The best EQUESTRIAN camping near
Willow Brook Estates , MARYLAND

Our RV Garmin GPS and Waze brought us in on the back roads at Accomac versus keeping us on US-13. If the Temperanceville address doesn’t work, replace Temperanceville with Sanford, VA, per their website. Roads were OK but a little narrow. US-13 to Saxis Rd/695 is a much easier and direct route to the CG. Once we arrived, check-in was easy. We had requested site 50, back-in with FHUs but were told since the park was fairly empty, we could take a golf cart and go choose a site. We declined as 50 was in the pines, but still had water view. The seasonal weekenders had gone home, and we preferred the larger, more private area behind the site to walk our dogs. We were guided to Site 50, which was an easy back-in with the utilities nicely placed. Tall Pines is a large campground with a lot of nice amenities. One of the really nice points about this CG is that they cater to short termers as well as seasonal. There are a wide variety of sites to choose from and other than some of the seasonal sites, they are not stacked on top of each other. Our site was back by the cabins, which were all in excellent shape. Tall Pines hosts activities for the northern part of the Eastern Shore plus there are 3 pools and a horse riding area. Satellite could be iffy for sites near 50 plus other areas due to the trees. There are very nice water view sites and some of the premium sites have cable. We got two bars on both AT&T and Verizon. Their free WiFi worked about average for this sized CG. You have to drive 10 or so minutes to find amenities. Along with a very friendly and helpful staff, the CG also had propane and a nice stack of firewood for$5. The laundry room was very clean and fairly priced. Tall Pines has a first-rate onsite store. The store has t-shirts, bread, milk, etc. but also a wide selection of RV accessories to include faucets& water pumps at fairly reasonable prices. This is a great place to stay and check out Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, without having to stay in the higher priced tourist area.

Spent Halloween here on a last minute reservation and man were we happy! This campsite is remote to the rest of VA for the most part, but hey isn’t that what camping is all about? Site #16 was perfect. It was gravel site that was level and very well maintained. Possibly our favorite campground in a VA State Park so far, it was that great of an experience. Come stocked with food and water since I don’t think there’s any large food markets that are close by (I could be wrong). We had water hookups and electric. They also have firewood sold at the campground that they sell on the honor system.

Nice get-away from it all campground. Level sites, farmland all around. Well maintained, quiet campground.

Tall Pines Harbor is a great place for a family with kids. Management was very welcoming — the park does themed weekends throughout the entire year. Surprisingly enough, the campground was very quiet for being booked the entire weekend. Pets are welcome, everyone was friendly, and there is a lot of socializing opportunities at this park.

Only 30 sites, all which have electric/water hookup. We’ve been here twice now, once with an RV and once in a tent. Most sites are shady and level, with lots of space between. The park rangers are friendly and knowledgeable, and there is a LOT to do. Beautiful hikes and bike trails, a small beach for the kids to splash in. We stayed in site 20, with friends across the way in 11, and it was a great way to see friends, but also have privacy. Sites 19 and 20 would be great buddy sites as well. We love it there!

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!

I used to live by this park and I visited it all the time with my cousins as kids! There are a couple playgrounds, swing sets, and tons of open areas for children to enjoy. The trails are nice and fairly well kept. The little sandy beach is by far my favorite part of the park though! The water is shallow and warm in the summer. In fact, the water is so shallow that you can wade almost 400 meters out or more! There are often crabs, small fish, and sometimes jellyfish floating about. There is always cool driftwood and shells to collect along the sand. Belle Isle is a great place to visit for day trips or over night camping! I’d definitely recommend it to anyone in the area that wants to get a small taste of the Chesapeake Bay and it’s wildlife and plants.

If this campground is convenient - and given that it's open through October and <60 minutes from DC it might well be - this campground is good to go. But without that convenience factor I would not rate this site as worth visiting.

The loop is very small, with all the sites pretty close together. The forest behind the site was sparse, enough so that it was hard to find fuel for the fire and we were basically part of the youth group activities happening. From 8am to 4pm I learned A LOT about what number to dial in case of emergency.

The site itself was very small - difficult to get 2 cars and two tents in - and the fire ring was smaller as well. Though it was cleaner than the average state park site.

We stayed in site 21, which was fine enough except for its proximity to the nearest pavilion and all the small children screaming "stop drop and roll" at the top of their lungs.

But at the end of the day it was $20 (with a $6 booking fee) and for better or worse we never interacted with a single park ranger or camp host. The upside is we could do what we wanted, the downside is there wasn't a sense of community, or regulation.

I'll say I have never been to a site where the firewood is padlocked, and you have to call someone to come unlock it so you can buy firewood. In fact I'm downgrading the review from 3 stars to 2 as I write this - there really weren't many positives about this campground other than that camping is a terrific hobby.

Saw a snake, alligator snapping turtle, and rabbits, before we even reached the gates. Moderate privacy and space, especially considering how close it is to DC. There are some abandon camp loops around the open campground which makes for some cool walks with your dog. Very pretty area with lots of trails and overgrown roads to walk. Equestrian trails go deep into the woods if you want a longer trail. Bathrooms don’t look like much from the outside, but the inside is very nice. Clean, hot water, and good water pressure. The have a new dump station, but the hose has an anti-freeze up in the air with a pull cord valve. This means every time you pull to turn the water on, you get a shower. It was hot, so it was OK. Hahaha. They sell firewood, but they were huge pieces and getting them to start burning was tough. LOTS and LOTS of ticks. I got one, but my wife and dog got about a dozen each. Just bring tweezers. Each site had picnic table, fire ring, and pretty level parking spot.

Very nice and very clean! The staff was all very friendly and accommodating. Definitely will stay again