FRYEBURG — It can be a long walk around the 100-plus acre Fryeburg Fairgrounds, but for thousands of campers, many of whom have seen more than a few fairs in their day, there’s help to get from here to there.

Fair officials have provided camping areas and the fairgrounds with benches for those waiting to be picked up by golf carts or needing a place to rest.

“Look at the beautiful view of the fair,” said Warren MacFawn of Peru as he waited for a golf cart to pick him up at Fairview Campground and take him to the fairgrounds. MacFawn has been coming to the Fryeburg Fair for about 50 years and camps directly across Route 5 from the fair’s main gate and track.

It is one of the three fair-operated campgrounds and holds 1,400 campers, said Paul Turcotte, a fairground worker who helped guide campers.

Turcotte said it can take 15 to 20 minutes to walk from the far end of Fairview Campground to the main gate. With the golf carts, five to six campers at a time can be taken to their campsites or to the fairgrounds in about five minutes.

Campers ranging from $2 million RVs to vintage Shasta trailers have been arriving at the fair since late last week to fill about 3,100 campsites in three campgrounds, camping superintendent Arthur Adams said.

Many are decorated with fall themes such as scarecrows and mums, while others sport toy gorillas, dogs and three teddy bears wearing matching sailor suits sitting on the dashboard of an old purple camper named “Drifting.”

“It’s very much community,“ Adams said. “Some have been coming for years and they get to know their neighbors.”

Marge and Phil Cote of Vermont have been camping at the fairgrounds for the past 30 years. Although the campground has grown in those years, the appeal has not changed, Phil Cote said.

Adams said the majority of campers stay at least two or three days. License plates range from Maine to Montana and Florida.

This is Adams’ fourth year of supervising the campsites, and he has seen an upswing in the number of campers over those years.

“The first year probably was the busiest, then the economy went sour,” he said. “This year it’s taken a turn for the best.”

Prices range from $29 for a regular camper to $34 for a slide-out camper, including power and water. Tents are prohibited because of the risk of having them between large mobile campers.

Any unusual requests from campers?

“I don’t think I could go into that,” Adams said.

The fair, known as Maine’s Blue Ribbon Classic, will continue through Sunday with an estimated 300,000 people expected to go through the gates.

ldixon@sunjournal.com