The best DISPERSED camping near
Keedysville , MARYLAND

Every January for the last few years some friends and I have gone and camped along the Appalachian Trail. It's you can park at Pine Grove State Park and then hike your way into locations or park at other trail heads. Water is easily found and views like Sunset Rocks are simply gorgeous. These trips are what gave me the experience, and confidence, to go from tent camping to tarp camping.

We stayed in a lovely cabin here while I was in town for work. My husband enjoyed the pool with the kids during the day and when I was there we enjoyed shuffleboard, mini golf and hiking together. The cabin was clean and well maintained and the cabins are at the top of the hill but that made for a beautiful view and we felt like we were away from everyone else. I wasn't as fond of the camper sites they seemed kind of close together but the cabins were amazing.

The primitive sites have a lot of space.

My brother and I really only got to check out the trails leading to and from the overnight camping spots - but the rest of the park looks like a lot of fun, plenty of things to do.

The campsites are about 1 mile from the overnight lot, which was a great hike-in if you don't overpack! We brought a wagon with extra gear with us, but we definitely took in too many items. Ended up pairing it down after night 1 and took extra stuff back to our cars. The hike-in get mostly uphill in the second half with plenty of tree roots and decent sized rocks - for those of you taking in a wagon.

The campsites themselves were great, with plenty of space for 2-3 tents, bear lockers, bathrooms with hand sanitizers, and friendly park rangers to clean up the trash and re-stock the firewood. Make sure you pay for the wood you take, it's on the honor system with a dropbox. We had a family of deer pay us a visit each morning - didn't come across any bears.

We didn't get to check out the Appalachian Trail - but it was only a few miles from the campsites. I'll def. come back! Worth the 7-8 hour trip from both South Carolina and New Hampshire.

Other than the antiquated check-in process, we had a great experience camping at Sky Meadows. The reservation email said that check in is after 4, which is not true. You can check in after 1. But you have to drive up to the main building, register, go back to the overnight lot, put in the gate code, hang the lot tag on your mirror, and hike in to the site. Not bad unless you have another car coming later in the day, who then has to get the parking pass from the first person at the campsite and hike back out to their car to place the tag and put the registration in the drop box. Unfortunately we didn’t have cell signal, had never been there, and did not know we needed to coordinaste the parking. So first-timers beware! Seems like a lot of unnecessary steps. But otherwise, we had a great night. Quiet, no bears, easy access to firewood ($6/10 logs), and nice hiking trails steps form the site. There is no camp store at the campground, only at the main visitor center where you check in.

Stayed one night in September and had a nice level gravel site with fire pit, picnic table and bath house. Greeted by a friendly and helpful camp host as we backed into our site for our maiden voyage. Clean bath house and amenities. Stayed in site 25 with water spigot nearby. Dumpsters for garbage not a far drive and dump station as you leave the park was convenient.

The Hawk Recreation Area has sites in a loop, these are numbered and near the water pump (which wasn't working when we were there) and the vault toilet. There are also dispersed sites along some of the gravel roads around the official campground. We stayed in one of the dispersed sites and it was un-numbered. The site was great. There was trail access right across the road, there was a fire ring, and a picnic table. There was plenty of wood around, we just drove around to pick up some bigger pieces. Also, you can't beat the free price! We had no service here so be sure to plan ahead.

Riding through catoctin mountain park to get to the campground is almost worth it alone staying. My wife and I just stayed one night with our 2 dogs. We met the hosts as we pulled in to our site, very friendly and accommodating. Some of the sites can be backed up to one another or right aide of each other, but there's a number of sites that are more private than others to make it a great experience. Typically, I prefer dispersed or primitive camping over campgrounds, but this place gets the exception. The roads around catoctin mtn Park and Cunningham falls make for a great way to spend a weekend. Lots of trails around the campground and even a few right on premises. Overall, I hope to make it back before the close up next month, if not I'll be coming back next year.

Regardless of what you’re into, the Cove Campground has just about everything to get in touch with your inner Tarzan. That being said, especially since COVID-19, prices have hiked quite a bit. They’ve running water, power, and firewood if you’re able to show up early and pay a little extra. The entire premises is clean, and the owner(s) are extremely polite and laid back.

This is a great but very crowded camping area. Clearly a favorite of many DC area campers. We arrived on a Friday around 6 and found every campsite full. We ended up at an overflow site. Get there early if at all possible! And if it’s mostly full, look for breaks in the brush where other cats have pulled off. There are usually fire pits to be found near them. Campsites are well-distanced from each other. We did not hear others while we were there.

Additionally, this is not a great campground for cars that are low to the ground— the roads are gravelly, potholed, and very slow to navigate in a passenger vehicle with low clearance.

The area is gorgeous! Beautiful mountains and nature. Lots of critters and plants to check out.

Bring your own water— none available as far as I could tell. There was a creek a few hundred feet from our site, but it was too steep to get to for bathing or washing dishes (we tried).

Sites vary in distance from the road. Our overflow site was far enough that we could see the cars but not so close that them going by woke us. We could also hear nose from the interstate, but it fades into the background after a couple hours. We estimated we were 1/4 mile from the interstate as the crow flies.

There are fun activities nearby as well. We saw the tunnel at Paw Paw and went to Cumberland. You can apparently rent kayaks from a man nearby, but he prefers to take groups. Drop by his store the day before to see if you can get in on the action.