HARRISON, Maine — Hundreds of visitors are flocking to a campground in Harrison, where smoking marijuana is not only allowed but encouraged. Camp Laughing Grass, which is in its fourth season, is fast becoming a major cannabis-friendly tourism destination.
Located on the Crooked River, this campground has everything, from glamping and primitive tent sites to cabins, hiking and bike trails, and a new dock.
But for these campers, it's all about the freedom to use cannabis whenever they want.
"You can just light up anywhere and pass it around. There is always a joint or cone going around," Alicia Morris, a camper from Portland said.
Campers can bring their own supply of weed and sample other strains provided by local dispensaries.
For Marnie Dearborn, the draw was being able to smoke weed without bothering other campers.
"It's a better choice. You don't have to think about it. You are not making anyone upset," camper Dearborn explained.
The 17-acre campground opened in 2020 and is the brainchild of Trinity Madison.
She wanted to create an adult camping experience without the stigma, despite Maine being a legal state for recreational marijuana since 2016.
"Just to make it easier for us to not feel ostracized, the market is there? Oh, definitely the market is here. All I do is turn people away nonstop, all day," Madison said.
Earlier this year, out-of-state visitors posted this video about the campground on TikTok. The video got 5 million views and spurred a boom in bookings this season. The campground has about 2,000 bookings from across the U.S. Madison renovated the bathhouse at the campground, which is open from May to September.
As the campground continues to spark interest from campers across the country, Madison hopes to add more accommodations, including an A-frame cabin, a tree house, and a fully converted school bus, which can house two people.
But for Madison, the success is bittersweet. Her longtime groundskeeper Ryan Harrington, who greeted every visitor with a hearty "welcome to weed camp," passed away last summer.
"He had a huge impact on everyone who was at camp," Madison said.
She forging on with a new staff and a vision to keep this cannabis-friendly campground growing and on the map.