Massasoit State Park — Attraction in Taunton

Way too expensive party campground. With how much it costs for someone out of state ($64 a night) it’s not worth it. For reference, I camp full time in state parks across the US and this was the first time I’ve been bothered enough to make a review of it.

I expected a typical state park only better for $64 a night, but it seems like a party campground for MA residents. They were very strict about rules during check in but didn’t enforce any in the actual campground. They told us 4 campers a site and 2 cars but multiple sites had far more. The site across at one point had 6 cars and 12 people for one single site. Loud and crowded during weekends. People up way past quite hours with loud music screaming the f word every other word but also lots of drinking so it made sense. The end of our stay we had a group that had sites on either side of us and it felt like we were in a dispensary with how much smoke came from both sites. No hate to those who want to party but I prefer state parks over private campgrounds because they are usually quiet and family friendly but this missed the mark.

The check in time is 1pm but even checking in the site was already dirty. There were fast food bags in the fire pit and there’s a cute tree with a hollow stump that was also filled with trash and beer cans enough to have flies swarming the area. Another thing that I’ve never seen at a state park. I have always had clean campsites.

The bathrooms were rarely cleaned. We were there 2 weeks and for 5 entire days there wasn’t even soap in the women’s bathroom. People threw food in the bathroom trash enough for gnats to be present for days before it was emptied. Once again not the end of the world because I’ve camped out of season before when it takes a while for them to check in on things but in those times there are usually little to no campers. The family restroom was covered in mold and once again not at all cleaned well. It was surprising because I’ve never traveled to a state park anywhere else in the US that doesn’t clean the bathrooms. There would be piles of toilet paper and trash on the floor for days and the amount of cigarettes in the shower stalls was appalling. Once again for $64 a night my standards were higher. For residents I believe it’s less than $20 a night so that’s where it fits more of the party care free vibe.

The park itself is so beautiful but just not kept at all in the camping portion. I’m assuming it’s short staffed because there was significant time where no one was at the front office either so you can’t always get wood or ask questions because the building was empty. There were other times they had “staff on break” signs up while the staff sat in the office but you couldn’t get help because they were on break. Very odd. I approached them once about a couple of dogs that had been left outside the camper all day long several different days and would bark non stop. Not just when a car or person went by but for hours at a time all day long. The woman working asked which site and I let her know I couldn’t remember but it was 2 beagles and her reply was “oh that’s just beagles for you. They will be fine!” So no care for the animals or the non stop barking heard through the park. I have camped in locations that aren’t ideal (close to highways or busy areas) but dogs barking constantly for days at a time was frustrating to say the least.

This is also the only state park I’ve ever been to where I didn’t see any hosts. Overall it isn’t the worst place I’ve camped but I would say if you aren’t from MA and not planning on partying, I would check out other options. I could see it improving if they are able to hire more employees to help with cleaning and making sure the rules are in place. I think for one night passing through it’s fine but 2 weeks here was less...

I desperately want to love this place as it is local and I've been coming here for a long time, even when it was closed down. Unfortunately I just can't recommend this place. There's some peculiarities to this campground that I've never seen before. First of all, they have a very strict no visitor policy. If you are not on the reservation you are not allowed in the campground. Most of the campsites are okay but there are a few that are literally so slanted you could not even pitch a tent yet alone park your car.. The pond has a iron algae bloom and makes the water have this very strange oil slick appearance. It's completely harmless but I'm sure to some people is concerning. If you're allergic to pollen, stay away as it gets pretty brutal. The next thing is the very noticeable amount of homeless people who are living in this campground. There were very clearly three obvious ones when we arrived on Friday night and this morning a police escort of three cruisers came to basically kick these people out. They had a microwave, a mattress and everything. There are people that will run extension cords out of the bathroom outlets and have surge protectors plugged in with all of their phones and accessories charging. You can only buy firewood with a credit card and not by cash which is probably the only place I've ever seen do that. The people that come here are completely ignorant and use the driving road as a walking path and literally will not move out of your way when you're trying to drive back to your site. As I wrote this I also noticed a couple Nice big widowmakers as we call them. Dead branches that are either already broken off and just hanging on other branches or ones that will come down very soon. These are extremely dangerous and should be taken down by the park staff, it's really not that hard..

No of course it's not all bad. It was relatively quiet this weekend aside from one spot that was being a little loud. The pond is great to fish in and of course it's close to home, this price is per night are also very reasonable for a tent site.

If you're looking for a actual camping experience, drive an hour away either to New Hampshire Connecticut and you will find yourself in a much better...

I took my nephew and a few of his friends camping here for his birthday. They planned on going fishing . First I was told it was no problem for them to fish since they're minors . Then I was told they couldn't fish unless accompanied by an adult with a fishing license. Had I known that prior , I would've obtained a license . The staff was rude, they seemed to have a vendetta agenst us all along , their rules are ridiculous. Then one of my nephews friends mother was bringing him by an hour after we arrived . I had to give the first and last name which I only knew her first name and asked my nephew who didn't know she had a different last name . Because of this simple mistake they gave us a hard time about that and accused us of giving a wrong/ fake last name . They refused to fix it and were also very rude to her. I told them she wasn't staying long yet they said I had to put her as my guest or she wasn't allowed in otherwise which made no sense .The camp site area was very rocky which made it difficult to set up tents , the grill and fire pit were both filthy and rusty which is unsanitary ( glad I brought a pan ) Then after 10 pm they have quiet hour and the ranger came by to warn us saying they were being too loud and if they had to come by to tell us again they'd kick us out when they weren't even being loud at all. Just boys being boys having fun. Then our charging station stopped working when I reported it to them They accused us of damaging it. I understand they want to keep it a safe family environment but It seemed like everything we did they complained about it. I dont plan...