Bicycle Tour: Lorraine Campground, Day One

Wednesday, August 27, 2025, was the first of three days I spent at Lorraine Campground in Harold Parker Forest. This beautiful state campground is only twenty miles north of Boston. This tour was my first of 2025, and I was using it as a shakedown tour before a planned longer tour to Cape Cod in September.

I left my house at 1:15 p.m. and arrived at the campground at 4:00 p.m. after a fairly easy 23.75-mile ride through Somerville, Charlestown, and suburbs north of Boston. Main Street through Malden was urban and busy, but I’ve ridden this section multiple times this summer, and occasional bike lanes helped. The roads near North Reading had two difficult hills where I had to push my bike. The temperature was a pleasant 71 °F.

I arrived during a cloudburst with hail and rain. After I checked in and had set up my camp, there was another cloudburst; I stayed dry in my tent.

Lorraine Campground After a Cloudburst

My campsite, number 15, was enormous, measuring 40 feet by 70 feet.

My Enormous Campsite

This semi-urban campground is near the Andover Sportsmen Club, and firearm reports were pretty constant until sunset. There was continuous traffic noise from Routes 28 and 125 to the west. But the park itself was wooded, shady, and cool. I went for a short walk of all the loops of the campground; the park was about one-third full on this Wednesday before Labor Day weekend. (The park was completely reserved starting Friday night.)

I have been trying to moderate my effort when I ride, with the goal of staying within Zone 1 and Zone 2. But once again I pushed harder than I should have on the hills. My effort was 30% Zone 1, 38% Zone 2, and 32% Zone 3.

For the second day, see Lorraine Campground, Day Two.