Best Tent Camping near Madison, VA

We absolutely loved it! We stayed in the tent camping area. The bathrooms were the cleanest we’ve experienced at any tent camping site. It’s relatively close to the Shenandoah NP. Would recommend this place. Definitely returning.

Beautiful river access directly from tent site! Lots of amenities from hot tubs, fishing pond and a heated pool. Staff was friendly and site was well maintained. Bathrooms were clean. Only complaint is that tent sites are really close together.

We legit loved this park! I took my grandkids tent camping and we had a wonderful experience. We brought our bikes and hit the trails. It was some great times. We had electricity and water and the bathrooms were close to our site. The park is on the Shenandoah River and there are multiple spots to put in and take out. There is primitive tent camping down by the river which looks fantastic. We definitely loved the trails with hiking and biking options. We will definitely go here again.

Stayed in tent site 005, and while it wasn’t the smallest of the tent sites or least private, if was very close to the main look road and every car entering the camp loop passes right by the site up the hill within eyesight. Camp store didn’t allow dogs, and I didn’t feel good leaving my dog unattended in the park (which is their rule) I didn’t get to visit the store. One good thing was the view from the amphitheater

Reservations are made through the National parks service "recreation.gov" website. Arrived for tent camping for 2 nights and found that my original planned site wasn't very hospitable to tent camping due to the slope, Conferred with park ranger who easily changed my site to a better one with no fee. My stay was quiet and the bathrooms were clean and well stocked. This is a great base camp for getting out to hike the Appalachian trail and the local water falls in the area. Firewood and some camping supplies can be obtained onsite and there is a park wayside store and cafeteria a short distance away (i highly recommend the honey breaded chicken).

Great site. Cement parking area and tent site is designated with log surround. Clean and airy.

Beautiful part of the SNP. I was unfortunately tent camping next to a loud RV, but that was my fault for booking the wrong site! Lovely hikes nearby.

The tent sites are ON TOP of each other. No trees. Zero seclusion. This is an rv resort.

It’s has small sites, great for tent camping, but not great for a fifth wheel. Bath houses are available and a small amp store.great for overnight camping and some bear coolers are available.

I love the Shenandoah. Nice escape from city life. Tent sites vary. A couple trails near campsite but you must drive to good ones

We've spent a number of nights tent camping at Christopher Run. The people who manage the site are very nice. The campground and bathrooms are kept clean. The bathrooms are even air-conditioned. Christopher Run has a boat launch as well.

Hot clean showers, all the tent sites platforms were covered with mushrooms and map is labeled completely wrong. 3 stars for the high quality amenities available but needs site maintenance.

Tent-camped here with a group of friends, and the site was plenty large enough for 2 tents, a makeshift tarp shelter, and vehicle. We ended up getting rained out, unfortunately, but not before we got to do a little hiking and relaxing by the fire :) Beautiful area, with lots of great hiking trails right near the campground.

Great views of the blue ridge mountains with many river access points. The Virginia Canopy Tour is fun. We camped with our pop-up in the RV section. Sites were spacious and the bathhouse clean. We checked out an adventure pack from the visitors center and hiked the River Trail, thus our son became a junior ranger. Tent sites, RV sites, camping cabins and large cabins all available. Firewood for sale in the park. We’ll be back! More trails to hike!

Nice tightly packed campground including tent camping. We sent up camp D22. Very tight spacing. Noisy neighbors with no consideration for other campers. No water/electricity. Over $100 for 2 nights. Nice staff. Bathrooms ok and clean. Camp store nice with decent pizza delivery possible. We mountain biked at Bryce ski resort 40 minutes away.

Beautiful spot on to of a bald. Good amount of tree coverage from rain/other groups. Some of the tent sites are close to neighbors, but we made friends! No more than 5 minute walk to bathrooms and water source. Would highly recommend!

We loved our stay at a tent site on the river in June 2022. It was peaceful, and we spent a lot of our stay in the water. Will definitely be coming back! The staff was nice, service good, and bathrooms adequate.

Pros: Location. This campground puts your right in the middle of Shenandoah with multiple beautiful hikes only minutes away. Wildlife is abundant, you will see deer and bears. Weather is lovely not too hot during the day and campfire cool at night. The camp hosts and park rangers were friendly and helpful without being around too much.

Cons: Campsite are very close together, little to no brush between campsites, and tent sites are laid out poorly with some site only having access to the parking lot or facilities by walking through other sites. Normally I don't mind noise at a camp site, but this was particularly bad. Due to the lack of brush, you could hear zippers and gravel crunching all night. Additionally, tent sites are small but have a gravel pad for the tents, the issue was the gravel was poorly maintained, consisted of large chunks of rock and were steeply inclined making it hard to layout a tent so everyone inside is at least somewhat comfortable.

Stayed for 3 nights and thoroughly enjoyed it. Each campsite included a fire pit and a picnic table. The tent sites also had bear boxes to store your foods. Place was very clean and quiet. I would definitely recommend this place for anyone who is interested.