Tully Lake Campground — Hotel in Royalston

What a difference from my past experience at Tully Lake Campground. This time, terrible.||||My group of about 10 people have camped here the same weekend for the past 5 years without issue, until this year. During the middle of our weekend stay, on Saturday at exactly 3:23pm, the group decided to go out on the lake using our Kayaks and pool floats. We brought a bluetooth speaker in one of the kayaks. About 30 minutes into our fun, park rangers were at our site informing those who stayed behind that those on the water are being too loud. After paddling ashore and walking to the check-in cabin to discuss, we asked if music was allowed, yes. What are quite hours? 10pm-7am. Then why are we being issues a noise complaint on a saturday at 3:23pm while listening to a bluetooth speaker out in the water (approx 500 feet offshore) on a public lake. There was no good answer provided. The explanation we were given is that people reported hearing our music and if another camper is annoyed, they can issue a complaint. We asked what the purpose of quite hours are. The question was brushed off. We asked if we could complain about the little baby crying next to us, or the dad yelling at his kid to come in for dinner, or the kids who are running around yelling playfully right at 7am, even though quiet hours are over. The ranger responded that any camper can issue a noise complaint if they feel bothered, even if it is outside quite hours. ||We attempted to explain that Tully Lake Campground is trying to enforce noise levels on a public lake at 3pm in the afternoon. I could have been a local citizen who was using the public boat launch and done the same exact thing. ||||She added that another ranger already come to our campsite "a few hours ago" (which would put it around 11am) to notify us of the first complaint. This is an absolute LIE as nobody ever informed us prior to the situational I am describing. 10 of the 12 people were at Tully Lake Dam at 11am, only two people were at our site at 11am during this imaginary complaint. ||||Lastly, the ranger explained that because we already had two strikes, if we receive a third we will have to pack up IMMEDIATELY and leave. After hearing that, the entire demeanor of the trip was changed. There was no way we could have relaxing conversation and share some laughs around the fire without being paranoid that we would laugh too loud and be IMMEDIATELY kicked out at 11pm in the dark. All but three of us packed up and left after ending the discussion with...

I’ve camped Tully at least a dozen times in the past decade. Their prices were always we’re always a bit too much for site, firewood, boat rentals etc. Boat rentals were always stupid priced we’d only use the twilight deal. Firewood was always in my opinion 5, 10 bucks too extreme so I’d make it a task foraging for wood instead. I’ve camped nearly every waterfront site available.. let me say this… early number waterfront sites will have constant kayak traffic from the boat launch, so don’t long bait your fishing rods. The water is mostly rust colored, some recent years they pull that Cyanobacteria warning and you can’t swim but god forbid they’d reduce price. Their trails are often unkempt fallen trees and watered trails. And don’t even try to hike the actual Tully mountain.. it’s side streets with illegal dumping especially mattresses on the left and dilapidated houses on the right. Don’t believe me go ahead and do it and apologize to me after. And to top it all off they now charge 50$ a night waterfront even in mid September when any spendy yuppie is back to work or school. Camping 50$ a night.. rusted water, depending year Cyanobacteria ( no swimming), overpriced boat rentals, unkempt trails and if hike to the actual mountain count the addict needles… I used to love Tully I’ll excuse that fake trail to the mountain where it looks like skid row..but the Cyanobacteria non discount years the usual overprice and now 50$ nightly.. I’m done.. I’m thinking Dar campgrounds. Real campers aren’t spendy.. bad ownership...

Our site supposedly was right on the lake, though we couldn't see the water from it. The grass was so tall, and the soil right next to the water was muddy and smelly. The picnic tables are tiny compared to other campgrounds. A day before our camping start date they sent us an e-mail with the warning about a swimming ban due to cyanobacteria. When we came we've learned that the ban was in effect for the past two weeks or so. Now, camping in July on the lake with a child with no swimming allowed seems to be senseless. We would have cancelled the trip if we knew about this issue in advance. Is that why they don't warn people until one day before the start date? That being said, the kayaking on the water was pleasant with nice views, though we couldn't check out the islands due to a swarm of mosquitoes (just like you would expect on a swamp). The waterfalls nearby are pretty, but the water is orangy-brown for some reason. The showers are coin-operated. What they don't tell you up front is that you pay 50 cents or so, and have 2.5 min of water running, then there will be a 5 min break. If you still have a shampoo on your or your child's hair - tough luck, and don't forget about other people waiting for their turn to take a shower. They also don't know about those 5 min water interruptions, so they have no idea why you are being so selfish and spend that much time in the shower. Overall, much worse camping experience than in New Hampshire parks,...