Best Glamping near Natural Bridge Station, VA

We used this in the offseason as is was one of the only ones in the area that stays open for most of the year. This is not a primitive/secluded campground if you are looking to get away and spend some time in nature. It would make a great group/family glamping campsite as is has all of the amenities, including playgrounds, a pond with a "beach" and golf cart rentals to get around.

Campground Review

As a Ranger on The Dyrt, I sometimes receive compensation for reviewing campgrounds like this one. Middle Creek Campground is the perfect place to use as a base camp for all of the outdoor activities in the area. Getting here was a lot easier than expected. The campground is only 6 miles off the I-81 Arcadia exit. We were quickly in the Jefferson National Forest where the road winds through the forest along Jennings Creek. It was absolutely gorgeous. Around every turn we saw fishermen wading into the water or sitting on the banks.

Check-in is at the fully stocked camp store where you'll likely be greeted by the two resident dogs. They mostly lazed around all weekend and watched people coming and going. The RV sites are directly across from the camp store, but the tent sites were tucked back into the woods. The upper tent campground was closed for renovations during our stay, so we chose from the 8 or 9 sites located in the lower tent campground. All of the sites were roomy and featured a small fire pit, picnic table, water, and electricity. Several of them even had a pull-through site and would work well for a small pop-up. Bonus: most of the lower tent sites have direct access to the creek! There were only four other tent sites occupied the whole weekend. It was very quiet and peaceful.

We chose site #76 because the creek wound around the back of the campsite and had a gentle slope leading down to the creek. We knew our dogs would love splashing around in it! Once we got everything set up I realized that the site was bigger than I'd originally thought. There was more than enough room to set up our Kingdom 4 tent, 10' canopy, and camp kitchen to glamp in style. We brought a 15' lead for the 2yo beagle so he could go down to the creek on his own or hang out with us. Even at the end of his lead he was nowhere close to the road. Check out the video below for a 360' view!

The bathhouse was at the back of the camp store. Like the rest of the campground, the facilities aren't fancy, but they are functional and clean. Both men's and women's featured two showers where the water was nice and hot! There are even washers and dryers around the corner.

Firewood is available for purchase onsite. We paid $7 for a bundle at the camp store, and it was delivered to our site just a few minutes later. The bundle was huge! We had more than enough wood for two cooking fires.

Because our visit was so early in the year, we weren't able to access most of the amenities. There is a good-sized pool and pavilion on a hill behind the camp store. Right beside that is the swimming pond with two large slides in the middle, plus a small beach. There is another lake at the front of the campground designated for fishing. There are no trails in this campground, so if you want to hike, you'll need to drive about a mile out to where the Appalachian Trail meets Jennings Creek. Or, drive to one of many trail heads within the National Forest. There are also plenty of pull-off spots along the road if you want to wade into the creek.

During our stay, we observed the staff cleaning, fixing, and getting ready for camping season. The bathrooms got a fresh coat of paint. The roads through the campground were recently groomed with new crushed gravel. All of the picnic tables and sidewalks were being power washed. The game room was also being renovated! Downside: we didn't have water at our site the first day. About half-way through the second day one of the workers came around to let us know they were turning it on and to let it run for a bit since it had been off all winter. That made it much easier to wash dishes in a bucket at camp. There isn't a wash station in the campground for doing dishes, so we had to improvise the first night. The biggest turn-off for us at the campground was the RV section right across from the camp store. It seemed like the sites were really packed in there, one on top of the other. I've never been RV-ing before, so I'm not sure if this setup is typical, but I wanted to point it out.

All of the staff that we came into contact with were super friendly and helpful. We were immediately made to feel welcome. It felt like spending the weekend with friends and neighbors instead of strangers.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I am testing Nature's Coffee Kettle with Colombian Arabica Coffee. I am completely unable to start my day without coffee even when I'm sleeping in the woods. Nature's Coffee Kettle is a packable system that provides you with delicious, pour-over coffee in the backwoods. The "kettle" is a specially designed pouch with two sections. The top section holds the pre-filled coffee filter in place while you slowly pour hot water over the grounds. It features a zip-top so you can close it up while you're waiting for the magic to happen.The bottom section is the reservoir that holds all of that coffee goodness. Coffee refills are also available separately. The entire system packs flat for storage in a camp tote or in your backpack.

The directions on the back of the bag are super clear and even contain pictures. The key to making the perfect brew with Nature's Coffee Kettle is time. Don't rush it. This is not instant coffee. It is the real deal and will be worth every minute. Slowly pour 1 cup of hot water over the filter, zip up the top and let it sit for a minute or two so the grounds can soak up all of that water. This is the most important step. Then, unzip the top, and keep slowly adding the rest of the water. How much water? I used my coffee mugs to measure out the right amount of water into the kettle before boiling. After you've poured all the water into the bag zip it up again and let it sit. Then, just twist off the cap and pour!

The pouch is reusable, so don't toss it out. Dispose of the filter and rinse out the pouch. It will be ready to go the next time you need some caffeine. Nature's Coffee Kettle comes in a variety of coffee flavors as well as orange pekoe black tea, apple cider, and hot chocolate.

Great all around virginia campsite

A favorite of our for years! All types of sites and hookups plus cabins. Fishing, lake swimming, hiking, educational opportunities galore. Security is good but not overwhelming. Virginia is for lovers and camping lovers!

I’ve stayed here in a tent and a camper. I’ve also stayed in the cabins. We love this park so much. The river is beautiful, the hiking excellent, and the fantastic rail trail is right there. The area has so much to offer - Bear Town, Cranberry, Falls - it’s all wild wonderful West Virginia!!

This was a nice little campground, and my friends and I had a great time here. Originally I picked this place because most of the other campgrounds in the area were already booked up. We went in the middle of October when the leaves were changing in Virginia. It was a good place to stay overall. We stayed in one of the "primitive" campsites with no water or electric hook ups. For these you park at a small parking lot and walk a few hundred feet or so to the campsites.  The sites in this area were pretty close together, some closer than others. We stayed at site 7, which was a little closer to some other campers than I would have liked. It was flat and grassy and the woods were very nice though.  There were also some rv sites in the campground, which also seemed a little close together. 

I wold say the best thing about this place is how close it is to stuff. Crab tree falls and spy rock are both really nice hikes right in the area.  Bold rock hard cidery is about 40 minutes from the campground. All around a really awesome area with plenty to do.  I would recommend it.

This was our first camping trip to actually visit lake Moomaw in Warm Springs Virginia.  We had been close before but never made it to the lake itself.

First off, sorry for the audio on the video we uploaded.  It seems in March of 2021 I was diagnosed with having lung cancer and it is pinching the never of my left vocal cord so I'll I can use now is my right vocal cord.

Now, given that information, we decided to camp at Bolar Mountain Campground for a few days. We arrived the week before Memorial Day since it worked out better with my chemo treatments. We reserved site 34 and it was a perfect site. It's basically a corner lot which worked out great for us. It's little hike to the bathrooms but not to bad of an incline.

The bathrooms were clean and so were the showers. Everything was great. Access to a small store is not far away. The owner of the little store is very nice and helpful. Stop by and see him if you choose to come camp here.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.

https://youtu.be/VIjZYIG58Ks

I selected this site. because it was near Natural Bridge and all that it has to offer. There were not a lot of options in the area so I bit the bullet and paid $30 for a site for the evening. While the facility was typical of a KOA I was not entirely impressed by the overall price to amenity ratio, especially after seeing other campgrounds in Virginia along this trip and their price being so vastly different.

Let me just give a full disclosure on this…. There are tent sites which cost less here, BUT there are only 5 of them in the entire campground so if you end up there on a weekend don't count on them being open at all. I even checked just for a reference of how booked they are and even checking some 2 weeks in advance on a random week day the same results appeared, NO BOOKINGS.

During summertime I can see how this place would attract a lot of people with the pool and various options, but in my opinion that does not offset the price point. And RV sites, which are more costly looked hard to get into with larger units.

My site was even and pretty basic despite having electricity. It was just across from the deluxe cabins and close to the restroom which I liked. Everything seemed well lit at night.

This campground being my hub only I did enjoy that it was very close to the town of Lexington itself as well as Natural Bridge, which is a pretty cool site with a lot of interesting history as well.

TIPS:

• If you want a primitive site book well in advance. These are apparently quite a difficult ticket to score at this camp.
• Call ahead about RV lengths to make sure you are booking the correct site for your size. I noticed more than a few people struggling with their units and some of this could have been avoided with proper booking.
• Check into local sites!! There is a zoo and dinosaur area as well as the Natural Bridge, hiking and a historic downtown.

The kids loved the water park! So much for them to do! There were craft nights, build an ice cream sundae night, dance parties! Giant inflatable trampolines were a blast. Nearby is a wonderful park a and natural bring to tour. Really beautiful. Our site was U60. Not bad , easy to back into. Bike ride to the pool and recreation area.

Lots of stuff for kids, very close to river for tubing, reservation system in place because of Covid prevention guideline for swimming which worked out really well for kids... not many activities due to Covid, but could still swim and go to lake and hike. Store didn’t have coffee which was disappointing in the morning but other then that pretty clean and people nice.

From tubing on the James River to participating in a dance party, there is a lot going on at the Yogi. Some of the amenities are closed due to the disruption. The pool is open with reservation. That ended up being surprisingly convenient since the amount of pool goers is limited. We didn’t have any issues setting up a times.

The campground is divided with the store and most of the kids stuff of one side. The other side of the park offers additional lots and a playground.

The tubing trip ok. It’s slow, which is what tubing is all about, but it becomes comical when the waters deepen and the your progress slows dramatically. Still water run deep, right. I ended up paddling with my hands when we heard thunder. Of course that was just about the time it seemed like we weren’t moving. The tubing trip ends at the campground, which was convenient. It took about 3.5 hours. Don’t forget your water shoes.

Fun and relaxing! We stayed in a back in site with our teardrop trailer, it worked out just fine as we were in a quieter part of the park. The pool and lake looked fun and the bathrooms were nice. Excited to go back and play in the river.

This place has tons of activities for kids and teens. This place has a family feel to it.

There were a ton of things for the kids to do here which was great. I really enjoyed the water park myself as it was in the high 90's/low 100's when we were there. Our campsite was fine near the river, nothing spectacular though as we were on the end of the row and our site had a bit of a slope to it. I'd stay here again.

A great place!! Right next to the James River for all of your fishing needs. Have a pool, splash pad, pond/lake with a slide, beach, inflatable obstacle course, have an arcade room, and 2 additional water slides. But what really makes this place is the staff. Rec staff had awesome activities planned and kept the kids entertained all week with kick ball and karaoke and shaving cream wiffle ball and dance parties. Definitely worth your stay if you have kids.

Been here a few times as campers and as guests. They have play grounds, mini golf, a game room, air pillow, a pool with a kids area and water slides. If that isn’t enough, there is a lake with a big blow up slide and more in the center and also has river access. You can get free life jackets to use and can rent out boats for the river. They also do lots of activities for kids and families to participate and have fun. There is a small market on site, and a cafe with a grill. You can camp in a tent, RV/camper or you can rent a cabin. You are also right by Natural Bridge State Park and Dixie Caverns. Zoofari and more. So there is also plenty to do right around the area as well.

They go out of there way for kids. Something for everyone. If you camp near the activities you get some basic closer spots. If you camp across the road the spots are very nice. So.... not on the River but nice or on the water but tight? Ether way it was very pretty and they even have golf cart rentals.

We camped on a busy fall weekend. The campground has Halloween themed activities for kids on specific weekends. We were there for one of these weekends. It’s geared for younger kids(10 and under).

We had a tent site with water and electricity. There’s a bath house. There are other amenities, some of which were closed due to COVID.