RE: virginia campgrounds

[McCormickmg]

 
we will be going to virginia in august, probably. family of four looking for cg with modern amenities. close to water, hiking and other outdoor activities.  westmoorland state cg was recommended, and looks good, but looking for other options, preferably northern part of the state since we will be traveling from ri.  thanks for all your help.

[whippetwrun]

 McCormickmg
well . . . it isn t exactly in Virginia, but right at the line in West Virgina.  I haven t been myself, but have heard a lot of good about Harpers Ferry KOA.  I have been to Harpers ferry and it is great place to go.
 
 http://www.harpersferrykoa.com/

[globalconcepts]

 McCormickmg
Well if you want the northern part of VA westmoreland is cool but the waterway isn t all that great and it s very rural (George W liked his privacy!). Have you considered coming down the eastern shore. Probably milage wise not much more and some great campgrounds around the bay. Just a thought.

[Gone-Camping]

 McCormickmg
There probably isn t a lot in " Northern Va"  as that s a pretty congested area around Wash DC et al....
 
 However, Westmoreland is a nice park, and the National Park Service operates a campground right there in the heart of DC but from what I ve been told, you ll get traffic noise there 24/7...
 
 Looking a bit more to the west, you could stay at (or in the vicinity of) Shenandoah National Park, NPS operates several campgrounds there, but no hook-up s...
 
 Eastern shore there are a few private parks that are nice (Toms Cove & Cherrystone come to mind) but I prefer [link=http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/kiptopek.htm]Kiptopeke State Park[/link] as it has full hook-up s (water, elect, sewer, cable tv) and cost a whole lot less than the private parks...

[Tim5055]

 McCormickmg
There are several nice campgrounds in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area.  As Cliff pointed out, private campgrounds will usually give you smaller sites and less privacy.
 
 PUT camped at Westmorland last year and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
 
 Check out my [link=http://www.title-3.com/DCCamping.htm]Camping in the Washington DC Area web page[/link].

[cke57]

 McCormickmg
It may be too far south for what you are looking for, but Douthat State Park in the Alleghany Mountains, near Roanoke VA, is rated as one of the country s top state parks. Has many full hookup spots, a lodge with a full restaurant, but wooded and private spots, some on the creek leading to the lake. Lots of wonderful historical spots around the area and the Alleghany s are beautiful. Their website is http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/douthat.htm.
 
 Good luck!
 cke 57
 je 57
 jee 18/mle 11/jbe 9
 Coleman mesa 2000
 crawling 94 Explorer!

[globalconcepts]

 McCormickmg
In Northern Va, there is Lake Fairfax Park which is in Reston. Stayed there once. It is about a 15 minute drive to DC. Nice park-has a water park feature and modern amenities. It s worth a look see if you want something near DC-thats about as close as you get unless you go to baltimore.
 Dave

[McCormickmg]

 McCormickmg
Hey, thanks for all the info.  Am new to this so just wanted to let all of you know how much I appreciate your response.  Dave W--interested in hearing of specific places you mentioned near the bay...thanks.

[globalconcepts]

 McCormickmg
Kiptopeke State Park on the eastern shore-mentioned above and first landing state park are right on the bay (opposite sides of the Ches. bay bridge tunnel) They are great parks. Cherrystone is nice if you like lots of activities-its a big private park and not near much of anything.
 First landing (aka seashore state park) is a 10-15 minute drive from Va Beach tourist area.
 Dave

[springer02]

 McCormickmg
Douthat State Park is our favorite camping spot.  It s off of I-64, exit 55 I think, and it s the best.  The hiking is great, they very heavily stock the kids fishing area where our then 11 year old caught a huge trout for Dad s dinner and I ve caught big bass in the lake, and the sites are spacious and not right on top of the next one.  IMHO you can t miss there although the waterfront sites aren t very shady and I believe that area is dry camping only.
 
 Tena

[MattH]

 McCormickmg
We just got back from Douthat SP this weekend. It was beautiful. We had an outside loop spot at the Beaver Dam area. It was very quiet even though they were full for the weekend.
 
 The lake is beautiful and the hiking was great. We ended up doing about 4 miles Saturday morning. I tried my hand at some shore fishing with no luck but it was so peaceful.