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Best Tent Camping near Clifton, VA

757 Reviews

State parks and national forest lands surrounding Clifton, Virginia offer several tent-only camping options for those seeking a more primitive outdoor experience. Sky Meadows State Park, located about 30 miles west of Clifton, provides backcountry tent camping with sites accessible via a one-mile hike from the overnight parking area. Prince William Forest Park, just 15 miles south of Clifton, features Chopawamsic Backcountry camping with tent sites along a 2.5-mile hiking trail. Caledon State Park, situated along the Potomac River approximately 40 miles south, offers walk-in tent sites with river views.

Most tent campsites in the region require some hiking to access, with distances ranging from 75 feet at Antietam Creek to 2.5 miles at Caledon State Park. Tent pads are typically level and may be composed of pea gravel, dirt, or crushed stone. Facilities vary significantly between locations, with most backcountry sites offering vault toilets or portable toilets rather than flush facilities. Water access is limited, with many sites providing non-potable water pumps that require treatment or boiling. Fire rings and picnic tables are standard at most locations, though firewood availability differs. Bear boxes are provided at Sky Meadows, while other sites may require proper food storage techniques.

Campers report that the walk-in nature of these tent campgrounds creates a more secluded experience. According to one visitor at Sky Meadows, "The campsites are pretty secluded and spaced out so you have some privacy. It is peaceful and quiet." The terrain at many sites offers natural separation between campers. A reviewer at Caledon noted the "easy 2.5 mile hike on groomed gravel trails" leading to tent pads with firewood available through an honor system. Wildlife sightings are common, with deer frequently visiting campsites in the early morning. Tent campers should be prepared for variable weather conditions, as several reviewers mentioned challenges with rain runoff at lower elevation sites. Cell service is typically limited or non-existent, making these locations ideal for those seeking to disconnect.

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Best Tent Sites Near Clifton, Virginia (26)

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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Clifton, VA

43 Photos of 26 Clifton Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Clifton, VA

757 Reviews of 26 Clifton Campgrounds

  • RL
    Apr. 13, 2021

    Sky Meadows State Park Campground

    Great views, primitive camping

    We hiked the one mile into the campground and stayed for a night. It was a pretty flat walk from the overnight parking area to the campground. In the campground there is one bathroom facility with two vault toilets (although one of the doors was locked while we were there, which was unpleasant with a full campground). No running water or showers in the bathhouses. Non-potable water pump is near the restroom. Boil water at least three minutes before consuming. There are two areas with firewood (purchase when you check in or pay $6 cash at the kiosk - honor system). Each site has a bear box, fire ring, picnic table, tent pad with pea gravel, and a lantern pole. Definitely will be back!

    The park has wide open rolling hills and mountain views. Lots of families picnicking and flying kites 🪁💙

  • Lucas B.
    Jul. 2, 2017

    Sky Meadows State Park Campground

    Awesome foray into backpacking

    Came here for the first time in February 2017 to do a shakedown on some new backpacking and camping gear. Super friendly staff and easy check in process. Parking is in a locked lot steps away from trail head which leads to campsites about a mile away. Campsites are in a wooded area of park well away from other park attractions so it's very quiet. Sites are spaced far apart and come with tent pad, picnic table, fire pit and lantern pole. Non potable water is available via hand pump near rest rooms. Rest rooms are very nice and clean. No showers. This was one of my favorite camping experiences ever and I will definitely be back!

  • M J.
    Jun. 15, 2021

    Mathews Arm Campground — Shenandoah National Park

    Wonderful location in Shenandoah

    More quiet than the Big Meadows area (less people for sure!). Simple campground, with all you need to experience a wonderful time in Shenandoah. In the more northern area of the park, and we found that with a Thursday-Sunday time frame there was so many less people. Bathrooms are simple, and no showers. Our site B125 was not huge (are any sites here huge? I didn't see one!), but we had space for our larger North Face tent on the tent pad (just barely!). Our site had a fire ring and picnic table, though no bear box. Seems like some sites had the boxes, and others did not. Be sure to lock up your food and anything questionable here. Policy was pretty strict about that. B125 was tucked against a hill and woods (and man those woods are right at the edge of your site). Across from us was a handicap site, and next to us was a handicap site as well. It meant we had basically no neighbors for our early June weekend camping. Saturday night was quite full all around (still no neighbors for that spot). Some spots at Matthews Arm are reservable, others are first come first serve. It's cheap! You can park some trailers here, but it probably depends on your set up which spots would be best for that. There are a number of trails that you can get to either from campground, or sorta close. We hiked out near the group site and could get to Overall Run Falls (which I believe is the tallest in the park). As with all Shenandoah hikes, a good amount of up and down on this one. We really enjoyed our visit here and will definitely be back! 

    Don't forget to wait for full dark, and then look up. Breathtaking. 

    So. Many. Stars.

  • Michelle N.
    Aug. 13, 2020

    Antietam Creek Campground — Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

    Great Site Along the Potomac River

    Stayed one night on 8/9.

    This is such a nice little spot right along the Potomac River. All sites are walk-in only, which means you park on the street, cross the bridge over the C&O and towpath, and then down a little hill to your site. When my dog and I arrived, someone was still there, but after letting them know I had this spot reserved, they promptly packed out. There were no camp hosts on-site and nowhere to check in. 

    There isn't much privacy between you and your neighbors (or the C&O towpath so be prepared to see bikers, walkers, and runners). Each site has a grill, fire pit, and picnic table. I stayed at Site 11 which had its own path down to the Potomac River. It was quite steep for my bum knees and ankles, but I saw kids easily run up and down it. The Potomac is mostly flat with some "swirlies" for experienced paddlers. I also saw some people tubing. 

    There's one bathroom area- 2 pit toilets and 2 portapotties. There is nowhere to leave trash, so be sure to follow Leave No Trace principles and pack everything out with you. The sites are fully or mostly shaded. Be prepared to make friends with bugs, but they shouldn't bother you. Also great news- no mosquitoes! 

    I have Verizon and had better service by my car on the road than at the actual campsite. At the site I could make calls but couldn't check the internet. Other than a few check-in calls to family, I was looking to unplug for the night. 

    I ended up not sleeping overnight due to a personal health issue, but I am looking forward to coming back when it's a little cooler.

  • Mary S.
    Oct. 11, 2018

    Mathews Arm Campground — Shenandoah National Park

    Well-maintained, quiet campground in a national park

    What do I love about Mathews Arm Campground in Shenandoah National Park? So many things!

    • The simplicity of a national park setting: no frills in a beautiful setting.
    • Generator-free area: No generators are allowed in parts of the A and B sections.
    • Non-reservable sites! This makes it easier to travel without a plan other than arriving early at a campground. The entire A section (A1-A116) and a small part of C (C143-C145) cannot be reserved. Sites in B (B117-B141), the rest of C (C146-C164), and D (group sites D165-D167) can be reserved.
    • $15 price: Our Lifetime Senior Pass cuts that in half (and covers the park admission fee).
    • Hiking! You can hike to Overall Run Falls from a trail in the parking lot near the campground and turn this into a loop hike by returning a different way. The ranger at the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center near the Front Royal (North) Entrance Station was extremely helpful. We told her we planned to try 3 of the 4 campgrounds as we drove north to south on Skyline Drive and wanted hiking recommendations. There are 15 separate maps with multiple hikes in each, and we left with several of those marked up by the ranger. We also hiked the Stony Man loop on the way to our next stop at Big Meadows; the 180+ degree view while standing up on top of the rocks was spectacular.
    • It's quiet! People don't come to national park campgrounds to party. They come to see the sights and hike. They're tired at night and don't make a lot of noise.

    I guess that's enough.

    The Sites

    • Sites are large but many are lined up right next to each other. I recommend staying away from A72 to the end of A. They're lined up too closely for my taste, and there isn't much shade.
    • I liked our site A55 and thought A56-A61 were nice sites. When we entered a sparsely populated park in mid-afternoon on a Monday in October, those sites were already taken. By evening, the park was half full. Arrive early in the day if you don't have a reservation, especially later in the week.

    Amenities

    • Bathrooms are adequate. There is potable water and a utility sink near the bathrooms, but there are no showers. The closest (coin-operated) showers are about 30 miles south at Big Meadows Campground, the next campground on Skyline Drive. Bathrooms are newer/nicer at Big Meadows and Loft Mountain.
    • Trash disposal, ash disposal and recycling bins are available.
    • Some sites have food storage lockers. Google reviews indicated park rangers insist you keep all food in a locker, camper or vehicle and you can be fined if you don't. Apparently, bears recognize coolers so you should cover them up in vehicles. (I also heard this at Rocky Mountain NP.)
    • There's no store at the campground, but there's one a couple miles south on Skyline Drive.
  • Reba H.
    May. 2, 2023

    Sky Meadows State Park Campground

    Please don't treat this like car camping

    I understand why people are lugging wheeled carts a mile into this campground, but it is technically not allowed. This is a backcountry/backpacking experience. Most of the hike-in is on Hadow Trail, which is dirt, not gravel. It is technically an equestrian trail too, but there's no way a horse could make it without breaking an ankle right now; the trail is so worn down by wheeled cart usage that the park has created a service project on the American Hiking Society's website calling for volunteers to do restoration work on Hadow Trail on this year's upcoming National Trails Day.

    I hiked in while it was raining, and the mud wasn't as bad as I'd feared. However, the worn down parts of the trail attracted rainwater drainage, and the runoff narrowed the trail significantly. When I got to Boston Mill Rd Trail, which is gravel, the hike was easy, until the spur turning into the campground, when the trek goes uphill. If your site is further back, you will be hiking up and down many hills throughout the campground. The hills are fantastic for helping each site feel like a little private oasis. Even if the campground is full, I think most of the sites would still feel shaded and private because of how they're dispersed throughout the hills. 

    My site bordered the buddy site and scout group sites at the beginning of the campground, so there was noise from loud kids but not as bad as I thought it might be. I was still able to enjoy peace and quiet, as the group respected quiet hours and was busy hiking the rest of the state park during the daytime, so don't shy away from this site if it's the only one available. The group sites also have their own latrine at the beginning of the campground, which pleasantly surprised me because this meant there were two latrines fairly close to each other, just to accommodate projected usage. There are many thoughtful details like this throughout the design of the campground facilities. 

    For a backcountry campground, I was SO impressed with how stocked and clean everything was. Firewood is $8 (honor system), but there was some leftover at my site already. My firepit had a quality grill gate too. There are LOTS of bear trash cans available, and having a bear box at my campsite to store my food/trash/toiletries was so much easier than hanging a bear bag. If it hadn't rained, I also would've been able to use the hammock posts at my site (you could use these to hang a clothesline too if you wanted). When I talked over the phone with a ranger, she told me that only a few campsites didn't have hammock stands. If you think a lantern is worth its weight to carry in, there's a lantern post on the tent pad. I loved how level the tent pad was even on a hill. I couldn't figure out how to use the potable water pump, but there are plentiful creeks you can filter water from.

    Overall, this is a fantastic campground for a beginner backpacking experience in the real backcountry. Use the Avenza Maps app that the park has its map uploaded into, and you won't get lost finding the overnight parking/self check-in station like I did. Know the gate code of this area before you go. The gate takes a hard push and pull. If you're prepared for all this, you'll arrive at camp before dusk when the wild animals come out. At night I saw white-tailed deer and heard owls and cattle! During the day I saw/heard SOOO many birds on the South Ridge Trail and found a bear track after the Cpt. Morgan Trail on the creek side of Hadow Trail!! If all this sounds awful rather than exciting to you, just drive in for the day and stick to the historic areas rather than venture into the park's backcountry areas.

  • Amy S.
    Jul. 17, 2018

    Sky Meadows State Park Campground

    Great hike in campground

    It's about a mile hike in to the campground, which sits in the woods in the park. Firewood is available for sale and there are fire rings with grates and a picnic table. Sites are large enough for three one person tents. Pit toilets, no showers, cell service. Make sure you bring a bear bag or box with you.

  • Laura M.The Dyrt PRO User
    Nov. 11, 2023

    Greenbelt Park Campground — Greenbelt Park

    Beautiful campground, and great for visiting DC

    Beautiful campground, fairly large with 4 separate loops. Loop A is for organized groups/youth/scouts, Loop B is for tents and RVs under 30 ft, Loop C is for tents, and Loop D is for tents and RVs under 35 ft. No hookups at any of the sites.

    There’s a dump station and drinking water fill in loop C (sorry tenters who wanted to avoid RVs). The water fill was a little annoying in that there’s a handle you have to hold down the whole time, but we used a rock to prop the handle down. 

    The bathhouses are ok, happy to have free showers with hot running water. Faucets allow you to control the temperature and there’s continuous running water (no button to push). There’s only one large shower per bath house, and you only have a curtain (no door and no lock). Sites vary in levelness, some are fairly level and some are on a mini hill. Driveways are all very narrow. Most have too much tree cover for solar or starlink, but some sites are more open and you might be able to make it work. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. Cost is $20/night, must reserve on recreation.gov, and you can do that when you arrive and pick a site (no service fee for this site)

    Cell service is pretty good for Verizon and ATT. 

    No alcohol allowed in the park. 

    GETTING TO DC: There’s normally a walking path from the campground to the metro station that takes you into DC (the green line takes you to the National Mall), but as of Oct 2023 the bridge is out due to a storm, and by the looks of it it’s been out a while and it doesn’t appear that it will be fixed soon. So what we did, since we don’t have a tow car, and just have our 26ft motorhome, is we packed up and drove to the Greenbelt station about 5 miles away, parked there for the day, and took the green line into town. The lot there is huge and open and free on weekends. Weekdays it’s about $5/day if you take the metro, and about $9 if you’re just parking there. The College Park station is closer but is apparently a parking garage (can’t confirm because we didn’t go to that station). This worked very well for us. You can pay for the metro with an app or get a card, either way it costs you $2 to buy the card, and then $2 each way on the train. Everyone over age 5 needs their own card, no sharing one card. The train ride from the Greenbelt station to the national mall is about 30 min. Get off at the Archives station to be in the center of all the sites.

  • A
    Sep. 24, 2020

    Patapsco Valley State Park-Hilton Area

    Nice Small Campsite Close to DC

    Nice small campsite in MD not too far from DC. One negative was that when it rains it really flushes through the grounds. We had a site on the lower end of the loop and our site was hard to set up as we arrived during a storm and it was very wet even after the rain died down. Another negative was after the storm for the next few days we heard trees falling nearby. Where we were hiking. 😬 The positives are as others have pointed out there is a huge park for kids- it’s not within walking distance for little kids but it’s a very short drive by the entrance to the park. There’s also another small park on the loop. The restrooms were central and well maintained. We found a small river and swimming hole at the bottom of the hill off to the side opposite the cabins/park. All sites had a picnic table and fire ring. Firewood available from camp host. Hiking poles would have been good for the trails when we had a kid in a pack on our back. Overall a nice close small campground.

Guide to Clifton

Tent camping near Clifton, Virginia offers primitive backcountry experiences within a 40-mile radius, with most sites situated at elevations between 200-1,100 feet. The region experiences humid summers with temperatures regularly exceeding 90°F from June through August, while spring and fall provide milder camping conditions with daytime highs in the 60-70°F range. Winter camping remains viable at lower elevations with proper cold-weather gear.

What to do

Potomac River access: At Caledon State Park Campground, campers can enjoy prime riverfront access after a moderate hike. "It's a nice 3 mile hike to the campsite which is right by the Potomac river! The beach is beautiful and we saw the most gorgeous sunset," reports Shelby O.

Historical immersion: Prince William Forest Park offers unique historical experiences beyond typical camping. "These camps were made by the CCC and even used by the then-CIA during WWII. They are extremely rustic and you should expect to see lots of bugs, snakes, etc. during your stay, and it adds to the experience in a great way," explains Dan N. about Goodwill Cabin.

Trail exploration: Multiple parks feature interconnected trail systems of varying difficulty. "Nice area to hike around, with access to the AT. There is also a stretch of trail that they deem the 'old AT' before it was relocated. Part of the trail cuts through some areas with cows - beware the cow pies!" advises David S. about Sky Meadows State Park.

What campers like

Natural privacy: The terrain and site layout at many campgrounds create natural buffers between campers. "The hills are fantastic for helping each site feel like a little private oasis. Even if the campground is full, I think most of the sites would still feel shaded and private because of how they're dispersed throughout the hills," notes Reba H. about Sky Meadows State Park Campground.

Wildlife encounters: Morning and evening wildlife viewing opportunities abound. "We had a family of deer pay us a visit each morning - didn't come across any bears," reports Russ L. about Sky Meadows. Caledon State Park is known for "excellent nature-centered events and a nature center, plus free picnic areas. Great bird watching and bald eagles," according to Dan N.

Budget-friendly options: Many sites offer low-cost camping with basic amenities. "Super simple and the best price... easy to find and very clean," says Emerson K. about Marsden Tract Group Campsite.

What you should know

Primitive facilities: Most tent sites have minimal amenities. "No running water or showers in the bathhouses. Non-potable water pump is near the restroom. Boil water at least three minutes before consuming," warns RL about Sky Meadows State Park.

Variable terrain: Campsite quality varies significantly based on elevation and drainage. "When I got to Boston Mill Rd Trail, which is gravel, the hike was easy, until the spur turning into the campground, when the trek goes uphill. If your site is further back, you will be hiking up and down many hills throughout the campground," explains Reba H.

Bear awareness: Bear activity requires proper food storage. "Know that you need to bring a bear bag or box with you," advises Amy S. about Sky Meadows. Most developed sites provide bear boxes, but backcountry campers should bring appropriate equipment.

Tips for camping with families

Day use alternatives: Some parks near Clifton work better for day trips with children. "My son and I really enjoy spending time here! This park is ALWAYS full of family's having picnics and enjoying time together! There's playground and a beach area for kids and family to all enjoy," shares Sarah F. about Leesylvania State Park Campground.

Transport assistance: For hike-in sites, consider weight limitations for children carrying gear. "It's about a mile hike in to the campground and stayed for a night. It was a pretty flat walk from the overnight parking area to the campground," notes RL about tent camping at Sky Meadows.

Weather preparedness: Summer thunderstorms can develop quickly in this region. "We hiked in while it was raining, and the mud wasn't as bad as I'd feared. However, the worn down parts of the trail attracted rainwater drainage, and the runoff narrowed the trail significantly," explains Reba H.

Tips from RVers

Limited RV options: True RV camping options are scarce in immediate Clifton vicinity. Most sites are tent-only or small camper-appropriate. "The park was not very busy when we were there, but the lake and hiking were wonderful. Sites were average, nothing too spectacular but private enough for us," notes Sara S. about Happyland Cabin.

Parking limitations: Overnight parking areas at hike-in sites have size restrictions. "Parking is in a locked lot steps away from trail head which leads to campsites about a mile away," explains Lucas B. about Sky Meadows, making this unsuitable for larger vehicles.

Access challenges: Some sites have difficult access roads or entry requirements. "This park is located on Quantico Marine Corps Base. You must have a valid military ID to access the base before you can proceed to the park," explains Jacob S. about certain restricted camping areas near Clifton.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Clifton, VA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Clifton, VA is Leesylvania State Park Campground with a 4.7-star rating from 6 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Clifton, VA?

TheDyrt.com has all 26 tent camping locations near Clifton, VA, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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