The best YURTS camping near
Mapleton Heights , VIRGINIA

Stayed here in February 2021 at the Whispering Pines camp. Facilities are great, sites are close but not right on top of each other. Camping pads are as expected from state park. Great off-season camping as we shared the whole grounds with only a few other campers.

Only complaints are Whispering Pines is near enough to the main road that you get a lot of road noise, and the walking path to the lake has un-maintained stream crossings, which is probably ok in summer… but not as fun in winter.

Our family has camped here multiple times.  Great place to stay due to clean facilities and well kept sites. The lake is perfect for little ones and even grownup kids. Also love the trails that surround the campground.  Would definitely recommend for a camping trip.

We stayed here 4 days and 3 nights in November. We use a teardrop camper so we appreciated the water and electric hookup (although we disconnected the water at night to prevent freezing). The sites are large but there really aren’t trees between sites although we were on a corner and so had some sense of privacy. The bathrooms were incredibly clean and heated. Showers were terrific as well. Staff were kind and knowledgeable. A stream runs beside the campground and the lake, though small, is nice to paddle around in a kayak. We arrived the day after trout stocking and so there were quite a few fishermen in the stream and on the lake. I caught a few large trout in the stream on a fly but it really was a bit like fishing in a barrel. There are many hiking trails nearby with a variety of difficulty. We chose a couple that provided nice views. I imagine it would be a great place for kids.

Did some Jeep camping here in November. Nice bathroom facilities and showers. Very clean. Hiking trails all accessible from the camp areas. My spot had electric and water hook ups.

Our family loved this campground! It is close to Roanoke and it is off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is located in Explore Park. This park is growing by leaps and bounds. It has mountain bike trails, a cool vintage village, access to the Roanoke River, an aerial obstacle course, and more cool stuff. We stayed in one of the cabins and it was definitely roomier than it looks. The bathrooms were impeccable and close to the cabins. Great place to stay.

This was by far one of the best camping trips ever!! I took my grandkids tent camping and we had a fantastic time. The hiking and lake is amazing. We spent a lot of time at the beach and it was so beautiful plus it has a water playground, a diving dock, trees close by so there is shade on the beach in the afternoon, and a snack shack. You can rent boats too. There are multiple camping areas which include one water side so you can have access to the water with your canoes and kayaks, one for big rigs, one for equestrian, and one for tents and smaller campers. This place is beautiful and quiet. We loved it here!! Make reservations because it books up quick. Also, they have many cabins and they are placed wonderfully on the mountain. We went to the Humpback Bridge and a cool train museum that were close the campground.

This weekend was a great adventure in SW Virginia. We stayed in a Yurt. It has no electricity or water but the bath house was close. The yurt has a double bed, a twin trundle, a couch and some chairs, and a table and chairs. It also has a large wrap around deck with rocking chairs. A picnic table, lamp post, and fire ring are also provided at the site. We hunted and found fairy stones which made the trip that much more fun. It was just after covid 19 started and lessening restrictions began so the beach was closed and there were few people at the campground but we had a great time riding bikes and hiking. We even went to the Creeper Trail and rode our bikes from White Top to Damascus.

While overall our stay here was okay, we were not in love with this campground. The mosquitos were really bad despite using tons of bug spray and candles. There was no privacy at all. The campground was noisy at night, lots of parties going on. Our next door neighbors snored extremely loudly all night and they were so close we go no sleep at all until they left. The campground is pretty big so you have to drive to get fire wood. Our campsite backed up to the main road into the campground so there were cars driving by the whole time. It was mostly too hot to hike too much so we spent most of the time exploring nearby Blacksburg to avoid the mosquitos at the campsite. The lake is beautiful but it was closed because of COVID so we couldn't swim.

The campsites are pretty typical of Virginia State Parks and were great with plenty of space and nice flat area to put the tent. Picnic table, fire ring, etc. Very friendly and helpful Rangers here as well.

We love this area of Virginia so I would be willing to give it another chance in the spring or fall when it is cooler, less buggy, and less crowded. Lots of fun stuff to do nearby!

We had a wonderful time camping at Smith Mountain Lake State Park! We stayed at the end of March and it was definitely spring weather. Warmish during the day and very cool at night. Staying here in the late winter/early spring, the campground is not as crowded as it would be in summer! 

We stayed in site 32, which was awesome. It is a non-specific reservation and there were plenty of good sites to choose from. We arrived late at night and set up in the rain. We were very happy with the campsite we chose! It was big enough for our larger tent and had plenty of room for the kids to run around. It looks like it is typically wooded but since there were no leaves on the trees, there wasn't a ton of privacy. The non-electric sites are definitely more private than the electric sites. Our site was a short walk from the bathrooms, which had hot showers and flush toilets.

We did lots of hiking and enjoyed spending time on the beautiful lake!

Amazing area, absolutely beautiful scenery and tons of wildlife. Fishing and swimming in the lake, in the fall, the water is 70 degrees in September.