Join the fun near Amherst. With tons of outdoor activities and scenic camping, this is an excellent vacation spot for all kinds of travelers. Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Amherst. You're sure to find the perfect spot for your Virginia camping adventure.
$30 / night
"Rangers on site were super sweet."
"Slightly dirty bathrooms, not sanitary, but a lot of bugs, spiderwebs etc. Alternative to crowded Shenandoah campgrounds, although is a good drive away <60+ miles away from entrance."
$28 - $55 / night
"Store, Bathrooms, and running water are very close. Seemed very family friendly. Some of the campsites are super close to a creek and its worth trying to get one of those!"
"The staff were friendly and welcoming - and didnt bat an eyelash at our queer ladies camping weekend."
$35 / night
"We had a gravel pull through spot with a picnic table on a wooden deck, fire pit, and full hook up. There is a pool and a playground, however they were both closed due to Covid."
"This campground is open year round and is right off the highway. There is a gas station right next to it as well as a safari park. "
$38 - $55 / night
"There are tent, RV sites and cabins with campground bathroom. There are showers, slop sink and laundry. The pond at front has stocked trout and a small lake in the back has bass and crappie."
"The upstairs neighbors were probably as quiet as they could be but you could still hear them walking around and using the plumbing.
The trout pond is not what they make it out to be on the website."
$39 - $241 / night
"There was a carnival for the kids, trick-or-treating, hiking, tons of bike riding, campfire watching, hammock swinging, laughing, loving, and hanging out!"
"If that isn’t enough, there is a lake with a big blow up slide and more in the center and also has river access. You can get free life jackets to use and can rent out boats for the river."
$30 - $80 / night
"Campground Review
Holliday Lake State Park is located in the middle of the Buckingham State Forest, so it is completely surrounded by protected forest."
"We love camping at Holliday Lake. It is completely off grid, and we like that! With busy jobs during the week it’s nice to unwind and enjoy nature."
"This KOA was a very nice surprise given that it was right off the highway. We only were there for 1 night and we didn't hear any highway noise."
"Big patios, bbq grill, tables, fire pit. It was a quiet, well laid out and easy to manage in our 36 ft trailer. Wished I was staying much longer at this campground."
$45 - $99 / night
"The bathhouse is nice as is the pool. The store was sparse but adequate. The lawns were kept up and looking good. There is a very nice playground and a pet exercise area."
"Arrived after hours, staying one night. Our tag was waiting for us with a map to our RV spot with E/W by the creek and pond. It was off season, so plenty of spots and privacy."
$29 - $45 / night
"And of course their lake that has two jumping decks, water slide, snack bar , restaurant and off to the side a little store for floats with putt putt golf and Jenna,etc."
"Lots for them to do, great swimming lake, employees were a pleasure. Trash pick-up was awesome !! Our site was gorgeous. Not a full hook up(more on that later), but absolutely perfect."
"I believe they currently have around 400 spots. It is divided into upper and lower sections. The lower is much more wooded and gives off more of a camping feel while the upper is much more open."
"Staff was extremely pleasant and friendly. Ate at their on-site restaurant while a local band played outside. Mostly used by local folks as a seasonal CG."
GuideClean and right beside the safari park in Natural Bridge, cave mountain is few extra miles but is nicer in my opinion if you want nature and peace. This place does have hookups and sites are on top of one another not spaced out. It does have WiFi available and your phone will work here. Has a gas station right in front of it’s entrance and is directly off interstate
RangerThis camp ground easily accessible. Store, Bathrooms, and running water are very close. Seemed very family friendly. Some of the campsites are super close to a creek and its worth trying to get one of those! these sites are walk in, but there are some drive up sites in other areas. Crabtree falls and the AT-the Priest shelter are very close!.
RangerWe spent five days here over Memorial Day weekend, the campsite itself is nicely wooded, has a well-supplied store with very friendly staff, a stocked trout pond, and has a nice small lake. The trout pond is a nice touch you can fish without a license, and you pay for what you catch, we enjoyed fresh trout for dinner during our stay, and from what I saw, anybody with a hook can catch one. We watched them restock the pond in the morning before the holiday weekend. The other lake on the property is a nice place to walk, the campsite provides kayaks and paddle boats as well, at no charge. We had a site on the permitter, which was nice, as the interior sites are really on top of one another, we were just a few sites off the lake, but backing up to the woods certainly gave us a little more privacy. The sites are rather small and close to one another, and definitely showing signs of age from the washed-away, uneven gravel pads, to some other aging amenities. We noticed serval sites loaded with perhaps a dozen people, often blasting music (during the day and not during quiet hours, but still…) really living it up, not the fault of the campground, but it did seem a little unregulated and overrun with multiple vehicles in the roads etc. There is a central restroom facility, just the one, for the entire campground, and the men's room was 2 stalls and a urinal with 2 showers, it was cleaned daily, although not what I'd call spotless, and the woman's room apparently had some plumbing issues the weekend we were there. The location of the campground is remote with zero cell coverage or wifi, and other than the store on-site, there isn't much outside of a few hiking trails, within 30 minutes. Roughly 45 minutes away are from some breweries and wineries. I think we would have enjoyed this campground a little more had it not been as busy, the older facility couldn't really keep up with the crowd.
TravelerSpent 3months here and absolutely loved it! There’s always tons of activities to do for everyone of age. Gold cart parades, crafts hours, poker run, corn hole tournaments. And of course their lake that has two jumping decks, water slide, snack bar , restaurant and off to the side a little store for floats with putt putt golf and Jenna,etc.
The restaurant has great food, but a quick snack is usually preferred. On weekends the staff and owners make sure your having fun and go out of their way to cheer you up.
There’s also a huge playground with volleyball and basket ball court near the pavilion. Along with a small arcade room and a huge fire pit ring to hang out at. Not to far from there is a dog run for both big and small and a fishing pond next to it.A few hiking trails that have the creek follow you around along with wildlife all around you.
They also have golf cart rentals :) A lot of gravel with a few green patches on their sites. But still easy enough to bike ride around. Weekend sites are spacious and so are the monthly/seasonal areas. And there’s tons of cabins to rent in front of the lake. Bring the whole family!
RangerWe had a great weekend with the whole family! There was a carnival for the kids, trick-or-treating, hiking, tons of bike riding, campfire watching, hammock swinging, laughing, loving, and hanging out! We had a campsite with electric and water close to the bathhouse which is great because we have a popup camper with no bathroom and six kids. There were plenty of decorations for Halloween and the kids had a super time. Great for families. There are also a couple of playgrounds, two bouncy pads, basketball court, and gaga ball. During peak season there is also a water play area with a waterslide and mini golf. It is located on the James River. We had a great time.
TravelerWe camped here with a group of nine of us (4 tents) and we had plenty of extra room. There was a fire ring with a adjustable grill rack and 6 picnic tables. We had five cars parked right in front of our site and that was super nice.
There were two vault toilets right across where we parked our cars. The bathrooms were super clean with stainless steel toilet seats. We were very happy with the cleanliness of the bathroom. There were also an area for trash disposal. It was nice not having to drive our trash out!
We stayed at campsite 3 which is right next to campsite 2. We could hear the conversation from campsite 2 and see them. Campsite two and one had a water pump. Campsite 1 was right next to the bathrooms and the public picnic area. I would not recommend booking campsite 1. Campsite 1 was also smaller than 2 and 3. On Saturday the public picnic area next to the group camp ground was over flowing. People kept coming into our campsites to use our picnic benches and set up picnic blankets around our campsite. This was very annoying.
We enjoyed making the short trip to the Loft Mountain Camp Store which had souvenirs, food, wood, milk shakes, ice cream, coffee, camping equipment, showers, flushing toilets , and laundry.
We also enjoyed making the short trip to the Loft Mountain Wayside to eat in the restaurant there.
At night the you could see stars. We took a walk to the overlook in the middle of the night to stargaze.
We loved our time here.
GuideThis KOA was a very nice surprise given that it was right off the highway. We only were there for 1 night and we didn't hear any highway noise. They had a very nice nature trail as well as chickens running around and baby goats in a pen. Check in was easy as they had a tent set up so we didn't have to go on the office. An employee led us to our site. The main campground is rather hilly, although our site was a rather level gravel pad. They have a new area, not flat ground, that has cement pads and pretty wood benches around fire pits. It looked like these campsites were for the large class A or fifth wheels. We had electric and water. Cable TV is included. The Verizon wifi was spotty with 2-3 bars. We will definatly go back if we pass through this area again.
LegendVery large and very open group campground situated on either side of the picnic area road back out. Each of the campsites provides plenty of tent space, a couple picnic tables, fire pit with grills, bear boxes, potable water, and a shared vault toilets in the middle of the sites and nearer to the picnic area and parking for up to five vehicles at each site. Firewood, ice, laundry, showers and camp store are available three miles north at the Loft Mountain Camp Store.
GuideCampground Review
As a Ranger on The Dyrt, I sometimes receive compensation for reviewing campgrounds like this one. Middle Creek Campground is the perfect place to use as a base camp for all of the outdoor activities in the area. Getting here was a lot easier than expected. The campground is only 6 miles off the I-81 Arcadia exit. We were quickly in the Jefferson National Forest where the road winds through the forest along Jennings Creek. It was absolutely gorgeous. Around every turn we saw fishermen wading into the water or sitting on the banks.
Check-in is at the fully stocked camp store where you'll likely be greeted by the two resident dogs. They mostly lazed around all weekend and watched people coming and going. The RV sites are directly across from the camp store, but the tent sites were tucked back into the woods. The upper tent campground was closed for renovations during our stay, so we chose from the 8 or 9 sites located in the lower tent campground. All of the sites were roomy and featured a small fire pit, picnic table, water, and electricity. Several of them even had a pull-through site and would work well for a small pop-up. Bonus: most of the lower tent sites have direct access to the creek! There were only four other tent sites occupied the whole weekend. It was very quiet and peaceful.
We chose site #76 because the creek wound around the back of the campsite and had a gentle slope leading down to the creek. We knew our dogs would love splashing around in it! Once we got everything set up I realized that the site was bigger than I'd originally thought. There was more than enough room to set up our Kingdom 4 tent, 10' canopy, and camp kitchen to glamp in style. We brought a 15' lead for the 2yo beagle so he could go down to the creek on his own or hang out with us. Even at the end of his lead he was nowhere close to the road. Check out the video below for a 360' view!
The bathhouse was at the back of the camp store. Like the rest of the campground, the facilities aren't fancy, but they are functional and clean. Both men's and women's featured two showers where the water was nice and hot! There are even washers and dryers around the corner.
Firewood is available for purchase onsite. We paid $7 for a bundle at the camp store, and it was delivered to our site just a few minutes later. The bundle was huge! We had more than enough wood for two cooking fires.
Because our visit was so early in the year, we weren't able to access most of the amenities. There is a good-sized pool and pavilion on a hill behind the camp store. Right beside that is the swimming pond with two large slides in the middle, plus a small beach. There is another lake at the front of the campground designated for fishing. There are no trails in this campground, so if you want to hike, you'll need to drive about a mile out to where the Appalachian Trail meets Jennings Creek. Or, drive to one of many trail heads within the National Forest. There are also plenty of pull-off spots along the road if you want to wade into the creek.
During our stay, we observed the staff cleaning, fixing, and getting ready for camping season. The bathrooms got a fresh coat of paint. The roads through the campground were recently groomed with new crushed gravel. All of the picnic tables and sidewalks were being power washed. The game room was also being renovated! Downside: we didn't have water at our site the first day. About half-way through the second day one of the workers came around to let us know they were turning it on and to let it run for a bit since it had been off all winter. That made it much easier to wash dishes in a bucket at camp. There isn't a wash station in the campground for doing dishes, so we had to improvise the first night. The biggest turn-off for us at the campground was the RV section right across from the camp store. It seemed like the sites were really packed in there, one on top of the other. I've never been RV-ing before, so I'm not sure if this setup is typical, but I wanted to point it out.
All of the staff that we came into contact with were super friendly and helpful. We were immediately made to feel welcome. It felt like spending the weekend with friends and neighbors instead of strangers.
Product Review
As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing Nature's Coffee Kettle with Colombian Arabica Coffee. I am completely unable to start my day without coffee even when I'm sleeping in the woods. Nature's Coffee Kettle is a packable system that provides you with delicious, pour-over coffee in the backwoods. The "kettle" is a specially designed pouch with two sections. The top section holds the pre-filled coffee filter in place while you slowly pour hot water over the grounds. It features a zip-top so you can close it up while you're waiting for the magic to happen.The bottom section is the reservoir that holds all of that coffee goodness. Coffee refills are also available separately. The entire system packs flat for storage in a camp tote or in your backpack.
The directions on the back of the bag are super clear and even contain pictures. The key to making the perfect brew with Nature's Coffee Kettle is time. Don't rush it. This is not instant coffee. It is the real deal and will be worth every minute. Slowly pour 1 cup of hot water over the filter, zip up the top and let it sit for a minute or two so the grounds can soak up all of that water. This is the most important step. Then, unzip the top, and keep slowly adding the rest of the water. How much water? I used my coffee mugs to measure out the right amount of water into the kettle before boiling. After you've poured all the water into the bag zip it up again and let it sit. Then, just twist off the cap and pour!
The pouch is reusable, so don't toss it out. Dispose of the filter and rinse out the pouch. It will be ready to go the next time you need some caffeine. Nature's Coffee Kettle comes in a variety of coffee flavors as well as orange pekoe black tea, apple cider, and hot chocolate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Amherst, VA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Amherst, VA is Otter Creek Campground — Blue Ridge Parkway with a 4.4-star rating from 14 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Amherst, VA?
TheDyrt.com has all 17 glamping camping locations near Amherst, VA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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