Best Glamping near Marion, VA

We stayed for one night only on our way to Dreher Island SP. We didn't get in until after 4 pm, but there was still enough daylight to see how pretty the campground was. We had site 60 for the night. We tow a 19' a-frame camper with a Toyota Tacoma and had lots of room on the pad. The pad was pretty level so set up was easy. The site also had a huge area for the picnic table and the fire ring is far away from your camper. There was a huge grassy area behind our site with a creek, lots of space for our dog. We were in campground B (electric) and the sites were decent. There wasn't a lot shade for us, but up in the tent area they were surrounded by trees and it looked like they all had tent pads, some better than others. The shower house was nice, clean, flush toilets, and good showers. By the shower house they also had an outside sink to wash your dishes. We didn't get to hike, but everyone said we should if we ever go back. It's on our list to visit again.

While there's a few dozen great places to stay in and around the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway, there are few campgrounds as prized as Julian Price, which has plenty to explore just steps from your tent's front door (er, flap!). 

After a 3+ hour drive from nearby Raleigh, my very great friend Gary (or'Gariatica' for short) and I landed at the D Loop, which is one of four campgrounds you'll find here. What's important to know about the'Big Letter D Barrio' as the locals refer to it as, is that the campground perches up almost immediately after entering it, so you'll be first met with a few of the lower campsites (which must receive a decent amount of noise from the passing traffic that is only 30-40 feet away from them) before coming to the ground's bathhouses (while just mediocre and not the cleanest, there are bonus points here for providing 'no coin required' individual, private stalls (8 in all), so no group showers, which will be disappointing for some, I suspect). 

After passing the communal bathing facilities, you will circumnavigate the D Loop in counter-clockwise fashion (although many tried to swim upstream and go in the opposite direction, which I don't recommend, as apart from being hit from oncoming traffic, even if there was none, you would need to conduct a 17-point turn-around to park your car in the provided parking spot) to tour the 40 or so campsites. 

While there were only a few free slots to chose from at the time of our booking (about 3-4 weeks in advance, so book early if you can!), we did get relatively lucky with our campsite, good 'ol D20, which had plenty of space for our behemoth 24 person tent cabin (OK, so you can't really sleep 24 in this sucker, but it sure would be fun trying!). 

I would actually recommend the sites that were located directly across from ours - while ours slanted upwards(revealing our entire site), those on the other side of the road sloped downwards so had a solid amount of privacy. Basic amenities were had at most sites we saw- solid (yet aging) picnic tables, fire rings (with pull down grill) and wooden-encased tent platforms. Warning: no nearby running water (to clean dishes, you'll have to load them up in a bucket and trudge back and forth to the bathhouse (donning a towel is optional). 

Also, I would suggest if you are looking at campsites here or in the other areas of this campground, do look at whether or not a trail cuts through or by your campsite. I don't know how you feel about 100's (this is a popular campground with loads of people hiking trails when we were there, so I'm not overestimating here) of strangers passing by your front door (dang it, I meant'flap' again!), but you might want to avoid the heavy foot fall traffic. 

Also, unlike any other campground I've ever visited (I lost count after the first 100), I've never stayed at a campground where it was so easy for anyone to simply drive up and around the campground (usually, you have to persuade someone at the front gate that you belong there, right?) as this location has an EZ access point that avoids the ranger at the gate(who left promptly at 5pm anyway), which made me a bit uneasy, although we had no problems to speak of. 

Last tip? My buddy who knows the area fairly well took me to Gamekeeper's Inn [https://gamekeeper-nc.com\\\\\\\] for one of the best meals of my life. This oversized log cabin chalet has an outstanding bar, simply fantastic staff, upscale smarts and feature exotic meats and rare game, so while I would have preferred hot dogs and beans fireside, followed by endless amounts of s'mores, I was instead dining on grass-[hand]-fed Bison and dungeon-free Emu, the likes of which I had never savored before. Quite delish, washed down by very fine Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough in the land of kiwis and finished off by, what else? You guessed it, a fantastic creme brûlée. Very nice and quite expensive, but hey, you only live once, right?!. 

Happy Camping!

Campground review: Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, VA. This park has something for everyone. Hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, swimming. There are interesting campfire get togethers too. Two campgrounds, one up the hill, the other on the main road. Secluded cabins and yurts. We stayed in the smaller campground at the top of the hill. There is electric at each site and plenty of room for more then one tent, hammocks and small campers. A nice showerhouse with dish sink on the end. You will get your exercise walking the rolling loop still campground and hill. There is a yurt in this campground with a nice deck. Some visitors saw a bear near the backside of the lake, but I didn’t see any large wildlife. The cabins are located on the backside of the lake with some nice porches to sit and enjoy the evening breeze. The beach is popular, there are kayaking programs and paddle boats. You could easily stay a week here. Two things to do while your here is ONE: check out DIP DOGS a very popular and busy restaurant and TWO: the “Back of the Dragon” an AWESOME DRIVING TOUR across the mountains from Marion to Tazewell, VA.

Product Review: As a Dyrt Ranger I have the opportunity to check out some awesome outdoor products. Outdoor Element stuff is like survivalist gear that can be carried with you all the time. Bracelets that can be used to make fire, use as fishing line and as rope. This bracelet has a fish hook “embedded” in it and a flint and striker for sparks. Cool thing they do is give you a piece of the 550 cord used for the bracelet to take apart and experiment with. Watch my video for more information. I wear the bracelet all the time now so it’s a little stinky , ;p not sure about washing it, but I am going to the site to find out.

Hungry Mother State Park, Royal Oak Campground, Marion VA...site 3. https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/hungry-mother

Campground Overview: Located outside of Marion VA

Hungry Mother State Park is somewhat split up and fragmented on either side of a local highway and the first campground is distanced from the other two. So a little different than most parks but not necessarily a negative.

The Visitor’s Center is on the left after the first campground (Camp Burson) and across the roadway from the reservoir and beach area. The remaining two campground loops are past the beach area...one to the right along a feeder stream (Creekside Campground) and opposite that is the third loop (Royal Oak Campground) on the side of a hill with wooden platforms for tents.

I was hoping to paddle this meandering reservoir but it was being drained for bridge work...so it was six feet or so lower than normal. Even the migrating geese weren’t too happy about it, as they waddled around on the mud.

During the peak of the summer season, it appears that it would be very popular with s nice swimming beach, paddlecraft rentals, cabin rentals, conference center, ample covered picnic pavilions and both paved and dirt trails.

I stayed on site 3 in Royal Oak Campground, pitching the tent on a 20’x20’ leveled wooden platform. Several pros and cons to elevated platforms.

Pros: It’s level and large enough for any tent I’ve ever seen. Water drains pretty decent between wood decking, so no pooling. D-ring lashing points were attached to the decking to assist in securing tent or rainfly.

Cons: When the cold wind blows, it’s hard to retain heat in the tent...360 cold. While there are D-ring lashing points, they don’t accommodate every tent of rainfly. Previous knucklehead campers drill Tapcon screws or nails in the wood decking and rails to secure their tent...then leave them there so everyone else snags or rips their tent on them.

It rained for 12 hours straight with cold, high winds...so it was a bit chilly, but still enjoyable.

What I enjoyed: deer wandering through the grounds, the Molly’s Knob Trail and Vista Summit,

The ugly: the lake (reservoir) was drained. Heaters weren’t on in the shower rooms...37 degree showering gets tricky.

We go back here multiple times each season. Very family friendly. Sites are relatively clean, easy to park at, bath house is clean& easily accessible. They even have a"coffee shop". The staff here are amazing! The campground is tucked away outside of Boone, but not so far that if you really need something you cant get it. The staff does a great job making sure the quiet hours are really quiet and no craziness happens. After looking around at other campgrounds, we really love this one. Most of the sites are shaded so in the heat of the summer it is really pleasant to hang out at the campsites(usually with a nice breeze). The location is also not far from the Blue Ridge Parkway and lots of great hiking.

I camped here with a friend and our dogs over the weekend. The campground has 3 loops. We were in loop A which had no electric hook ups. Each site has the usual fire pit, picnic bench and a pole for your trash bag. It was very roomy and well maintained. The bathhouse was a little bit older but had showers with hot water. Within a short driving distance you can find an old country store. They sell cool drinks and snacks. From the campground it is walking distance to the Stone Mountain loop. The nature and landscape is just so beautiful and definitely worth the trip. We would definitely camp here again.