Saltville, VA is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Discover secluded campsites where you can reconnect with nature. Or maybe you like to bring your family and friends along. Either way, there are Saltville campgrounds just for you. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Saltville and user-submitted reviews.
$25 - $45 / night
"Very nice lake for swimming and kayaking. Challenging hiking and biking trails. I saw some monster fish in the lake so my guess is the fishing is good."
"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"
$25 - $40 / night
"First off - if you are driving an RV or travel trailer up here - know what you are getting yourself into. The drive up here is challenging and only recommended from the East."
"It was a two mile drive from the Contact Center to the campground entrance… passing by a scenic view turnoff on the right, with long valley views."
$24 - $36 / night
"Campground Review:
Located in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area of SW Virginia, the Gindstone Campground is tucked away midway up the mountain."
"The fire pit had a great grate for cooking in our cast iron pans and the picnic table was a huge plus."
"Clean sites Stayed in Brunson Site 44 by creek Some shade Water and electricity on sites Main camping is Creekside / tent platforms at Royal Oak All facilities super clean , laundry and lake for a cool"
"The other campground, Creekside, is nice and secluded but no sewer hookups and road in is narrow for large rigs."
$20 - $40 / night
"Located in the George Washington & Jefferson National Forests this campground was a nice find.
Not crowded at all, maybe 5 other campers. Extremely quiet & relaxing stay."
"Getting close to dark on a holiday weekend when we found this place. The hostess was very friendly and welcoming, even offered to deliver our firewood since we were on motorcycles."
$30 - $45 / night
"The lake is amazing. hey have canoes, paddle boards and kayaks. Pretty quick at night and the kids around the around rode bikes for ever! The wifi did not work."
"The bathrooms were in great condition and the camp hosts were very friendly!"
$25 - $136 / night
"Totally worth driving up the small country mountain road. After you make it up. The office is on the right. Very friendly staff and super helpful."
"Lovely woody and grassy field campground with only electric at our site. The sunrise is beautiful on the big field. The sites are well spaced and fairly level."
$50 - $170 / night
"We stopped here while driving down 81. It’s right off the highway, but nice and secluded. It’s a little barren (not enough trees) but the facilities and sites are quite nice."
"Game and rec rooms, dog park, store well stocked playgrounds, sand boxes. No messing around. Staff very friendly."
$20 - $38 / night
"Our site was in the B loop and had no water or electricity. It was surrounded by a lot of trees, so it had shade. It was a short walk to the bathhouse which was very clean with nice showers. "
"Bathrooms are clean and well maintained. Lots of hot water and water pressure in the showers. There is a pool and waterpark on site, and a gift shop and camp store. "
$27 - $72 / night
"Beautiful days hiking nearby, cold nights. Pet friendly. Pretty clean bath house. Visitors center nearby. Sites were mostly level, with gravel, fire pit, picnic table."
"We were on site 50 which is closest to parking. No water view but more secluded then most sites. This site does get great sun in the afternoon."
TravelerThis place is absolutely beautiful. Totally worth driving up the small country mountain road. After you make it up. The office is on the right. Very friendly staff and super helpful. He walked us to our site and helped us make sure we could pull into our site. We set up on site C-4 close to the tree line so we had so much privacy. It was close enough to the bathhouse but far enough for us to feel secluded. They have a fishing pond, long hiking trails and only about 15 minutes from downtown. 
ScoutWe 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.
ScoutEverything you need to have a good time in the mountains! Very nice lake for swimming and kayaking. Challenging hiking and biking trails. I saw some monster fish in the lake so my guess is the fishing is good. Cabins are comfortable and have air conditioning!! I had a really great time there in June.
TravelerBeautiful campground with running creeks and sloping drives. Pleasantly surprised the weekend prior to Halloween that there was trick or treating, a haunted trail (kid friendly), and wagon ride. Camp team were extremely friendly and welcoming. Cute on-site coffee shop, clean bath houses, easy check in and setup process with the convenience of fire wood delivered to your site prior to arrival. Looking forward to returning!
LegendHungry 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.
LegendFirst off - if you are driving an RV or travel trailer up here - know what you are getting yourself into. The drive up here is challenging and only recommended from the East. It is not for the faint of heart or amateur driver. Do your research and drive only in the daylight.
Past that.... GHSP has two campgrounds - Chesnut Hollow and Hickory Ridge. HR is the main campground with store and some led programs (you can reserve sites on Reserve America) and CH has adjacent stables and is more of an overflow campground (reserve non-site specific). We stayed at CH in a 34 foot travel trailer. The sites are close together and some are smaller than others. If you are traveling during the busy summer season, get here early to have to best pick of sites. Because we stayed in mid-May, it was not busy and we really liked the campground. Electric and water hook-up only, but the bathhouse was nice and clean with a dishwashing station. You could hike (0.8 miles) or drive up to Massey Gap where it was just a short hike up to the ponies. There was no wifi or cell signal, but if you drove up to the Visitor Center you could sit on the rocking chairs and get some signal. The ponies are beautiful, but please use common sense. Do not approach them, let them come to you, and avoid the stallion (he will protect himself and his herd with kicks).
We stayed here during Trail Days in Damascus. An hour drive but doable. There is a convience store with some groceries about 15 minutes away from the park. Be prepared otherwise. You are isolated. But that's why you come here. It is beautifully rugged. Would stay again and recommend to others.
LegendHungry Mother State Park, just a short drive off I-81 in southwestern Virginia, is an easily accessible gem offering modern cabins, yurts, and campgrounds equipped for tents or RVs, with limitless activities.
We stayed in one of the cabins after Hurricane Michael rained out our plans for tent camping. This was our first time in one of the VSP cabins, and will not be our last. There are three types of cabins; log exteriors, part of the original Civilian Conservation Corps structures; wooden frame cabins with wooden interiors, and cinderblock exteriors with tile floors. Cabins range from economy to three bedroom, and all have a kitchen with microwave, stove, and refrigerator/freezer, a bathroom with a shower, and a fireplace, as well as heating and air conditioning. Most cabins also have covered porches, exterior picnic tables, and exterior fire rings.
The Creekside Campground loop has water and electric hookups, picnic tables, and fire rings. The layout is similar to most water/electric sites in state and national parks in Virginia; not much privacy between the sites, but fairly shaded, and a quiet atmosphere. This loop is true to its name, and right on the creek running through the park. We were there during the rains from Hurricane Michael and the creek was running so high that sites 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, and 19 looked like they were in danger of flooding.
The Royal Oak campground has platforms for tents set into the mountain rather than dirt or gravel tent pads, however as there are hooks in each of the pads to anchor your tent they can only accommodate tents with a 20x20 footprint. These sites have picnic tables and fire rings on the dirt beside the platforms. The two VSP Yurts at Hungry Mother are in the Royal Oak loop, along the entrance that are set up from the road. This loop overall offers a lot more privacy for each site that I have typically seen in state parks due to the platforms, though you will still see/hear your neighbors. Both camping loops have bathrooms with electricity, flush toilets, and showers with warm water.
Amenities in the park include a lake with a swimming area, boat/canoe rentals, fishing (with license), a restaurant, hiking, biking, and ranger programs. The park office also has several cool displays of local wildlife and history of the area, as well as backpacks you can check out with books and gear for tree, wildflower, and animal identification. Hiking varies from short and easy trails with minimal elevation gain, to the difficult Molly’s Knob trail with one of the most epic sunset views I’ve ever hiked in Virginia.
I love Virginia State Parks, and this is definitely a new favorite. I’m skeptical of the comfort of the wooden platforms for future tent camping trips, but the cabins will definitely be a future stay for us, particularly during the winter months, and there is so much to do in this park even the most reluctant adventurer will find fun.
**Product Review **
As as Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time — on this trip I tested the RōM pack, from RōM Outdoors.
I was skeptical about this pack when I first received it—it felt extremely heavy for a day pack, particularly as it doesn’t have a hip belt, and while I was impressed with the removable pockets, it didn’t seem like the pack itself had a lot of cargo capacity.
After using this pack on our trip, I am a convert. We used it to pack clothes for my husband and I, knowing we would be able to leave our clothes at camp when we went hiking. This freed up space in the car that would normally go to a larger backpack, and we got to take advantage of the pack’s ability to convert to both a poncho and a blanket, not just for review purposes, but out of necessity.
The poncho’s rain resistance held up well, considering we were hiking in the outer bands of a hurricane. The first hike we took this on we started in the rain, and my husband wore the poncho—he stayed dry for the first half mile of our hike, but by end of our mile the water had started leaking through so he did get a little wet—though mostly around the the seams/openings. On our second hike he wore it as a backpack. Because it was raining when we set out and we anticipated needing the poncho feature again, we elected not to bring the detachable pockets, but the interior of the pack was enough to hold our 5 year old’s day pack once she got tired of carrying it.
It stopped raining by the time we got to the summit of our hike, and we tested the blanket feature of the pack for a picnic. It unfolds to a size that was perfect for our family of four. The canvas is thick enough to make a great picnic blanket—it protects from damp ground and sharp rocks, and the lining makes for a very soft surface to sit on. On the way back I took advantage of the poncho. By this point it had gotten extremely windy and was getting dark quickly, and the poncho was excellent at keeping me warm. It’s very heavy, which was welcome in the strong wind, though it did make it hard to hear with the hood over my ears.
Pros to this pack:
-Versatility. In one trip we used the backpack, poncho, and blanket feature, and were grateful for all three.
-Durability. This is definitely a well-constructed pack, with heavy materials that seem like they will last for a long time.
-User-friendly. The pack looks intimidating at first, but it unfolds/folds from pack to poncho/blanket very easily. Combined with the drawstring inner pack and detachable pockets it’s easy to convert while still keeping track of your gear.
Cons to this pack:
-Space. This is great to bring on a camping trip where you can bring additional packs/bags for your gear, but it doesn’t hold much on its own.
-Weight. It only weighs in at 4.6lbs, which is less than a lot of backpacking packs, but as the pack doesn’t have the hip belt it’s a high starting weight.
-Thin straps. The width of the straps is comfortable, but they could use a little more padding.
TravelerWe visited in April. Beautiful days hiking nearby, cold nights. Pet friendly. Pretty clean bath house. Visitors center nearby. Sites were mostly level, with gravel, fire pit, picnic table. Some were classically wooded, shady and some in the bright sun. Cute small town nearby.
GuideWe stayed 3 nights at Fort Chiswell. Although first impressions weren’t that great, it grew on me. This is a lovely park right off the main highway. You don’t hear any noise because a large hill blocks every thing off. RV sites aren’t really spacious, but are shaded with a picnic bench. No fire pits allowed. You are surrounded by farm land on two sides and it was relaxing watching the cows and sheep graze on the hillsides. There’s a large pond stocked with koi fish. The grounds are well-kept. There is a pool that hadn’t opened yet. The public bathrooms and showers were clean, but really could use some upgrades. The only issue I had was with the multiple signs to pick up after your dog, but the only waste receptacle was the dumpster near the front entrance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Saltville, VA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Saltville, VA is Royal Oak Campground — Hungry Mother State Park with a 4.7-star rating from 41 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Saltville, VA?
TheDyrt.com has all 33 glamping camping locations near Saltville, VA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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