Salisbury Beach State Reservation

It used to be one of our favorite affordable places to go but DCR really really hiked up the prices up from $ 9 to $ 14 and let this place go… (and $ 36 seasonal to $ 60 seasonal)
The traffic control once you get into the park is awful, people who pay cash have to wait in line for those that pay with a credit card (where the attendant has to walk over the CC machine) causing a big line. No signs of high tide anymore.
Bathrooms are ABSOLUTELY disgusting… some water needs to be flushed down here to get rid of the smell.
Not enough trash containers… when we left the whole area was littered with TRASH!
The beach is nice and they are doing improvements on the jetty… not sure why?
Life guards once noticeable was few and far between and when you do see them they are flirting with the other life guards.
I know Mass has some budget issues but once a treasure… now thinking of just heading to Hampton State from now on.

Would have love to be told about the construction going on before paying 60 bucks for our yearly pass. We get to the beach and the majority of the sand is closed for jetty repair. I wouldn’t have spent the money. My 4 year old had the worst day after the large waves knocked her down. This doesn’t happen near the jetty and when it’s high tide, you can go to the river side with less waves.

This review is for the Campground only. The beach itself was very nice.
I hesitate to give this campground 2 stars rather than a more accurate 1 star, but I will admit that your experience will depend greatly on your expectations of camping in general. For us, this missed the mark by a large margin.
Firstly, this is a state park, and in Maine this means something. State parks are known for being well kept, quiet, wooded, with space between spots and clean if modest bathrooms. Perhaps we are spoiled. This felt more like a trailer park with tents.
Pros:
Near the beach. You do have to drive to it if you are carrying anything, but there is ample parking.
The staff at check in and in the general store were friendly.
Pretty view over the marsh once you walk down to it (not from sites).
Cons:
–Our site was full of trash when we pulled in, we walked around for about 10 minutes picking it up.
–The sites are on top of each other. If we had two cars like we originally planned to, the cars and a single tent would have taken up almost the entire site. And we had one of the larger sites.
–When we arrived at 4pm on Friday the women’s bathrooms were already filthy.
–Our site (X002) was right next to the marsh/​inlet, but there is a paved road between the site and the marsh. (see photos)
–The sites are not wooded at all, so you are completely exposed.
–Someone was blasting country music from 8−10pm, and there wasn’t much we could do about it. If you have an expectation of respectful neighbors, this isn’t the place for you.
A storm came through on our second night and we used it as an excuse to leave. For some campers this might be just what you like, but it didn’t work for these nature lovers.

Great place to take your family any time of the year. Though, expect long lines during summer peak times, when the weather is good. The issue they have is not being able to direct traffic correctly coming in. There should be two lanes open during busy peak times upon entry. One for season holders and the other for those paying. The entry should be widened to accommodate for the large volume during the summer.
It’s a great place to see the seasonal birds too. Lots of clean beach and water.

This is my beach of choice.
I have been enjoying this beach ever since I was a little kid. This is a state park and you can either pay daily at $ 9, or by a season pass at $ 35, which is good for any MA state park. Great deal in my book. There are several parking lots and although you may have a bit of a walk to get to the beach, parking is almost always gauranteed.
There is also a RV area which I have never ventured into. Like others have stated, it does seemed to be clustered very close together. The Reservation also houses a playground, bathrooms at every parking lot, ands food truck at the first parking lot.
The beach itself is always cleaned daily and never seems to have any seaweed. The beach is staffed by lifegaurds daily and they are reasonable about what you can and cannot do. One warning — do NOT bring alcohol here; this is a family enviornment and they do take alcohol offenses seriously.
There is also a «rock wall» at the end where, if your timing is good, you can catch small crabs.
This past weekend, with the pass of Hurricane Arthur, we witnessed the surf like never before. Strong tides and currents, huge waves, and even a sea lion surfaced his head 10 feet from me! Never ever before seen that in my life.
As a beach bum I love the peacfulness of this location and look forward to coming back for years to come.

I’ve been here twice in off season & had no issues parking (free the time of year I’ve been) right up close to where the river end’s & walk around. I plan on coming with my camper over the summer & spend a couple day’s at the campground. If you have kid’s, there’s playground (s) for there enjoyment.

I truly miss this place. Spent most of my childhood here since we camped quite often and i have so many great memories. The beach near the boat ramp was always the best spot i think since it was less crowded and fishing was always fantastic. Just sitting and watching boats on the jetty was a huge thrill for me

We go here because my mom has a free pass because she is a senior citizen (62+). Lifeguards are on duty from ~10am to ~4:30pm. Boogie boards are allowed but not any other kind of floats. They have bathrooms and showers. There is not much available for food; there is just a small truck permanently parked, offering chicken fingers and ice cream novelties from what I can tell. The undertow is strong and there’s a huge hill leading down the water and not much flat beach as late as an hour before low tide. I do not bring my nieces and nephews here because there really isn’t much good space to play.
We like to sit all the way at the end so that we can watch the boats coming and going down the mouth of the river. There is a rock jetty that people like to wander down. However, apparently they are not supposed to wander down it, and the lifeguards were whistling alllllll day to get people to come back. I am all for safety and felt bad that the lifeguards had to paddle out to the extreme points of the jetty to get people to come back several times, but… why can’t they just put up a sign? Or block the jetty? Or post a guard there to tell people they couldn’t go there? Because that whistling got really old, really fast. I also saw a lifeguard whistle incessantly at a little boy of about 10 years old who brought a tube into the water. He was close enough to walk over and simply explain that tubes weren’t allowed. The obnoxious whistling and hand signals were not necessary when the boy was only about 15 feet away from him. I am sure they were just doing their jobs and they were personable, but it was not very relaxing.

Lots of parking. We typically go here rather than Crane beach as the waves are better here, but not too big for little ones. Nice and clean place.

The parking is cheap at $ 9 for a whole car load of people. When I head up to Gloucester, many of the beaches charge $ 15 – 25 to park. There are multiple parking lots to choose from with each having a bathroom and an area to shower after swimming. I will gladly pay a few bucks to maintain a clean beach and to give me a place to wash off the sweat and salt water before my ride home. This summer I became a beach snob and only go to beaches with showers because my man parts don’t appreciate sitting in wet mesh underwear they build into men’s swimming trunks for hours on end.
If you try to go cheap and park down by the center in the street parking spots, you are stuck paying quarters and you have to keep refilling the meter every hour or two. If you miss the meter, they are quick in giving you a ticket and the money you thought you were saving ends up costing you a heck of a lot more in the end.
If you park to the lot closest to the public beach area, you get the best of both worlds. You keep the white trash at bay while giving you the option to walk down to get some food, drinks and entertainment. They do have a snack bar with some crappy food at the lot closest to the public beach area, but I would rather have crappy pizza down near the arcades vs. crappy hot dogs on the beach. If you go further down the beach to the less crowded lots, let it be known that they do not have snack bars at all of the bath houses… only one.
Personally I can’t sit in the sun for hours on end and I need something to do in order to kill time. This beach offers good waves, nice clean soft sand, a nice long beach to walk, very clean in the state reservation side of the beach, a boardwalk, a place to grab a beer and some crappy arcades to send the kids to if they are driving you crazy. There is also very good fishing down at the end of the beach and many people go there for surf casting for strippers and sea bass.
Since there are multiple parking lots, you know what sections of the beach will be overcrowded… so if you like a beach with less people… park accordingly.
I am marking it down a star because the beach can experience significant undertow and can have rip tides at times before a storm. When I was a kid, my sister got pulled out into the water (giving her a life long complex where she is petrified to have her kid swim in the ocean). I also experienced dangerously large waves before a big storm and when they are that large, they break right into the sand at high tide making them more dangerous with a much stronger undertow.
It should also be noted that the last time I went there a ton of small jellyfish were in the water. I got stung by a jellyfish twice on my walk and never had that happen before. I wonder if it had something to do with the extra hot summer we just had.

The best time to visit the Salisbury Beach State Reservation, a.k.a. «The Res», is coming off season for free. I guess I am old fashioned, but $ 9 feels like a lot to park… but for families it’s probably not all that much. Still it’s a nice beach, away from the center and the White-​Trash vibe of the Salisbury Beach Center. Sure the pizza is good, and it’s nice to play games, but I would rather just go to the beach and chill.
Camping hear is a tremendous value, but I think they should limit the amount of RV’s. It’s not really camping if you are in a 20 – 50 foot metal box with cable, etc. I am all for the creature comforts, but it’s kind of ridiculous. This place is kinda sad that the sites are so damn close together. I agree, it is like a refugee camp of sorts. That said, in the off season it’s awesome. People do drink here in moderation (even though it is technically illegal) but you have to A. be real quiet. B. be very, very discreet C. Not be in a large group as the State Police and Park Staff patrol very often in peak season.
Oh yeah, almost all the sites have virtually no shade, so prepare accordingly. Oh and the seagulls are all over your site if you leave anything accessible.
I wish this place was better maintained. I wish the staff here didn’t hate there jobs. I wish more sites were set aside for tenters. That all said, it is a great place that many people in Eastern Mass have been coming for years and I always enjoy it…
Bring your bikes, your walking shoes, a fishing pole for the Merrimac River and definitely anything you can use for shade. Buy wood on site so you don’t accidentally bring the Japanesse Beatle that is threatening the forests of North America.

If your only goal is to spend your days at the beach and have a cheap place to sleep then this isn’t a bad bet. I prefer camping under pine trees with a little privacy but this is just a field with the sites pretty close together. You must hide any alcohol as it is a state park and not allowed. I saw a couple who had a bottle of wine on the picnic table have their entire car searched through, staff made a big deal about it. If your not lucky enough to live near the ocean you may enjoy this place for the location alone but I’m a short drive to the beach so would never bother staying here again.

This place is well worth the $ 9 parking fee… Or, better yet, if a MA resident: pay the annual fee of $ 35, and park free at this, and all state parks for the year (very worth it if you go more than a few times).
We’ve been coming here for the last two years. it’s clean, there are bathrooms, a great playground (on the last parking lot), camping facilities, and snack bars (just hot dogs, water, and ice cream, but it’s inexpensive, and helps in a pinch).
The beach itself is large — there are three separate parking lots. we opt for the last lot as it’s nearest to the smaller beach which abuts the river (less waves for the kids), and it’s nearest to the excellent playground for the kids. but all of the beach is well maintained, clean and just lovely.
You can also BBQ here — there are pits near the last parking lot, and some interesting historical information.
Very easy to access via 95N or 1AN… I love the many north shore beaches, but this one has the feature of offering affordable parking, and a playground right there. so it has my vote as a family friendly place… and, unlike most northern CA beaches, the water doesn’t require a wet suit to go swim in!

Open 8am-​10pm (I think) Memorial Day to Labor Day (I think, check the website to be sure!).
$ 9 fee to get on the beach, but it has tons of parking, and at that price it is totally reasonable compared to a lot of beaches in the area.
The beach was pretty full today, but it was AMAZING weather, and I’m pretty sure that they do fireworks on Saturday nights (you can see them from Hampton Beach) so that would explain it…
90+ degrees on the beach, we set up a blanket and ran down to the water. The water was a COOL 60+/- degrees, every part of your body feels numb within 15 minutes, but oh so refreshing!
I hadn’t been here in YEARS, maybe 10, but it was pretty much what I remembered. There are lots of warnings about rip tides, which is usually why the beach is always so full, and there is tons of space IN the water.
Keep an eye on your kids if you come here, rip tides are no joke! I always set up near the lifeguards chair anyways — out of habit, my mum used to so it was easier for us to find her from the water.
I will be back again, hopefully before the summer is through!

This beach is really nice, though I’ve only been once. I was reluctant to go but glad I took a friend’s advice to check it out. Very clean, ample cheap parking, decent bathrooms. I loved the sand and long stretch of beach. I think negative reviews are from those confusing this with Salisbury beach which is unfortunate. Two totally different beaches, like comparing apples to oranges!

We went to the reservation today. $ 9 fee to get in but that’s not bad compared to other beaches.
If you have a handicapped placard you get in free since its a MA state park.
There is a lot of parking and every lot has a bath station. I have never seen all the lots filled to capacity so you never have to worry about not getting a spot even if you get there at noon.
I don’t like how the toilets don’t flush as they are the compost kind but some people don’t mind that. There is a full flush bathroom near the campground on the far right and also a smaller beach with people swimming and fishing.
There are boardwalks down to the entrance of the beach then you need to treck some with your stuff. Not bad treck but enough that you need to wear shoes etc.
There are lifeguards but this beach always has a strong undertow. We were there at low tide and we still had to pull our kid out of the water once as he got «washermachined».
Be prepared to watch your kids like a hawk while they are in the water. And it’s not a beach you can really swim in as the water is never really shallow and flat. You just go in and ride in the waves or get crushed by the waves. Bring a boogyboard and swim shirt.
Very clean sand and surroundings at the reservation. Remember the reservation is totally different than the Salibury Beach itself.
They clean it a lot and state troopers on horses patrol the beach.

Cute little beach that has bomb pizza from Tripoli’s.
I feel like this beach is the beach that you go to when it’s neighbor beach, Hampton, is already too packed to enjoy your day there. But I didn’t mind coming to this beach. The sand wasn’t made out of pebble rocks, which is nice because Boston beaches have that. The arcades there were ok, nothing mind-​blasting.

Maybe the other reviews will frighten everyone away from this ocean front state park, but ever since we moved to Mass we’ve gone there several times a month even in the winter. The ocean front is beautiful. Sure it isn’t Crane Beach, but its only ²⁰⁄₂₅ minutes drive for us and even at 2009’s $ 9.00 parking fee its the most reasonable place to take grandchildren to jump in the waves.
Actually, the parking fee only applies during the summer season. That gives us nine months to enjoy walking on the beach without paying for the privilege.
EVEN BETTER! At the beginning of the season this year, husband figured out it would be less expensive to pay $ 35.00 for a season pass. When he asked the young girl collecting money for the pass, she asked if he was over 65. He had so much trouble saying yes, I had to answer for him. «OK!», the girl said giving him a green card. «Senior citizens don’t have to pay the entrance fee.» Husband didn’t complain about anything the rest of the day.
After you drive past the entrance booth, there ae two very different parts to the Reservation.
On the right is the RV campground. Packed in the summer. Not my thing, but the campers we’ve talked to say its one of the best bargains on the coast.
On the left is the ocean. There are large three parking areas with reasonably clean toilet facilities. Fromthere you walk on an elevated boardwalk to get to the beach. We’ve never found good handicapped access from any of the parking areas to the waters edge.
At the far end of the reservation is the mouth of the Merrimac River where husband likes to fish for Striped Bass (he’s fishing not catching). On the other side of the river is Plum Island and Newburyport. Sitting by the river on a (not to hot) sunny day watching the small boats pass by is a good way to forget about everything.
We’ve been puzzled as to why a lot of people don’t like the Reservation. OK, Salisbury isn’t the fanciest place on the coast, but once you’re on the beach the water looks the same.
Some of the reviews we saw when we first moved to Mass complained about bus loads of people from Lawrence or Lowell. We’ve never had any problems and it is a public beach. Actually, a lot of the cars have New Hampshire license plates. I wonder why the state hasn’t put in a higher daily parking fee for out of state cars.

There’s a fee to get into this small stretch of beach, but I prefer it over Hampton, or Plum Island.
There’s a campground on the site, too. There’s nothing appealing about a campsite packed with RV’s to me where people are within 10 feet of you on all sides. They remind me of metal refugee camps. Time it right, grab some takeout from somewhere and there might be a full moon in October or April on an unseasonably warm night and you can pitch a tent in the relatively desserted campground, build a fire and enjoy the beach.