Pillsbury State Park is a hidden gem of the New Hampshire State Parks. The park features, camping, hiking, kayaking and a day use area. Located off of Rt 31 in Washington, NH is this wonderful state park. When you pull into the park there is a ranger’s station off the right where you stop to pay a small fee to use the park or register for camping. There is a small camp store that had some cool stickers.
We have visited Pillsbury State Parking for camping and for day use. For day use this is a great place to canoe or kayak. The launch point is past the ranger’s station. There is also canoes to rent. You start out by paddling around Butterfield Pond.
Then you can paddle through The Narrows into May pond.
This pond is a little bigger and there are small rock islands around the pond. It’s a very pretty and a fun area to explore. On several occasions we have seen a Loon with her babies.
This is also a great place to have a picnic at their small day use area. There are a few picnic tables, a shelter that can be rented for gatherings, an older slide and swings, outhouses and views of Mill Pond. From here there is also access to several hiking trails.
We have also spent a couple nights camping at Pillsbury State Park. It is not a big campground, which is nice as you can spread out or be in a group of people. We stayed at site 10 which has beautiful views and access to the water.
There is no electricity at their sites, so you are camping off grid. If you want a little more adventure there are sites you can hike or canoe to. We spent our time kayaking, fishing, hiking a couple of the smaller hiking trails. I really enjoyed walking out the Narrows, which is a 15 minute walk out to where Butterfield and May Pond meet.
This is one of the most relaxing camping trips we have taken. Our daughter loves campgrounds with a lot of amenities and activities, but it was nice to have a couple low key days.
The only downside is there is no swimming here. If you are camping you can swim at Lake Sunapee State Park for free, which is about 20 minutes away. Overall, we love Pillsbury State Park. With it being about an hour from our house it is a perfect place to camp or spend the day to relax and reconnect with nature. .
