Northwest River Park & Campground

Arrived shortly after 8 pm after a long day's drive. The sun was going down but it wasn't dark yet. The campground office was locked and deserted. No posted instructions about after hours registration, no pay box. Ran into a park ranger who informed me the campground was closed for the evening; as in, would not take my money. Seriously? The campground is behind a gate with a keypad, so no chance of driving in and talking to the camp host. The ranger was kind and apologetic at least.

Drove a little further south and found a nice site at Bells Island Campground. The host there was happy to take my money.

Bath houses were clean & the trails were awesome!

Plenty of things to do for the active camper. Put put golf, kayak, hiking and much more.

A great nights sleep. Lovely setting, shady and quiet. Bathrooms were brand new, showers were clean & HOT. Coin laundry available. They are in the process of adding another bathroom/shower building so only running at half capacity when we visited. Lots of fun activities for families!

The campground at Northwest River Park is small and pretty basic. For a tent camper that is used to wooded, private sites these leave much to be desired. There is not much privacy. The campground was full the night we stayed there and very busy and noisy through the night. We stayed on a Memorial Day weekend though so maybe it is not typically like that. All night our young children were woken up by the noise from the nearby RV's AC units. 

What this park lacks in it's campground, it makes up for in it's recreational activities! There is a putt-putt course! Canoeing! Tons of hiking trails! Multiple playgrounds! Lots of wide open space for kids to run and play! Fishing! This is an excellent park for kids and families to come for the day! 

Overall not a horrible experience but this is the closest campground to our house and we have not felt the need to come back and stay overnight. Maybe would be better for camping mid-week when it's not so busy.

I have spent my childhood here and I am excited to share it with my kids. We hike here when visiting grandparents. Chesapeake Public Park’s does a great job with events and education at NWRP! Equestrian trails available, which is always a plus.

Its nothing fancy. Good place for a natture hike, campfire amd one night tent camping. Plan on bringing your own water as there isn’t always running water (not sure why).

sites are small but the park does not fill up during the week. There are a few hikes leading back to the river. Canoes and paddle boats are available to rent for use in black water.

It was a rainy Labor Day weekend, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves at the campgrounds. Because this area is near wetlands some of the campsites were flooded throughout the weekend. If rain a lot of rain is forecasted you may want to talk to one of the rangers about your particular site.

Rangers were nice and very attentive during there checks of the campgrounds. The facilities were very nice and clean. Campgrounds were very dog friendly, which made camping with the dog enjoyable.

My only issue was the parks reservation system. I reserved the campsite using the online, Reserve America system. About a week before our trip I had to change plans and only stay 2 days instead of 3. Tried to change the reservation but the park said I had to do it with Reserve America. When I called Reserve America I kept being told we don't handle that park you have to call this number. After being given 4 different numbers and talking to 6 different people I gave up trying to change the reservation. From now on if I camp here, I will make the reservations directly with the park and not online.