Best Equestrian Camping near Afton, VA

Equestrian Camping Reviews near Afton, VA

173 Reviews of 6 Afton Campgrounds

• D

  Daryl L.

  Traveler

  Aug. 25, 2019

  Red Oak Campground — James River State Park

  Adventure Ready James River

  The Red Oak sites were gravel and fairly level and the bathhouse was nice. There is an equestrian camping area (and stalls) for people with horses.  The cabins and lodges have 2, 3, and 6 bedrooms and look beautiful. There is even a canoe-in campground.  Activities that can be done include tubing on the river, canoeing and kayaking, fishing, hiking, biking, horseback riding trails, wagon ride, and lots of park events.

  This is a wonderful spot for viewing the stars because of the lack of light pollution. James River State Park has been named an International Dark Sky Park.

• 

  Sam M.

  Legend

  Oct. 17, 2018

  Shenandoah Crossing, a Bluegreen Vacations Resort

  Nice place with lots to do

  I grew up going to this campground. It's located in Gordonsville, Virginia. There's not much to do in the area, but the campground itself is nice.

  There is a nice pool, arcade, camp store, horse riding, and the camp sites are pretty nice.

  All around good place to camp.

• J

  Joe B.

  Guide

  Oct. 24, 2021

  Graves Mountain Farm Campground

  Misleading campsing website

  Looked forward to camping at Graves Mountain and enjoy the festivities. The campsite is very very small. They say dispersed, but it is a small field as you can not access the others fields. Horse trailers, rvs, tents, and overland trailers all park right next that to each other. We set up away from everyone to properly distance ourselves due to their covid protocols. They told us to move next to others but there was no space. We got our money back and moved to another site. I would avoid this campsite. If you want to visit it for the apple or Fall festival just camp somewhere else and drive to it. No amenities. No cell service.

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• M

  Matt

  Traveler

  Oct. 1, 2021

  Graves Mountain Farm Campground

  Fine place, but not really primitive and some major drawbacks

  BOTTOM LINE: 3.5 Stars. We had a fine time camping here, but probably would not stay again unless some friends were going and wanted to stay. Not bad, but not great and not my personal preference for camping. Any recommendation to stay would be dependent on what you're looking for--it might be for you, but just wasn't for us. 

  Acknowledging that reviews are totally subjective, here is a brief summary of some of the pros and cons (in our humble opinion):[

  PROS/CONS

  Pros:

  • Beautiful mountain views
  • charming brook and farm (i.e. things to do for young kids), and okay hiking trails
  • friendly campers and staff
  • ease of check-in process
  • low cost
  • Can (technically) hike intro Shenandoah National Park

  Cons:

  • campground bathrooms and port-a-jons in poor condition
  • street lights in primitive camping area
  • yellow jacket nests in primitive camping area (with no warning signs)
  • the gnats and flies were bad (way worse than I've ever experienced; probably due to the horse and cow poop)
  • decent amount of horse/cow manure in the primitive camping area
  • camping area is mixed with RVs, equestrian trailers, & tent campers
  • camping area was restricted to a smaller area, forcing camps a little too close together (so much room that wasn't allowed for pitching camp and spreading out)
  • few trees in camping area (more of an open field)
  • 35-40 min drive to either entrance of Shenandoah National Park (then you still have to drive to the trail you want to hike)

  Again, we recognize a lot is subjective; but it just wasn't for us. We'd camp here again if others wanted to, but wouldn't choose to come back.

  I'm happy to elaborate on any particular bullets.

  HELPFUL TIPS:

  • Sites are first come, first served -- there are a few "primo" spots, but get there before noon to nab them
  • There is local firewood available at the General Store/Post Office in Syria, VA (~0.2 mi from campground); about $7/bundle (you'll probably need 3-4 bundles for a night)
  • Use trees to block out some of the light from street lights (only a handful of spots can do this bc few trees); or try to get a spot as far away as you can get
  • For kids, there is a duck pond, chicken coop, shallow brook, disable farm tractor, and some other stuff to play with/on/in across the street near the lodge.
  • Free range horses (they're penned-in) come back at dusk and head out at dawn -- fun to watch from the campground, especially for kiddos
  • Bring your own water, if possible

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• 

  RL

  Legend

  Dec. 22, 2021

  Shenandoah Crossing, a Bluegreen Vacations Resort

  Yurts = Glamping!

  Lovely time in the yurt! Walked around the property and saw the horses and checked out the primitive sites.

• 

  Gypsy G.

  Guide

  May. 17, 2021

  Red Oak Campground — James River State Park

  Wonderful Place to stay !!!

  The sites were very generous in size - not cramped at all! Sites were partially shaded and backed up to woods. Lots of beautiful hiking/biking/equestrian trails to explore. Bathrooms were very clean and nice. Bundles of firewood sold $7 each. Nice fire ring at each site. Pet friendly. Will definitely return!!

• J

  Jed

  Scout

  Nov. 2, 2021

  Shenandoah Crossing, a Bluegreen Vacations Resort

  Beautiful place with a couple of drawbacks

  Beautiful sunsets over the stables and horse pastures. We reserved a “pull-through” RV site which ended up being a back-in site that was very uneven and nowhere near level. Also, after staying for two weeks, the bathhouse next to our site was closed because of lack of electricity. Which forced us to drive up to the indoor pool (nice) and use the showers there. Inconvenient, but we made it work.

• 

  Katy S.

  Ranger

  Jul. 6, 2020

  Big Meadows Campground — Shenandoah National Park

  Huge campground, great trails

  We stayed at a "group" site D167, which allows up to 15 people and 4 cars. While the campground is very nice, with clean conveniently located bathrooms, the site itself is probably not suited for a large group of people. First of all, it's located in the middle of a large patch of grass right next to other family campsites, so no privacy at all. If you travel with friends you might want to stay up a little longer and have a good laugh around the fire, but this site isn't really designed this way. The quiet hours are after 10PM and it's enforced. Second, the space is really limited, especially if your group members have larger tents. Also, there's no overflow parking, except at the entrance to the campground.

  The showers are nice and clean, but they are coin operated.

  The rangers are very strict. We had some food related items left on the table (salt/pepper shakers) and they were confiscated while we were hiking. I'm not saying it's wrong, but be aware, because these rules are not enforced at the same level in different places. We ended up with a $80 fine.

  Also, since this is a national park, you cannot bring the firewood from outside, have to buy it in the park.

  Other than that, we enjoyed our stay. The campground location allow an easy access to many trails within Shenandoah National Park, as well as close by, such as our favorite Old Rag Mountain. It's also technically a part of the NP, so keep your entrance receipt to show at the Old Rag's parking lot.

  Make sure you taste blackberry ice cream at the general store at the entrance. It's a local specialty and it's delicious!!!

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• g

  gloria J.

  Scout

  Nov. 6, 2021

  Big Meadows Campground — Shenandoah National Park

  Perfect place to camp in Shenandoah National Park

  We camped several nights in our 23ft. travel trailer.  Our site A85 was just long enough to fit our trailer and truck. We were able to use our generator at this site.  The bathroom  was just a short walk away.  There are no hookups in this campground.   We did drive to the shower house and paid a fee to take a shower.  They were clean and even though the campground was nearly full we never had to wait in line.  We also did our laundry one evening. The machines were all working and it was quite reasonably priced.  Big Meadows campground is so conveniently located to the Visitor's center and many local trails. The horse stables were just down the road.  The lodge/restaurant was near the campground and we enjoyed a special dinner out one evening on the deck overlooking the beautiful Luray Valley.

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