Cape Ann Campsite

A long hot Friday evening trip with a passage through Boston traffic preceded our arrival at Cape Ann Campsite located just West of downtown Gloucester, MA. It was soon apparent that the destination was worth the trip. We were visiting Cape Ann to explore and photograph the nooks and crannies of the well known rugged coastline of the Massachusetts north shore. 

We followed directions, traveling the short, winding country road to the entrance to Cape Ann Campsite. If your driving or pulling a large rig pay attention to the sign at the entrance and park your rig at the bottom of the hill and walk up to the office. The hills not too bad to climb but if you have any physical limitations or are just tired call the office on your cell phone and they will come down and get you in a cart. It's that kind of place. The folks are friendly and ready to make sure that your stay is enjoyable.

The larger rigs are given sites off of the 2 main driveways leading up to the main campground. Our site was about 2/3’rds up the hill and easy to get the rig parked. The hookups were easy to located and were in good condition. We shared a view of the salt marsh and Jones river with our neighbors. Almost all the sites on the hill had at least good partial or unobstructed views. 

We used the campground as our base for the fall weekend of exploring and we were not disappointed. The facility lives up to it's name. It is a campsite with RV sites available. The main section of the campground is wooded and rock strewn with sites large enough to handle smaller trailers, popups and tents. It's clean and well maintained. I imagine that it's also a busy and popular place in the summer with families visiting the area.

After exploring Cape Ann Saturday we returned around dinner time to find a large flock of wild turkeys leaving our site. They are very wary of humans and other animals, but seem to tolerate our existence about 30 feet away as long as we didn't advance on them. We watched as they foraged for natural food while heading across the campground. Later that evening they followed some distance behind my better half as she walked to the road and marsh side to capture some sunset pictures. She was totally unaware that she was being followed by the curious turkeys until she started her return to the campsite.

We enjoyed Saturdays dinner outside watching the shorebirds on the marsh and river.

Turn left out of Cape Ann Campsites and you're quickly at Wingaersheek Beach. We visited in late fall during an unusually warm afternoon. The large expanse of clean white sand overlooks the mouth of the Annisquam River and Atlantic Ocean. There is a large parking lot available. We imagine that this is a very popular destination on a summer day. Check at the office for details on beach parking.

There is also a state boat ramp to Jones River about a 1/4 mile away. We're going to return and bring our Zodiac to explore the area by water. Check online for tide information. We observed a number of good sized runabouts (20' foot or so) using the river from this access point. 

The office had a large camp store with the usual necessities. Marshals Farm Stand is just a short drive down the road. In addition to a wide choice of seasonal fare, there are breads and meats from local purveyors.

Cape Ann Campsites is a great base of operations for your visit to Cape Ann. Check their website for more information on months of operation and local information links.