Spacious Skies Minute Man Campground

- August 03, 2022

Five years ago, our family began camping. We started our first camping trip in a large tent and blow-up mattresses. After our first trip with our young daughters, we were hooked. Camping was nothing new for my husband, as he grew up camping in a large camper trailer. For me, it was new territory other than the limited camping I had done before children. The year after our first trip in that tent as a family, we made the leap to a pop-up trailer. This was the perfect bridge for us, still focusing on the outdoors yet having a comfortable place to rest our heads at night....and the custom cut air conditioning hole in the canvas doesn't hurt either. Over the years we have tried out many campgrounds having our favorites and some we will never visit again. I am happy to say this past weekend was a great camping experience to add to the list.

The plans started with a couple of friends, and a last-minute weekend trip. We needed somewhere within an hour away, so after searching I suggested Spacious Skies Minute Man Campground in Littleton, Massachusetts. We booked with ease on-line and then the waiting began.

Upon arrival you are greeted with TREES! I know, sounds weird to be excited about this when camping but our last camping trip lacked trees, so for this one the trees is all we needed for some excitement. Check-in was easy and mostly completed the day before on-line. We just needed to go to the office for directions to the site and we were off! Most of the sites proved to be almost all shade which is much needed during the heat of our summer. There were larger sites, smaller sites and sites in between- as well as cabin rentals. Set up is quick and painless (usually) for us so soon enough we were on our way to explore the campground. Our first stop was the nicely shaded playground with cornhole and ladder ball. My daughters, age 9 and 7, enjoyed climbing on the playground and were psyched to give ladder ball a try.

Our dog, Nova, was more interested in making her way over to the dog area! We carried on, giving the puppy what she wanted and were so happy to find a spot for her to roam off leash in a safe area, once again with plenty of shade. (See a common theme here?) Our pup didn't meet any playmates at the dog park, but she did plenty of sniffing and roaming around to fulfill her off-leash needs. We continued along this walkway to find a horseshoe pit, volleyball court and basketball court- all with balls ready to use. As we made our way back to our site, the moment everyone has been waiting for is here. Since our camper is not self-contained, we need to weigh in on the campground bathrooms which is an important piece of our stay. We made our way to the restrooms and were happy to report a rating of five starts! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The bathrooms were spotless and smelled clean! I must say, this can be a difficult rating to get with so many people using the restroom regularly, so it was a wonderful surprise. As we returned to our site, one thing we

noticed was the amount of licenses plates from all over the country and even a few from outside of the United States! We saw Tennesse, Texas, California, Michigan, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Virginia, Quebec, and more! The countdown to our camping friend's arrival continued as we sat at our site to watercolor the time away.

When all of the kids arrived, they made their way to the arcade to play ping-pong and a few other games in the small arcade. They also checked out the quaint rec room which had a TV and a few puzzles to piece together. As it became later, the kids asked to go in the pool, but it was 7:55pm, the pool closes for 8:00pm for kids and at 9:00 for adults. This is a wonderful component for people traveling without children, as campground pools can often be full of splashing, yelling children. Now that I think of it.... why didn't I go over at 8:00pm, sans children?

Soon after, another pleasant surprise for me was the shower, it was spotless, and the water pressure was fantastic. The water temperature warmed and cooled throughout the shower, but it did not affect the enjoyment of a much-needed camping clean off. The campground quieted down very early and the sleep during the night was peaceful, even considering the occasional horn of a nearby train.

The next morning was filled with playground fun and finally a chance to take a dip in the pool! The pool area was relaxing with plenty of shade for the adults while the kids swam. The depth of the pool varied from 3 feet to 5 feet which is perfect for our age children. The youngest that we traveled with were 4 years old and they could manage the shallowest on their feet. The shade of the pool also kept the pool quite cool, but the children adapted to it while splashing and having fun.

The moms of the crew were able to sneak away for a few hours and get in a short hike at Oak Hill Conservation area. We took a hike to Look Out Rock that gave us and amazing view of the area. This hike would be a wonderful one to enjoy with children as well because it can be shortened by the trails you chose to take. We then took a 11-minute ride to West Side Creamery to enjoy the best ice cream I have ever eaten in my life and appreciated the adorable dog sundae for Nova who was a bit dramatic about the short hike she had just been forced to take.

Upon our arrival back to the campground the trip continued with more swimming, arcade and playground. The night ended in true camping fashion, s'mores and a campfire. We finished this weekend happy to have a close, simple camping spot to keep on our list and happy, tired children.