Best Glamping near Grafton, WV

This campground is the highest in West Virginia, it has a total of 65 campsites 30 of which are electric and 35 are non-electric. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit, most of the campsites are open and have little privacy from neighbors. No tent pads, but no more than two tents permitted (but may be charged for the second tent). It has a bath house with hot showers, flush toilets, and coin laundry. There is a dumping station. Reservations can be made by phone or at campground registration but is otherwise first come-first serve. Pets are permitted. The sites are $25 a night.

The park has tons of hiking trails to choose from and two viewable waterfalls. There is a lake that is open to swimming, volleyball, basketball, and tennis courts are in the vicinity as well. Fishing is a large draw as well to this area, both catch and release and catch and keep permitted on the Blackwater River.

If you’re looking for a place to camp in West Virginia, don’t even bother with this campground, head over to Audra State park instead.

We generally love most camping experiences and make it work, but this one was so bad we left 3 days early. When I kindly called to cancel, the nice Park ranger said he completely understood and would actually refund us for our entire trip (which we didn’t even mention or ask for).

The only good things about this campground were the friendly staff and the updated bathrooms.

Almost all sites are walk-ups, which is NOT noted on their site. Also, almost all sites are on a hill. The pictures do not accurately show this. We had site 33 (probably the worst site). The entire site was on a slant and covered in rocks, I tried to capture it in a picture, but it just doesn’t look as slanted as it feels when you are standing there. There was no flat spot for our 10 x 20 tent, so we had to sleep on an angle. (I felt like I was falling out of bed the whole night!) 33 should NOT be a site.

There is a HUGE raccoon problem here, even during the day. I wish we were warned ahead of time. Many people bring an extra tent to keep their food in. Our dog barked the entire night as the racoons kept coming up to our site and even our tent. At one point they even put holes in the outside of our $300 tent!! The next day we tried to make the best of our trip and decided to check out the lake. We had left our cooler and a couple small Rubbermaid bins of food on the table while we headed down for an hour. The car was far and incredibly hot during the day, and we didn’t want to give them any incentive to go after our tent again, so we had no other option. While we were gone the raccoons tore open our cooler, ate some of our food, and scattered the rest of our food and water in the woods. (This is probably why there is so much food that can been seen scattered near the campsites).

The lake was pretty but there was a ton trash all around it, such a shame. I had to pick up a bunch of pieces of glass on the shore of the campground so my dog wouldn’t get hurt. You technically aren’t allowed to swim in the non-beach/swimming area unless you are jumping off a boat, but people were doing it anyway. You cannot bring dogs in the designated swimming area.

While the bathrooms were nice they are a very far walk from any of the shaded/non-electric sites, and you are not permitted to drive up to them. There are only 2 showers. Both were kept clean but had 100’s of little green bugs and a ton of months and mosquitos on the. To get to the bathrooms you must park at the top of the hill and walk down (not a big deal for us, but may be for some).

The electric sites have no shade or privacy, and they are all on top of each other.

Campground Review: Canaan Valley State Park and Resort, Davis, West Virginia

The Canaan Valley State Park and Resort is situated in a very popular outdoor activity area...for every season. Winter brings copious snowfall and the skiing here draws thousands...downhill and XC. The summer sees backpackers, hikers, mountain bikers, gravel grinders, car-campers and RVers. Not only do you have hiking trails here on the State Park location...you can drive up to the nearby Dolly Sods Wilderness Area for camping, day-hikes or multi-day backcountry trips; Blackwater Falls (10 miles north) offers memorable falls, great hikes with long gorge views (Lindy Point a favorite). Even Seneca Rocks and Spruce Knob are only 30 minutes or so away. Possibilities are endless in this neck of the woods. This very weekend was to be the Mountainbike Festival, but due to Covid-19, well you know the rest of that story. The Abe Run Trail was a pleasant trail leaving from the campground.

The campground portion is not expansive but 34 sites are situated in three small loops (see photo of campground map). Primitive tent sites don't have water or electric and parking is roadside but you are within 100 yards of the "Comfort Station." The three "tent only" sites have only been around for a couple years...but sites 1 and 2 are in a nice grassy area away from the RV loop 2. Always verify current rates, but June 18, 2020...mid $30's nightly for nonresidents (WV residents get 30% off). Primitive tent sites were $17 a night.

The Resort Lodge, Golf course, swimming pool and a covered ice skating rink (obviously the last three mentioned being seasonal) were further up the windy park roadway. (See rates on park website).

The campground "Comfort Station," is a restroom/shower/laundry and soda machine building. The gender specific restroom/shower rooms each have two wooden stalled modern facility stools, two shower stalls (men's are separated by a shower curtain, women's by a wall); a separate unisex ADA restroom/shower sits adjacent to the men's and appears newer.

The grounds are well-maintained and manicured as are all WV State Parks. Trails are scattered throughout the park. some are foot traffic only, others permit bicycles. The Back Hollow Trail was predominantly a mown grass trail but occasional wooded sections were rocky two-track. This is Wet Virginia, so expect to experience rain and bring foul weather gear in the summer months. I have mastered the fine art of campsite tarping due to West Virginia camping. It also still gets chilly in these mountains during the early summer months.

Deer meander through the primitive tent sites with their fawns each morning and evening. A kid's playground is situated beside (separated by a field) primitive tent sites 1 & 2.

We spent three days in June and experienced afternoon rain showers daily, but arranged our hikes and bikes around them.

Tub Run Road is a rough (but pretty) ride to the campground. Once you hit the property, everything is well-maintained. Roads are easy to navigate and equipment all works well. Staff are very friendly and helpful. Bathhouses are kept clean. Ice and firewood are available on site. Lots of seasonal campers fill their space to the brim with tent garages, so the Creekside loop, at least, feels a little like a suburban street, but still quiet. Creekside sites felt smaller and more crowded than lakeside sites, which open onto the beach and lake. Guests were very friendly and considerate of quiet hours. A number of families were joining across generations and campsites, which was nice. Easy access to local attractions.

Swallow Falls has a great loop trail where you see four waterfalls. You can walk to the loop from the campground. It ma be adds a third of a mile to the hike. 

We stayed in cabin 58, which has a short, easy path to the bathhouse and even shorter to the mud sink. This was very handy when traveling with two young kids. Prior to going, I wished I could have seen the inside of the cabins, particularly to know how big the mini fridge was. I couldn't find any pictures, so here they are.

It is a one-room cabin, was impressively clean, and the beds were very cozy. There are blackout curtains on the windows, so we slept late and it was glorious. There is one small window in the door that does not have a curtain. I taped aluminum foil up over it.

Each bed had a mattress pad on it when we arrived, as pictured. One minor note is that the bunk bed mattresses seem to be a bit too big for the bunk beds. This caused them to not lay perfectly flat and also made me feel uncomfortable having my roly-poly kids sleep on the top bunk, where there were only a couple inches between the mattress and the top of the railing.

I have Verizon and could make calls, but could not reliably send or receive text messages and there was no data access.

Great park. Great cabin. Great stay.

The Kentucky campground at Ohiopyle State Park in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania is the most convenient campground to stay at if you are a private boater who is rafting or kayaking the Lower Youghigeny River. It is located ½ way between put in and take out right on the road that goes between the two. I have camped here MANY times. I always travel with my dog, so I can only provide information about the facilities on Ginko, Cherry and Juniper Roads and the sites that fall within the 'Pet-Friendly' side of the campground - which is Ivy Road and Hickory Road.

Most convenient, being the operative words here and the whole reason to stay here, really. That being said - it is a very nice campground - it just has some draw backs. I have broken down the 'Good' and the 'Bad' (in my opinion). For some, the things I have listed as 'bad' would be on their 'good' list - so take it for what it is worth - advice from someone who likes to paddle and relax with an adult beverage around a campfire at the end of the day. I don't want to throw a loud obnoxious camping party, I just want to be able to sit around the campfire and enjoy a few beverages with my friends and talk in a normal voice to share our stories from the day.

The Good: Large tall shade trees throughout the entire campground. I cannot think of a single campsite that is actually in full sun. Nice fire pits and picnic tables. Clean bathrooms and showers - and lot's of them (although that being said, they could use another shower facility down at the end of Hickory Road - if you are in Hickory sites 160 - 175 it's a far walk to a shower). Hot water for showers seems pretty plentiful - it's been few and far between that it has run out or not been available when I needed it. There are large sinks outside all bathrooms for washing dishes. There are additional potable water taps throughout the campground as well. There is an RV dump station. There are dumpsters for trash and recycling. Dogs ARE now allowed at this campground (in designated areas - and there are a lot of them) - in years gone by dogs were not allowed. There are a lot of flat/level campsites.

The Mediocre: There are also quite a few campsites that are not so flat or level. You cannot tell very well when making your reservations which are flat/level and which are not.

The Bad: 'Quiet hours' start at 9pm. The Rangers are ridiculously vigilant about 'Quiet'. You literally need to almost whisper around the campfire in order to not arouse the interest of the Rangers which frequently patrol the campground on both foot and by vehicle. As soon as you arouse their suspicion by 'talking too loud', they make it perfectly clear that they can exercise their right to search your campsite and destroy/remove anything that is not allowed and/or kick you out.

This campground is in a PA state park. Alcohol is not allowed in any PA State Parks. Certainly there are ways around that - using cups and mugs, etc. - but you have to know before you go to do that. It is obvious by the content of the trash in the dumpsters and recycling bins that NO ONE follows this rule. So what you then need to know is that the Rangers are vigilant about patrolling the campground for people violating the alcohol rule. (refer to the info about Quiet hours above.)

Bottom line is: If you are traveling alone or in a very small group/just your family and are looking for somewhere clean, quiet and convenient to camp near the Lower Youghigeny River - this is a great place for you.

If you've got a decent sized group, that will need multiple campsites and you want to be able to hang out, talk, drink without worrying about hiding it from the Rangers and enjoy yourselves later than 9pm, you might want to look for somewhere else to stay.

If you've got a large and potentially loud group of people who want to party - don't even consider staying here. (My suggestions for that would be Tall Oaks in nearby Farmington or Scarlett Knob on the other side of Ohiopyle.)

If you like camping right next to another group and being packed in like sardines, this is the place for you! You'll be about 15 feet away from the group next to you. They do have quiet hours though, so if you want super quiet camping...you'll like it here. Because it is also a PA state park....you can't legally drink alcohol here. But if you put it in a different container and don't make a lot of noise....nobody seems to bother you. The bathrooms are clean, but you have to drive to them if you want to use the bathrooms before it starts running down your leg....the walk is far.

Spruce Knob is the highest point in West Virginia and offers great views. You can drive all the way up to the summit and hike around the small loop trail that leads to the observation tower and then to a small wooden look-out on the far side of the loop. The trail is only a ½ mile and well worth the drive. There is a picnic shelter that has picnic tables, no running water, but there is a pit toilet.

We camped off the Huckleberry Trail, which has lots of camping spots off the trail. The forest is silent and beautiful, looks like it belongs out west in the PNW. The moss-covered ground and rocks make it the perfect oasis for a weekend trip. You can even backpack the trail as it leads down the mountain. This is a must see any time of the year!