Best Glamping near Covington, VA

I love these sites and I am just putting this out there I am against camping in an RV or “glamping” I prefer a good ole tent and fire and not having electricity so if you also prefer these you’ll like these sites as well. I always go to camp site #7 or #8 just a personal preference just like the rent but they are all equally amazing. Not to mention you’re by the river with both of these sites so if you like to swim that’s a plus.

First time at a KOA. The staff is very friendly, the facilities are immaculate, and the camping areas have plenty of space for an expansive set up. We were in tent space 48, which was very private and had a lot of trees over it so we were able to sleep in fairly late. The bathrooms were as clean as a hotel and the shower had great water pressure. Due to covid there was a pool sign up which we didn’t have time to do but it looked clean. Amazing stay! It felt more like a low budget glamping experience — 10/10 would do again

This is our favorite campsite and park that we’ve been to in the state of Virginia! We have so many more to explore but Douthat state park is huge the lake is so much fun, and the trails go for miles! We just started camping and hiking and can’t wait to explore more of the country!!

Douthat (Doubt-that) State Park is a campers dream!  Level sites with or with out hook ups, well spaced apart, fairly private, and in the middle of a pretty good forest!

Kid and pet friendly, this park has a nice lake for Kayaking/canoeing, multiple hiking trails with views, excellent opportunities for wildlife watching, and great biking trails.

It is off the beaten path so it appears to be less visited than other Virginia State Parks.

My husband and I love this campground. The owners are kind and gracious. Always fun activities year round (they are open year round). Nice little store, gas station at the entrance. Very clean bathroom as and showers. We love our spot “99”! So much to do here in Natural Bridge and Lexington. Go to Pink Cadillac Diner - 4347 S. Lee Highway Natural Bridge VA 24578 United States and Laynes Country Store! Ride through the Virginia Safari! See the Natural Bridge and hear about when George Washington was a young man exploring this are.

This is one of Virginia’s best kept secrets for Cabins, RV or Tent camping.

The location is awesome; close to some great hiking spots, very accessible & well laid out.

The kids are guaranteed to catch something in the fishing hole & the camp store has EVERYTHING!!

Love this place! It is a great spot to go tent camping.

Call and speak with the staff about the best dates to go. They helped is pick a day when there were NO other people there.

Such a great spot.

Thunder BRidge is a unique property tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Near Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia, the campground was once a CCC camp. Now it is home to many quiet tent sites, screen cabins, log cabins, and even some fully furnished rental cabins.

The campground is about 60% wooded, the rest is open ground with buildings from the camp's earlier days. The open area includes  several artists' studios.  At one edge is a forest creek, great for wading. 

The campground is mostly tenting sites and rustic cabins, but there are RV sites in the open area.

This is not a "resort" but you won't find a more beautiful, quiet campground!

Located in a beautiful part of central Virginia, this campground gives you lots of options for sightseeing. It is definitely worth a trip to the Natural Bridge. The nearby town of Lexington has many historic buildings, and the town seems very dog-friendly. The campground is kept very clean, and the staff is very helpful. However, the sites are small and not leveled well. Although my camper is only 15’ long, I ran out of shims trying to level my rig. I watched a fifth wheeler spend two hours trying to position his rig so that it could be leveled. The store is friendly, but doesn’t stock much variety. Given the beauty of the area, I would go back, but I would insist on seeing the site before trying to set up. There is a wonderful country store (Lynne’s) close buy with great produce and meats. Be sure to check out the famous Red Hen Restaurant in Lexington.

We were in site #5. It was not level yet nothing in the mountains is level. The electric showed 30 & 50 amp yet the 30 amp was disconnected and that's what we need. We had to use the 50 amp hook up. The electric bo is on the wrong side of the site, most in this loop are on the wrong side. We filled with water this loop you have to fill with water. 

The site was nice sized and shaded. 

There isn't any cell service yet near the camp loop 2 the loop below ours behind spot #10 as you walk to the lake at a specific spot you can get service. 

The lake is beautiful. Our neighbor was catching nice fish out in his boat. Many different kinds of fish and very nice sized brown trout.

There is a swim beach which you can launch a kayak or canoe from the beach.

The Marina is closed yet there is a boat launch near the marina. 

They really need to update the campground area's  was told it was all closed for a few years too bad they didn't update the campgrounds. 

There isn't much around so bring your supplies with you. There is a small general store that sells somethings and gas but it's not a real grocery. They did sell excellent Virginia peanuts there. 

favorite campsites are:

Campground 1 

sites 9 and 2 were my favorite. Sites 2, 3, 9 & 10 the electric boxes are on the correct side.

Campground 2 sites 44 and 45 are nice with water & electric.

Sites 47, 50, 53, 54, 51 and 55 have no hook ups yet they are waterfront sites.

Campground 3 there is a boat & trailer storage area. 

Best sites are 69 and 70 with water & electric.

No hook ups 64, 88 and 89 are waterfront.

They had a problem with the water in our loop so the bath house was closed and they had port o potties in front of the bath house. The day use area is big and was not crowded at all. There were many people camping in our loop it was very quiet.

We booked the Thorny Mountain Fire Tower two months in advance, it is pretty popular, so if you want to stay there you will have to book it in advance. It is $75 a night, which is pricey, but is well worth it.

To get to the fire tower you will want to take the Loop Road, it is gravel and there are pot holes on the edges of the road so you will want to be careful of those. The fire tower is secluded, so you will not have to worry about neighbors or noise while staying there. At the base of the tower there is a fire pit, picnic table, and a pit toilet. The toilet is part of a small shed that has already split wood on the other side for you to use. But no electrical hookups at the base or in the tower. They do have a shower house behind the rangers station, it is very nice and clean. The website says the tower can house up to four people, however, there are only two cots, so you will want to bring sleeping mats if you plan on having more than two people. The 360 degree views are breathtaking. One night we had two different storm systems blow through the mountains and the lightning show was amazing to watch. You will definitely want to watch a sunrise as well, absolutely stunning.

Seneca State Forest is one of the oldest forest in West Virginia, it has a small pond/lake you can fish at and even take small boats onto. They have plenty of hiking trails, which also allow mountain biking on most. They have cabins on the lake for rent as well and have plenty of tent camping spots.

Morris Hill campground is located in Alleghany County, Virginia, in the George Washington National Forest. 

This campground does not have Water/Electric hookups... It is semi primitive.

Cell Phone Service is spotty also, as there is no pay phone at the campground either.

The campground has 3 shower/bathroom location within the campground loops.

1.) Men's side has 1 toilet, 1 urinal and 1 shower, 2 sinks.

2.)Lady's Side has 2 toilets, 1 shower and 2 sinks.

3.)Each Bathhouse has a sink in the rear (outside) for washing dishes and cleaning fish.

4.)Each Bathhouse has a water spigot in the front that allows you to fill jugs for drinking water.

For you all who have campers/RV: There is a dump station for your tanks, equipped with a wash hose to wash your drain hose out.

There is a fresh water filling station here as well, if you wish to fill your camper/RV when you get there.

The campground is located close to two boat landings. 

Fortney Branch, located approximate 2.5 miles away, has a substantial amount of parking for boats and cars. ($5.00 per day, per vehicle to park unless camping at the campground)

1.) This location has 4 vault toilets, a phone for local calls only.

2.) There is 4 lanes for launching as well.

3.) This entire area is a "No Wake" zone which makes for good fishing if you are wanting to fish off the bank.

Coles Point, is located approximate 3 miles from the campground.

($5.00 per day, per vehicle to park unless camping at the campground)

1.) Boat ramp is located here along with a dock.

2.) There is a Pier for fishing as well.

3.) Bank Fishing is also allowed in this area. There is a few picnic tables located along the shoreline as well.

4.) On the opposite side of the boat parking area there is a beach area for swimming. Soft sand and also a Volleyball net if you want to punch the ball around for a few.

 5.) There is also a restroom/bath house here as well. Each side has 3 spacious showers with hot water to get clean after taking a swim in the lake.

This area has 2 picnic shelters (which can be rented for family gatherings).. Both of those shelters also have access to water, and restrooms as well. There is individual picnic tables at these locations as well outside of the shelter where you can enjoy a meal with family.

Gathright Dam Area. (Trout Fishing)

The spillway located down in the bottom of the dam offers great trout fishing area as well.... and for those who want to see how massive this man made rock dam is, you will want to drive down and take a look at the massive size.

The US Army Corp of Engineers has a welcome center located just down from the campground as well. There is a replica of the lake inside of the visitors center along with boating information.

Located on Douthat Road, the Buckhorne Country Store and Campground is located just outside of Douthat State Park. The campground has back in and pull through site availability. 

The campground has a store, which is open to the public, that has food available for purchase and a kitchen area where fresh food is prepared.

Hershey's hand dipped Ice cream is a local favorite for the area also.

Sometimes there is live music in the summertime on the weekends as well.

The store also has camping supplies available for purchase, so if you forgot something at home, then most likely they will have it. If not the town of Clifton Forge isn't that far away with a Kroger, Dollar General and Family Dollar. ACE Hardware also has some limited supplies for campers also.

Good campground, we came over Memorial Day weekend and was surprised that it didn't feel too crowded or packed even though each site was reserved. Our camp site #54 was big enough for a large 8-man tent plus a pop up camper. No electrical hookups are provided at the tent sites and drinking water pipped near the bathrooms only. The groundskeeper was great, gave us advice on where to take our dogs to at Moomaw Lake. They had ice and fire wood readily available. Bathrooms were a little run down, but not bad, two toilets and one single shower. This site is also heavily populated with cicada bugs, so you might take a few home with you! They look big and sound scary, but harmless.

The campsite's proximity to Moomaw Lake, river, and dam make it an ideal spot to stay for fishing and boating, highly recommended! Also, the site has a small bike/hike trail that takes you down to the lake and links up with another trail system. It's not that well kept with old markings and high brush, I also couldn't locate a map so I didn't venture too far from the campground. Enjoy!

Visited on July 4th weekend so very busy, no ranger presence allowed a lot of people to free for all shooting fireworks (not great for a National Forrest) and being loud until 3am or later. Facilities were dirty and have not been kept up well. Also a tree fell over into our campsite and almost landed on us during the night, pretty scary. Had no one remove it during the two days we were there, and a little too big to chop up with my hatchet. Good location for plenty of hikes in area, Lake Moomah, etc.

Campground was nice and small. There are reserved sites. The sites that aren’t on reserves are ones that back up to a road. Not a lot of traffic, but every now and then you’ll hear a car.

Short drive to Coles Point beach and boat ramp for Lake Moomaw.

Site 034 Loop Morr Dates of Stay: August 30-Sept 1 Average Daily Temp: 78 Average Nighlty Tem: 64 Pet friendly spot with access to firewood on site for small fee. Tent pad, fire pit, one picnic table, and lamp post on site. Close access to Lake area with a 100 yard walk through pathway off the site. Great shade for those hot sunny days. Plenty of room on the site for tents and vehicle parking. Neighboring sites offer fair amount of privacy. Site had some trash scattered around by previous visitors. Needed to do some checking for broken flashlight pieces and glass before I allowed my dog free roam.

Um, the video tells it all

This is a great camp located near lake Moomaw! Right off the road with easy access to the sites. First come first serve but this particular camp has a lot of sites!

Plenty close by to do for outdoor lovers, Lake moomaw is a gorgeous hidden gem that not many people go to. It has a boat launch, shaded fishing areas, bathrooms, Grills, picnic tables and plenty of parking at the lake.

Bigger towns with Big Box stores about 30-45 minutes out, Hilly roads in and out of here but nothing the mini-van couldn’t handle! Spots for RV’s, Tents, And Vans are all accessible here.

Cool foggy mornings and nice dark nights out here, Usually always someone camping in this spot so you mostly won’t be out there alone.

All sites have picnic tables and fire pits, And there is actually a little bit of CELL SERVICE! And good radio service as well!

Great stop for primitive campers!

Quiet small campground. Couldn't ask for much more. Most sites do kind of pair up so if you need more privacy then reserve the pair of sites. Otherwise most are pretty sizable. We reserved 35&36. 35 was pretty sloped but the gravel driveway wasn't too terribly unlevel. Only real issue was where our steps came out right into a sloped area and was hard to set them right and had to be careful coming in and out. Also it made the awning much lower over our heads but we are both pretty short so no big deal there....except my husband did smack his head pretty good on the awning arm lol no worries he's ok! One night we did have some loud drunken adult neighbors just making strange noises and screaming a whole bunch but seems they didnt stay up too late thankfully. Hosts are friendly and helpful if they are around. A couple bathrooms with shower, utility sinks behind bathroom, water spigots throughout and a playground. Bathrooms were pretty clean but overrun by spiders so I definitely didn't spend any time in there. Firewood and ice available. Water fill and dump station with a lone basketball hoop. Cell service (at&t) was a little spotty but for the most part we usually had about 2 bars and were even able to watch a little netflix on the one rainy day. Lake moomaw is very pretty and just a few miles away to check out the dam, beach and boat ramps. Fishing seems very popular at this lake. Beach was small but pretty. Theres a large bathroom, a volleyball net, picnic tables and I believe a few tent camping spots as well. We visited 4 different campgrounds on this trip and this was definitely one of the top 2 favorites.