🏆 Official Guide: Wellfleet Hollow State Campground — 100+ wooded tent sites and three yurts in a pine hollow on the Outer Cape, minutes from the Atlantic beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Wellfleet Hollow State Campground puts you in a shady kettle-hole of pitch pine and oak on the Outer Cape — close enough to the Atlantic that you can be standing on a National Seashore beach within minutes of crawling out of your tent. This is classic old-Cape camping: quiet, wooded, unfussy, and perfectly placed for day trips to ocean beaches, Wellfleet’s harbor and galleries, and the Cape Cod Rail Trail.
The campground has real Cape history behind it. For six decades it was Paine’s Campground, a family-run institution in South Wellfleet, before the Commonwealth acquired the roughly 30-acre property in 2018 and reopened it as a state campground. That heritage still shows in the layout — more than 100 sites tucked into the contours of the hollow rather than lined up on a grid, connected by narrow, winding camp roads.
What Makes This Campground Unique
Outer Cape Base Camp
Marconi Beach and the wild Atlantic side of the Cape Cod National Seashore are just minutes away — camp in the pines, swim in the surf.
Three Yurts
One of the Massachusetts parks with yurts: three large canvas yurts with bunk beds, table and chairs, and electricity — a step up from tenting without leaving the woods.
Cape Cod Rail Trail Access
The paved Rail Trail’s Wellfleet extension runs close by — ride toward Nickerson State Park and the kettle ponds of Brewster.
Old-Cape Camping Character
Formerly Paine’s Campground, family-run for 60 years — winding lanes and wooded sites shaped by generations of Cape campers, now preserved by the DCR.
Things to Do
Beaches: The Atlantic beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore — Marconi and White Crest among them — are a short drive east, with dune bluffs and genuine ocean surf. Wellfleet’s calmer bay-side beaches and its working harbor sit a few minutes west.
Biking: Pick up the Cape Cod Rail Trail nearby and ride flat, paved miles through the Outer Cape — the classic long ride runs southwest toward Brewster and Nickerson State Park.
Nature walks & wildlife: Trails wind through the surrounding pine-oak woods, and the nearby Wellfleet Bay area is one of the Cape’s best birding zones — expect ospreys overhead in summer.
Camping
Camping is what this place is for: more than 100 wooded sites for tents and smaller RVs (under 35 feet — the camp roads have tight curves), plus three large yurts with bunk beds and electricity. One car and one tent per site, and the campground is open to registered campers only — there’s no day-use crowd. Reserve through ReserveAmerica; Cape Cod sites go fast for summer weekends, so book when the window opens.
Visitor Information
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Use | Registered campers only — no day-use area |
| Sites | 100+ wooded sites; tents & RVs under 35 ft; 1 car/1 tent per site |
| Yurts | 3 large yurts (bunk beds, table, electricity) |
| Size | ~30 acres in a wooded hollow |
| History | Former Paine’s Campground; state-run since 2018 |
| Location | 180 Old Kings Highway, Wellfleet, MA 02667 (Barnstable County) |
| Phone | (508) 349-3007 |
| Official Info | Mass.gov – Wellfleet Hollow State Campground |
Getting There
The campground sits just off U.S. Route 6 in South Wellfleet, on Old Kings Highway. From the Sagamore Bridge, follow Route 6 east about an hour up the Outer Cape; Wellfleet center and the harbor are five minutes farther north, and Provincetown is about 25 minutes beyond that.
Nearby Parks Worth Combining
Pair a Wellfleet Hollow stay with Nickerson State Park in Brewster (kettle-pond swimming and 10 more yurts, about 25 minutes southwest) or Shawme-Crowell State Forest in Sandwich near the canal. The Massachusetts state parks guide has the full picture, including the statewide yurt lineup.
Facts verified against Mass.gov (DCR) and public records, July 2026. Camping fees and season dates are set by the DCR — check the official campground page before your trip.
Park Location
Plan your gear for Wellfleet Hollow State Campground
From our editorial guides, matched to this park’s activities:
