McCoys Ferry Campground — Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

McCoys Ferry: River Sites. O & C Canal close. Cumberland is a must city to visit - museum and NP Visitor Center (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer). I rate based on desire for at least a moderate wilderness type experience w at least some camp site privacy. Overall Rating: 4 - Sites are right on the river. There is no privacy from adjacent campsites, but you are on the Potomac in sites 1 - 7.
Price 2023: $10 w interagency pass Usage during visit: Light during the week. 40% full on weekends.
Site Privacy: Open sites. Camper on site 13 created privacy with his trailer. Site Spacing: Moderately large sites Not bad Site surface: Grass Reservations: Required.
Campground Noise: Quiet Road Noise: No road noise. Train comes by frequently and is close enough to be load. Trains add to the historical nature of this park.
Through Traffic in campground: Dead end campground road. So, there is no reason for through traffic. Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Yes, a hand pump.
Generators: Allowed Bathroom: Clean chemical toilets. I prefer the pit toilet in the nearby day use area.
Showers: No. Pull Throughs: Yes- Looks like all riverside sites can accommodate pull through.
Cell Service (AT&T): 2 bars. Setting: Open park setting with deciduous trees along the Potomac.
Weather: Highs in the mid 60s . Lows in the low 30s during our stay. Sunny.
Bugs: Too cold. Solar: With no leaves on the trees, our fixed roof solar panels did reasonably well. Host: No Rig size: Small rigs only. Sites: 1-7 are on the water and are the best sites in my opinion. Sites 2, 3 and 4 give the nicest views up and down river View from #7 is most obstructed. Remember, this post is after leaf fall. Views maybe more obstructed in the spring. Site number 13 (a pull through site) is not on the water, however, it sits away from adjacent sites. Trailer maneuvered in correctly can give that site the most privacy of the all sites.

We stayed at campsite 1 which had nice views of the river and a pretty good distance from neighbors. Closest site to the drop toilet and day use area portapots (very clean!). Other spots looked much closer together. Overall a really nice stay and convenient off highway and 15 min drive to Hagerstown. MD. Spotty cell service, but worked most of the time. Folks gave warning not to use the water pump because of contamination, we packed plenty of water. There's a steep drop to the river at the campsite, so no direct access, but boat ramp is near by- insanely quiet paddle with gorgeous views of the potomac once you get past the pontoons that dock to day party on the weekends, nice fishing too! We went labor day weekend and the campground was quiet after 10pm.

This campground very intimate it sits along the Potomac River. Primitive campsites, and a few porta potties. At night you can hear the trains pass. I kind of like that. We visited in December and pretty much had the place to ourselves. Yes, we are the crazy people like to camp and 32°.

Sites are level and well spaced. Some are more wooded than others. If you need sun for solar panels, sites 4 and 5 are better for that. Portapotties are clean. All sites have a picnic table, fire ring and a grill. Most sights are right on the Potomac. Beautiful views, even in winter. Be careful going through the tunnel! We barely made it 😊

The best sites for Potomac views are 1, 3, 5, and 6. Site one is closest to the drop toilet which does not show on the campground map on the website. Otherwise it's portapotty. The train does go by but in the summer the dense foliage keeps the noise low. There is a low tunnel to get to the site. My promaster with 6" fan fit ok. This is right off the C and I canal trail so about half the campers were bikers.

Okay so we arrived early and the park was ordinary. Lists of space but port pots were filthy and drawer flies in near my camp so bad I could sometimes smell it . I would definitely come back and it seems like there are no rangers here so I paid for nothing…. Very nice side of the Potomac to swim in . At night it’s quite but you do hear the train and early morning you can hear boats … still nice

Nice sized camping spot; clean, shaded..arrived Labor Day afternoon.  Once boats and recreational craft were out of the water, quiet descended on the campground.  River quiet next day, too.  No noisy generators or guests, and people there were spaced out and not on top of one another.  Portapotties had been cleaned the Friday before; surprised there was tissue, since the reservation site advised us to bring our own...

Trains comes by, but that didn’t bother us..

Stayed 9/3/2020-$20/night

Site 7

Small campground at the end of a dead end road. As you travel towards the end of McCoys Ferry Road, make sure to stay right, as to pass through the tunnel.

I had the choice of all sites when booking and chose site 7 because it was on the water and was the most"remote". Unfortunately, everything was so overgrown, we had no view of the river whatsoever. We had our morning coffee on site 6 to enjoy the view. We only stayed the one night and got in after dark. Would have been pretty disappointed if we were staying longer and didn't have the view that we should have had.

The road to the campground can be off-putting in the dark, but it was pretty easy to find. The tunnel you pass under is train tracks. The train came through multiple times and you WILL hear it. There were 2 or 3 pairs of porta-potties spread out and a vault toilet at the entrance/picnic area. A firepit, grill and picnic table is at each site. I think$20 is a little steep for comparative campgrounds, but it was a nice place to stay.

#DareToEverywhere

I reserved a camping site here for a weekend. The site was very large and fairly spread out from the other sites unlike most campsites. We had a really nice view of the lake.
When we first arrived someone had set up camp at our reserved site. After talking to them they packed up and left after I denied their request to “share” the site with them. I’m sure this doesn’t happen often but it was worth noting. The site two down from ours had some pretty rowdy campers and what sounded like a pretty intense dog fight.
This was definitely not a quiet campsite as most campers were either partying late into the nite or yelling obscenities at each other. The park ranger was out more than once to intervene.
While I did enjoy the actual size and location of the site I don’t think I would stay again.
It’s also worth noting that the only bathrooms were two sets of Porto potties. No sinks or showers

Basic site along the Potomac River. No showers and just a vault toilet and a few porta-johns.

Boat ramp and easy access to the CO canal trail for easy hiking and biking.

This campground offers spacious sites and a pretty convenient location on the cheap. I stayed here Saturday into Sunday and reserved my site ahead of time. Google maps street view has images of the campground, use this if you want to see what sites look like ahead of time - it is a bit overgrown on the riverside today. I’ve seen reviews mentioning squatters... I didn’t notice anyone but then again, I arrived early and set up camp. I can see how some might show up and not realize a site is booked in advance. There’s little privacy between sites but most are far enough apart. Portable bathrooms were clean. Downtown Williamsport is 20 minutes away. C&O trail is steps away. Lots of families with kids but everyone settled down around 11. Fire ring and picnic table at each site. I packed water so didn’t see if the pump was working. The train does go through twice overnight and it is loud but still got a decent night of sleep.