Lake Francis State Park

The road north from Lancaster to Pittsburg, NH gets bumpy and rough, because logging trucks haul logs over this route. The road leads to a small border crossing to Canada or the bridge to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. This is not a popular tourist route through New England. It is off the beaten path. If you want lots of woods, few distractions, and a small lovely campground, then lake Francis State Park is the place for you. There are about 50 sites and a dozen of them are very suitable for trailers and rvs. They have water and electric at the trailer sites. These are on the lake or have water views. These are open sites, so if you want more privacy there are a few sites that are suitable in the woods for trailers, but you would probably want a trailer under 20 feet.

There is no beach at the lake and the bank is steep from the trailer sites. There is a boat ramp that would allow you access to the lake. People come here to relax, paddle, and hike. There aren't any tourist sites.

There are a couple of restaurants in the area. The Rainbow Grille and Tavern, at a resort on another lake, was excellent.

I've camped here a few times now, in July and at the end of August. It's a long drive to get this far north, but for nature watching, paddling, fishing, and birding it is well worth the trip. The access road from RT 3 is unpaved and can be very dusty, but it's only a couple of miles to the campground. This year and last I stayed on the waterfront sites where there is electric and water hookups and where I can access the lake down a short but steep embankment. They are the only sites with services and they cost a bit more. The wooded sites away from the direct lakefront without service are more private. The showers and rest rooms are well maintained and the park store sells firewood, toiletries, and a few necessities. There is a boat ramp and very pretty picnic area on the lakefront, hot showers and a playground. There is a very well stocked convenience store and a propane refill station at Treats and Treasures, a couple of miles away, as well as a good ice cream stand at Moose Alley ice cream. The park is very well maintained by helpful and pleasant staff. ATVers are welcome here but are not supposed to access to the road behind the waterfront sites and have a designated section to park them. Aside from the ATVers, the North Woods is usually a place of remoteness and quiet, with the emphasis on watching nature, kayaking or canoeing, fishing, and hiking. Unfortunately in July, this campground can get crowded and noisy, especially the waterfront sites. Every year they are occupied by families who book multiple sites and it has a reunion-like atmosphere with people crossing between sites to visit. This year I was disturbed by a neighbor who was operating loud and fast moving remote-controlled boats in the cove right in front of me. The cove is a place of natural beauty inhabited by ducks and loons, osprey, eagles, and deer. Not this year, with those toy boats scaring everything away. There was also a late arrival who set up their site right across from mine at midnight and continued talking well past that. My advice is to avoid July here and book a time in June or at the end of the summer or early fall to enjoy this excellent campground and the natural beauty of the Connecticut Lakes.

On a “make no plans trip” thru the Northeast and just picked this direction on a whim. We lucked out to find one site available on a cancellation . Great find for mid-July! Very clean sites and amenities. Friendly and helpful staff. Nice little hike along the Connecticut River with our 7 month old Lab puppy. We would visit again if we find ourselves up this way.

Electric and water. Dump station.
Pretty flat site.

We were on the water but site 17, 18 and 19 have even better views.

Clean bathrooms. Good showers (pay) but not heated so chilly in October.

The leaves were changing and it was beautiful.

Small swing set and slide for kids. Also, horse shoe pit.

Good for anglers, hunters, boaters. Not a lot of hiking trails close.

What’s do not like about this campground? It’s very quiet, friendly campers, and very helpful staff. There’s also a dump station in the campground. It’s 18 miles to the Canadian border on Highway 3 and in the late afternoon you might see a moose near a lake or on the side of the road. I would definitely stay here again and again.

Fairly level sites, decent cell service, well-maintained, state camp ground in northern New Hampshire. It’s just a gem. We stayed in the Lakeside site that had water and electric. It’s only 20 amp however, it was adequate for our fifth wheel. We had a campfire every night with Wood brought from the office. I would stay here again and again.