Is anyone familiar with this park? It is listed on Woodalls, and the pictures on their website look great, but you cannot really see the park or the sites. They say they have places for big rigs. I need to know if this place is nice, or a dump and if it really has sites suitable for a 40 ft motorhome with a slide.

Thanks!!!

Yes, it overlooks Salem Harbor and what part I see from the water looks like it is cement sites and there are big rigs in there. I do not know if there are sites off the waterfront that are shaded etc. ASK . The harbor is gorgeous so if it were me I would try to get the water view because the harbor is pretty nice. IF you go over to Marblehead, to West Shore Dr there is a side street that leads to Salem Harbor and you can park, get the launch and there is a resturant and bar out in the middle of the harbor, a floating resturant. Ask about it.
Have a great time, I grew up in a bordering town, Swampscott.

Winter Island is an old coast guard base that has a large cement parking area. RV's are lined up on the parking lot and that is your site. There are a few grassy places for tenters but I would not be caught camping there. It all is what you are looking for. If you are looking for a base to park while you site see then maybe OK but otherwise look to Gloucester or Salisbury for real campgrounds. I have been there a few times for scouting events and the think that sticks out in my mind the most is broken bottles everywhere. I have not been there for about 3 years so some improvements may have been made but I would want to check it out before staying.

We camped here 5 or 6 years ago. The campground is some type of old fort site and some of the sites are in and around the fort area. We were put in the field to the right as you come in. There was a bluegrass festival going on at the campground that we knew about before we reserved our site. But we were more interested in the Salem area and site seeing. We didn't mind the loud music during the day. The bad part was that they used the field we were camping in for parking. We were camping in a big parking lot all weekend. Dangerous for the children to play anywhere. Lots of drunk people. The sites we saw were not the greatest. Campstore was a joke. We were in a tent and the smell of sewage was unbearable. Especially at night. Across the water was a sewage treatment plant or some industrial plant that smelled. The noise and the odor kept us up all night. In a trailer, the noise might not be so bad. If you ask my kids about the campground today, all they remember is the smelly factory across the harbor.

We swam one day at the beach area. The beach area was dirty but I don't recall how the swimming was. It was in this small cove area.

This was several years ago so things may have changed.

Hi I've read over all the old comments and my kids and grand kids spend the 4th of July there the past 4 years. They have a Facebook page with tons of both current and historical images from when it was used in WWII and the 50s-60s as a Coast Guard base.

I won't lies and say this is a National park quality but if you want a real nice space it will do. It's a little run down in areas and for instance It's only got a single bath house and that can get crowded. The beach during the week is perfect but on weekends it does get crowded, especially around the 4th of July. During last summer a food van would come out on most mornings and sell hot coffee, cold drinks and breakfast sandwiches.

Here is their FB page http://www.facebook.com/WinterIsland

From there you can ask about sites see maps and query a specific date for staying. The phone number and email is on the page.

I did note the last comment (2005) stated back in 2001 there was sewage smell, I can tell you that in all the times I've been there in both good weather and bad I have never smelled anything bad. Sorry everything changes... Luckily for the good here.. I'm a photographer here in Salem http://photo.vistaphotography.com/ and I love the lighthouse on the corner of the island..

Jeff,

Welcome to the site, and we appreciate your participation. However, please notice that you replied to a thread that is almost 5 years old. That is certainly okay to do and your information is good for anyone currently interested in this park, but just to let you know, I doubt that you will get a reply from the original poster.