Camping near R.D. Bailey Lake

Pipestem Resort State Park Southern West Virginia. 

We spent 4 nights here. Used this park as a base camp for New River Gorge NP. There's many other State Parks we visited too.

 This park has a LOT of razzle dazzle. A zip line, a golf course, no pool but a splash pad. They also have a tram that's closed right now for refurbishing.

 A lake with fishing & boating. You can rent a boat.

 The Nature Center is nice. The typical stuffed animals. You're not allowed to pet the bear!! 

 Lots of trails. A horse barn. A large "lodge" & cabins for rent. 

There's 82 sites in the campground. 

1- 31 have full hookup.

 32- 49 electric only.

 50- 82 water& electric 

Sites 1-4 are handicapped sites. 

We were in site 1 by the bathrooms/ showers.

 There are pretty good sites, but watch the site descriptions for the incline. 

The water/electric sites surround a large field. These sites tend to be sunny.

 1- 49 are in the woods. The sites seem small, but the perimeter sites face the woods. 

44 is a large site, but the incline is severe, so appropriate for Class B or tents.

I didn't like site 5 at all. It sits right as the road curves down a hill. 

The showers/bathrooms were very much on the lower spectrum of state park clean. It looked like they had been remodeled fairly recently, but not cleaned often. The campground doesn't seem to generate the same attention as the rest of the park. There's no DNR presence, no one driving through the campground. We rarely saw any employees checking the bathrooms.

 I would probably not stay here again since we won't be coming this way for a long time.

I think this was described on some maps I looked at as being "dispersed" camping. But being familiar with many dispersed campsites out in the western US, this ddid not feel very dispersed at all. Sure: it is dispersed in the sense that it is way off thhe beaten track, far down into the national park that  requires traveling a long way on a dirt road to  get there.  But thee sites themselves in the camp spot are not dispersed. You are essentially going to be right next to, annd right within sight of, every other campsite. This was not a problem for me since I was there on a weekday and off-season (mid November), so I haad the place to myself. In that sense, it was quite peaceful and had some nice views being that most of the sites were within ssight of the river, or within a few feet of it.

One  thing to keep in mind, a thing that would be true for pretty much any camping area next to the river here in the national park is that there is a train track on the other side of the river thaat is definitely active, several trains going through per day. So it won't be one of those places you would go if all you want to hear is the sound of birds chirping.

But given that it is a free campsite, it's absolutely adequate, and has clean restrooms (at least the day I was there) with pit toilets inside.

General: Mash Fork is one of three campgrounds at Camp Creek State Park and is the developed one. It is small (18 sites) with a mix of 30-amp, 30-amp with water, 50-amp with water and electric, and FHU sites. 

Site Quality: All camper pads are paved, have a generous camper pad length, and most are spread a decent amount of space apart. 

Bath/Shower House: was very clean. Instant hot water was appreciated at the tap (it was in the 30s when we were there in mid-October) Hooks and shelves for toiletries were appreciated. Did not use the shower.

Activities/Amenities: Playground, basketball, volleyball, laundry (but there was water on the floor so not sure if there was a leak), several hiking trails including trails to two waterfalls, and an ADA-accessible short trail. The waterfalls were very sparse when we were there so not sure about other times of the year. There is an office with a small store. 

This was only an overnight stay for us but very enjoyable. We'd definitely come back.