Best Camping near Ethel, WV

Recent Reviews in Ethel

445 Reviews of 81 Ethel Campgrounds

• 

  Benjy B.

  Traveler

  

  Nov. 14, 2024

  The Outpost at New River Gourge

  Loved it here!

  As a car camper I was initially hesitant about paying for a partial hookup RV spot knowing that I wouldn’t be fully utilizing what I was paying for, but man am I glad I chose to stay here.

  The location is great for getting in and out of town and the park alike, and it was the ideal location for a hike base. In terms of the campground itself, I think it set a new standard for me that’ll be pretty hard to beat. The bathrooms were incredible, and the shower was so good that it was almost annoying (I’m jealous and want it at home now too).

  Checking in and out was easy, and the staff was very kind in accommodating me extending my stay another day on two separate occasions. I’d been most in and out in the dark, but finally on the last day got to check out the rest of the place and it really is super nice with a great aesthetic to match.

  The big kicker for me was the lodge/Wi-Fi situation. As someone camping in a Prius, it can get pretty tight at times, so having a nice big space with great internet to get some work done was a huge bonus. Even in my car, the WiFi was plenty good enough to use, albeit not quite as snappy fast as the lodge.

  All in all, I’d happily come back here again and again if I were to find myself back in the area. Could not more highly recommend.

• K

  Kim L.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 5, 2024

  Rifrafters Campground

  Nearest CG to New River Gorge bridge and visitor center

  Very comfortable and quiet campground. Camp hosts (owners?) and staff are very friendly and helpful. Close to local towns for services. The full hook up RV sites seem crowded, but the electric only sites were spacious and shady. I had a little deck with a picnic table. Even though the land is hilly, almost every site was level. The area where I camped had a single porta potty, but the main service area had clean showers and reasonably priced laundry. Short hiking trails are nearby. A children’s area is available but looked little used.

• 

  Molly R.

  Scout

  

  Nov. 1, 2024

  Rifrafters Campground

  Well managed everything you need.

  Beautiful area, close to New River National Park. Very accommodating staff. Includes wifi, PBS TV, small dog run, small playground, picnic shelter, laundry, bathhouse, firewood, ice,etc. Clean, friendly without all the fancy extras. Reasonably priced.

• 

  Anna S.

  Ranger

  

  Oct. 29, 2024

  Blue Jay Campground — Camp Creek State Park

  Simple but sufficient - great location with miles of trails!

  All 12 non-electric sites appeared to have fire ring, picnic table, trash can, flat parking area. They did vary a bit in size. I was there on Friday and Saturday and there were no more than 4 other sites occupied. I was surprised that the bathrooms had running water! Overall, everything was quiet and relaxing. Some traffic from people driving by, but not bad at this time of year. It was delightful falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the creek! There are miles and miles of trails, I hiked 16 and only encountered 1 couple. The other campgrounds in the park have more amenities, too.

• R

  Rhys R.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 24, 2024

  Army Camp — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

  Very relaxing spot

  Very nice spot, right by the river with plenty of spaces to hammock down by there. We were lucky and got one of the last spots, there’s only 11. Fire rings with grill, and bench at each site. The ground is great for tents, no rocks. If you’re planning on coming here, make sure and come early. Pit toilets also available.

• 

  Dane J.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 22, 2024

  Glade Creek Campground — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

  Large isolated sites

  Great place along the river. Low traffic, spots are large and spread out, there is s nice trail (5.6miles). Down side, no tmobile cell service, and a train runs on the other side if the river every few hours

• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 18, 2024

  Blue Jay Campground — Camp Creek State Park

  Peaceful now but....

  One of three campgrounds in Camp Creek State Park; this is the primitive one (the other two are a horse camp and a developed one with hookups). Most sites are on the creek, but the road runs right past them. On a weekday in the fall, the road was very quiet, but I imagine that in the summer when carloads of people head to Campbell Falls, it would be a different story and would take away from the peacefulness of the campground. 

  This campground would not be suitable for large RVs, but our campervan fit just fine in the mostly level (but rooty) sites, Obviously, good for tents. 

  There are two vault toilets – one for women and one for men. They were in reasonably clean condition. 

  Campbell Falls is just down the road from the campground and there is access to many hiking trails.

  No one other than us was there on a weekday in mid-October so it was very peaceful and quiet.

• 

  Patrick C.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 15, 2024

  Mash Fork Campground — Camp Creek State Park

  Great Stay

  Stopped here for a quick overnight and this beautiful campground had us wishing we could stay longer.

• 

  Ioan P.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 7, 2024

  Little Beaver State Park Campground

  Super nice

  This campground is situated in the woods, near Lake. Has a good WFI everywhere, very clean and quiet.

• H

  Heather E.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 6, 2024

  Little Beaver State Park Campground

  Nice stop

  Nice spot to stop for a night on our way north - level private spot for our rooftop tent. Sites 38-45 have the most privacy. Check website as we were there during a fire ban.

• 

  Ashley P.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 1, 2024

  Falls Campground

  Great spot.

  The people that work here are so very nice. I love the relaxed chill atmosphere. I always come on a Sunday or a weeknights it is pretty empty and the campsites are too close together for me to go on a weekend. I think the sites should be less than $40 on a slow night but I still love it here.

• 

  Tanner W.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 21, 2024

  Arrowhead Bike Farm

  Great spot

  Great spot and very close to the national park, but site 5 was very un-level.

• J

  Julie M.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 10, 2024

  Rifrafters Campground

  Great overnight stop very shaded and peaceful

  We stayed overnight on our way up the coast and had a great visit. I wish we could’ve stayed longer. The campground was very peaceful and shaded people were very friendly and the facilities were exceptionally clean.

• Z

  Zachary P.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 4, 2024

  Kanawha State Forest

  Not bad

  Overall not a bad campground. Very pricey in my mind, $43 after taxes for 1 night of primitive camping. Got there at 4 on a monday and no one was in the office, ended up riding 45 minutes up the road to call to reserve a spot, they said everything was a 3 night minimum. I ended up booking online for just 1 night. Campground was clean and quiet, directions aren’t super clear as to where the campground is. Would stay here again if I had to, but wouldn’t be my first pick.

• Z

  Zachary P.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 4, 2024

  Glade Creek Campground — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

  Great spot!

  Great quiet spot. All primitive, does have a bathhouse with toilets only. Pretty good drive to any stores, so pack in what you need. It is about a 7 mile ride down a gravel road. I did the trip on a motorcycle so the road isn’t bad. I got there at 6pm on a tuesday and got the last spot! Get there early to make sure you get a spot. Very well maintained.

• 

  Susan B.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 4, 2024

  Army Camp - New River National Scenic River

  2-3 dispersed sites before this campground

  The Campground is small...Maybe 15 sites. It was full when we arrived. Luckily, there are 2 or 3 dispersed sites along the road into the Campground. They are on the river, too. Perfect for an overnighter.

• 

  Kel J.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 31, 2024

  Army Camp — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

  Free Camping & Beautiful Scenary

  Pit toilets, but was nice to have something ++ FREE. Super cool river near by, great scenery.

• 

  Tia B.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 19, 2024

  Stone Cliff Campground — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

  First come first serve river front camping

  We arrived from Cleveland late on a Thursday evening and every one of the 7 sites was full, luckily we met another couple who let us share their site for the night which was great because they let us have their site when they left in the morning. We were on site 2/3 which are right at the bottom of a large staircase down from the parking lot. We put our tent a few feet away from the water facing the river and our canopy further up in the woods by the firepit. Access to a hiking trail at the end of the parking lot - Stonecliff Trail, garbage bins and bathrooms available, no running water so bring hand sanitizer, Dunloup waterfall ~8 min down the road right off the side of the road was beautiful and a great place to swim, hiked a few trails down to town of Thurmond which is a a great little historical train town with a nice visitors center

  Cons - No picnic tables on any of the sites, carrying our things up the 3 flights of stairs to the parking lot was a little exhausting but not bad if you’re more of a minimalist camper, road access to campground is well paved but is very very narrow and windy so be careful of other cars flying around the bends, trains go by on other side of the river ~2-3 times per night, be careful of glass in the sand as well as bees, sites 2-5 are all right on top of each other (within 10 feet) with minimal trees in between so they’re good for groups but not if you don’t want to be right next to people.

• 

  Pete M.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 16, 2024

  Rifrafters Campground

  Nice location and a great location.

  Rifrafters is a wonderful family run campground that was the perfect location for us to explore New River Gorge NP and the surrounding area. The area is very hilly and the campground is no exception but they did a good job of creating roomy, mainly level campsites. Unlike Bear Mountain Campground, Rifrafters is far enough off of US 19 to avoid most of the road noise. The bath house was VERY clean and the showers had great water pressure and plenty of hot water. Cell reception for Verizon was 3 bars, but the campground Wi-Fi was awesome! It was strong enough and had enough bandwidth for my wife to work remotely while the kids and I went whitewater rafting(go with ACE Adventures, they're great). The details make or break your stay and Rifrafters gets them all right. Good, steady power and water at the site, Wi-Fi, dry firewood, great bath house and clean/tidy everywhere. Lastly, the location was perfect for us. You''re just a few miles from the bridge and visitor's center to the north and a few miles to shopping/necessities to the south. Having stayed here made us realize we'd rather camp near US 19 and use our toad to drive the windy roads into t

• 

  Todd C.

  Ranger

  

  Aug. 5, 2024

  Yatesville Lake State Park Campground

  Still a favorite

  We had a great time as usual. Nice, quiet and overall clean. Our fire pit was dirty with trash and looked like it had been ran over or something which is surprising for the park.

• 

  Jeff E.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 16, 2024

  The Outpost at New River Gourge

  Great location and nice updates

  Stayed in the tent area. Site was good. Bathhouse was great and newly remodeled. Had a band and food trucks.

• 

  Jeremiah S.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 8, 2024

  Chief Logan State Park Campground

  Lots to do

  Chief Logan has a lot of interesting things to see, including an outdoor animal exhibit, a lodge, a pool, a theatre, and a museum all close together.

  Our site was full hook up and very level. There was creek nearby and walking paths all over. We went over to the lodge and was able to swim in the pool and hot tub as part of the price of our campsite. There was solar event with super rare aurora light show for this part of the world while we were there.

• 

  Corda B.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 6, 2024

  Army Camp — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

  Spots fill quickly

  Stayed here for a few nights with 3 other people. We had 1 big tent, 2 vehicles and a few dogs and had plenty of room. The road getting back to the site is a little sketch but worth the trip in. Just remember you have to make that trip all the way back out if you forget anything at the store (like we did) so be prepared to have plenty of food and wood. Water access is not problem if you have a good filtration system. The view of the river is absolutely beautiful!!

• 

  Ember M.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 6, 2024

  Bear Mountain Cabins & Campground

  Right next to New River Gorge National Park

  We stayed here on our visit to Great Smoky mountain National Park on our way to Tennessee and then back home.

  Nice shaded wooded sights that are quiet and right off the interstate. Would recommend for anyone traveling to and from the area.

• C

  Chad T.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 29, 2024

  Saint Albans Roadside Park

  Right beside the River

  Overall if your just passing through it would be a ok place for the night. Make sure to keep your stuff locked up Lots of vagrants and over grown men riding kids bicycles with backpacks

• 

  Theresa D.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 14, 2024

  Arrowhead Bike Farm

  What a gem!

  We just arrived and haven’t even camped overnight yet! Love it! Waiting on n food from the Handlebar kitchen. Such a vibe! Just felt relaxed driving onto the property! The roaming goats are a treat!

• J

  Joe K.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 14, 2024

  Jenny Wiley State Park Campground

  Needs to be updated and repaired

  Roads in campground are rough in places. Electrical boxes are in rough shape at some sites. 30 amp kept tripping the breaker. WiFi does not work. Several sites have full hookup but sewer hookups need to be repaired and water hookups are far away.