Best Tent Camping near Hacker Valley, WV

A great, quiet campground with fewer sites than most.  It is about 5 miles from the summit of Spruce Knob (highest peak in West Virginia).  Tow campers smaller in size can certainly make it, although mostly tent camping which I like.  Some drive up, some drive, park, and walk up.  There is a single water source and I'd highly recommend boiling first.  H20 does NOT taste good at all.  There are a couple of outhouses, and no shower facilities.

Tent camping is congested on hilly sites. FACILITIES ARE GREAT! Clean.

I’ve stayed here at least a dozen times over the years. Nice sites for tent camping. Clear skies and a decent bathhouse.

This Army Corps of Engineers campground provides a larger number of RV and tent sites with electic near a lake. There are also a few walk-in tent sites that offer wooded seclusion. I was here in April, so this was not yet open and the lake level was still low (the Gauley Tailwaters campground offered a primitive alternative.

Sites are grassy with gravel, generally level parking pads, some shade, a large playground. Boat ramp available. Popular spot, so make reservations early. 

The New River Gorge National Park is nearby with a number of hiking, fishing, and rafting opportunities, but there is plenty to keep you occupied here.

Stonewall is a very nice campground with full hookups. Campsites have blacktop pads to park on. Campsites are level tent sites have platforms. Has bathrooms with showers.

Love this place. Only wish is that the tent sites were more wooded for shade. And to hang lights and hammocks.
The staff were great, bathrooms super clean. Love all the hiking trails and just the beauty of the are. Will be returning soon.

My girlfriend and I stayed at tent site 21 July 26th and 27th and was a good experience overall. We both agreed that we will only camp there if this particular site is open though. It is the tent site with the most privacy and it is the only one on that side of the road which made it nice. Along with the privacy it is also was right beside a trail that went directly to the lake but it is about 200 yards downhill. We took our kayaks along but opted to drive to the boat launch instead of carrying our kayaks down the trail. It is an option though. The park staff was very friendly and the bath house was pretty clean. Our only complaint is that some of the other campers where throwing food in the woods which attracted raccoons but that isn't the campgrounds fault.

Five River Campground, Parsons WV...a hidden oasis!

John and Joyce, are wonderful owners, caretakers and hosts (and have travelled to many an interesting and exciting destination themselves if you can get them to sharing).

Interestingly, they bought this parcel of land 14 years ago purely to host Bluegrass festivals...(which, by the way, they do quite successfully... nominated this year of "2017" as one of the five finalists as the best Bluegrass Festivals in the world, not yet decided at the time of this review).

If you are a BG fan, you can join thousands of attendees here at Five River Campground from over ten countries (seriously! Like Tahiti, Sweden, Germany, Holland and such), if not, choose a different week to visit...because they jam 24/7. Over 3500 festival attendees, 1500 camped at this campground.

We visited two weeks after said festival and were one of two tent campers along Shavers Fork River (one of the feeders that comprise the Cheat River).

The Five River Campground is not huge, nor comprised of vast acreage but appears visually large. If you are a tent camper, it's perfect on slow days and weekends. My thought is, with so many big name sensational campgrounds in WV to chose from and absent advertising, Five River Campground rarely gets a second look.

It sets at the end of a side street (Walnut St) at the edge of town (Parsons). A small, quaint mountain town. As we made the turn off 219, a group of townsfolk were involved in a cakewalk outside a historic community building. Gotta love close, small town community.

There are no actual designated tent sites which is part of its beauty. You simply locate a spot of your choosing along a half mile grassy stretch of river and set up camp, give Joyce a call and they come to you. At this writing, tent sites are $15 nightly. They drop off a fire ring and grate...and firewood ($5 a bundle) should you desire).

with our tent sitting five feet off a gurgling river with mountains as your backdrop, well...it just doesn't get much better or tranquil.

The RV/Camper section is separate and two rolling knolls away so you neither see nor hear them if you are camped on the river.

A meticulously clean showerhouse/restroom/laundry building is centrally located and closer to the RV/Camper sites. RV/Camper sites have power and water. Tent sites do not. In fact, tent sites might be considered primitive, possessing no picnic table...perfect for me! Water spigot and outside dish washing sink are also located by the shower house.

We chose a small cluster of trees beside the river so I could string a tarp and hammocks (it does seem to shower quite a bit in WV).

It should be noted, the tent sites along the river do not offer much privacy from each other in the way of foliage or natural visual barriers...distance is your privacy.

We visited on a weekend and there was only one other tent camper, quite a distance away in the other cluster of trees.

The river melody is loud enough to drown out most other distant noises. Our stay was peaceful and serene.

Fishing on the river is popular (and successful) with a WV license. The Shavers Fork river (a Cheat River tributary) is also ideal for rafting, tubing and paddling. Most will take out 11 miles downriver before class 3 rapids (and higher) begin.

Five River Campground was the ideal choice for a weekend stay before venturing to Dolly Sods Wilderness for a long backpacking trip. Plus it is one of the only campgrounds in all of WV where you have cell service...and wifi!

A campground I will definitely look forward to returning to.

There are full hookups tent sites and Electric sites. There is 2 shower houses. There is a playground and a boat dock. This campground does not take reservations first come first serve. Bakers run is a family friendly campground pets were allowed last time I was there, just remember you have to clean up after your pet. I gave 4 stars because of the road to get to the campground otherwise it would be 5 stars.

After years of tent camping, this was our first camping trip with camper our and two youngest kids. When we stayed it was cold outside but we had full hook up and were prepared.

We had nice view of the lodge. The lodge amenities are top notch with a heated pool that only costs a a daily charge to use on top of camping. The campsite itself was a little pricey with the only thing distinguishing the campground being lodge activities you have to pay for.

I’d recommend sites 1-5, 20, and 39.

There are a good number of dispersed camping sites along the forest service road that follows Gandy Creek up to Seneca Creek Trail, sites are right on the river with easy access, fly fishing for trout in Gandy was decent, but the water was low. It is normally a great trout stream, Seneca Creek is a good trail for hiking and plenty of fishing opportunities there as well. It's a fairly busy area during the summer, cars and horseback riders are consistent all day, sites are spread out nicely though so you won't see your neighbors from your camp. No hookups, no RVs, tent camping only in most sites, some are big enough for a small camper to fit.

Okay…we happened to just stop in here to give it a quick looksee as we traveled by. Yes, we were in need of good facilities…and…as is often the case when I camp/hike, impending rain loomed on the horizon. (and yes, it rained…doesn't it rain when you camp?)

First…this is really a resort campground…for big campers and RV's. However, secreted away on the bank of Stonewall Jackson Lake, in Briar Point Campground there are five token tent sites. Because of the steep terrain, they have level wooden platforms to place your tent. The platforms are pretty good size…but if I had my huge Kelty Mantra 7…it'd overhang. Fortunately, I had a small three person.

I will say…this is a resort and its posh…laid out nicely for the jetset golf/spa/business meeting type of "camper." Paved trails, wooden boardwalks across portions of the lake, trams to transport, beautiful golf course…and really nice shower house/bathrooms. Tired of campfire meals…the lodge is spectacular.

We decided to stay a night or two…mainly because we were in dire need of hot showers. It was very quiet and far enough removed from the RVers that no generator noise was heard. Did I mention how nice the showers were?

The lake was gorgeous and provided many a photo op. Resident ducks knew no shame, waddling straight up to your picnic table begging for scraps…the cads!

We settled onto tent site #5, which was positioned directly below a pioneer cemetary. Which is open to enter peruse…very sobering.

Stonewall Jackson State Park was a nice change. Should I ever hit the lotto to afford a big RV, or ever take up golf…it'd be even nicer. You'll experience no raucous behavior in this park, that's for sure.

The downside for me was the lack of nature or hiking trails…there's a lot of woodland that could be utilized for this pupose.

This was our first trip to Five River Campground, and we loved it! Beautiful spot on the river— only tent camping in a huge field separated us from the water. The interior was more crowded and didn’t have a view; but Joyce helped us pick a beautiful spot when we called for reservation. 

Everyone was super friendly and helpful as we learn to set up our new teardrop to the full hook ups. John delivered firewood right to our site, and they texted the hours of the trading post store. Lots of happy, courteous kids and well-behaved dogs on leashes. Our pups loved it, especially swimming! We appreciated the poop bags and trash cans convos fly located around the campground. There are a ton of hikes within 30 minutes, and we checked out Douglas Falls. Next time, we’ll visit Lindy Observation deck and more of Blackwater Falls State Park. Grocery store, gas station and a family dollar all within a 5 min drive or walk.