Best Glamping near National Mall & Memorial Parks

We had another great stay at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, MD. 

We stayed in a level pull-thru site(#1715) with picnic table on a paver patio, iron table and chairs, clean gravel surface, grill, and fire pit. The site was just big enough for our motor home and Jeep. Full hook-ups with 50-amp service all worked fine. 

If you’re visiting Washington, this is the place to stay. They offer a daily charter bus plus the Metro bus stops at the campground entrance. And if you have a car, it’s about 35-minutes drive time(maybe a bit longer with traffic). 

To be honest, it’s a great place to stay even if you’re not visiting D.C. They have two swimming pools, a cafe, playgrounds, well-stocked camp store, delivery of firewood, ice, and cafe orders, and a concierge to help with travel and tourist sites. 

The entire park is clean and well-maintained. 

THINGS I ESPECIALLY LIKED: 

1. Proximity to Washington, D.C. 

2. Excellent condition and clean 

3. Great staff to help with making the most of your stay

We have found municipal campgrounds in Northern Virginia are a bit spendy for being government sponsored.  Not as bad as South Carolina, but way more than Florida.  Fine.  Comes with the territory.  But Bull Run manages to goose you even more.  There are occupancy AND transaction fees that really add up if you're only there a few nights.  But the real kicker is a 2-night minimum stay.  Even mid-week.  In APRIL for gosh sakes!

While we were here, there was a fairly heavy day of rain.  Couple inches, I suppose, but nothing Biblical.  The mouths of the metal culverts in our loop were bent downward from campers driving over them, which obstructed the flow.  Result was lots of standing water at our campsite.

We're done with NOVA Parks campgrounds.  Better cost options exist with Fairfax County Parks.

Had a relaxing weekend here as our first trip of the season. Weather was pretty good but windy at times. We had 3 RVs in sites 12, 13, and 14 as well as 2 of the deluxe cabins. Our RV sites faced the large parking lot with dump station and registration building. Not an ideal view but it was okay. Site 13 had the best space. Site 12 was good too. Both had a concrete patio, great fire pit, and a round resin picnic table with 4 nice chairs. Site 14 was narrow and no patio. The area in the back had more wooded sites. They are expanding and creating more sites so there was some construction noise but that stopped by 4:30pm and not on the weekend. Campground was at capacity in the full hookup sites and seemed like it would’ve been noisy but it wasn’t. The cabins had a queen bed, 2 bunks, microwave and refrigerator and a small bathroom. That was a tight space but a bathroom none the less. There are bath houses too. Putt putt golf was free and they had a playground and bounce area for kids. There’s a pool that looked nice but not open yet and I saw an indoor basketball court sign. In season they offer a pancake breakfast most days and a small coffee shop. The store was well stocked with supplies, food, wine, and souvenirs and also offered coffee. Locally, you’ll find the town of Harpers Ferry, river rafting/tubing, and the Harpers Ferry brewery that has a gorgeous view and live music that’s just minutes away.

Great Park, friendly staff, clean facilities. We stayed with our Pop Up for two nights at an electric -supported site. Portable water and dumping station located at the camp store. We stayed at site 146 on the first caul-de-sac off the first loop just another site away from the bath house (which was pretty clean). We got rained on the first night so things got a little muddy but nothing out of hand. Tons of free activities for the kiddos facilitated by the camp staff over the weekends. Face-painting, ice cream sundaes, S'Mores, hay rides and a rock wall. Park has a lot of things to do as well just outside the campground. We took a try at disc golf which was a lot of fun. Pet friendly. We'll be back!

What a lovely spot for relaxation and some time in nature. Too bad the Marc train runs right above your head all night. If you are looking for a relaxing camp experience make sure to bring your noise cancelling headphones. It’s lovely to have a site right on the water. Unfortunately that area of the river has a very muddy/mucky bottom so you will need to walk (not far) down to the rocky entrance so you don’t lose your water shoes. I recommend bringing a float and spending your day relaxing out on the water. The site itself has a fire pit and picnic table which was great. There was also a bathroom facility very close by. We were on site 2 and 3 and it was a bit of a hike to the showers. Overall though, when the train comes barreling by at 1am, 2am and 3am you either laugh or you cry depending on how tired you are.

Was excited to try first night out in a Kodiak Canvas Truck Bed Tent. Unfortunately, learned NOVA Parks regards anything in a truck bed whether a camper or tent is not welcome. I didn't realize NOVA Parks considers this campground as a resort and vehicle camping - ither than a class A or B - implies homeless and they don't want that image. They do also allow a travel trailer and tents can only be used on the ground not in a truck bed as designed. Beautiful park ... I live nearby in Arlington but was frustrated not able to use a nearby Park and Campground I pay taxes to support. I used another Campground in Fairfax County that was welcoming.

We were here for just one night during September. Our first time camping in the area and since COVID. Check in process was relatively simple, just pull up and pop out of your car to check in, with mask of course. We got a quick run down, some wood and a brochure with maps and area info. We were at site 133, non electric non water. I feel like the spots at the end of each loop might have slightly more privacy, but our site was fine. It included a picnic table and probably the best fire pit with grill that I've had in a while. It rained the night before we came, and the night we were there so the ground was pretty wet. Bathrooms had a sign for taking care with COVID precautions, and to wear your mask. Bathrooms were ok, but floors were a mess from muddy feet. Not much to be done about that. There were showers, and a dishwashing sink, plus laundry available. It's nice to know we've got a close spot to escape to if we don't have time to go far. This is a pet friendly campground. There's a lot to do out at the whole park, and its worth exploring (we just didn't have time). I'm sure its so pretty out near the water.