Balsam Cove Campground

We did a last minute reservation for a tent site and very contradictory to previous reviews, the owners were absolutely fantastic! Even though we were running late, they made sure that we would have a map and would be able to get to our site and let us pay for the firewood the next morning. The owners receive five stars.
The reason I gave three stars is because of the site itself. The driveway in is gorgeous with trees! But we were disappointed when we saw that the campsite was gravel and there wasn’t any privacy. It made for a hard night’s sleep and it’s impossible to use tent stakes (use big rocks). This campground is ideal for campers in RVs, just not tents. There are a lot of activities and its on the water.

This is a nice campground. The scenery is fantastic! We were able to get a site right across from the pond. The campground is clean and the sites are a good size. We only tent camped but grabbed a spot with electrical and water (teenagers needed to charge their technology). We didn’t want to camp close to a town so this seemed like the best option. It is close enough to town for convenience but far enough away for peace. They have a laundry, store (not overly stocked), arcade and clean bathrooms and free showers. It is occupied by long term campers. I have only two issues. One was the slight odor of the sewer but it wasn’t continuous. The other was the long termers really felt they had the run of the place. They left bikes, toys and beach towels all over the beach making it look a little messy. With a $ 25 fine for burning trash it seemed like they should have also said something about the messy beach. But that was minor and not a reason to not come here. The lake is quiet and the loons were amazing.

We really enjoyed our 8 day stay here. They have great sites by the pond and nice woodsy sites too. Also higher sites out of the trees if you want satellite reception. The pond is beautiful, great swimming area and docks for fishing and boating. What a great place to take kids, lots for them to do. Every thing very clean and well maintained. We didn’t experience any of the Gestapo like behavior the previous reviewer complained about. I’d say our experience was more like that of the many reviewers on Tripadvisor. We would definitely come back again.

We had an awful time here. It was a long trip from Boston on a Friday night after work but we undertake the trek quite often to get into the gorgeous scenery & fantastic company. We got there late (1am) after a rough ride and were shushed by our friends upon arrival. We sat quietly by the campfire while we learned that our friends have been shunned by the owners and a couple with kids two spots over. We’re not party kids, just a group on 24 – 30 year old young professionals with reputable jobs (pharmacist, property manager, architect etc.) and desire to relax outdoors and spend some time with our friends. We don’t chug beers and scream obscenities — we tell jokes by the campfire. But, apparently anything above a whisper after 8pm is frowned upon here. No singing or occasional laughing while roasting marshmallows here folks!
The owners told them to shut the freak up (her exact words as I got a taste of later — pretty funny to be g-​swearing at your customers) earlier in the evening because they closed the car door several times while getting gear out of their cars. I thought our friends were kidding until they forced all three of us late arrivers into other people’s tents after we were told we couldn’t unpack our gear because that would create noise. Tents belonging to people that we only met once or twice before — but hey, we’re good sports.
There’s always a brighter side, right? Despite being shunned and shushed we though we’d at least get to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings and weekend home in the morning. Too bad we woke up at 7am to the couple with kids playing frisbee right at our tents while yelling and laughing. We approached the female owner and asked that they ask the couple to move their activities elsewhere but instead were told we had to leave. We thought the request was absolutely ridiculous but didn’t want to spend another night where we couldn’t hang out by the fire so we went back to our site to figure out our next step. We didn’t want to wake those that were able to sleep through the frisbee game amongst our tents, so those awake started to make breakfast and slowly pack-​up any gear.
Half an hour after, the owner came to our site yelling at us to leave. Those of us (me mostly) that haven’t dealt with her the night before, tried to calm her down to explain that although we paid for both nights, because of the tensions last night, we were going to take off when the rest woke up and we figured out where to go. We asked her if there was any other campground around, and were told no. After a few moments of ease, she began getting irritated again and we had to reiterate that we were leaving as soon as everyone else was up. I assume her yelling was to wake everyone else up?
A while later (35 – 40 mins?) the guy (husband I think?) approached us and said «I thought she told you to get the eff out» (his weren’t g-​swears :-/​). One of our friends had enough from the night before and responded in a similar manner. To this, the guy said he was calling the police and left. When the officer arrived he took our names and story and wasn’t surprised one bit by our tale. Several times he mentioned that this wasn’t the first time and that he appreciated us being so understanding, to have a good weekend etc.
Oh wait! I forgot to mention the wonderful scenery in the morning. Which didn’t exist. Dead trees, improperly pitched camping spots (sleeping slanted was uncomfortable), dirty gravel (why would you make people camp on top of gravel?) & half empty grounds (in August?) Maybe we were in the outcast part of the resort, but it was just sad and miserable looking.
So all in all our first night was miserable but at least they spared us the rest of the weekend by making us leave, On our way out I did a google search and found Wanderin Moose Campground. Apparently these guys (Balsam) hate Wanderin because once people discover Wanderin they’re in heaven! Site was spacious and green and lake was beautiful! 5 minutes away from the lunatics at Balsam although we were told there’s nothing in the area? I guess we should have known not to expect the truth from the whacks we had to deal with at Balsam. Their behavior was just unacceptable and unexplainable.
Edit 11÷10÷12 —
Right after I saw the owner’s comment for the first time I flagged it with this
«Please do not call my review fraudulent especially after how you treated us! Trip Advisor removed the review because you flagged it, not because it was fraudulent. You should be ashamed of yourselves and how you treat people and then call them liars. Of course no one knows what you’re all about since you continue to flag negative reviews and post slanderous comments such as these on those you cannot get removed.»
I think it’s very important for people to realize the shoddy business practices of Balsam Cove and their owners. Enough abuse and lies.