indian Hollow group campground Army Corps · Knightville Dam · Hampshire County 571 ftelevation 2sites 35 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Le Count Beach House cabin or lookout Park Service · Cape Cod National Seashore · Barnstable County 80 ftelevation 1site n/alongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Ocean View House cabin or lookout Park Service · Cape Cod National Seashore 86 ftelevation 1site n/alongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Sunrise House cabin or lookout Park Service · Cape Cod National Seashore · Barnstable County 86 ftelevation 1site n/alongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
Nothing matches those filters. Clear one and try again.
Camping rules worth knowing in Massachusetts
- State camping: a reservation, a designated site and fourteen days
- Campers and camping equipment are limited to 14 cumulative days in any one campground between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Reservations run from one day to four months ahead, walk-in camping is not permitted and reservations are required. Check-in is 1pm to 9pm, check-out before 11am, quiet hours 10pm to 7am with no generators during them except for medical use. Most sites take two tents, or one tent and one trailer or RV, a maximum of two vehicles and four adults. Firewood may not be brought in: you buy it at the park, by card, at 7 dollars a bundle, and fires are out by midnight. Source 21
- Twenty-nine parks out of more than 150 take a camper
- DCR manages over 150 state parks and 29 of them allow camping, so the map of places you can sleep is a great deal smaller than the map of places you can visit. An annual parking pass is 60 dollars and is sold to Massachusetts residents only, with a driving licence and vehicle registration required to prove it. Daily fees are set per park and residency is decided by the licence plate on the vehicle, not by the driver. Source 20
By county
Campground records: Recreation Information Database (Recreation.gov), read September 19, 2026. Elevations: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Fees, seasons and limits change; confirm with the managing office before you go.