Winter Island Park

Came here on a recommendation for an inexpensive overnight camping trip... really glad we did! What a beautifully maintained, picturesque campground. Came in late October to enjoy Haunted Happenings - the park is so close to all the attractions. We stayed on site 36 which was absolutely perfect - close to bath/shower rooms and a porta potty, very close to beach but not too close, close to the playground and right near the entrance for easy access (we even used ride share services easily here) Can definitely echo what others have said: the raccoon situation is well, a situation! We were, luckily, more pestered than anything else and not even really that. They're very cute, albeit persistent and absolutely not afraid of humans. They scratched at our tent throughout the night. It was very comical to us! The site was clean, spacious (we had a site where we could park our car) and they offered inexpensive camping essentials. The staff was really nice and helpful and the overall experience was just awesome. We are already planning our trip for next summer! Highly recommend campground for clean, sizable, safe and fun tent camping!

Firstly, you will definitely see the raccoons, as people have said here many times. They aren't scared of humans at all, and will try to chill near you at night, especially if you are making / eating anything. One thing we were unprepared for was seeing rats, and big rats in the forest behind our site of 37. When I mentioned it to the man at the front gate, he said that the raccoons take care of the rats, so I guess that is good. We didn't have any problems with them, just both the raccoons and rats scratching on the tent and running around it at night. I would make sure to always have your tent close completely. All in all, it's a well priced campground with decent bathrooms, free wifi and lovely scenery. Two more things. They have raised fire pits, and firewood, you are able to rent from the office. I don't know for how much. Unfortunately due to the wildfires when we were in Salem, the campground were not able to rent them out. And secondly, some older comments talk about being able to hop on the trolley when it drives though to get into town. That is not something you are able to do anymore. The trolley is now a one hour tour, that starts in the main part of the town, not a hop on / hop off.

We had a great stay at Winter Island Park. It was super close to a lot of the tourist sites of Salem and had all the campground amenities you would expect. The beach looked nice and grounds were well maintained. Looking forward to staying here again sometime!

This was an awesome campground we would definitely come again! It was our first trip with our RV and we admittedly poorly planned visiting Salem— not booking way in advance in October. We also mistakenly thought we could find a place to park for the night— also not possible. We called Winter Island Park and the office was so accommodating and helped us by offering a space the same day, not price gouging or anything like that and openly offering access to their whole park! What a refreshing experience! Thank you so much to the staff at Winter Island for the hospitality and willingness to help introduce this new RVer to a fantastic time, experience, and city!

We booked two nights here in our Ford Transit. It's a two mile walk to downtown Salem, but it's really not that bad because the entire city is pedestrian friendly and historical walk. The shower houses were your typical park showers, but always clean. The port-a-potty by the campground for RV's was FULL so be expected to walk to the shower house each time. No firepits and the RV camping parking lot is always full with no privacy. Beautiful Park with beach access and waterfront views.