Harpers Ferry Campground - River Riders

Busiest train corridor I’ve ever experienced, with several every hour all night. To add to the noise, there is a one-way tunnel a few feet from the campground. The practice is for cars to stop, blow their horn to announce their presence, then proceed into the tunnel.

I have a 14’ trailer, and it wouldn’t fit into my site perpendicular to the road. I had to pull past then back in so that I was parallel to the road. Ordinarily no big deal, except that the road isn’t a loop. It’s a single lane straight road in. No place to turn around, no way out except to back all the way out.

The view was pretty. But beware the train runs right behind you. All through the night. The one way tunnel is nearby and the morning honking of horns got annoying. We were there just one night. So it was fine just for that. It sounded like maybe they are working on things like a camp store. So hopefully it will improve. Maybe ask to at least stay in the road in the upper 100 spots.

The was the nicest view at a campground that we’ve seen so far! Great views, great people PLENTY to do. We were there for wine but stayed for the camping!

Very small camp sites, we were just a few feet from the campsite next to us. The bathrooms were dirty and the campgrounds are not very attractive. There is a train track right next to the campground and the trains run all night. We would not recommend staying here

Had a blast very relaxing and to top it off beautiful view

It was raining… HEAVY… but that aside, it is a great little area along the river. You really need to be proficient at backing the RV into tight spaces… there is not a lot of room. There is a bizarre amount of traffic at the camp site, maybe due to the zip line adventures. It makes maneuvering the trailer into the spot all that much more challenging. Sewer is not at RV spot, but 100 yards away to go to when leaving camp… The Dump station is also very small and leaves little room for error in positioning trailer…. A-game only.

Boy oh boy. Where to begin. Trains. Literally every half hour a train goes right behind the campground, waking everybody up. If you're in a tent, that's not so great. Also theres a one way tunnel to get to the campground, and all these cars seem to thinks its really necessary to honk at least five times (just to be sure) before passing through. Even at 2am. Or 3am. Or worse, 4am. I will say, the river is great fun. Easy access, swimmable. Probably fishable. However, beware. The moment you get too far from the shore, a thunderstorm will start. Guaranteed. We almost died out there. Me and my tube had to paddle so hard when the wind changed the direction of the tide, pushing me further away from shore. Glad to be alive. Overall, good campground.

Edit 1: dont forget the trains tho. Bring those bose noise cancelling headphones. Bose only.

Very, very rustic and rural. Few campers so we had a lot of space to ourselves, met some great people; a couple returning to Michigan ending a trip to Florida, also Jeff Ashby of Ashby Gap Adventures and John Hayes who were training a new guide. Had great views of the river and beginnings of the old tow path and lock system. Major attraction here is zip line, kayaking, and white water.

Have waited six months into our RV life to start reviews for fair comparisons. We stayed here to meet up with friends in Harpers Ferry. It has been our most expensive site in six months, but suspect that’s par for the course in this area. Prepare for the noise with the overhead zip lining (which is cool to watch), the frequent passing train, and the honking of horns going through the tunnel. All that being said, great view and the guy in charge couldn’t have been any nicer. Brought us free firewood for having to wait less than five minutes to get into our site, which we really didn’t mind. The reason it was delayed was they were creating a new site, and when we expressed the desire to stay longer than our initial reservation he let us take the new site. Yes it’s noisy, but we really enjoyed it. Great areas for dog walking. And can walk into town from the campground.

We stayed for 3 nights at a hike in island camp site and LOVE IT!! The pictures just don’t do it enough justice, it was beautiful and relaxing. We lucked out to have the weather vary from cloudy, drizzles to full sunny days. Yes, there are trains that go by, and there is a zip line that goes over some camp sites (we were aware so it wasn’t a surprise) but honestly, we were down by the water and it wasn’t too bad. All the beauty and relaxation definitely over shadowed the other noises. There are plenty of water sports to do on the spot of the river (which was pretty calm, more like a lake than river). There are plenty of hiking and other adventurous things to do in the area. Finally there are lots of local history spots to enjoy as well as some local breweries and wineries. The only downside to this camp site for us was the hike uphill to the shower houses.

We brought our paddle boards and river access was super easy. Freshwater hookup and electrical hookup were convenient (and the water tasted great :). Showers are available and the portable bathrooms are in a trailer as opposed to porta-potties (women's bathrooms were clean, the men's was a little stinky). There is a sink next to the showers for washing dishes.

Checking in was easy and staff at Riverriders and the on-site caretaker were friendly and helpful.

Nice and quiet at night. The biggest commotion during the day is when Riverriders brings a group of tubers in to launch. The last line of the zipline goes overhead, its fun to see the people go by (the zipline is occasional and there are not people constantly zipping overhead)

Overall we loved this campground and we are going back in October.

What a lovely spot for relaxation and some time in nature. Too bad the Marc train runs right above your head all night. If you are looking for a relaxing camp experience make sure to bring your noise cancelling headphones. It’s lovely to have a site right on the water. Unfortunately that area of the river has a very muddy/mucky bottom so you will need to walk (not far) down to the rocky entrance so you don’t lose your water shoes. I recommend bringing a float and spending your day relaxing out on the water. The site itself has a fire pit and picnic table which was great. There was also a bathroom facility very close by. We were on site 2 and 3 and it was a bit of a hike to the showers. Overall though, when the train comes barreling by at 1am, 2am and 3am you either laugh or you cry depending on how tired you are.

A friend and I chose this campground because of it's right-on-the-river sites and it's close proximity to the tubing we'd be doing on the Shenandoah River through the same company as the campsite, River Riders. 

When we arrived we noticed that the campsites are one on top of the other in a row along the access road and the river. There is no separate between the sites (kids ran through ours a few times ripping out our guy lines) and you can hear all radios and all the conversations of your neighbors. 

The river views were amazing, but face the other way and you're looking at a 15 or so foot CSX rail line berm. The trains that come through here almost hourly range from quick commuter MARC or Amtrak trains to long freight trains. The proximity to the tracks means that if the sound doesn't wake you up, the rumbling ground will. Every hour through the night. 

The amenities here really let me down. The campground cannot do anything about their location along the tracks, but they can control their response time to issues and the cleanliness of their bathrooms. The bathroom trailer near the campsites was extremely smelly, with many of the 4 toilets clogged. The water from the sink sprayed everywhere, and for the first day and a half of our trip, there was NO SOAP. In a normal time this would be a problem. In a Covid19 time, it's horrible. We tried to let a camp host know the first night, but we couldn't locate them. The next day while at the River Rider facility to tube I let them know. Upon arrival back at our site later that second day there was still no soap. I saw a River Riders employee (a guy in a white RR car) and told him, he said okay, but did not get us soap. We called the office when we could find service, and they said they'd send someone. Finally, around 8pm on the second day, the weekday camp host said she would refill the soap if they "weren't out of it." YOU CANNOT BE OUT OF SOAP IN 2020. It's just not okay to be open to the public without such a basic sanitary need. 

Between the train and the crummy, smelly, understocked facilities, I will never be back here. Even if that was a really nice river view.

My family stayed here for two nights during the middle of the week, about half the campground was occupied. Our campsite was right along the water (all spots are along the water). We love walking and having a nice walk right from our campsite is a big bonus. As the covid19 was happened about half a mile down the road was blocked but normally 1.5 mile walk down into Harpers ferry. It was quite other than the train which was 12 feet up a hill across the road from the site. Only had a couple come through the night our 1 yr old slept perfectly through it so it isnt too bothersome,the porta john was serviced while we were there and the showers/bathrooms were 3 private rooms, was pretty clean. We got a discount for staying 2 nights so it was only $29 a night. Dont buy the $25 firewood itll be gone in one night they have wood throughout the campground go forage!

I am not a fan of writing bad reviews. I really wanted to love this campground. Its location on the Potomac River was beautiful and it had a dirt road leading off to the east that begged to be biked or walked into town. However, that's where the praise stops. This campground is operated by River Runners, a local rafting company, who uses it for their ziplining and put-in/take-out location. We had reserved and received a site along the river (water and electric). The drive out there was circuitous and narrow due the necessity to go around the railroad tracks, which runs adjacent to the campground (we needed to do this because we had a 34' travel trailer - tent campers can squeeze through the narrow bridge. The road through the campground was pitted and muddy. The sites small and dirty (trash, mud, etc) and marked off by two posts with a wire running across the entrance. We were located next to the portable trailer bathroom and after setting up I went to go use the facilities. I couldn't, because all three toliets were clogged with toliet paper and feces. There was toliet paper and poop pouring out onto the floor in some places and (as you can imagine) smelled horrible. One of the reasons it was this way was that the water was turned off to the trailer. I turned it on and found that the reason it was turned off was because it ran constantly in the toliet bowls, hence the overflow. I called the office to report the problem and they said they would send out the camp host. 30 minutes later, and he still wasn't there. At this point we had had enough and wanted out. The office worked with me to refund less than half of my reservation, even though the reason I stated was due to their unsanitary conditions at their site. This could be a great location if it was taken care of more. But as it was, I was glad to leave.

Harper's Ferry is a little town in WV nestled right next to the Potomac River. It's also a convenient halfwayish point on the Appalachian Trail. One of my friends and I stayed here while we were section hiking the AT. The campground is pretty nice, with cabins, tent sites, and RV sites. It's also got a lot of extra activities that you can do. Zip lining, tubing, rafting the Potomac, and even an adventure park, you name it. You definitely won't be bored wile staying at this campground.

Harper's Ferry is a pretty neat place too. There are some great restaurants, cool shops, and make sure to make a stop at the AT Conservatory. There you can see cool pictures of all the people who have through hiked the AT and learn more about it.

Speaking of the AT, there are great hiking and biking trails right around Harper's Ferry. You can even say you hiked all the way to Virginia from West Virginia. Just don't tell anyone that Harper's Ferry is right on the border.

The hike that leads to the lookout about harpers ferry was fantastic. This hike takes you well above the town settled in West Virginia. While some points are pretty steep don’t let this deter you from completing it. The trail is well maintained, marked, and exciting. It is filled with tons of history and when you walk across the bridge from the town be looking out for all the locks on the bridge that have been left behind by other avid hikers

Gorgeous spot on the river. Small campground with not a lot of amenities BUT THAT RIVER IS GORGEOUS. Lots of activities - tubing, zip lining, fishing.

Nice river front sites, and pool in the campground. Close to historic Harpers Ferry and lots of great hiking.

Great place! Lots to do on-site. Tent camped and really had a great time. Harper’s Ferry is a beautiful place to hike, camp and visit. Highly recommended!

This campground has an abundance of things to do. The campground offers adventures like rafting, biking, tubing and zip lining to name a few. If you would like to do some exploring, then you can walk the trail right next to the campground into the historical town of Harper's Ferry (If you’re facing the river then the trail is to the right of the campground with a sign reading that you have entered Harper’s Ferry National Park. The trail is about 1.5 miles one way). From there you can grab a bite, visit the history of Harper's Ferry or continue exploring more hiking trails. There are train tracks behind the campground with a train going through day and night. For me it’s a minor inconvenience and my daughter, who even as a baby, slept through it. Do bring ear plugs if you’re a light sleeper. Bathroom and showers located nearby. You’re not allowed to park at the tent sites but most of the tent sites allow you to drop all your camping gear off and then park in a designated area. Between the tent sites being close together and the campground being part of zip lining/rafting courses there’s not a ton of privacy (especially during the weekend). Overall, it's a great adventurous spot!

Such a beautiful place. As well as the people.

Wonderful tent campground. It is right on the river so you can go swimming right from your campsite! The only downside is you are directly next to train tracks but being from the city, this noise doesn't bother my husband or me. The camp ground is part of river riders which offers lazy tubing, white water tubing, zip lining, and great kayaking down the river. There is also great fishing right from you campsite as well. It's not the most private and serene campsite and I recommend using the portipotties not the toilets in the trailer. But honestly when it comes to getting away who really cares where the bathroom is as long as you have great water, sunshine, and wonderful company near by:-) have fun!