The best DISPERSED camping near
Parole , MARYLAND

It was both mine and my fiancé’s first time camping in a decade. Needless to say, we were a bit nervous about our experience. Every part either met or exceeded our expectations. We stayed at camp site ten, which was open yet felt like our own private spot. The were right by the water and the little waves lulled us to sleep each night. We were close to the building that has a kitchen, coffee and bathroom with a shower, which was super convenient. It’s a dog friendly spot and our dogs thrived while making new friends! James was kind, communicative and super helpful when it came to any questions we had.

The individual campsites are decent for a light camping experience. The hiking trails are great. The rivers for kayaking a real nice. Would recommend. Only warning is unless you rent 2-3 campsites you will be close to other campers as the campsites are in groups of three right next to eachother.

Staff is very friendly. Bathhouse is clean but ran out of toilet paper often; they supposedly clean 3 times a day since COVID but we didn’t see that happening on a regular schedule while we were there.

We loved that our site had a path directly to the bathhouse. This meant there wasn’t any foot traffic from people wanting to shower or use the restrooms. Easy access to the utility sink for dishes, too!

There seemed to be a lot of campers in the surrounding lots and still, everyone was quiet between the quiet hours.

Our specific site was supposed to have a tent pad but there wasnt a spot cleared for our tent and we had to move the heavy picnic table so we weren’t putting up our tent on top of the fire ring. We also had to use a paper plate to rake as many rocks and gravel from the site so we could put up our tent without ripping it.

We bought their firewood for $5/crate and it was really wet. It was challenging to get a fire going, which was frustrating. Ended up not being able to have a fire the last morning there and gave away our leftover firewood.

Probably my biggest complaint is that several times, the park maintenance truck drove down the loop where we camped. Our kids are running around and playing and the only vehicle that sped past every time was the park crew vehicle. All other vehicles (belonging to visitors) were respectful and drove slowly. It surprises me that with families camping here, they wouldn’t be more cautious.

All in all: for our first time camping here, it was a decent experience. I don’t know that we’d go there again, but it was a fun one-and-done trip.

There’s a ton of camping at Elk Neck, including a loop with full hook ups. In the full hook up loop pay close attention to the lengths specified. The actual pads are fairly level but some of the driveways to them are very sloped. Long rigs will have issues in a few of the sites.
There’s a camp store, boat ramp, swimming, fishing and lots,of great hiking. Definitely drive to, and then hike to the light house (open most weekends) the light house and the view are definitely worth it.

Amazing campsite, lots of room, all the sites are waterfront between the Patuxent River and Mill Creek. A hidden gem. sites have a picnic table, gas bbq grill and fire pit. bring your own firewood. Fantastic common area in the Big Cottage with huge kitchen, dining, living rooms, laundry and shower room. Self serve breakfast was provided in the common area. You can also rent a cottage suite, good value for the price. Private site book thru Airbnb is best. Owners responsive and take real good care of the place its clean and kept up well. Lots of wildlife on site, we saw osprey, bald eagle, fox, groundhog, ducks and geese. Fishing and crabbing off the docks. There are boat slips available for $5 per day, and kayak and standup paddle boards for rent onsite.

We chose this campground based on proximity to work. This campground was priced fairly, however, it does come with its downfalls.

PROS

Let me start with the positive, we were 1 of 3 campers in this loop during our week-long stay. This made it peaceful and quiet. 

CONS

It's close to a Naval base, and therefore you constantly hear airplanes, and helicopters at all times. 

Other than the daily bathroom cleaning, this campground lacks maintenance on sites and walkways. They are both overgrown. 

Playground, fishing, archery all seem blocked off at this time. 

Trails seem open but are across and through hunting areas. They are also muddy from the rain. There is even standing water around our site which brings us to…the MOSQUITOS! We tried fans, tiki torches, and many deet free or light deet products before having to buy 100% deet so we could be outside. These things are awful!

Overall, we enjoyed our August 2020 stay at Elk Neck State Park. We stayed in the North East Loop as we needed both pet-friendly and electrical hook ups. During our hikes, we discovered that the tent sites have some truly amazing water views (particularly Miles Loop sites 169 and 173).
The bathrooms were immaculate in our loop, although the hot water heater was not working. Staff was friendly and kept their distance. The lighthouse was a nice flat hike and made for pretty pictures. We were disappointed to discover that there was a do not enter advisory for the beaches, as there was high bacteria content at the time. We did take a walk down to look at the beach, and to be honest, we probably would have passed on it anyways. Loud music and lots of litter. We don’t travel to the same site more than once, but the kids have both asked to come back to this one!

Only came through for a weekend but the sites were well maintained, and felt separated enough to have some privacy. Staff were amazing about maintaining safe conditions for campers. All possible precautions seemed to be taken.

Just camped here for the first time. Stayed at site #3, it had a nice huge concrete pad and fire ring. We set-up our new tree tent behind the actual campsite and it worked perfectly. Will definitely go back!

Beautiful park, well kept. Plenty to do with lots of access to water and hiking