Best Tent Camping near Hartwood, VA

Tent Camping Reviews near Hartwood, VA

700 Reviews of 22 Hartwood Campgrounds

• 

  RL

  Legend

  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 🪁💙

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• 

  Nick C.

  Guide

  Jul. 25, 2022

  Big Meadows Campground — Shenandoah National Park

  Centralized spot in Shenandoah - hot showers!

  I stayed in the tent only / non generator sites which is definitely the way to go. My site was actually a walk in. So I had to park and lug my gear up some steps about 200 feet. The site was shaded with a nice spot for a hammock. Including a fire ring and grill grate, picnic table and a bear box. You are close to the road, so you get noise and headlights in your tent sometimes. Deer and skunk walk through camp all the time. Heard some owls at night. Whooooooo

• 

  Terri S.

  Guide

  Sep. 23, 2019

  Big Meadows Campground — Shenandoah National Park

  Beautiful , well maintained

  Big Meadows Campground was wonderful. Facilities were clean and well maintained. Bear box for food storage. Loved seeing the deer so close and other wildlife. Fire ring with grate was available. Large site size. We had site 23. Highly recommend!

• 

  Carol B.

  Guide

  Apr. 19, 2025

  Big Meadows Campground — Shenandoah National Park

  Full campground, but a happy overnight

  I tent camped for one night at the start of Easter weekend. Lots and lots of folks about, but still enough space to NOT feel encroached upon. Level grass spot for a tent, fairly level paved parking area if car camping, picnic table, fire ring with grill grate. I was on the no generator loop, but in a non electric site (vs tent walk in type). Warm bathrooms, utility sinks in several, pay hot showers, lots of greenery. I will visit again! NO Verizon cell service at all!

• 

  Lucas B.

  Scout

  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!

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• 

  M J.

  Guide

  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.

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• 

  Ellen C.

  Ranger

  May. 30, 2019

  Big Meadows Campground — Shenandoah National Park

  Simply Amazing!!!

  As a youth I camped in Big Meadows for two weeks every summer with my parents, and this was my first trip back in nearly 30 years. We booked walk-in site number 35, which is the first site off the parking area. Despite being so close, it was secluded and well shaded. This site does not include a bear box due to its close proximity to your car, which is a minor hassle when preparing meals, but you absolutely must adhere to the rules regarding food storage when not in use within your vehicle or bear box (where available).

  During the week of our stay we saw bears daily, hunting for acorns in the forested areas surrounding the sites that were slightly further back from ours. I've attached some photos I'd captured of them, as well as, some deer that paid us no mind as they meandered right through our site several times a day. The bears were active mid afternoon to shortly before sunset and are very skilled at climbing trees. When we left the site to run errands and such we would check the trees before we walked in, as one afternoon we were sitting by the fire and unbeknownst to us one had climbed up a tree during our absence. He decided to high tail it out of there after we settled in. The tree was a mere 40 yards away in a nearby site. They generally want nothing to do with us humans but if cornered they will feel threatened and become aggressive.

  The showers are absolutely the best I have ever encountered in all my years of camping, so I happily paid the $1.75 for 5.25 minutes. The water is hot and the stalls are clean and much nicer than my own bathroom at home.

  The laundry facility is $1.00 for each unit and the washer takes :30 minutes to complete and the dryer cycle is about the same, although I had only done a small load towards the end of our trip, and it was completely dry in :15 minutes.

  The wood sold at the shower building is hit or miss, they sell two types one in yellow nets and one red. According to the attendant they were the same kiln dried wood but just from different manufacturers. The wood in the yellow burned better and sold out faster during our trip for whatever reason. The Walmart in Luray sells wood (which is okay to use in the park, provided it has the USDA symbol on the packaging) and at nearly half the price burned a lot longer and better.

  The camp store is well stocked with camping gadgets, canned goods, bread, snacks, toiletries and cleaning products. There is a small freezer section with individually wrapped meats, such as, burgers, steak and chicken breast which was a plus. They also had a nice beer selection. Prices are reasonable, similar to that of a convenience store. Gas was only .10 cents more than the valley which isn't too bad considering. We had a meal each at both the wayside and the lodge and they were both good and a nice change from prepping meals at the site.

  The rangers were great, helpful and informative. I was mildly worried after reading some of the reviews here, because our group included a few musicians and guitars were played and songs were sung. As long as you adhere to the quite hours you will have no issues.

  Ranger programs were offered every other day at the amphitheater and there were various presentations at the visitor center

  The utility sink near the bathrooms that are scattered throughout the campground is very handy for washing dishes but do not throw food out there. Scrape the food off your dishware/cookware into a bag and throw it out at the trash bins before washing. Twice over the first weekend the sink was clogged and completely unusable and had to be cleared by park maintenance. It can and WILL attract bears if left in that condition.

  Overall, this is a beautiful and well maintained place to place to pitch a tent and I highly recommend it.

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• 

  Mary S.

  Legend

  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.

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• 

  Georgina L.

  Traveler

  Aug. 4, 2018

  Big Meadows Campground — Shenandoah National Park

  Nice flat campground with ample amounts of shade

  This campground has nice flat spaces with fire rings and picnic tables at east site. Ample amounts of shade. The walk upsites have bear boxes.