Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Ocean City, MD

Beautiful well equipped and appointed campground on the water facing the beautiful Assateague National Seashore,home of the wild assateague ponies. You won’t be disappointed in your stay here! Lots to do nearby and just minutes from Ocean City Md yet away from the hustle bustle. They have two separate beaches even a big one for your fur kids. Which mine thoroughly enjoyed.

We camped in Site B35 on the Bayside, it was a large site with a little bit of shade.  An easy drive from Ocean City, MD.   The Campground bathrooms were ok, they have a composting toilet and a cold shower, always nice to have a bit of running water.  We did not get a visit from the horses the night we were there, but we did see them along the roadside in and out of camp.  Even though all campsites were full the 3 sites immediately around us were empty, which made for a super peaceful quiet night to gaze at the stars.  It was breezy and surprisingly comfortable for mid-July.

Beautiful camping spot with all the amenities. Loops with electric or no electric, Pet-friendly loops and non-pet friendly loops. I have been camping there off and on for 40 years first as a kid and now with my family. I love to go there every year at all seasons of the year. The best campground I've ever found in Maryland. Close proximity to both Ocean City and Assateague Island.

This is our favorite campground! It is close enough to ocean city we can enjoy the beach daily but far enough to relax in the woods! This campground is the small sister campground to frontier town. They have a free shuttle bus to provide transportation to assateaque island, frontier town, and ocean city. Campers here are eligible for discounts at frontier town as well! We tent camp but there are RV sites and cabins as well. There is an arcade, camp store, heated pool, playground, dog park, and mini golfing! The main pavilion has rentals for recreational equipment at no extra cost (hula hoops, balls, etc.) There are also themed weekends and scheduled activities throughout the week! The bathhouses are cleaned many times a day and the showers are spacious enough. The staff here is friendly and welcoming. Each tent site is far enough away from the other that you feel spread out and private. This is definitely a place I recommend to friends and family.

**Camping at Assateague State Park **

Assateague Island is a national park located in Maryland that offers plenty of beach camping and hiking trails. I decided to camp on the Oceanside walk-in which is means that we had to walk from the parking lot about 200 ft to our camping area. They also offer camping areas you can drive up to as well as areas that are on the bayside of the beach. Our reserved spot on the beach included a fire ring and a picnic table and the perfect beginning to a great week of camping. During our time we were able to do some hiking along the 37 mile long park, kayak on the ocean, and Bay, see some wild ponys that rove the park, and enjoy the very clean facilities that the park offered. The Island is not far from Ocean City either if you wish to go to the Board walk which we did experience one night. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to camp along the water and listen to the waves hitting the shoreline however booking must be done in advance as reservations fill up very fast every season. 

Link: https://www.nps.gov/asis/planyourvisit/marylandcamping.htm

**Ice mule Pro XL **

The Icemule Pro XL was great at what it was advertised for, which is keeping items cold. My Icemule was able to keep all the ice in its solid state for about 16 hours while sitting on the hot beach(90+ degree Fahrenheit) before melting to ice cold water. Once melted though the water stayed ice cold for roughly 30 hours. This was great because I didn’t have to refill the ice every day. The cooler was very popular with the crowds as multiple beach goers and friends would stop and ask me where I got it as they thought the design and concept of having a wearable backpack cooler was very neat. While the cooler did its job and the design was a good concept I found that it was very heavy when filled to its max. I do not believe that ordering the Icemule XXL would be realistic based off of this. Another issue I found was that packing drinks had to be done logistically in that you would have to put drinks, then ice, then add more drinks, and ice on top of that. Instead of a normal cooler where you would pack all of the drinks then pour the ice on top. This was an issue because many of my friends wanted to add some of there drinks to the cooler after I had already added the ice. None the less the drinks still stayed cool with the coolers cooling material. As mentioned I used this product while camping on the beach for a week and then used it again while watching some fireworks on the 4th of July and while the cooler did hold up the coolers back pack straps already had torn after about 10 uses. One final thing I found unfortunate was how the cooler closed. In my personal opinion Folding the opening of the cooler and buckling it was very tedious and many of my friends who used it wouldn’t go through the trouble of closing it. A regular cooler is easy to close in seconds where this takes a little more time and work. In the end it is a good cooler if you are looking for something portable and hands free but it is not something to use if you don’t have a strong back. 

Link: https://icemulecoolers.com/products/the-icemule-pro-x-large

We enjoyed our stay there. It is a brand new campground so the place is immaculate. The staff is friendly, the campground and their beach were clean and in order, the pool was awesome and the band at the pool each day was a nice touch. At night time the pool is lit up with different lights, the pool nearest the swim up bar is heated and the live band plays till about 10 pm. There is also a café for coffee and icecream, The Jackspot restaurant for vittles, a gym, a playground, a beach and a fenced in playground for your pets, it has an security arm that activates once you swipe through to enter the campground and you can wear wrist bands that have an RDIF. Once you load money on them, you do not have to carry your wallet around. The only thing we didn't like were the showers. Push button showers with two small children are not fun at all. The location is very close to Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City.

Shad Landing,along with it’s sister park Milburn Landing, make up Pokomoke State Park. It’s just 45 minutes away from the beach at Assateague Island and an hour or so to Ocean City or Chincoteague. The sites are varied- some are more apt to hold smaller tents than larger ones, there are RV sites as well- cabins too. Each loop, with the exception of Waters Edge have full bathrooms with warm showers and flush toilets. Pets are allowed in some loops. The marina/ park office has a well stocked camp store as well as a kitchen that serves pizza and the like. Boat rental are available as well (try the canoe loop trail) There have been years when we stay here instead of hotels at OC- much cheaper and close to more than just commercial crap. Besides the beaches, it’s also close to the truly excellent NASA Wallops Island center that my kids thoroughly enjoy, as well as incredibly awesome food in nearby Berlin and Pocomoke City. Each site provides a picnic table and fire ring. Most have a lantern hook. In season there is a large swimming pool- free for campers. The nature center regularly holds programs and there are a few hiking trails here and in the nearby Pocomoke State Forest.

Love this campground! It is beautiful and right on the beach! Campsites are generally roomy and well spaced apart. Bathrooms are HUGE and clean, the cleanest campground bathroom I've ever seen. However, this means that a lot of teenagers spend their time in there, ha. There is an outdoor shower and sink as well as several paths to the beach. The beach is beautiful and clean. I wish there were bathrooms closer to the beach though, you have to walk all the way back over the dunes to the bathroom, but that's just us being lazy. The downside to this place is that it is HARD to book. It is almost always full and you have to book at least a year out for peak weekends. Some sites are near the grassy areas and have cacti and burrs. I am not sure why they don't go and remove the cacti. These are dangerous for kids, pets and adults alike. We've been injured several times. There are horses walking around all the time, and they DO get up in your face! I cannot believe how many people idiotically stand too close to the horses or just freak out and let the horses ravage their trash, etc. PAY attention, keep trash tied up and food put away. Tip- if the horses come too close, splash water on them (from a safe distance). There are mosquitoes and flies too. Bring bug spray! Also, another great thing is that Ocean City is only a 15 minute drive. We like to go out to the boardwalk or to the beach/bars and then come back to the campground. Really nice!

Our first time camping here was in 2019 and we loved it! The weather that time was perfect! Last year and this year, the weather was terrible. This year it rained and was cold. Fire pits are not allowed at your site and the wind is such that you can’t sit outside when it’s chilly. The campground itself is nice. Full hookups, walking distance or short drive to 2 restaurants, though neither is dog friendly, walk to beach and also a dog beach. If the weather cooperates and you love the beach, this might be for you! Otherwise, skip it and find something inland. Site 235 was and end site with views of the bridge, at least when the fog lifted there was a nice view. Close to Bethany Beach, Dewey Beach, Rehoboth Beach, Fenwick, Lewes, and Ocean City isn’t too far away.

 If I could give them a negative star I would. My daughter(5) was attacked by a Pitt bull while riding her bike at our site( loop h). When trying to confront the owners in(loop g) to get their site to report to the police they refused to give any information and proceeded to speak vulgarity. Then stated their dog never bit her when I witnessed the incident as well as another family. The family lied to the ranger saying their dog never touched my daughter and the ranger made not only my family leave but my parents as well who had another week to stay. Im extremely disappointed that my daughter's well-being was never discussed it was if they didn't care. They never even came to our site I had to the ranger again to even have someone come to my site. The pet rules state that any pet that is dangerous loud or is a problem at the park would be ask to leave immediately however they were not told to leave. My family had to.

An awesome campground located on the east coast near Ocean City, MD and the Atlantic Ocean. This was our first visit to Castaways. Lots to do and loads of fun. We love it! our site was roomy and nicely kept. The bathhouse, laundry and pool areas were very clean and looked new! The dock was close by for fishing, crabbing and kayaking fun. We enjoyed the pool and beach areas. Close proximity to Ocean City, MD and we hitched a ride on the campground’s shuttle bus to the beach and had a wonderful time. This campground will definitely become a yearly visit and we look forward to our next stay.

Beach, wild ponies, Sika deer, nature everywhere. Has very nice bath houses, Snack bar/store. Some sites have electric. Very nice campground, my favorite. Close to Ocean City.

I stayed here for two nights during the week in late April 2019.

The weather in late April was generally OK, other than the wind.  The wind was so strong that none of my tent stakes would stay in the sand, and when I was finally able to secure a stake by putting something heavy on it, the wind ripped my guy rope.  Brutal.  I couldn't even start a campfire because the firepit was downwind and very close to my car and tent, and I didn't want them to go up in flames.

I guess the wild horses are OK, but I didn't find them particularly interesting.  They are definitely not very shy--one of them stuck his nose right in my tent.  

I had my dog with me at this campground--IIRC the campgrounds in this park in VA are non-pet friendly, but the campgrounds in MD are pet-friendly (but I might have that backwards, so check their websites to make sure!).