Hollofield Area Campground

We stayed here with our van to enjoy being stationary for a few days. It’s a good campground. Site was clean and pretty level. We only used one block to level the van. There’s fire wood available to purchase at the camp host for $5 for what you can fit in a milk crate. They even have a cart you can borrow to take the wood to your campsite. The bathroom was alright. There’s a sign in there saying to bear with them that they have a scheduled bathroom makeover in the works. (I assume that’ll happen when they close for the season.) There’s two showers which isn’t enough when it’s busy. We took showers after 9pm each night to avoid people. The bathroom toilets take some patience to flush. They have four porta potties outside to help with that and the quantity of people. There’s a utility room where you can wash dishes.

Edit: I docked a star from 4 to 3 because of the dump station. The dump station is a pipe attached to a man hole cover. There isn’t a bowl around the sewer hole. We watched the rig in front of us empty their black tank and poo water emptied out into the road around the hole. There’s a hose to rinse but the sewage wasn’t contained. We ended up emptying our cassette toilet tank into the porta potty instead because we would have dumped sewage on the road too upon the initial tilt of the tank. If you are tent camping, still consider the campground a 4 star. If you have a rig, then it’s a 3-star.

Internet. Verizon via iPhone 12: 37 mbps down and 4 mbps up with 37 ms ping; T-Mobile via Nighthawk MR1100: 15 mbps down and 1 mbps up with 36 ms ping.

It may be close to suburbia (a neighborhood right through the trees) and convenient to major highways (literal minutes to I95), but you will feel like you are truly secluded in the woods. The camp sites are pretty close together, but they are impeccably clean. You get a fire ring with grill grate, and firewood is available for a small fee (it is illegal to bring your own wood for conservation reasons, and hey it supports the parks volunteers). Picnic tables come with the site too. Some have electric, but not all. Friendly resident camp hosts are always on duty to help with questions. The bathhouse is aged and has seen much better days, but it’s well maintained and clean. There is a utility sink for dishes. All the rangers I’ve met were friendly and very helpful (but stern to some loud campers at another site). They have a dump site free for those staying, and a reasonable fee for those passing through. I thought fees were quite reasonable.

Good to know: you can’t bring firewood or alcohol into the park. Both are illegal. The only exception being alcohol is allowed only if inside an RV. I saw both strictly enforced. There is also a “pet loop” area for overflow and those with pets. It’s a nice small area removed from the rest of the campground, but beware: there is no bathhouse for this area. A port-a-potty is provided, but it’s a long walk to a real flush toilet.

Overall, I really like this campground. You can’t beat the location and value!

This is part of a super large park that runs 32 miles along the Patapsco River. It has 8 recreation areas and we stayed at the Hollofield Area in April- one of our first experiences in a Maryland State Park. Beautiful park with 70 miles of hiking/biking /multi use trails. There are parks on both sides of the river to explore and experience the trails. Be sure to bring/download maps. You are close to Ellicott& Columbia in Maryland and DC.

Campsites- nice size gravel sites, some are a bit close to each other in the “electric” loop and some face a neighborhood that probably couldn’t be seen if the trees had regained all their foliage. There is only 20/30amp electricity and NO water or sewer- although there was a dump and a place to fill your water tank. No washer or dryers. There is one bathhouse for the campground, which was clean and well maintained. Tenters will be happy because many of the smaller sites were more secluded and had great views of the woods. Cell coverage was good with our sprint/Verizon.

ALSO- APPROACH THIS PARK ONLY FROM THE WEST IF YOUR VEHICLE IS OVER 11 FEET HIGH. (There is a 11’ bridge coming east bound into this park.)

We enjoyed hiking the trails directly from our campsite that led us down to the Patapsco River. There is a lot of history associated with the River and the area. You can even swim in this river. Fishing looked like fun too but we didn’t have time.

We really loved road biking to the nearby H Mart to have fun shopping and browsing their unique selection. (This is a super large Korean store packed with fruits, vegetables, seafood and other food stuff that could put an American grocery store to shame. If you are into K Beauty, they have a nice selection)

You can also bike/drive to nearby Ellicott city which has a charming downtown area.

There is mountain biking and kayaking in the area but we were not in explorer mode this visit because we were visiting family.

Here is a link to the updated trail map of the area:

https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Documents/Patapsco_HollofieldPickallmap.pdf

Happy Camping! Pamela and Keith

The site was nice and level, but a bit small, with a short driveway. We actually brought 2 vehicles this time, and it was really tight. Fair amount of trees surrounding our site, but since there are still very few leaves, it felt way closer and less private. This campground is very popular, and set up as two loops; an inner loop with electric sites, and a more spread-out outer loop with non-electric, tent-only sites. The inner loop was completely full, and the sites were just too closely spaced for my preferences. There were a few sites with a little extra room and privacy (419 and 420 caught my eye), but for the most part they were packed in pretty tightly. If you’re a tent camper and don’t need electric, the sites on the outer loop were quite nice and private.

Bath house was old, small, and not exceptionally clean, but adequate for our needs. Did not use the showers this time. However, there are only 4 restroom stalls and 2 showers on the ladies side, so I can imagine the lines would be pretty crazy during the summer time. I expected lines this weekend, considering the campground was full, but we lucked out. There is also a dishwashing room with a deep double sink, but this was old and dingy as well. I’m really surprised that the bath house hasn’t been renovated yet, considering the size and popularity of the park. I’m also amazed that there is only one bath house and a single water spigot to service both loops; normally in MD State Parks, there is a water pump every few sites.

Overall, while this is a great park for day-tripping with a very convenient location, we just didn’t care for the campground. If you don’t mind the proximity to other campers and multiple scouting groups, or if you can make use of the more private tent sites, this might be a good option. We were hoping to count on this park for quick weekend getaways, since it’s only about 15 miles from us, but we may be willing to drive a bit further to get the more peaceful, woodsy experience we prefer.