Looking for the best dispersed camping near Burnsville Lake? Dispersed camping is the perfect way to get off the grid. Find dispersed campsites you've visited before, or discover new spots from other campers.
This scenic area is managed to feature an undisturbed condition of the West Virginia highlands for study and enjoyment. Maintaining the natural appearance of the area is an essential management goal here.
Approximately 50 acres of the Gaudineer Scenic Area is typical of, and considered part of, the virgin red spruce type that originally occupied large portions of the highland areas of West Virginia. The composition of this impressive timber stand consists of virgin and second growth red spruce, yellow birch, beech, red maple, sugar maple and other hardwood species. Individual trees range up to 40 inches in diameter at breast height and 300 years of age.
While the remaining 90 acres has had some cutting, mainly salvage of blow-down, most of the original growth still is standing. The total wood volume of the 140 acre tract is estimated at one and a half million board feet.
Scout
It was dead when we arrived; only saw two other vehicles. Very quiet and secluded. Easy to navigate and find a spot.
Guide
Very quiet, beautiful views, amazing drive from VA. Multiple campsites and they all have beautiful views. I have T-Mobile and had signal only by the first campsite for some reason. I had no signal for almost two hours heading towards VA.
Scout25 Beautiful remote sites with Mountain View’s and lake overlook
Traveler
Unfortunately the road is closed for upgrades until spring of 2024
TravelerWe drove In Thursday evening intending to go to stonecoal but the road was blocked off so we headed out to mowers basin and were lucky enough to snag this beautiful view. The few people we did encounter were friendly.
Scout
Just wow! First off, it's not a campsite, it's day use only, but I got there too late to go anywhere else. The forest floor is only moss. Like miles of moss and other than the trail that was it. No other trees either. Just Spruce?I think it was spruce but I'm not a treeologist. That combination created the world's most quiet environment ever. You wouldn't hear a marching band if they were feet behind you. It was super erie to camp in, but also the most peaceful and amazing spot I've been to in years. I loved it! I did the old growth loop down the road too. The whole place was magical.
Traveler
My husband and I stayed her for one night with our dog! We arrived around 6pm on a Friday evening. A couple of the spots were taken but we found a lovely spot in the group campsite - there was no one else there! The group campsite had 5 spots spread around a smallish gravel loop.
Just a heads up, the road to access these campsites is tucked in the back of a residential area. We missed it the first time by and had to turn around!
If you are just passing through or staying a while, this is a great dispersed camping area!
ScoutLove it here! Wildflowers and ferns and grassy spots right by the river. Some spots even have picnic tables and fire pits. Nice and quiet.
GuideThis has been the best spot I've found so far in terms of what it offers. It's easy to find, the roads are gravel and maintained enough for just about any vehicle to get back there, the views are truly incredible with great star gazing opportunities, and MOST IMPORTANTLY it is absolutely littered with marked hiking trails.
Following the road all the way to the final site you will cross paths with no fewer than 5 distinct and different toughness hiking trails, there are likely more, but I was only there for a week and would usually just do one trail a day.
I saw forestry trucks coming in and out during the day, day hikers, and the entire week that I was there I only saw 3 other cars coming in to camp. But the sites are so spread out/the foliage is so thick that you can't see or hear anyone.
This is a spot that I will make a special trip to go back out to, just to enjoy those trails and views again. In the months that I've been slowly moving across the country, this is 1 of 2 sites that I will FOR SURE come back to. I'll probably invite friends from out of state to make a several hours drive to hangout there, it's that good.
GuideLost cell service an hour before reaching the area. Utterly beautiful, pretty untouched wilderness. Very very quiet location. You can collect fallen material for fires, and we marched off into the woodlands for a little hike. Not even 2 minutes from our dispersed camp site we were charged by an extremely aggressive black bear, fortunately with plenty of noise and shouting and slowly backing away we avoided further conflict! But, it was very very close to the site we had our tent! We decided to keep ALL FOOD in the car's trunk those nights and not hanging in a tree just to be safe. While the wilderness is beautiful and untouched, the previous campers left behind some sweet teas and cans, which probably is why the wildlife was so close. Be mindful to pick up your own litter and if you can take out the litter from the previous campers. Also a warning ⚠️ the road is narrow and you'll need to pull off to the side to let cars pass coming in, and the road is riddled with pot holes and is entirely gravel. Just beware and you'll have a great time!
GuideI've seen a lot of beautiful sights, but this may be one of the top of all time.
You park in the little lot that has a cassette toilet and a trash dump bin. Then there is a 1/2 mile loop with little campsites all along it. It looked like most of them had a table and fire ring. I also only did half the loop lol, but there must be at least 10+ spots.
The spots are not huge, so don't plan on a big group, but if your group wants to spread out, that could work as the sites are fairly tightly packed in there. When I went in November on a rainy weekend, there was no one else there.
Even if you choose to not camp here, it is at least worth it to walk the trail and see the overlook.
Guide
You will want a car with decent clearance to get down here. I went in my Subaru Forester and was fine.
The spot is about 20 feet from the railroad, so just be ready to hear a train if you're lucky lol. When I went there it seemed like there was recent work done as there was hay, presumably to grow grass, and some cut and stacked firewood.
You are also along the Shaver's Fork River, so if you have a filtration system, you can get some water. I did see signs driving in about this being a catch and release zone, but I'm not a fisherman so I didn't look them over thoroughly.
I have some pictures from a little up the river the I'll add to here, so you can get an idea of the landscape and what to expect. The river is small and shallow, so when it isn't so cold, it could be fun to play in.
GuideWords cannot describe how amazing this site was to camp in. I took the road all the way to the end passing other sites, some taken and some open. The moon was bright but you could still see hundreds of stars. There was a fire ring and enough space to fit a car and tent, but other sites were large enough to fit many cars and a dozen people. It is all first come first service, so if you want those bigger group sites, come early.
I also love this place as it has a small network of single track trails for anyone with a bike, or in my case, Electric unicycle. The trails were well maintained and offered a wonderful variety of wooded and open space riding.
I cannot wait to get back to this place, maybe even in the snow.
Guide
So instead of putting in 20+ reviews, I'm just going to lump them all into one. There are a lot of campsites along this road, many of which could fit an RV, but many of which have some rough roads that an RC or trailer might not do well on.
Each site has a clear marker put there by the Forest Service, something I haven't seen before, and plenty of signs asking to limit your stay to 14 days. Each site also has a campfire ring and is well spaced out from the next one, but not always from the road.
You are sort of in a valley/basin kind of area. There used to be a lot of spruce tree farming here so I think that is why it is so cleared out. It doesn't seem to be an active logging zone now though, so it's just peaceful and quiet.
I have t-mobile and got zero service. I wouldn't expect any carrier to get any service out there though.
RangerLittle river has about 15 campsites along Little River Road. Most are decent, but a few are absolutely gorgeous. I stayed at site 13 last time (which was occupied) but this time at site 9 was just as magical. There’s a couple fire rings up by the parking spot, but we chose to set up a little closer to the creek. It rained a lot while we were there but there were ample trees to set up tarps. The creek rose a few inches one night, so keep an eye on it if there’s heavy rainfall.
When you park and walk down to the river, if you turn right, there’s a beach area about 50 yards down that offers a great spot to take a dip!
There’s also a nice trailhead at the south end of little river road.
Ranger
Check weather conditions and map before heading here.
This is a dispersed camping area so be self sufficient
This is a dirt road so not for everyone to travel down. But we did travel on bikes so it is not horrible.
We set up camp right next to Rose Run, just East of the closed off bridge.
Along this road you will see areas to pull off where people have set up fire rings.
Just pull off and set up camp. Our camp area apparently was well used with many beer cans and spent shell casings.
There is not a ton of traffic on this road but since the site is close to the road you will hear some vehicles driving by.
There is Elk Springs Resort & Fly Shop just down the road. Here you can hire a guide, or pay to fly fish their well stocked area. A well stocked fly shop as well. Everyone there was great on suggestion on flies suggestions.
The area where we camped is catch and release only! Please be respectful of the river and rules. Water levels were pretty low, but was nice to just sit by the river, listen to the sounds and relax.
GuideAbout 7+ miles in from the town of Durbin on a dirt road (not sure how that would go in an RV but easy in a small vehicle). Beautiful dispersed camping near a creek in dense, lush forest. Not much for views and only stayed one night so didn’t get to hike but it was a perfect, quiet spot for an overnight. Would definitely come back for a longer stay.
GuideThe campsites are just pullouts in the road with fire pits. Good quality dirt access road, no problem for my Honda Civic. Got here on a Monday night in late September and there were lots of campsites available. Good access to water with the river. No mosquitos. Soft ground for staking a tent. Getting here long after dark isn’t an issue, because you can drive right into a campsite. It was very quiet for me, no traffic on the road at night. There was some light litter, a few soda bottles, that kind of thing. No AT&T service. Highly recommended
RangerStayed 9/5/2020 - FREE
Site "Turnaround"
This was difficult to find on Apple Maps, but if you pin the location, it takes you right to it. Nice little area within Monongahela National Forest.
We pulled in just at sunset on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend and drove through the entire length of the campground to see that all the sites will filled. We got to the turn around and noticed a couple of fire pits setup and a patch of grass. It wasn't a "designated site", but it was a defined area with the fire pits. We were out the next morning, so we didn't have any problems. The only negative was having cars drive through all night.
Two vault toilets along the long road. There was a trail at the turnaround, but it was completely washed out once we got into the woods. Nice area, right on Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. A few sites are actually on the river side.
Had NO AT&T or Sprint cell service.
RangerThis is the Little River Dispersed Camping in Monongahela National Forest, WV.
We drove in from the south, through Durbin, which is almost 7 miles on a pothole ridden dirt road. Dangerous for RVs, great for those looking for an escape.
We noticed two small gravel camping areas to the left when we entered the area, but were then rewarded with the first open site on the right by the creek. The site was breathtaking, with a small stream pool running along one egde, and the rushing river on another. Soft dirt padded the entire area, and great trees filled the space with their natural architecture and canopy. There was a fire pit by the main camping area, and a fire pit down by the creek. It was a mansion in terms of campsite sizes, though it's primitive still, so don't forget your shovel. Small trails led along the creek in either direction. Two white cross grave monument memorials could be seen from the creekside.
It had rained a lot recently, so the driveway into the site got muddy towards the end, causing us to park half way down. We couldn't get a fire started either of the two nights we were here as everything was wet, though we were graced by copious amounts of some interesting mushroom species.
On two occasions, deafening aircraft, possibly military, passed over what seemed like the treetops. It was frightening in the peace of the area, so that's a small heads up. I only saw one other traveler drive by, two construction vehicles, and the park ranger truck a couple times.
Otherwise, on a month-long roadtrip, this was probably my favorite location of over a dozen. We didn't drive any further past our site, but I've heard there's over a dozen locations here, guessing they may be of similar quality. We hiked the Span Oak trail, at the beginning of the camping area, which led us along a beautiful ridge.
GuideOne of the best experiences I’ve had camping solo. The camp site was on a small gravel road, tucked up in the forest, only 1 or 2 other campers, but the grounds man who delivered my firewood checked on my 1-2 times a day. Also warned me when a storm was imminent. Seneca Rock and many hiking trails close by. Incredible drive through steep, winding mountain roads!
RangerThere are over 900,000 acres in the National forest for hiking and dispersed camping. Immerse yourself in nature and spend the weekend hiking and camping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Burnsville Lake?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Burnsville Lake is Dispersed camping at Mower Basin with a 5-star rating from 5 reviews.
What is the best site to find dispersed camping near Burnsville Lake?
TheDyrt.com has all 10 dispersed camping locations near Burnsville Lake, with real photos and reviews from campers.
