U.S. Forest Service · White Mountain National Forest · NH

Sugarloaf 2 Campground

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 20 opens May 20.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
A night
$24From, per site
Sites
3320 on recreation.gov
30 ftLongest rig
1,660 ftElevation
282 ftWater · Zealand River
8.4 miE of Bethlehem, NH
79%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices

In the agency’s own words

Sugarloaf 2 is a scenic, remote campground in the northwoods of New Hampshire. Located near the western base of Mount Washington and 3 miles east of the small town Twin Mountain, the campground is minutes away from hiking, mountain biking, scenic driving, fishing and sightseeing opportunities. The White Mountains boast pristine forests, clear mountain streams and rivers and the tallest peaks in the Northeast. The forest encompasses nearly 800,000 acres in New Hampshire and western Maine, and is one of the most popular in the country. Keep reading

Recreation

Hiking is one of the biggest draws to the campground. Trails begin around the facility itself, as well as in the surrounding area. The 6,288-ft. Mount Washington, New England's highest peak, is just minutes away. Access to the wild Ammonoosuc River is easy for campers wishing to fish for brook trout or wade in its cool waters during warmer summer months. The campground is in close proximity to Bretton Woods ski resort and the upscale Mount Washington Hotel. Learn more about recreation in the national forest.

Facilities

The campground is in a rustic setting. Campsites are well spaced around a large loop, and some sit atop a ridge. Some also have a view of the nearby mountains. Accessible restrooms and a hand pump for water are provided. There is no dump station, and the nearest showers are 10 miles away.

Natural Features

The facility sits near the banks of the cold, cascading Ammonoosuc River. Thick hardwood and pine forests fill the landscape. White Mountain National Forest is home to many species of northern wildlife, including moose, white-tailed deer and black bear. Almost 200 species of birds, including the rare Bicknell's Thrush, live within its boundaries.

Nearby Attractions

The small town of Twin Mountain has a general store, gas station and restaurants. Numerous hiking trails, mountain biking trails and rock climbing routes are within a short drive of the campground, including the well-known Appalachian Trail. The Cog Railway provides a once-in-a-lifetime experience for visitors to ascend the western side of Mount Washington by train. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (802) 289-0970.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Two pets per site

Rule

No switching sites upon arrival

Rule

Be bear aware; keep all food out of site in approved containers or locked inside a hard-sided vehicle and remove all food from area after eating

Everything else this campground posts · 6
Rule

Please Note: Site fee includes one RV with tow vehicle, tent sites include two vehicles. If space allows a third vehicle would be an additional fee paid at time of check in if you did not pay for the Extra Vehicle Add On. Vehicles must fit on the parking spur at your site.

Rule

Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests. Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.

Rule

Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity).

Rule

Visitors should be prepared for rugged trails and changing weather: Hike SafeHike Safe

Rule

Don't move firewood: To limit the spread of invasive tree-killing pests, firewood from outside the area is not permitted. Some states have quarantines and may confiscate your firewood. Please help protect our forests from invasive species by obtaining your firewood at or near your camping destination and burning it on-site. Visit dontmovefirewood.org for more information.

Rule

Click here to learn more about White Mountain National Forest website

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
33 · 6 tent-only
Hookups
None
Longest rig
30 ft
Accessible sites
16
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Drinking water
Yes
“…mountains. Accessible restrooms and a hand pump for water are provided. There is no dump station,…”
Store
Nearby
Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
River, Creek
Fishing
Hiking
Picnicking
Night sky · 5th darkest of 28 in NH
Bortle 3
Fall color · reported 5 days ago, 8.4 km away
Minimal color
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (8.4 km) · Oct 12, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

recreation.gov lists 20 of the 33 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On November 20, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 20, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
Max stay14 nights2-night minimum on weekendsthe facility record
A night$24plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$56DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itVista RecreationA private concessionaire under permit from U.S. Forest Servicethe operator link
Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Thu, May 20 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 13

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night$24
Standard Nonelectric$24
Tent Only Nonelectric$24
Rates for the season the campground is in now, May 22, 2026 to Oct 11, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
One nightDerived$32
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$56

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $24 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

33 sites · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 20 mapped sites
90 ftbetween you and the next site, typically
Least room001 72 ft002 72 ft003 73 ft

All 33 sites

33 of 33 sites located
Standard14Tent only6Type not stated13
SleepsTakes aUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 27 of the 33 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 33 of the 33 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.

MANAGEMENT005type not stated553 ft2,790 ft$24
MANAGEMENT006type not stated586 ft2,740 ft$24
MANAGEMENT009type not stated295 ft2,839 ft$24
MANAGEMENT017type not stated245 ft3,161 ft$24
MANAGEMENT021type not stated338 ft$24
MANAGEMENT024type not stated333 ft3,255 ft$24
MANAGEMENT027type not stated393 ft3,031 ft$24
MANAGEMENT028type not stated435 ft2,973 ft$24
MANAGEMENT029type not stated543 ft2,903 ft$24
MANAGEMENT030type not stated524 ft2,866 ft$24
MANAGEMENT031type not stated622 ft2,798 ft$24
MANAGEMENT032type not stated603 ft2,774 ft$24
MANAGEMENT033type not stated685 ft2,708 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2001standard nonelectric25 ftyes72 ft799 ft2,500 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2002standard nonelectric25 ftyes72 ft759 ft2,561 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2003standard nonelectric25 ftyes73 ft723 ft2,624 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2004standard nonelectric25 ftyes90 ft646 ft2,703 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2007tent only nonelectric110 ft442 ft2,774 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2008tent only nonelectricyes89 ft393 ft2,861 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2010tent only nonelectric86 ft261 ft2,911 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2011tent only nonelectric86 ft243 ft2,972 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2012tent only nonelectricyes84 ft248 ft3,007 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2013standard nonelectric30 ftyes84 ft322 ft2,945 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2014standard nonelectric30 ftyes110 ft205 ft3,080 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2015standard nonelectric30 ftyes99 ft161 ft3,150 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2016standard nonelectric30 ftyes99 ft255 ft3,073 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2018standard nonelectric30 ftyes140 ft130 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2019standard nonelectric30 ftyes92 ft129 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2020standard nonelectric30 ftyes92 ft218 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2022standard nonelectric30 ftyes90 ft347 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2023standard nonelectric20 ftyes90 ft353 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2025standard nonelectric25 ftyes84 ft357 ft3,164 ft$24
SUGARLOAF 2026tent only nonelectric84 ft408 ft3,080 ft$24

25 of 33 listed

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate44.25806, -71.50444
The phone603-536-6100
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From Twin Mountain, New Hampshire: Take State Highway 302 east for 3 miles. Turn right on Zealand Road and go 0.5 miles south to the campground.

From North Conway, New Hampshire: Travel on State Highway 302 north for approximately 33.5 miles. After passing the Mount Washington Hotel and Bretton Woods ski resort, look for Zealand Road on your left. Turn left on Zealand Road and go 0.5 miles south to the campground.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon37°Slight Chance Rain And Snow Showers17% rain
Tonight19°Slight Chance Snow Showers then Mostly Clear16% rain
Sunday50°Sunny
Sunday Night29°Clear

NWS forecast for Bethlehem, NH

Typical weather

Typical October night 34°F, day 58°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 5°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°0°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: WHITEFIELD MT WASHINGTON AP, NH (USW00054728), 8 miles away and 586 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Roadless
Cherry Mountain8,766 acres · 4 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Dartmouth Range9,233 acres · 7 mi · inventoried roadless area
Roadless
Pemigewasset32,255 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Sep 30, 2026

Who answers for this land

Maggie Goodlander, official portrait

Sugarloaf 2 Campground is in New Hampshire’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Maggie Goodlander (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate: the number below is the only way to be sure.
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (8.4 km) · Oct 12, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.