Tag Archives: hiking

Camping Adventures Near Scenic Cape Cod

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For many years, my husband and I would venture to the Cape Cod in Massachusetts for summer vacations. Our favorite location was Orleans and going to Nauset Beach. We stayed in B&B’s, cottages, or motels. This was way before we started our camping adventures in our early 60’s. When we went to the Cape to head to Nauset Beach, we were in our 20’s, 30’s and 40’s probably! We have a history of going to the Cape, but camping near the Cape was new to us.

Nauset beach is the type of beach my husband loves. It has big waves and rushing waters. It also has a very long beach. The sand is beautiful. The area is nice. The area near this beach has couple good restaurants, bars, and market-like stands. Shark sightings began to appear in the waters at this beach. We went there at least once every summer for a beach vacation. Nevertheless, after many years, we stopped going to the Cape because of the sharks.

BOURNE SCENIC PARK CAMPGROUND:

Fast forward to 2023. As new campers, I wanted to find a campground on or near a beach. Naturally, Cape Cod came to mind. After some research, we decided on a campground called “Bourne Scenic Park” located at 370 Scenic Highway, Bourne, Massachusetts.

It is actually located before officially entering the Cape via the Bourne Bridge. We were super excited to check this place out. On the day of our arrival, it was an extremely hot humid day in July. Check in offices were very professional, busy, and well-setup. It was a smooth check in process.

We proceeded to go find our assigned camp site spot. We were new to this so had no idea about prior research. Let’s just say, the site was not good for us. It was on a slight slanted hill, and there was no easy way to back in. As we tried to navigate getting to it, we got stressed fast due to the heat and humidity.

I actually jumped into our truck to sit in the air conditioning. My husband pranced around trying to figure out how we would park our travel trailer. It was our first camper travel trailer and was only 16 feet long. He is a determined guy, but I was really thinking this is not going to work.

I remembered my more experienced camping sister. She has been camping for years. She told me her husband called the office once to say this site is not going to work. I got on my cell phone and long story short; they offered 3 other sites to go look at. After some nudging, my husband agreed.

Viola. We got a much better spot and a fellow camper even helped direct us into our site. I guess he knew we were already stressed. By the way, the site we did not like was C-12. The site we ended up with and did like was site 54. Site 54 is on a corner and it is not huge site but fit our little camper just right. I liked that there was a stairway down to the Canal trail. It was almost directly across from it as you walked over the other side.

CAMPSITE MAP

Here is a link to the PDF of the park’s camping site map:

Click to access Web-Map-2024-w-Border.pdf

This site had electrical and water but no sewer hook-up. It was our first experience with the infamous honey wagon and using a dump station. But I won’t go into that part of the story just yet! Let’s talk about the fun stuff first.

NEAR A BEACH

This place was not on a beach but a beach was super close by, called Scusset Beach. They had a daily parking fee payable via a thing called YODEL app using your cell phone. We drove there and paid to park. You can easily bike there on the canal path from your campsite. This is possible if you are a biker. At that time, we did not have bikes yet. Those came later. So, we drove to the beach, and I think it was about 3 miles away.

There is a large bathroom building at the beach. It was fairly clean. But it was a little bit of a walk to the beach from the very large parking area. The path was uphill but not bad. We always bring a wagon to load our daily beach gear onto. We did try fishing one morning from the beach but a lifeguard told us that was not allowed. I’m not so sure about that, however, we stopped fishing and said, oh well.

Scusset Beach is at the southwest corner of the Cape Cod Bay and has about 1.5 miles of beachfront, plenty. The water was refreshing. We really enjoyed spending a day or two on this beach. It was part of our camping adventure during that hot week in July.

BACK AT THE CAMPSITE – THE BATHROOMS:

The facilities at the campsite were clean and they provided a bathroom code to enter the building for that. There are all types of campers here from seasonal folks to all types of travel trailers and RV’s. I don’t recall tent camping being there though.

MORE ABOUT THE LOCATION:

The best part of the campground location was that this place is on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal. Along the canal is a paved bike path. We would carry our wagon down the steep steps to the canal walkway from our campsite and bring chairs. Sitting there with a lunch and watching the canal and an occasional boat go by was entertainment for us two. We found it was difficult to try to fish there, due to the large boulders along the water.

GOTTA GET LOBSTERS!

Of course, being near the Cape meant lobsters for us. We visited a place called the Lobster Trap not far from the campgrounds. It is at 290 Shore Road in Bourne, MA. We absolutely loved getting lobsters there. Eating while watching the views was wonderful. Here’s their website: https://www.lobstertrap.net/ I think it was about 5-6 miles from the campground.

VISITING OTHER PARTS OF THE CAPE:

We are the type of campers who enjoy visiting the area where we camp. Of course, we had to spend a day doing that. We drove all the way to Provincetown for shopping, eating, and hanging out. P-town as they call it is a great place to go on whale watches too. We did not do that this visit because we had done that plenty of years prior. They are excellent. Really fun especially on a beautiful hot sunny day.

THE BRIDGE

If you decide to try Bourne Scenic Park yourself, be aware. There has been talk for years about construction on the Bourne Bridge. There has also been talk about the bridge itself. I do not know the current status at this time. I imagine it would affect your travel or bookings. Also, entering the Cape via the bridge is where traffic can back up. We arrived at a good time with no concerns around that.

As far as overall, the campground was good. It had features we enjoyed, it is a busy place with lots of campers and a big mix. Many seasonal folks too. It is laid out in an odd way. Some sites are along the fence above the canal trail. Some are mixed together lower. Some were across a bathroom facility. Some were tucked in tightly. It is kind of spread out in different scenarios.

We had a great time and the staff was amazing. They did help us when we needed to change our site and we were lucky there was another choice. They made that process seamless. They did have firewood and propane available. I remember they had a band one night, but we did not go see it. I don’t think they have a pool. But there are plenty of water views all around and a beach very close by. It felt secure with a gated entry.

NO PHOTOS:

I can’t find photos on my phone or in my files from this trip unfortunately. Sorry about that! If I do, I will add them later for you.

Thanks for visiting!

Cathy Testa

Date of this post: 1/16/2026

P.S. I left out the sewer part – just a job which was assigned to my hubby – that was part of our deal if we became campers – LOL! It was fine with no issues. There is a dump station on the way out of the campground park.

Experience Niagara Falls: A Camping Adventure on the US Side

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Anytime you hear about someone visiting Niagara Falls, the question of which side is better to view the falls comes up. Discuss it with friends who have not yet been there or have been. “Is the US side or the Canada side better?”

Well, when we picked our 2nd camping adventure, we picked the US side, primarily because we had seen the Canada side many years ago on a non-camping trip. We looked for campgrounds not far from the falls and found a place called Branches of Niagara Campground Resort.

We stayed at Branches of Niagara in September of 2022. Since then, the campground’s name has changed to HTR resorts. The address is 2659 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island, NY. It took us about 8 hours to get there from our home location in CT. But the campground is only about 8-10 miles from the falls on the US side which was perfect for us.

It was a rainy trip on the road. It was quite an adventure for us as new travelers. We were pulling our 16-foot travel trailer with our older truck. We were so excited to be going. Nothing was going to stop us.

Because it was September, there were not too many campers at the campground – just a few – maybe like 6. The pool was closed but the pool area looked very nice and is well set-up. There is a fishing pond, and the grounds were very nice with lush green lawns. There are also some cute cabin rentals at this campground. It is a well-maintained place, and nothing looked old or worn out while we were there.

We were new to camping so we had no idea, but they didn’t give us the best site. It was number 71 on the map. My husband recalls it wasn’t completely level. It was good enough for us because we were newbies on the camping scene. It was a smaller site in an odd space. The bathroom was directly across from this site, which was handy. We have a bathroom in our small camper as well.

We couldn’t wait to go see the falls on the US side the day after our arrival. It was about 10 miles from the campsite to the falls park on the US side. We prepared for the day by making sure we wore good shoes and a sweatshirt with rain jackets. It had been mostly cloudy and rainy on our travel up to the campground. However, when we went to go visit the park, it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. I was so thankful for that.

To be honest, I was sold on the US side of viewing the falls immediately because you can get so close to the water views. There are a couple parking areas on the US side on Goat Island, and I think we were in parking lot 3. We kind of just winged it and parked and then found the trail and followed it. It was so much fun. You can spend the whole day following the trail here. And you can get very close to rushing falls. We loved it. There are many spots to stop and check out various views of the rushing waters.

We came across a seating area and things like that. We did bring a small bag pack of snacks and stopped to eat where there were some tables and I think they sold food there, but we didn’t check that out at that time.

Look how close we were on the US side to the rushing waters. It was a thrill to be that close. While the Canadian side has many benefits, you really can’t get this close to that view shown above in the photo I took.

This was another area you reach while following the paved trails. You can see how lovely it is. It is a spot you want to just gaze for a while.

You can see the observation tower across this water view. However, for me, being so close to the fast-moving waters was bliss. Hearing the rushing sounds of it felt amazing.

I could share lots more photos of our walk on the trail. I’ll save them for when you go visit the falls yourself. There are many points to stop. You can take in the views and feel the misty rainfall from the falls. I’m sure there were things we missed too because we just winged it for the day.

The next day, we did go over to the Canada side. I did think ahead to have our passports handy. It was easy to cross over a bridge to get there thru customs. The Canada side is more hectic. There is a casino and more restaurants, and lots more people.

As I mentioned before, we had been there on the Canada side many years prior. We didn’t do the walk along the falls on the Canada side. Nor did we venture to the wine trail. We are “been there, done that” type of people and like seeing new things. We had explored the whole Canada side of the falls many years ago, doing a boat ride and visiting the casino, and having dinner at the top of a building, stuff like that.

Canada side above photo with the view of the casino and other buildings. When we exited here, we saw a nice view of the falls on the Canada side. But there are walkways below this area to view the Canada side of the falls. The trip happened back in 2022, which was 3 years ago. It is difficult to recall everything. Let’s just say we had a pleasant time.

The campground was a great location for us. We ate at two places nearby. One was called Griffon Gastropub on Military Road. I recall it wasn’t too thrilling. And another place was called the Brickyard Pub and BBQ in Lewiston, NY which we liked.

I would say in regard to the campground, it was a very nice place. We’d go back in warmer weather months. We actually used the heat in our camper because it was very cool at night that visit. We had full hook ups, and it was a clean place with full bathrooms. It was also a quiet place in September.

Hope this helps you visit. You may decide to see Niagara Falls in the US. You could also choose to visit Canada. You can do both like we did!

Cathy Testa
Date of Post: 12/8/2025

Our First Camping Adventure at Moose Hillock, NY

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When we took our very first camper out for the first time, it happened to fit well with a trip my younger sister had planned to Lake George, NY with her family. She mentioned a campground called Moose Hillock and it is in Fort Ann, NY near Lake George.

It was in mid-June of 2022, and it turned out it was going to be a very hot and humid week during our first camper adventure. No worries, luckily our new adorable retro looking little 16-foot camper has excellent air-conditioning, and the campground’s website indicated it had a huge, heated pool.

My sister was also staying there for her family vacation with her two young boys and husband with their 5th wheel camper. She was excited to learn we had purchased a camper at an RV show in the winter so we arranged to do our first venture out to Moose Hillock where she and her husband would be there to assist us if needed.

I did feel overwhelmed when I first started searching for campgrounds online. There are so many to choose from and being a planner, I really like to research, but I quickly learned, there are so many that it would be difficult to pin down which place to select for our first camping adventure.

On top of that, I learned campgrounds have rules and many of them all listed on their websites. It made me go cross eyed reading them all – pages of them. I remember thinking, “Holy Moly, these places have so many rules. Will I like camping?”

It didn’t take too many future trips to realize rules are more about just being a really good camper person, doing the simple things like not being noisy after posted quiet hours and picking up your trash, or not walking through neighbors’ sites, and keeping your dog under control, etc.

I don’t have a dog, but my sister does. When she was walking her dog the day we arrived to Moose Hillock, she saw us at our camper site setting up. She walked over and said, “I promise, I didn’t intend to show up immediately, but I was walking my dog and saw you.”

You see I had told her before we left, “Please don’t run over right away. I’m so new to this camping thing, I want at least an hour to setup our camper inside while Steve, my husband, would setup everything outside”.

Rosalie continued off to walk her dog after a brief hello, and I was excited to unpack all the boxes I had staged on the floor in the camper into the camper’s cabinets. It turned out to be a good system for this smaller sized camper, and I did the same routine every time we traveled with it.

Moose Hillock surprised me because I had absolutely no idea there were campgrounds more luxury style. This pleased me right away. You see, when we got our first little camper, it was quite spontaneous at an RV show. And I really was concerned about if we made the right decision. I knew I don’t like flying anymore, for obvious reasons, but would I like camping? I really never liked tent camping the few times we did that years ago when much, much younger.

When I saw the pool at Moose Hillock with a rock wall of skulls and waterfalls with a slide for the kids, I was impressed. I thought to myself, “My gosh, this competes with pools I’ve seen at luxury hotels.” I was really impressed with the abundance of lounge chairs around the pool area, the clean bathrooms, and the pool itself.

My nephews loved that we were there to join them in the pool too. My husband is a kid at heart and had no qualms about going down the big pool slide right after my nephews did – and repeatedly. It was fun to watch them having such a good time. I was even a bit disappointed that Steve and I had booked a steamboat tour on Lake George that day because we were having so much fun enjoying the beautiful big clean pool on a hot and humid June day.

Another bonus about this campground is the fact it is very close to Lake George, and lucky me, there was a wine festival happening the week we were there. Steve and I attended that on the next day while my sister and her husband stayed at the campground to enjoy the resort’s amenities. She and I are 13 years apart in age, and Steve and I really enjoy visiting an area’s features while she prefers to stay at the campground filled with amenities and fun for the kids. Make sense.

Regardless of camping styles and goals, we all enjoyed the private sites at Moose Hillock. Each site is lined with trees on each side of the site, and each has a big firepit with large rocks. One big rock on the back side and a few on each side. This was another surprise to me. I just had no idea it would be this nice.

Our first camping trip to brought surprises!

Again, one of the fun parts was my nephews really enjoyed visiting us at our site, making popcorn with Steve and roasting marshmallows. To honor our first camping trip with my sister’s family, I got her and I matching t-shirts. I had decorated my camper with the whole black and red classic tartan plaid theme, and even our t-shirts matched. She loved it!

We visited them at their site too. It was so fun. It really kicked off our trip and first adventure, and I knew we would have many more. Moose Hillock was a perfect choice for us beginners.

To recap, the things I really liked about Moose Hill lock are:

Big private sites with trees on each site
Amazing massive clean pool with nice lounge chairs
Being close to Lake George and doing things like the steamboat ride and wine fest
Big firepit to make amazing camping fires at night
The rv style to this campground

And unique to us – being able to enjoy our very first camper trip with my sister and her family.

Cathy Testa
Date of this post: 11/7/2025