A return to a familiar (and fantastic) Maine town park
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After our weekend camping at Cobscook Bay State Park in Maine, just minutes away from New Brunswick, Canada, G and I weren’t sure how any camping weekend would compare. Our most recent weekend had us returning to a town park in Freeport, Maine, where we had camped twice last year, Winslow Memorial Park and Campground. Last year, we were new to this van-camping thing, and we loved Winslow; this year, with a few more trips and some really scenic parks under our belt, we wondered if Winslow would still rank up there on our list. And let me just say this: YES. An absolutely resounding yes.
Winslow Memorial Park features 100 campsites; some (#1-23) overlook Casco Bay, and others (especially #95, 97, and 99) look out over the Harraseeket River. We’ve never reserved the sites that are directly waterfront, mainly because they’re a bit more open than some of the others. In our humble opinion, site 95, the site we had this particular weekend is the best site in the park—at least by our standards/preferences (quiet, secluded, large, waterfront).
Our site, #95, featured a pretty long driveway in, plenty of trees for the hammocks, and space and privacy for the NEMO Heliopolis Privacy Shelter. If you haven’t yet read my post on the Heliopolis (and even if you have!), let me just say (again) that this purchase has been an absolute game-changer this summer as we camp during the pandemic. Having the Heliopolis and the companion Helio pressure shower (we have the larger version, the LX) allows us to be fully self-contained and not have to use any public/shared facilities. Our NEMO Helio LX pressure shower doubles as our water source (for washing dishes, rinsing recyclables) and our shower, as it integrates nicely into the Heliopolis. Between these two, we don’t need to leave our site unless we’re headed out for a walk.
Our site looked out over part of the Harraseeket River, which is tidal, so in addition to watching the tides change (nothing nearly as dramatic as in Cobscook Bay SP, however!!) and having peaceful views from our hammocks, we were treated to gorgeous sunsets each evening.
We brought our packrafts for this trip, but we ended up not going out on the water due to the warnings of shark sightings in the general area. A few days earlier, there was a fatal shark attack about 10 miles from Winslow, so we heeded the warnings and decided to play it safe—the theme for this summer, I guess! Our weekend was a quiet one, relaxing in our hammocks and reading (I re-read Little Fires Everywhere—and damn, I had forgotten what a great read it is!!). We meandered along the trails at the park—a nice half-mile loop near the gatehouse and then the trail (a little more than 1.25 miles) that leads from right outside our site’s driveway. The views from both were fantastic—a mix of woods and water—my kind of views. The longer of the two trails also leads down to a dock (that part of the trail on Strava where it looks as though I’m in the water!).
As for this weekend’s menu: flatbreads pizzas (with fresh basil from my Aerogarden!) on the grill and buffalo chicken sandwiches (I made the chicken/buffalo/blue cheese mixture ahead of time at home) in the pie irons—and s’mores, of course! Each weekend, I tell myself I’m going to up my cooking game, and each weekend, I default to the simple. Honestly, when we’re camping, I don’t really want to be bothered with spending a lot of time on cooking—that’s time that would take away from relaxing and playing cribbage!
We mixed up our game playing this weekend, pulling out HIVE as well as cribbage. If you haven’t played HIVE (we have the pocket version, as it’s perfect for traveling), you should check it out. The game takes some strategy, for sure, and G won two out of three games. As for cribbage, he won both games that we played. But I did have one great hand!
I’m sure we’ll be back up at Winslow before the end of the season, as we really do love it here. It’s close to home (just 1.5 hours away), on the water, quieter than you might imagine, and close to town, if you wanted to leave the campground. We had fantastic weather, a fantastic site, and an all-around fantastic time. Honestly, this little park is a gem on Maine’s coast.
Notes:
Winslow Memorial Park
10 Winslow Park Way, Freeport, ME 04032
Phone: (207) 865-4198
https://www.freeportmaine.com/winslow-park-and-campground
* Pets are allowed
*There is a playground, picnic area, boat launch, and beach/swimming area
*While the campground accommodates RVs (and we’ve always seen quite a few there), there are no hookups. Generators are allowed from 8a-9a, 11a-1p, and 5-7p.
*Wood is available for purchase at the gatehouse for $5/bundle
*Sites are $25 for tents; $30 for RVs. (we always book under the RV rate, since we’re in that gray area, but I should probably find out for sure if we count as an RV or not).