RE: campgrounds near Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia

[vjm1639]

 
We re looking for a nice campground for a week in the fall and the more I look, the more confused I get.   We really want to still be in Virginia but further south west.  (We re in Northern VA now...) Its so difficult to decide on a campground from reading the reviews in books. What some people love, others hate.   I ve read about several " wonderful"  campgrounds but hated them when we went to visit.  We re looking for quiet, clean, woodsy,  not bands that play, or pools (not that they d be open in the fall anyway),no playground required, nothing to entertain children...our only child that travels with us is a sweet  furry one... LOL.. I really hate the campgrounds that are just a patch of gravel to park on with a patch of grass and a picnic table separating you from the next site. I like to be surrounded by trees...larger spaces.. I like the feeling of being in the woods, but I do want Electricity. Water is optional, don t mind filling the tank.   I ve read Cliff s reviews, and Goose Point sounds interesting,  I love Sherando Lake (if that gives you an idea of what we re looking for)  I ve read about Wildwood but can t find out much about it...RJ Ranch certainly gets good reviews but I really couldn t tell much about the sites from the pics I saw...a couple of pics looked spacious, a few looked " lined up" ..  I had read a really good review of Meadows of Dan campground, but the pics on their website make it look like small spaces lined next to each other and I don t know anyone who s been there to ask about it. We ve read nice reviews on several in our area here but when we ve gone to check them out....YUK...  [].  Any helpful suggestions or comments on any I ve mentioned???
 
 Vicki

[SheBantam]

 vjm1639
Viki, it is true, a lot of the campsites at RJ Ranch are lined up so to speak.
 
 We had a 7 and 9. they were a little close but not bad, the nice thing about these sites was the length or at least the precieved length. our site looked like it went all the way to the water, where there was a little dock/pier.
 
 The site Birol had was sort of private from the other sites on either side, because of the brush. Lablover had a nice site also. But they were away from the lake. we do not like being bunched up either, our site 9, had a hill seperating us from 11, which made it a little more private.  Site 7 was the grandkids and step-daughter and hubby.
 
 This was one of the campgrounds we would go to again.

[vjm1639]

 vjm1639
Thanks Paula...whoever had site A11 at RJ ...the pic on someone s website looked nice... Was it as roomy as it looked?

[SheBantam]

 vjm1639
That may have been the Mahaffery family. The play ground was directly behind that site. That site also was a lake view site.

[mess5719]

 vjm1639
We just stayed at the KOA in Front Royal which is at the northern entrance of Skyline Drive.  Right near Skyline Caverns.  We didnt enjoy it because of the Flies and lack of shade at the full hook up sites.  They had some nice shaded sites with water and electric, except you were right on top of eachother.  Good Luck.  I have heard good things about the campground in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
 
 Mike
 00 Coleman
 95 DW
 00 DD
 99 Ford

[vjm1639]

 vjm1639
Thanks Mike for taking the time to post the info....Yeah, I ve heard a lot of people like the KOAs but i was not impressed with this one. We prefer places where we aren t that close to our neighbors and Front Royal is way too close to home for this trip.  :>   We are takinga suggestion of " Cliff"  from Chesapeake, VA and trying out Goose Point at Philpott Lake. A tad further than we wanted, but certainly looks more like that places we like. Our kids are grown now...the two girls have their own families, and my son is a senior in college so no little ones now to have to entertain....except for the dog, and he s easy!  []

[Mahaffey-Family]

 vjm1639

whoever had site A11 at RJ ...

 Vjm1639, this was our site.  We loved it.  It was large and I likes having 2 tables and a concrete patio.