Best Tent Camping near Natural Bridge, VA

Our site was RIGHT on the river. It was peaceful and private. No water, no electricity available. Not for RVs. There is a railroad track that runs along the James River near the sites, but it never bothered us. Great fishing.

A little additional info from the internet:

BREEDEN BOTTOM CAMPGROUND is located on the James River about 1/4 mile down stream of the Arcadia bridge about 5 mile drive from our canoe livery in Buchanan, VA. It is situated about 6 river miles downstream of our Buchanan based canoe livery location near river mile marker 19. This campground can accommodate both paddle in and drive in campers. Each site is numbered and include a fire ring, picnic table, parking area, and level tent pad. Portable toilets and a dumpster are conveniently located in the center of the campground. Guests will need to bring their own water as no potable water source is provided. $36.00 per site for up to 4 campers.

This is a huge campground it has 137 sites that is right in between two mountains. Each site has picnic tables, lantern poles, tent pads, food storage lockers, and campfire rings. 63 of their sites are available for advanced reservation and then 79 first come-first serve basis. The bath house has flush toilets, water spigots, but no showers. There is also no electric, water, or sewer hook-ups.

Lots of hiking trails, but make sure you look at the map because we unfortunately did not look at it well enough and thought that the trail was a loop when it led to the opposite side of the mountain and we had to hitch hike back to the campsite. The trails are well marked and lead to awesome views. Rate is $20 a night.

North Carolina certainly puts its state park system as a priority! I am very impressed. This park is beautifully maintained, has myriad opportunities for recreation, and is in a scenic setting along Lake James and the Catawba River at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains. The park is quite large, and has an extensive set of trails for mountain biking as well as hiking, and the National Intermountain Historic Hiking trail also runs through the park. Water recreation includes kayaking, canoeing and boating with rentals available right in the oark, fishing, including trout fishing on the Catawba and feeder streams to it, and just lying on their beautiful beach—yes, even in December! Ranger led park programs are offered year round, this week included a natural history boat tour in the lake, and a naturalist talk on loons. The park encompasses several peninsulas and bays on Lake James, we were at Paddy Creek where there are nice drive in tent sites, but there are also more secluded walk in or hike in tent site options. The drive-in tent campground has a year round campground host, a brand new shower house and nice bathrooms, plentiful water pumps, and each tent site has a picnic table, steel fire ring, tent pad, and a well built “Bear Box.” Yes, this is bear country! Your food needs to be locked away in a bear box or you will have visitors

We stayed at the Natural Bridge KOA for one night on our way further north and loved it!

They opened the pool a week early, and although the water was still ICE COLD (75 degrees?), the kids loved it. There is a game room in the basement of the campground store with some arcade games, pool and ping pong table, and air hockey. Each thing takes quarters so be sure to bring some.

Your site number is assigned at check-in and you are escorted to your site from the front office.

There is a fenced dog park. The playground is a bit dated. However they make up for that with the bathroom and laundry facilities, which were absolutely AMAZING.

The park is a short drive from Natural Bridge State Park (pictures included), the Pink Cadillac Diner (Elvis themed, great food, pictures included), and the Caverns at Natural Bridge (we missed the last tour by 20 minutes, unfortunately!). It’s right off of I-81 and very easy to access.

Our site was a pull through with water and electric. The site was level and had a picnic table and fire ring. Sites are pretty close to each other but not so close that you feel like you’re in someone else’s space.

The whole park was very clean. The bridge going between our area and the bathhouse was damaged but it was still a reasonably short walk around the “long” way. The camp store seemed very well stocked with basics.

This was our first KOA experience. It was a bit more expensive than most state and national parks we’ve camped at but reasonable considering the amenities.

This was my first-ever camping trip and I’m glad that it was here. We stayed at site 11 in location 2 on the Lake James campgrounds; it’s a paddle-in-only location. Getting there required canoeing in, which was easy for us to do on the lake’s dock. (We rented canoes from CBS a ways away.) The trip is beautiful, especially at sunset.

Our campsite was clean and came with a picnic table, a fire and a bear box. We were able to fit 2 tents and 6 camp chairs in the space; a little snug with 6 people and 3 dogs but totally doable. We bought firewood locally, but someone came by on a bike the first night offering to sell us some, too. A few other campers walked past with dogs but mostly it felt very private.

We canoed to the beach at Lake James on Saturday. The water isn’t the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, but it’s perfectly fine for adults to take a dip in. They allow floaties, which is great, but sadly no dogs on the main beach. We also got ice cream and iceees from the concession stand. Also, no alcohol allowed, but that was actually kinda nice because there weren’t loud drunk people anywhere. Lots of families were BBQing and picnicking at the beach.

The bathroom at camp was somewhat primitive—just a toilet with a hole in the ground. It didn’t smell terrible but it gets very hot inside. No sink, but there is toilet paper and Purell. Definitely bring lots of your own hand sanitizer and wipes, if you need to feel super clean. Our campsite was private enough that I felt OK peeing in the woods.

The bugs (mosquitoes)were not too bad with bug spray on. There were spiders and centipedes around and a no poisonous black rat snake. No bears, but lots of loud frogs at night. 🐸

Sherando Lake is a well-maintained, popular campground located in the George Washington National Forest near Lyndhurst, VA. Convenient to both Richmond and Charlottesville, it brings people in for camping and day-use alike.

There are three camping loops here; a standard non-electric loop (loop A/White Oak Loop), and two RV loops (B and C). Both of the RV loops are very flat and open, with little shade or privacy between sites. They have electric hookups and drinking water available, but do not have water hookups. The tent loop is the oldest loop in this campground, and is heavily wooded, with sites along both meadow and backing up to the mountain. These sites do not have any hookups, but most have driveways large enough for campers and RVs 28' in length or under. All tent sites have fire rings, utility poles, and large picnic tables, and tent pads that are raked clear by campground hosts between guests.

The biggest benefits of this campground are its location, and the recreation area. It's about an hour and a half west of Richmond and only thirty minutes from Charlottesville, making it a great weekend trip without having to take time away from work. And as for recreation, it's wonderful. There are two lakes--the lower lake is the largest at 25 acres, and and while the beach can get crowded during peak season, it's an easy walk from the campground, with a large swimming area roped off. Canoeing is available at the lake, and there are several hiking trails, ranging from the easy lakeside trail, to more difficult trails that connect to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and other trails in George Washington National Forest. Fishing is available at both lakes with the proper licensing. There are several large picnic areas right on the lower lake, and a few smaller creekside spaces with picnic table and grills.

All that said; for RV campers this is an excellent campsite. While the loops with hookups are lacking in shade and privacy, having an RV or camper will afford you what the site itself lacks, and the location and activities make this a great basecamp.

For tent camping, it's good if you live in one of the nearby cities and want the shorter drive time, or if you like tent camping but still want all the benefits of front-country camping. As a place to set up camp and enjoy spending time near your tent, Sherando is exceptionally maintained. There is not a lot of opportunities for foraging for firewood, which means purchasing heat-treated wood nearby, and while the sites are very shady, there is little underbrush between sites to offer a privacy barrier. Many of the sites are staggered, with one or more levels of steps leading from the driveways. Because of all there is to do this is a great site for older kids, but we learned that, especially with toddlers, the steps around the campsites can turn a relaxing trip into one of constant vigilance.

Enjoyment of this campground will largely depend on what type of camper you are. If you are mainly looking for a place to get outside of the city, where you can set up for the night and have easy access to hiking, fishing, swimming, or boating, this is a great campground. This is where we typically chose to take friends if they were new to camping, as the bathrooms are well-lit, the road is paved, and the sites are so well-maintained. Plus at $20 a night, while it's more expensive than its neighbors in Shenandoah National Park or Cave Mountain Lake, it's a shorter drive from the neighboring cities, and doesn't have the additional NPS fee. However, if you want something that feels more rugged, or with campsites that offer a greater feeling of privacy, it would be better to skip this one.

Dixie Caverns is a privately owned campground, slash tourist site ( dixiecaverns.com ) located at the outskirts of Salem, VA.

Warning: In the website, they do state the campground is "directly off I-81," and it is. The fact is, you are surrounded on three sides by roadway...and the actual Dixie Cavern is at the base of a mountain, so all the road traffic is above the campground and the noise reverberates off the mountain and surrounding walls 24/7. Trust me when I say, semi-truck noise is loud during the twilight hours when the din of the day has disappeared.

We spent two different multiple-day stays at Dixie Caverns in the Spring, partly out of necessity and partly because of its close proximity to a desired venue in Salem. So I can attest to the traffic noise never letting up.

The Positive: Dixie Caverns Campground serves a need...a campground close to Salem. The next closest campground is an hour's drive and in heavy traffic...longer. It is also one of the closest campgrounds to several of Virginia's most popular hiking trails (AT) and scenic overlooks (Dragon's Tooth, Tinker Cliffs, etc). So people will use this as a "base camp" of sorts.

The personnel that run the Dixie Cavern Gift Shop, are also those you see to pay for a camping site...and I found them very friendly and helpful.

If you are visiting there to tour the Dixie Caverns...you are a hundred feet away from the mountain doorway.

The campground is tiny, as in footprint, but they have carved out a number of RV/Camper sites along the mountain base and the inner loops...and during our stays very few openings were observed. Water, electric and cable is provided at each of those pull-through sites. They are of adequate size for the largest of RV's, but they are side-by-side the length of the loop. No vegetation exists between or on those sides but some grass and some spaced large trees. Perhaps the RV/Camper clan camp there out of necessity and convenience too. Though there is a limit on the days of your stay, it appears that some are exempt from this rule. Some campers are permanent fixtures...others that were not, were still in the same location from the first visit to the next visit 30 days later. Several employees live full-time on site.

Tent camping is in the grass along the creek that runs down to the Roanoke River across the roadway. During the heavy rains we received, I had concerns that this raging creek would overflow its banks, but it did not. Trash was visible washed along its banks. The sites are marked only by a picnic table and rock fire ring...no other designation, so you chose a side of the fire ring to pitch your tent. Even with the heavy rains, I did not notice low, soggy areas. There is several large hardwood trees that provide a nice canopy, but no foliage between tenting areas...so the entire campground is line of sight. I believe there were only six tent sites (technically), but overflow tent sites are also along the grassy field across from the Gift Shop. Important note: If you are considering a good night's sleep in a tent (not sure of the sound dampening qualities of RV/Campers), ear-plugs are a must!

The showerhouse/restroom are located at the beginning of the campground, which is just the other side of the day use picnic area and the Gift Shop/Attraction parking lot. The doors are locked 24/7 and only campers receive the "push-button" door code (which the code did not change from both visits...not a secure safety protocol). The showerhouse/restroom has running water, flush toilets and several showers, and an electric outlet. It shows its age and looks like a heavily used campground facility. For tent campers, its the only potable water source.

There is both cell service and free wifi...which is amazing! I can count on my one finger how many campgrounds in W.VA and VA that had cell service.

The Negative: You must leave the campground for anything you'd like to do, other than the Caverns...and sitting in your camp chair.

There are no trails or other amenities...and the trails closeby...are still a 20-30 minutes drive on a good day.

Whether or not tenters are in the tent area, this is the dog walking area. They are required to pick up...but it is aggravating...because if it doesn't pour, the smell remains.

Did I mention the truck traffic noise? The overall condition of Dixie Caverns appears dated, a bit run-down, and dirty.

Would I stay there again? Odds are I will spend one more collegiate softball post season and World Series staying at Dixie Caverns Campground next spring, purely out of convenience and necessity.

I have to admit that it was an amazing campsite! Double decker with picnic table, lantern pole, and fire pit up stairs and over looking your paved campsite. We were walking distance to the dumpster and public bathroom ( no showers). It also offered no hookups which was fine, there was a dump station on site… The biggest downer for us was just getting to and leaving the site! RVLife took us up and down some insane switchbacks that were just not appropriate for anything larger than maybe 30ft tip to tail?? I wouldn’t advise staying here unless you’re a class B/C, pop up, or 20ft TT. Lodge is nice and has decent prices.

Greenbrier River Trail Mile Post 49.3 Primitive Campsite, Watoga, WV

West Virginia's **Greenbrier River Trail  (GRT) **stretches from its Northern Terminus at the Cass Railroad Station, Stumptown 78-80 miles (depending on what resource you read) to it's Southern Terminus in North Caldwell. The Greenbrier River Trail is a Rails-to-Trails initiative, so being a former track bed, the surface is predominantly ballast, though there are some black-topped areas. Some locations of the trail that either see more sunlight or less traffic have seen grass overtake the trail to form a "two-track" or at times a mown grass trail. Most parts drain well and easy to navigate, while some heavily wooded areas adjacent to rocky cliffs see more puddling and thus muddier...but all navigable. 

Because of it's relative remoteness and light traffic, wildlife flourishes along the GRT. This is bear country so I would recommend utilizing a bear bag or bear canister for your food and toiletries. I used a BearVault BV500 that I strapped to the Salsa EXP Anything Cradle attached to my handlebars...worked great. Eliminated concerns about losing food items and attracting Yogi and Boo-Boo. A Father/Daughter duo trailing us observed a juvenile bear not far off the trail mid-day. But bears aside, raccoons, chipmunks and other rodents can wreak havoc on panniers or backpacks containing food and fragrant toiletries. 

At the time of our visit there were 15 Primitive or Rustic Campsites along the Greenbrier River Trail. Each person traveling the Greenbrier River Trail will determine which primitive campsite they prefer for a night's rest. 

All the primitive campsites positioned along the Greenbrier River Trail (GRT) are free, first-come, first-served. Note that some offer more amenities than others, so those will likely be the sought after locations.

Traveling West Virginia's Greenbrier River Trail is a highlight whatever mode of travel permitted, whether on foot, horseback, bicycling or even paddlecraft...no motorized vehicles are permited. The Greenbrier River Trail was chosen by Backpacker Magazine as one of the top ten best hikes in the U.S. of A. That's quite the billing to live up to.

I will add that we chose to bikepack the GRT, so I felt we did not stop at all the available sites, cascades, waterfalls, bridges, etc purely because we were a little spread out and by the time you past by a special site, the others were too far down the trail. While I absolutely loved our entire GRT trip...had I been on foot...more exploring would have taken place.

PROS:

• Raised fine gravel tent pad
• Nice, clean, maintained and stocked pit latrine
• Picnic table
• Metal fire ring
• Metal Bear-proof trash receptacle
• No cell service

CONS:

• No water pump
• No cell service
• Tent pad located very close to elevated trail

NEARBY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Town of Marlinton
• Watoga State Park
• Greenbrier Resort
• Snowshoe Mountain Resort
• Cass Railroad
• Seneca State Forest
• Seneca Rocks
• Spruce Knob (WV highest elevation)
• The Wild Bean Cafe and Thunderbird Taco (Lewisburg)  (Suggestion: Order the Guacadilla!...thank me later)

The GRT Mile Post 49.3 Primitive Campsite does not offer a well water, so fill up before you get there. Although, if you utilize a filter, you can draw water from the river or the tributary down the trail several hundred feet. Even though Mile Post 49.3 tent pad is directly alongside the trail, traffic is so light that it is really a non-issue. There is not a large clearing and with dense vegetation...pack your bug juice.

This is West Virginia, so even in populated areas cell service can be spotty...but on the trail, I would not count on it. This is both a blessing and a curse. However, for safety purposes, I do carry a Garmin InReach Explorer + in case of emergencies.

The GRT Mile Post 49.3 Primitive Campsite makes for a great overnighter from either Marlinton or a nice out-and-back from Cass Railroad from the north or from North Caldwell from the South...eliminating the need for a shuttle.

Final Thoughts: Whether you chose to spend the night at Mile Post 49.3 or not, is not the point...all the primitive campsites along the Greenbrier River Trail are great choices...the point is, mark your calendars, plan this trip and travel West Virginia's Greenbrier River Trail!