Cold River
October 2026
About
Overview
Cold River Campground is located in a rustic, remote part of White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, about 15 miles north of Fryeburg, Maine. It is a small facility with access to hiking and mountain biking trails and proximity to a small pond for fishing and canoeing.
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.
Recreation
The 4.5-mile Basin Trail leaves from nearby Basin Campground. Numerous other hiking and mountain biking trails lie within a short drive, including those in the Caribou Speckled Mountain Wilderness.
Trout fishing is available in Basin Pond. The pond's calm waters are also ideal for canoeing.
Learn more about recreation in the national forest.
Facilities
Cold River is a small facility with campsites organized around one loop. Accessible restrooms and a hand pump for water are provided. Picnic areas are nearby. There are no showers or a dump station.
Natural Features
The campground is in a pleasant mixed hardwood and pine forest, a short distance from Evans Brook and the 23-acre Basin Pond.
The 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 in the White Mountains.
Contact Info
For facility specific information, please call (802) 289-0970.
Nearby Attractions
The towns of Fryeburg, Gilead and Stow, Maine have groceries, restaurants, gas and other conveniences.
Campers might enjoy a scenic day trip to the Presidential Range, which consists of the tallest mountains in the forest, including the 6,288-ft. Mount Washington, the highest peak north of the Smoky Mountains and east of the Mississippi River.
The area hosts four alpine and five nordic ski areas, which provide year-round recreation opportunities such as skiing, hiking, mountain biking, outdoor concerts, interpretive trails, special events and regional and national skiing and snowboarding races.
Amenities
Phone: 603-447-2166
Is COLD RIVER fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches COLD RIVER in NH for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching COLD RIVER for cancellations is the paid part.