Stone Cliff Campground — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

There is a pretty bid parking with restrooms. Down by the water there is a few spots to drive to, but not sure if it would be OK to sleep in your vehicle there as it's not 100 feet from water access. But there are fire rings near the water so idk There is also a bridge really close and railroad track right across the river.

Stone Cliff campground is a sandy, walk in campground. There is one site that you can park beside which I think is supposed to be ADA accessible. The rest of the sites require a short walk in or down about a flight of steps.

We camped right below the stairs. There was a pole for a lantern but no picnic table (although there are some near the parking area), no fire ring (previous campers had made one out of stone that we used), and no flat tent pad area. We pitched our tent in the flattest spot and it was acceptable.

There are vault toilets up the stairs and across the parking lot. They smelled awful and needed to be cleaned. Although it didn't seem like Stone Cliff was a busy campground (we only had a couple neighbors) the rafting companies put in right there and bring bus loads of rafters who use the vault toilets so they are used by lots of people.

You have to bring your own water. There are garbage cans in the parking area above.

It is right on the New River on a sand bar which is nice except there was SO MUCH BROKEN GLASS. Honestly it was the most broken glass I've seen on a beach. There was also quite a lot of litter which is obnoxious.

Overall it was fine. It was free and it was close to the Visitor's Center and most of the trails I wanted to hike. But it wasn't a beautiful or serene nature setting.

I love love this place. You could call me a local. I love to camp here to escape my job; a local camp nearby. Yes. I leave camping to camp more. Once you go through the “neighborhood” and go down the road till you see a sign that says the town of thurmond. There will be a split in the road After a small bridge. Go left to go to the nearly abandoned coal/railroad town of thurmond. Population: 3. There’s a bike trail/hiking trail there. South side junction trail. It can lead you to a trail that leads to ACE adventures. Turn left and go past an interpretive sign (read it) and keep going straight and you’ll hit stone cliff. All of the whitewater companies take out/put in in this area. I recommend swimming the new river gorge the hydraulics are nice. You’ll see locals and participants rafting and kayaking :) sandy campground. There’s several wooded, beach spots. Kind of picked of wood.