Best Glamping near Friendsville, MD

I grew up camping with my family at Rocky Gap every summer. The best feature of Rocky Gap is the versatility of the campgrounds. There are options for RV camping with electric, tent spots, small cabins, and the resort if you would rather have a more comfortable resort experience. Pets are allowed in a select few loops.

They have a range of activities available including a large lake to swim, fish or paddle. There are a few trails for hiking, at least 2 small “beach” areas off the lake with play grounds and a camp store. You can also go over to the casino resort for entertainment and food.

Alcohol is not permitted outside of the resort which is partly why I say this camping experience is better for families. Rangers routinely monitor the site loops and there is a quiet hours period, I believe starting at 10pm and you will have a ranger pull up on you if you do not adhere.

CAMPSITES BREAKDOWN:

Type: Gravel Vehicle Accessible: Yes Size: ~ 1 large tent or 2 compact tents. Most are the same size, fairly small spots. Bathroom: Communal bathhouses in the middle of each loop with toilets, sinks and showers. Fire pit: Yes, with grill grate. Firewood: Must buy firewood at camp store. Water access: Some, depending which part of the loop your site is located on. Electric: No unless RV camping. Alcohol Policy: Not permitted unless drinking in the Resort or a motor home. Other Features: Picnic table, small wood post counter / hook to hang a lantern on and place a camp stove on.

Stayed 3 nights because I wanted to be centrally located to the he Flight 93 Memorial and Falling Water (about 30 miles to each). The non pet section is heavily wooded and very shady. The pet section is more of a loop set up with some trees. The no pet section had no, zero, zilch cell service so my stay was super quiet. Site 173 was easy to back into and had a large picnic area with a fire ring next to the brook. There is a lake with a small beach and a boat launch and numerous hiking trails. The park will s very nice pretty and during the week fairly empty. I would recommend

Tub Run Road is a rough (but pretty) ride to the campground. Once you hit the property, everything is well-maintained. Roads are easy to navigate and equipment all works well. Staff are very friendly and helpful. Bathhouses are kept clean. Ice and firewood are available on site. Lots of seasonal campers fill their space to the brim with tent garages, so the Creekside loop, at least, feels a little like a suburban street, but still quiet. Creekside sites felt smaller and more crowded than lakeside sites, which open onto the beach and lake. Guests were very friendly and considerate of quiet hours. A number of families were joining across generations and campsites, which was nice. Easy access to local attractions.

Very nice campground. Beautiful lake and from our lakeside sites we could put our kayaks in right from the campsite, maybe 20 yards away into a sheltered cove. The weather was horrid while we were there but woke up Sunday morning to pack up and the sun was out, the true beauty of this campground was awesome. Paved roads and compacted gravel tent pads. Sites are both spacious and a good distance apart. Bath house was reasonably clean and had two showers each with a lockable door and small changing room attached. Each loop has one bathhouse and it is situated in the center of the loop. You are supposed to walk or bike to it as the only road into it has a do not enter sign and is for employee vehicles only. Maryland has a “can't bring your own firewood” policy that they say is because they don’t want pests brought in from outside but seems to be more of a money grab to me. Firewood is $5 per bundle at the camp store and we easily went through three or four bundles per night. There is a Walmart about 10 miles away in Lavale MD for anything you might need. There is also a no pets policy, at least in the loop we were in, which we loved because nothing spoils a good camping trip like a dog that barks the entire time you are camping. Policy says alcohol is prohibited but we are well behaved and drank beers at the campsite without hassle. Despite the rain, we had a great time and were very happy with our first trip to Rocky Gap. We will definitely be back before the season is over, hopefully with better weather.

We chose this campground for its proximity to home with the chance to swim in the lake.

The camping did not disappoint. We always try to book “outside” loop sites so we don’t have “back neighbors” but none near the lake were available, so we took our chances on an “inside” site in E loop. It was great, smallish, but plenty of vegetation to make it feel private. (Some poison ivy around the edges, though.) The pull-in sites in general seem a bit small (space for our two 4-person tents and that’s it), but are well shaded and separated from neighbors by small patches of woods or bushes. The pull-through sites in our loop were more exposed to the road, but had a bit more space.

There was some noise from the interstate. There were surprisingly few mosquitoes. The bathhouse was clean, but showers were not very warm.

The swimming was unfortunately disappointing. The roped-off swimming area was 3 feet deep at the most. Warm water in August, nice for kids to splash around, but not really good for actual swimming. Bonus for dog people: pets allowed on the beach and in the lake.

During COVID-19, the bathrooms/bathhouses at the beach area are closed; porta-johns only.

We rented paddle boards and a canoe one afternoon and paddled around to one of the lake inlets, which was actually deep and had a good swim. But this is technically not allowed.

If you feel okay about rule-breaking and have water-safe family members (and no pets), I would absolutely choose a site in I loop close to the lake. The sites in E loop closest to the lake are actually up a fairly steep hill from the lake path.

Hiking trails were nice. My kids especially liked the rock scramble-ish up and down the stream gorge on Evitt’s Mountain trail.

The campground is easily accessible- there are 9 loops and a group site. The best loops for families with pets are Dogwood and Elm. No pets? Go to Ironwood loop and get a site close to the water. Water is readily available. The bathrooms are clean and the showers warm. After October, most of the loops close, the exception being Ash loop, which offers electric hookup for RV. The camp store is stocked well, but dinner may have to come from a local market if you’re planning a cookout at your site. The beach is also pet friendly. There is boat rental and several opportunities for Ranger led activities for all. Recently, the park has been taking part in American Chestnut revitalization. If there is any detractors at all, it’s the casino on the other side of the park. It’s bright and loud ( though and outdoor events are quiet by 10 ish) There is a strict no alcohol policy unless your in an RV or a cabin. Meaning the alcohol must stay inside at all times. Firewood is readily available. The sites can be a bit close, but as a family camper with a load of six people plus two dogs, we never have felt claustrophobic in our site choice. The web site offers limited photos of the sites. This park is our go to place for a weekend with kids and as it’s cheap and nearby, it’s well worth it. As a side note, the food at the casino isn’t bad. Just not a good place for kids. The trails are well maintained. Keep a careful watch for snakes and bears.

A solid place to camp. Nice temperatures for June. A nice little beach for the kids to swim at. Self service ice and wood. Bring exact cash as the the contact station is only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Bathrooms are old but cleaned daily, water was hot so no complaints. Later check out was a nice bonus

Some of the sites are quite small and right on top of others. Some like ours were significantly larger. The pet loop was essentially a field with trees around it. The none pet loop was in the trees and so you sometimes had more space and sometimes were right beside you.

The no pet loop essentially cleared out after the weekend and we had tons of space to run around.

I wish more hikes started from the campground. But there was a gravel trail that connected to most of them.

Swallow Falls has a great loop trail where you see four waterfalls. You can walk to the loop from the campground. It ma be adds a third of a mile to the hike. 

We stayed in cabin 58, which has a short, easy path to the bathhouse and even shorter to the mud sink. This was very handy when traveling with two young kids. Prior to going, I wished I could have seen the inside of the cabins, particularly to know how big the mini fridge was. I couldn't find any pictures, so here they are.

It is a one-room cabin, was impressively clean, and the beds were very cozy. There are blackout curtains on the windows, so we slept late and it was glorious. There is one small window in the door that does not have a curtain. I taped aluminum foil up over it.

Each bed had a mattress pad on it when we arrived, as pictured. One minor note is that the bunk bed mattresses seem to be a bit too big for the bunk beds. This caused them to not lay perfectly flat and also made me feel uncomfortable having my roly-poly kids sleep on the top bunk, where there were only a couple inches between the mattress and the top of the railing.

I have Verizon and could make calls, but could not reliably send or receive text messages and there was no data access.

Great park. Great cabin. Great stay.