Basin Pond is also known as Basin Brook Reservoir.

Basin Campground is located in a rustic, remote part of White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, about 15 miles north of Fryeburg, Maine. It is a small facility with access to hiking and mountain biking trails and proximity to a small pond for fishing and canoeing.

The White Mountains boast pristine forests, clear mountain streams and rivers, and the tallest peaks in the Northeast. The forest encompasses nearly 800,000 acres in New Hampshire and western Maine and is one of the most popular in the country.

The campground is in a pleasant mixed hardwood forest a short distance from the 23-acre Basin Pond.

The national forest is home to many species of northern wildlife, including moose, white-tailed deer, and black bears. Almost 200 species of birds, including the rare Bicknell’s Thrush, live in the White Mountains.

Hikers will enjoy exploring the 4.5-mile Basin Trail, which leaves from the campground, and numerous other hiking and mountain biking trails within a short drive.

Trout fishing is available in Basin Pond. The pond’s calm waters are also ideal for canoeing.

The area hosts four alpine and five Nordic ski areas, which provide year-round recreation opportunities such as skiing, hiking, mountain biking, outdoor concerts, interpretive trails, special events, and regional and national skiing and snowboarding races.

There is a fee for the campground.

In the decades prior to 1911, the unregulated logging practices of private timber companies in the White Mountains had resulted in a damaged landscape susceptible to both fire and flood. Fires had burned thousands of acres, and flash floods affected the water power necessary to the mills of major industrial centers downstream, such as Manchester, New Hampshire, and Lowell, Massachusetts. Concerns over losses to industry, business, and tourism, and the growing conservation movement led to citizen action. The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF) spearheaded an effort to ensure the permanent protection of the White Mountains from further depredation. After years of lobbying and intense public pressure, Senator John Weeks of Massachusetts, a native of Lancaster, New Hampshire, introduced legislation that became known as the Weeks Act. The Weeks Act was passed by Congress in 1911, appropriating 9 million dollars to purchase 6 million acres of land in the Eastern U.S. In turn, this led to the creation of the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) in 1918, and twenty-one other national forests throughout the north and southeast. Many of the groups who were instrumental in the passage of the Weeks Act, including the SPNHF and the AMC, are still active today, and the WMNF has grown from 7,000 acres to almost 800,000. Today, the reforested mountains and hillsides supply forest products and provide magnificent recreational opportunities while maintaining healthy watersheds and ecosystems.