Peddocks Island Campground (click to enlarge).

---

Peddocks Island Main Page

---

CAMPING SEASON

Peddocks Island Campground is typically open Wednesdays through Sundays from mid-June through Columbus Day. Exact dates change each year depending on how the days of the week fall. The current schedule is listed on the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park’s official Camping web page.

Campers can get to Peddocks Island either on the ferry leaving from Hingham or by private boat. The camping season corresponds to the ferry schedule. No pets are allowed on the island.

TYPE OF CAMPING

Primitive tent camping and yurts—wooden structures covered with canvas—are available. Tent sites have no electricity or water. Yurts do have electricity.

Yurts at Peddocks Island Campground in Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

NUMBER OF SITES

There are six individual tent sites, ten yurts, and one group campsite at Peddocks Island Campground. Individual sites can accommodate up to two tents and either four adults or two adults and their children. Yurts can hold up to six people. No tents are allowed at the yurt sites.

Tent camping on Peddocks Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

The group campsite can accommodate 15 to 30 people. However, I doubt anyone is counting because the campsite is located on a large, open field that could hold a small army.

Group campsite at Peddocks Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

CAMPGROUND TERRAIN

There are three different sections to the Peddocks Island Campground.

TENT AND YURT CAMPING AREA

The individual tent sites and six yurts are located at the top of a hill to the right of the ferry dock. The trail to the top begins just past the Fort Andrews Enlisted Men’s Barracks, the largest two buildings in sight. It is a .4-mile moderate uphill climb made even more difficult if you are lugging camping equipment. Fortunately, there are wheelbarrows available to help you haul your gear. Ask the Ranger at the dock for help.

The top of the hill has been cleared. The surface is grassy and the area is surrounded by trees. Yurts are located in the center of the field, while the tent sites are backed up against the trees and arranged in a semi-circle along the outer perimeter. The other side of the field is occupied by three artillery batteries.

Yurt at Peddocks Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

All tents sites are nicely shaded, but being on a hill, don’t expect completely level ground. You won’t roll to one side of your tent, but there is a slope at some of the sites.

Typical tent campsite on Peddocks Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

YURT CAMPGROUND

A second yurt area (four yurts) is located in a wooded area on the opposite side of the island from the ferry dock. It’s a quarter mile walk, but you don’t have to climb any hills to get there. Take the paved road past the barracks and keep walking until you see the yurts.

GROUP CAMPGROUND

The group campground is located on the hill opposite from the tent and yurt campground. To get there, take the paved road past the Chapel and be on the lookout for some stairs on your right. The walk is .15 mile.

The campground is completely out in the open on a grassy field, though the terrain is level. It sits on the former location of the Fort Andrews Officers’ Quarters, and you can still see the foundations where the houses once stood.

Foundation of one of the former Officers’ houses on Peddocks Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

AMENITIES

Tent camping is primitive, meaning there is no electricity or water at the sites. Each individual site has a picnic table, but no grill. Common grills are available for sharing, or you can use a grill at one of the Picnic Areas on the island (bring your own charcoal). You are also welcome to bring your own camp stove or charcoal grill.

Campsite #3 at the Peddocks Island Campground, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

There are picnic tables and grills spread throughout the group campground.

Picnic table and grill at the Peddocks Island Group Campsite, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

Yurts have electricity and water and are furnished with bunk beds, fan, lamp, and a table and bench, which basically amounts to a picnic table in the room. No bed linen is provided, so you must bring your own pillows and sleeping bags. Furthermore, no dishes or utensils are provided, and there are no stoves or ovens. Each yurt does has its own outside picnic table and grill.

Regardless of where you camp, there are no modern bathrooms at the campsites. Portable toilets are located at each section of the campground. There is, however, a modern restroom and a drinking fountain in the Peddocks Island Visitor Center that is accessible during the daytime. The Visitor Center is a good walk from any section of the campground, so you may want to bring your own water or at least some empty gallon jugs to fill up at the Visitor Center.

Nothing is sold on the island, so you must bring all of your gear, clothing, and food with you. Also bring trash bags because there are no trash cans and you must take all trash home with you.

I visited the Peddocks Island in early August and didn’t run into any mosquitoes or gnats during the day, but there were a few biting flies. A Ranger told me that mosquitoes tend to come out at dawn and dusk. He also told me that ticks are on the island, but they are not that common. In two months he had picked up only two ticks. Stay on the paved paths and official trails and you should be alright.

RESERVATIONS AND PAYMENT

Reservations are required—no walk-ups—and can be made online at Reserve America from four months in advance up until 2 PM on the day you want to camp. Back when you could make a reservation up to six months in advance, I checked in early March and all individual sites and the Group Campground were already booked on weekends for the entire season (August is really packed). All yurt sites, on the other hand, were booked every day for the entire season. So make your reservations as soon as possible.

Current fees are listed on the reservation website. There is a discount for Massachusetts residents because the island is actually owned and run by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, not the National Park Service.

Fees do not include ferry tickets.

CAMPGROUND RULES

• Check-in time is 1 PM
• Check-out time is 11 AM
• Quiet hours are from 10 PM to 7 AM
• No pets other than bona fide service animals are allowed on the islands
• There are no trash cans on the islands. Campers must carry trash with them upon departure.
• No alcohol is allowed
• No campfires are allowed at the campsites, and no wood can be brought to the islands. If you want a campfire, you can build one on the shore below the high tide mark, which means that you can only have a fire for a few hours near low tide. Wood must be gathered from dead wood on the island.

Back to the Top