Best Campgrounds near Basye, VA

Recent Reviews near Basye, VA

1114 Reviews of 163 Basye Campgrounds

• T

  Tom W.

  Traveler

  Jan. 2, 2026

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  Secluded & Quiet

  We came in late Friday & could tell from the 7+" snow covered road in that no one else was going to be here (unless they'd been parked for two days of snowfall). We parked on a site be the creek on a big loop near a vault toilet (nothing better than a 20° toilet seat to wake you up in the morning). These sites were easy to recognize as safe driving spots under the blanket of snow. The road was well marked. The hairpin turn at entrance was wide enough that it was not a problem to navigate in the snow / icy road. Main roads had been plowed thoroughly. Anyway, great stay. Could not see stars but the moonrise was beautiful.

  Read More
• 

  Janet R.

  Legend

  Dec. 31, 2025

  Loft Mountain Campground — Shenandoah National Park

  Oh, Shenandoah!

  The Shenandoah Mountains are beautiful any time of year, but early fall is spectacular. Ripe blackberries underlie the whole landscape everywhere you go, trees are turning magnificent colors, songbirds are stopping over on their migration south, bugs are nearly non-existent. I enjoyed visiting the park and camping here, especially as it is one or the few National Parks that are dog-friendly and allow dogs most everywhere, --throughout campground, on most trails, and even on the outside deck at cafe by our campground. The park also participates in the "Bark Ranger" program for dogs.

  This campground is one of three main campgrounds in the park, and has a Campground store as well as nearby cafe featuring variety of sandwiches, soups and desserts, including local blackberry ice cream! So you will be well-provided for. There is a maze of trails around the campground itself, and just down the Skyline Parkway is access to the Big Run trail network, which provides great birding, hiking, and fishing

  Even in the campground among many campers, there is great access to the Dark sky which is  great for stargazing. Ranger programs in the campground feature this and other nature programs. From the campground there is easy access to myriad scenic overlooks along Skyline Drive in both directions. There is a fairly long drive to get to the north end of the park at Big Meadows which is the northernmost campground and where the NPS Visitor center is.  The scenic drive but you do have to double back a long way to get back to Loft campground.

  Make reservations well ahead of time! Most sites need to be reserved, a few available for same day. Campground fills up early in the day.  Tent campers are more likely to get a spot.  We got the last site of the day. It had a good drive in for a couple cars, but the tent pad was pretty small. There was a picnic table and fire ring, but the campsite itself was a little overgrown and in need of maintenance. The bathrooms were in need of some cleaning too; usually the National Park Service is good about this, but the park was short staffed and so things were a little rough around the edges. As such, although I would rank the park as a 5, the quality of the campground was only so-so, and overall I ranked the camping experience a 4 because of this

  Read More
• 

  Alex G.

  Scout

  Dec. 28, 2025

  Switzer Lake Dispersed Camping

  Lots of Campsites Available

  Switzer lake has a lot of campsites to choose from, however this is a popular destination so I would recommend securing a site as early as possible. Due to the conditions of the road I would not recommend taking a car with a low clearance. Preferably a car with at least AWD is recommended. As others have pointed out some sites get trashed by ne’er-do-wells, but besides that it's a very beautiful area.

• R

  Ric M.

  Ranger

  Dec. 27, 2025

  Bear Heaven Campground

  Not very dispersed, but lovely

  One of the advantages of this particular campground is that it's not far from the town of Elkins, so you can go back into town if you don't feel like campsite cooking— lots of good restaurants and entertainment opportunities in Elkins. 

  While this is truly primitive camping, you are not so primitive that you need to dig a hole to go to the bathroom— they do have porta-potty's. It's also noteworthy that this is likely not available year-round. The road becomes impassable in winter when there is a lot of snow, and they start maintaining it, often even blocking the road with gates during the winter. Understandable but unfortunate, since it is beautiful added is not always snowing even in winter, right?

  The campground is not free but also not very expensive. I think the senior citizens price is under five dollars, or at least it was when I camped there a couple years ago(2023). The sites themselves are first-come first-served, the kind of camping ground where you simply go back up to the entranceway to fill out a form and state where you are and make the payment in a box. While the campground is at a fairly high altitude, most of the sites don't have expansive views, and I think only a couple of the sites even have an expansive view down below. But that's okay if you are into wooded views, because there's plenty of that all around, and even a small rock climbing area for you and your kids to scramble on the rocks.

  Read More
• R

  Ric M.

  Ranger

  Dec. 27, 2025

  Canaan Loop Road

  A remote loop route with about 10 dispersed, free campsites

  This swath of land, sandwiched between two state parks(Canaan Valley State Park to the south& Blackwater Falls State Park to the north) is managed by the US Forest Service. The nearest town is Davis, WV. 

  There is just one dirt road running through it, the first few miles of which are fairly tame: navigable by most standard cars and medium or smaller sized RVs. The further back in you go, the rougher the road gets until it is truly just a jeeps-only type of road. But the good news is that all of the camping sites take place before you get to that rough part. 

  And this is TRULY dispersed camping, with most of the camp spots being a good half-mile from each other! The one downside, if you are into privacy, is that all of the sites are RIGHT NEXT to that dirt road, so others will be driving past your site. The good news is that it is not a heavily trafficked road, used primarily just by the other campers in the 10 available spots, by the occasional hunter, and by the even-less-frequent off-roader, hoping to challenge their vehicle on the rough stuff several miles in. 

  This is all free camping, and all primitive. There are no restroom facilities, no showers, no electrical, no water supply. 

  The campsites themselves are mostly surrounded by forest, making even the smallest of them quite beautiful. They vary in size from being little more than a 20 foot driveway to back an RV up to those sites that are significantly larger with room enough for more than one vehicle and perhaps a couple or three tents. 

  While this loop road region has very few activities itself, you are just a few miles from the two state parks and from private facilities offering horseback riding, skiing, snowboarding, swimming, and more. 

  The loop road region itself has MANY trails for hiking or mountain biking (possibly horseback riding— I saw no signage either for or against it), and one trail that is specifically marked as a cross country ski route. Although, from what I can see, several of the trails could work for cross-country skiing, as even the road itself could right after a storm. 

  While the area is at a fairly high altitude, around 3000 feet, it seems to be built on a kind of high altitude plateau, so the road itself is not that hilly, nor are the camping sites. I don't know for sure if it's a year-round site, but I can tell you that I was camping there in December, no problem. I do understand that the road is minimally maintained, so it might be impossible or difficult to access during very snowy weather.

  Read More
• R

  Ric M.

  Ranger

  Dec. 19, 2025

  Blackwater Falls State Park Campground

  Woodsy, near trails

  Like many state park campgrounds, each of the campsites are not that dispersed, so you will be right next to everyone else. Some of the sites had trees, many of them had few or none, particularly those that were out in the middle of the circle. So if you want trees and you are reserving your spot online, I recommend reserving  one of the ones on the outsides of the circle if you want trees/shade. 

  Online I did not find a lot of clarity regarding which ones would be good for tents, versus trailers, which was a problem— the one I had reserved was simply not possible to serve as a tent site, as the only level surface was the gravel parking area— not possible to get stakes into the ground, and too slanted anywhere else on the small spot to put a tent. Fortunately, they were able to find me another open spot that had a level enough area for my tent and allowed me to switch the location. 

  They seem to do a pretty good job of keeping the bathhouse/restroom clean. I was there after the primary season(early November) and found it disappointing that half of the campground was closed— the half that, in my opinion, held some of the best looking camping spots. At any rate, the spot I did end up with (sorry, I don't remember what the number was) was nice— partially shaded insufficient privacy out the backside of the camp spot that I could aim my tent view in that direction for a little privacy and a view. 

  There are TONS of trails at this state park, one of which is right next to the campground. While it is fairly short, less than a mile, it connects to an entire network of other trails if you wish to go further, including the trails beyond the state park borders(the national forest abuts the state park), including easy access to Allegheny Trail, which literally goes more than 100 miles!

  Read More
• 

  Tyler M.

  Guide

  Dec. 18, 2025

  Braley Pond Dispersed Camping & Day Use Area

  September Stay

  Quiet and easily accessible. There was only one other vehicle there during my one night stay. Sone trash which was a shame but still a nice area to set up camp

• R

  Ric M.

  Ranger

  Dec. 12, 2025

  Gandy Creek Dispersed Camping

  pretty well dispersed along the beautiful Gandy Creek

  The main reason I'm reluctant to give it five stars(I gave it 4) is because nearly all of its many campsites cannot be entered by vehicle; you have to park next to the dirt road that runs north-south through the campable section, making the bulk of them far from ideal for those with campers or rooftop tents, especially given that it's a dirt road, that will be kicking up dirt onto that rooftop tent. 

  I am aware of at least three along the road that you can drive into, but I have never seen those few drive-in-able sites unoccupied on a weekend, and typically not on a weekday either. 

  The campsites themselves are wonderful in just about every other regard. Some of them are dispersed enough that you can see no other campsite from yours, and nearly all of them are much more dispersed then you would get at any typical state park's campground. 

  Almost all of the campsites also have their own views of and direct access to Gandy creek, which I have never seen not flowing generously year-round. Some of the campsites are in places where the water is pooled enough that you could go wading or swimming in. And all of it is good fishing. 

  The campsites vary significantly in size and shade, so you can get ones with more sun if you prefer, more shade if you prefer that. 

  All of the campsites are free and I'm pretty sure that the time limit is two weeks maximum, as it is for all the camping areas throughout the Monongahela National forest. 

  Are you into hiking? There are seemingly countless trails within walkable distance from campsites and certainly within 10 minutes' driving distance, many of them connecting up at the top so you can make a loop by crossing over from one to another and then back down to the dirt road. From what I have seen those trails are not the most well-maintained however. Which means that it can be nettlesome— literally— as in overrun with nettles— during certain seasons, particularly July and August, so you might want to take a machete with you so you can chop them out of the way as you hike upward.

  Read More
• R

  Ric M.

  Ranger

  Dec. 5, 2025

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  An odd mix of campsite types, but something for just about everybody!

  So this is quite large, I'm guessing at least 25 to 35 campsites along a 4-ish mile long dirt road that deadends. It is dispersed camping, free. And I guess it just depends on what you were looking for. I like to have something a little bit remote, where my campsite is not visible from other campsites. There isn't a lot of that here, but I did find maybe three or four that fit that description, all visible from the dirt road that goes through it. 

  There were many sites that I simply would not like it all, but might be ideal for your purposes, such as two or three areas where there is essentially a big field with a short loop road with maybe half a dozen campsites right next to each other. These are bordered by trees but there are no trees on those sites. Definitely not my cup of tea, but might be ideal for those who are in campers or motorhomes and what to be near a group of other people doing the same thing. 

  The pit toilets are good, reasonably clean. They are however even more dispersed than the campsites— roughly one every mile. Keep that in mind while you are picking a campsite. You may want to be close to one, and then that would limit your choices. If you don't care how close you are to one of the toilets, then you have lots and lots of choices. 

  One of the best things about this location is if you are into mountain biking or hiking or trail running. There are an absolute ton of choices for you, some of them starting right there from the campsite or right at the end of it and several more within half a mile. The Allegheny trail runs right through the campsite with the road itself serving as part of the trail, then immediately turning into singletrack trail on the far ends of this several-miles-long dispersed camping area.

  Read More