The best DISPERSED camping near
Woodlawn , MARYLAND

The primitive sites have a lot of space.

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.

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.

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.

A good, comfortable place with a lot to offer. We’d go again.

We stayed two nights in Dogwood. The site was well looked after with camp hosts that seemed very attentive and thoughtful. Good rangers who showed up to help when needed. Everyone was (mostly) well behaved in the site, and we had a terrific time.

The facilities were clean. The sites on Dogwood are quite close together, but it still felt like camping. The nearby trails are great and the lake is a good place to swim or laze on a warm day.

Experience a very historic battleground park

We really enjoyed camping at Greenbrier state park, and was pleasantly surprised how nice the park was given its convenient location to us! The grounds were clean and organized, the bathrooms were clean (albeit a bit outdated), and the camp ground hosts and rangers were very friendly. There’s quite a few great hiking and biking trails, and a small lake if you feel like taking a dip in the warmer months. We live near Frederick MD so this camp ground is practically in our backyard, which makes it super convenient for quick weekend camping with the family. We will definitely be camping here again!

Two loops. One has a few sites with electric and some cabins. Potable water is available in several places on each loop. The bathhouses are rebuilt recently and are very nice. Some walk in tent sites. There are lots of long scenic hiking trails down to Deer creek and to the Susquehanna River. There’s a great bike trail to the Conowingo dam which is a nice place to visit, and a great place to see lots of eagles. There are amazing wildflowers on that trail. You can bike to the trail from the campground. All downhill. So be ready for the climb back up. One trail has two amazing specimen trees. There’s a working, renovated mill and home at the river also.

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.