Bethel Outdoor Adventure and Campground

Tiffany Derosier

2023-08

We went river tubing and it was a great time floating at the speed of the current. Very tranquil and easy going. They have options for tubes, we enjoyed the premium tube that have a back rest more like a chair, and also sprang for a cooler tube and straps so we could stay connected and enjoy snacks along the way. Saw some wild life and had dragon flies dancing around us for a good portion of the trip.We were well taken care of at the front desk and at the landing site with instructions and recommendations for safety and enjoyment.Seems like they have been doing this for quite a while and are very well equipped and knowledgeable.If you like the outdoors this is a great way to get a good outdoor time in without having to do a lot of setup since they have everything ready to go. Be prepared to get wet and getting out of the tubes at the landing was muddy so footwear suitable for that is best.Would definitely do this again and recommend.

Holly Witt

2023-08

We booked our campsite for I believe 15 days. We loved it so much we booked it for another week. The owners of Bethel outdoors are just charming. The grounds are spotless. The staff is friendly and the setting is just absolutely beautiful. If you enjoy kayaking and tubing this is most definitely the place to be. I would highly recommend this be one of your adventures when visiting the beautiful state of Maine.Nearby activities: Tubing and kayaking on the river. This campground is located near hiking areas

Alexie Rudman

2023-09

Writing this review based off our kayaking experience- highly recommended! The staff was exceptionally friendly, and the paddle was really relaxing and pastoral. We opted for the longer route in Gilead, and are glad we did. We saw a bald eagle, some fish, and enjoyed the nearly unpopulated banks of the river. Worth the drive from Gorham NH. We will be back!

Kimberly Wright

2023-10

I was in a group of 4 people and we had a great time floating down river in rubber tubes at pur leisure. It took about 2 and half hours. The weather was perfect. The instructor was very informative and the workers were very nice.

Rob Casella

2023-06

Great getaway! My wife & I plus 2 dogs have been past visitors to the BOAC and our latest Memorial Day stay was as good as any, if not the best. The new owners have spruced the place up a bit and added a fresh approach to our customer experience. The campground appeared full, but that did not detract a bit from our enjoyment. The grounds and facilities were very clean, and the owners even conjured up fantastic weather for our 4 days on site! We'll be back, and I highly recommend it to other RV campers.

Michael Murphy

2023-07

Nice little camp ground. Staff is very pleasant and helpful. Prices are reasonable. Our RV site is a good size and level. The whole place seems well maintained.The only negative to our visit is the constant noise coming from the bridge. I know there's nothing you can do about it. It was just annoying.

Susen Gagnon

2023-07

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Dave

2023-08

The float trip was ok but I will definitely not camp here again.The walk over the awesome Burma Bridge to a 1 mile walking trail around Hastings Island was closed. Isn't there a law against false advertising? I was really looking forward to that walk!I reserved one site online but was assigned a different site upon arrival. The site I originally reserved was empty the whole time I was there but since I didn't pay the ridiculous $10 "lock fee" I was relocated. Yes it's a scam.The bath house showers were adequate but the bathroom stalls are tiny, not remotely ADA compliant. If you have mobility issues, plan on going to the main building, 2nd floor, if the building is open. Good luck.The fire ring had trash in it meaning they don't clean the sites between visitors the way the National Park/Forest Service does. A "bundle of firewood cost $8.40 for 6 sticks of wood, see pic. At least it burned, it didn't burn well but it burned.I could go on but you get the point. Go rent a tube and float down the river but stay somewhere else!Thanks!

Margaux Pontoreau-Bazinet

2023-09

Just make sure you check the terms and conditions because they have lots of rules and no flexibility. Our ETA was 9:10pm and they dont allow any check in after 9pm, because their quiet hours are 10-7am. I mean sure putting up a tent being a group of 2 is definitely disturbing for the whole campground?! Come on!! we ended up arriving at another camping along the coast at 11pm and they let us in without any problem and just asked us to check in the next morning- there are definitely different mentalities in this world.

Martin Flansbury

2023-08

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Barbara Martin

2023-09

Wonderful river trip. The new owners and staff were very friendly and helpful. The trip started witb a brief safety message, fitting of PFDs, transportation to the boat landing, and canoes & paddles ready by the river. Everything was very organized by a great team commited to insure we were safe while having a fun adventure! I highly recommend Bethel Outdoor Adventure for a river trip by canoe, kayak, or tubes!!

Britta Siemen

2023-09

My boyfriend and I come up every summer to rent a kayak and always have a blast! Staff is extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Can't wait to come back next year!Update: we came back up this summer and the new owners have done a phenomenal job! Once again we had an amazing trip on the river and every staff member we interacted with, from check-in to safety briefings and shuttle service, was incredibly friendly and welcoming. We can't wait to come back again next summer!!

Christina Eaton

2023-07

So there were some major cons to tenting here and it seems to be more suited to rving. The staff was awesome first off, very friendly and welcoming which was nice after a stay out of state. Also loved the sluicing they had on site and I’m sure the other activities are just as awesome. Now the cons, the only bathrooms were on the far end of the campground, as far from our site as possible almost which I found odd that they didn’t have a porta potty or something down by them. The bathroom was great but being next to the RVs with their own bathrooms was unfortunate. Also they said they had Wi-Fi which we were excited for because my kids had never been to a campground and I’d never seen it throughout a campground before, well sadly that also didn’t reach our campsite. We also had the smallest campsite which was probably my fault on booking but we couldn’t park in it without having to get out in the brush so everyone had to get out my SO backed in and then he climb through the brush 😅. Also the wood we purchased at the store (which they delivered which was also an awesome feature) was sadly all wet and one piece was straight covered in mold. We have had a lot of rain though so that’s not completely their fault, just unfortunate because we struggled to burn it.

Claire HarnEnz

2023-08

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Robert Spooner

2023-07

BOAC is a nice little campground and the new owners are making it an even nicer place to stay. The location is great - right on the river. Tubing/canoeing rentals and shuttles right from the campground. There are full hookup sites, partial hookup sites and tenting sites. Not a huge place - and that is a good thing ATMO. Everyone very friendly. Bethel is a sleepy little town in the summer, but there are plenty of hiking and biking loops. I saw a golf course if you are into that sort of thing. Nice roads for cruising on whatever form of locomotion you prefer.

Mackenzie Rose

2023-09

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Jackson Delaney

2023-07

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Miccal McMullan

2023-08

Was pleasantly surprised at the campsite and campground. The people in the office were great to deal with and the grounds were well kept. It's under new ownership and they have remodeled the front office, and given the bathhouse a facelift. The sites are a little larger, from better mowing. But my overall experience was great I will be back!

Chris Siragusa

2023-05

By far the worst campground! The 2 younger girls at the office were nice and pleasant, however the owner was extremely rude and unprofessional. Her staff made what was clearly a mistake and under charged us for the campsite. Not a big deal, she simply could have addressed the issue politely with us. Instead she was blatantly rude to us when we went to rent tubes for under paying for the campsite. Treated us like we lied and tried to rip them off. Our reservations was for 10 people, when we checked in we again said 10 people. As her staff wrote on our sheet 5 extra adults and 1 extra child, I had to return to the office 3 times to correct their mistake as she was too busy (& rude) to take a payment. We drove 30 minutes to buy tubes instead of renting the 10 tubes we had planned to rent from them. Very poor way to run a business. Try being respectful and maybe even pleasant it could help your rundown campground.

Jeffery Van Decker

2023-09

This was our third trip with Bethel Outdoor Adventure. Experiences have been seamless!!! Everyone was very friendly and helpful. Highly recommend spending the day on the river with BOA.Safety: BOA is very safety conscious. Excellent safety briefing prior to the trip. Great information on navigating around islands and various landmarks.

Tracy Morales-Gabelmann

2023-05

So far I have only set up my tent and checked in. When I called to confirm my reservation they couldn’t find it. I booked a month prior to my call and this is a VERY small campground which I didn’t know at the time. I was worried and the person from the campground on the phone was terse and accused me of being angry. I shared I was frustrated and not angry and apologized if I sounded otherwise. She continued to be off putting in her exchange. I asked for a tent site with electricity and was provided one of the worst RV sites here. The site was dirty with a nasty washcloth and debris all over the site. We had to try to clean up at 11:30p+ because that is when we arrived. When we arrived we pulled up to what appeared to be the office. The signage wasn’t obvious and there is a maze of ramps to reach the door. It took a while to figure out where our directions were or if we were in the correct place because the office sign is dark and hard to see at night. My husband was the only one who walked around the office looking for our directions and thus did not speak to anyone. I went to check in and the man in the office asked if we arrived around 11p and when I said yes he said we were really loud. I apologized and said we whispered but it is hard to be quiet when setting up a tent. He replied that it wasn’t the tent setting up that was complained about but when we were looking for the directions for our site. The bathrooms are GROSS. And they are very small. The only toilet in the ladies room had cracks in the bowl and the trash was overflowing. Shower was ok. Unless something drastically changes from now until Monday, if we can tolerate this place that long, we will never stay here or recommend this place to anyone. We have been camping in Maine for over 20 years and have never encountered people this rude at a campsite or in Maine. We could excuse the filth and not come here again but the icy reception from the staff starting at the initial phone call to confirm the reservation to check in led me to writing my first bad review.

Richard Evans

2023-10

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Mara Factor

2023-08

I just wanted to give them a shout out for freely offering great river advice to a paddler unfamiliar with the river even though I wasn't making use of their services. It was nice to have it given in an unhurried and patient manner.

Guber Mon

2023-08

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Lou Durgin

2023-05

We had a great stay with family. Chose a group site and had a beautiful view of the mountains. Reasonably priced and very nice folks who run the campground. The foot bridge over the river is a must do along with a walk around the island.Recommended and will return.

Chris Packert

2022-05

Last summer my family took our travel trailer across the country from Colorado to the coast of Maine. This was unfortunately the worst stop in our adventure.We paid for full hook ups and the office staff put us in a site with only electricity and water. Also, the site that they put us in was impossible to enter due to the position of the trees surrounding the site. Someone from their grounds crew recognize that we were having an issue and put us in another site with full hook ups. We were very pleased and set up the camper for the evening. I asked the worker if I should notify the office, and he said no. That he would take care of it.About an hour later, while we were cooking dinner, I received a call from the front office and they told me we had to move out of that site. I explained that one of their employees put us in the site when we could not access the one that we were given, in addition to the fact that the site that we were given did not have full hook ups. They became combative and told me to come to the office.I walked to the office and was confronted by two members of the office staff and the employee who moved us to the location. The employee lied to my face and said he never put us in that new spot. If we were going to stay there, we had to move. After 10 hours of traveling that day, this was the last thing that I wanted to do. The whole situation was handled so unprofessionally.In addition, the place is covered in poison ivy, and the hook up in their dump station was elevated above the ground which made it really difficult to dump the black tank in the morning. My daughter had to get under the camper and raise the hose several times to transfer from the black tank to the dump station.We stayed at 10 different campgrounds during this trip and this was by far the worst experience. The office staff really needs some training in customer relations.

Keith Weber

2022-05

We had an absolute blast going tubing with this company. The lady behind the desk was extremely helpful and understanding. Everyone had an awesome time in the river. And the trips take the suggested time maybe a little longer if you take your time and stop a bunch of times like we did. The tubing trip for us took most of the day. But we had smaller kids so it might not take as long for other groups. I would definitely recommend this place in a heartbeat! Very fun!

Kirsten Brown

2023-05

This was a great family run campground! We work during the day and explore at night and the WIFI here was amazing (and we weren't close to their office). I wish we could have stayed longer to enjoy some of the activities they offer.Everything was clean and well maintained. I would definitely suggest this to anyone looking for a place to stay in this area.

Margeaux Starr

2023-05

I would have given this place 5 stars if it wasn’t for the bathroom situation. The bathrooms are horrendous! 2 of the tiniest stalls with the tiniest, lowest toilets I’ve ever seen. They are also very very very dirty. The showers were full of mud. Whosever idea it was to use actual sticks as toilet paper holders should be fired. The rolls don’t roll around a bumpy stick! Lol There are no separate bathrooms for campers. We have to use the same ones that tubers and kayakers use daily. They had over 400 tubers in one day! Try to imagine. Nice rv spots on the river. Wi-Fi decent. Went tubing and it was really fun and ends right there at camp! Just had to walk to our camp spot when done.

Melissa Lutz

2021-05

Nice campground. We had a tent site that was spacious and shady with a picnic table and fire ring. It felt very private and cozy. A bit of a walk to the bathroom, but not too bad. Water available to tent sites in a central convenient location. The suspension bridge to the private island trail is a nice added adventure. Trail was a little overgrown in places so you might want to wear pants if you walk it. We also did the tube float activity for an additional fee. The staff were very professional and addressed water safety and COVID safety in all aspects of their services. Staff were all super friendly and helpful! If I find myself back in this part of Maine again, I will surely return!