Best Glamping near Harpers Ferry, WV

tl;dr- We stayed in a cabin February. The park and the cabins are very clean and well maintained. We enjoyed the many trails and walking our dog along the river. We would highly recommend and will come back.

Shenandoah River State Park has a variety of camping/RV/cabin options for everyone.  They have: climate controlled cabins, rustic cabins, RV sites, and tent camping sites.  Great for groups, especially those that have different ideas of the enjoying the great outdoors/nature

And if you, like me, are less enthusiastic about winter camping, the cabins are a great way to enjoy the park with climate controlled amenities.  

Two bedroom climate controlled cabin: Very clean, simple/minimalistic furniture, with kitchen necessities included.  It's reminiscent of a dorm-style apartment. Cooking utensils and cutlery, dish soap, a couple of dishwasher pods, toilet paper, and paper towels are included.  Mattresses and pillows had actual protectors on them and you are expected to bring sheets, pillow cases, and towels (not sure if it's always expected you bring sheets/linens but was true but at least with COVID/our latest stay).  There is a nice big kitchen table to play games.  We did have phone service and watched some shows on our tablet.

Restroom/shower: Very clean, spacious restroom although with a small shower (we stayed in cabin 6, showers may be bigger in others/handicapped accessible cabins).  Included mounted container with hand soap and shampoo/body wash.

Bedrooms:  Queen bed w/ box spring mattress.  I prefer memory foam so it was not my favorite, but it was still decent/firm.  The other bedroom had 4 bunkbeds.

Outside space:  There is a nice space with a picnic table and fire pit.  There are also rocking chairs on the porch of each cabin.  Very cute and a great way to appreciate the views.  

Area: Many trails throughout the park.  We enjoyed walking our dog along the river.

Looking forward to coming back either staying in a cabin again or staying in our camper van.

Normally we’re tent campers, but this time we opted for the climate controlled cabins of this state park. Cabins were wonderful. Essentially a little house off in its own little “cabin neighborhood.” Kitchen was fully stocked with just about anything you’d need. Only thing you need to bring are linens (because of COVID) and food). Outside there is a large wrap around porch, picnic table, grill, and fire pit. All tucked right against the trees. Rangers at the visitor center were wonderful, and gave our kids a tour of the small animals they kept inside the visitor center. Lots of hiking trails, and we didn’t see a ton of people on them. Good fishing in the river too. Drove through RV campground and spots looked nice with lots of pull through sites and pretty level too. Tent area is in another part of the park. For that you have to park in a lot and take a short walk to each site (though I did see a wagon there for campers to use). We will totally come back.

Had a relaxing weekend here as our first trip of the season. Weather was pretty good but windy at times. We had 3 RVs in sites 12, 13, and 14 as well as 2 of the deluxe cabins. Our RV sites faced the large parking lot with dump station and registration building. Not an ideal view but it was okay. Site 13 had the best space. Site 12 was good too. Both had a concrete patio, great fire pit, and a round resin picnic table with 4 nice chairs. Site 14 was narrow and no patio. The area in the back had more wooded sites. They are expanding and creating more sites so there was some construction noise but that stopped by 4:30pm and not on the weekend. Campground was at capacity in the full hookup sites and seemed like it would’ve been noisy but it wasn’t. The cabins had a queen bed, 2 bunks, microwave and refrigerator and a small bathroom. That was a tight space but a bathroom none the less. There are bath houses too. Putt putt golf was free and they had a playground and bounce area for kids. There’s a pool that looked nice but not open yet and I saw an indoor basketball court sign. In season they offer a pancake breakfast most days and a small coffee shop. The store was well stocked with supplies, food, wine, and souvenirs and also offered coffee. Locally, you’ll find the town of Harpers Ferry, river rafting/tubing, and the Harpers Ferry brewery that has a gorgeous view and live music that’s just minutes away.

We set up camp at Harpers Ferry/Civil War Battlefields KOA Holiday as our launchpad to visit the historic sites in and around Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and Frederick, Maryland. 

We paid$114/night(average per night, including fees and taxes) for Site# 94. A bit pricey considering a lack of elbow room, but it’s a great location and everything is well-kept. 

THINGS I LIKED: 

• Location, Location, Location! Close proximity to plenty of historic and tourist places to visit. The Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Visitor Center is literally next door. Harpers Ferry Lower Town and Bolivar Heights are a few minutes by car(or shuttle from the Visitor Center). Frederick and Antietam are each barely 30-minutes by car. Gettysburg, Baltimore, and DC are about an hour’s drive. 

• Clean and level gravel site with well-maintained utility hook-ups. 

• Great campground store filled with food, drinks, camp supplies, souvenirs, and essentials you may need while away from home. 

• Friendly staff in the office& store. 

• The whole park is quiet and well-maintained. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH: 

• Heads up, big rig owners! Our Pull-thru FHU Patio site(#199) had a serious slope. It was impossible to level my 45’ motorhome without elevating the front wheels dangerously in the air. The nice staff kindly moved us to a FHU site without the patio and furniture. And refunded the difference in price for the lesser site. Thanks for providing the move but ‘premium’ sites should be somewhat level, am I right? 

• Get cozy, the sites are quite small and tightly packed together. 

• A $3 per night“Pet Fee” for our small, mostly-indoor dog felt a bit like nickel-and-diming. I realize it only amounted to an extra$12, but he didn’t need any extra gravel. 

WOULD WE COME BACK? 

• Absolutely, this is a nice campground with lots of great places nearby including Harpers Ferry, Antietam, Frederick, Washington DC, Baltimore, and more.

Me and my son stayed for 2 nights and the park is very clean but we did have the unexpected torrential down-pour each night.  Bathroom and shower facility are very clean. Must keep your trash organized and they do have the Bear prevention lockers available on each campsite. Less than 75 miles one-way from Northern VA to arrive.  Bugs and ticks are not bad at all. Each campsite comes with dedicated grill stand and wood fire pit with option of grilling as well. We had an excellent time and did some tubing down the Shenandoah River but it was a bit shallow.  Did see some deer and the occasional wild bunny and turtles in the water.  Generally a very nice stay except for the heavy rain.  NO cell phone signal or WIFI available unless you are near/at the Visitors Center.  So BE PREPARED.

Harper's Ferry is a little town in WV nestled right next to the Potomac River. It's also a convenient halfwayish point on the Appalachian Trail. One of my friends and I stayed here while we were section hiking the AT. The campground is pretty nice, with cabins, tent sites, and RV sites. It's also got a lot of extra activities that you can do. Zip lining, tubing, rafting the Potomac, and even an adventure park, you name it. You definitely won't be bored wile staying at this campground.

Harper's Ferry is a pretty neat place too. There are some great restaurants, cool shops, and make sure to make a stop at the AT Conservatory. There you can see cool pictures of all the people who have through hiked the AT and learn more about it.

Speaking of the AT, there are great hiking and biking trails right around Harper's Ferry. You can even say you hiked all the way to Virginia from West Virginia. Just don't tell anyone that Harper's Ferry is right on the border.

This campground is huge, and very crowded. We were there in the days leading up to 4th of July, and there was not a single empty site. Our section had mostly pop-ups and mid-size travel trailers, so the sites were all grass and gravel. However, the area with pull-through sites for big rigs was just a huge RV parking lot. All roads were very narrow and winding. We did fine with the pup, but can’t imagine trying to navigate a large motorhome through there. Crowding/space issues aside, this is a really nice (albeit expensive) campground. Almost everything, from the grounds, to rec halls, to pool and laundry, was sparkling clean and beautifully maintained. Bathrooms were reasonably clean as well, although they could certainly use some TLC and updating (most MD state park bathhouses are nicer).Staff was very friendly, as well. Tons of stuff to do here, especially for families: arts & crafts, indoor movie theatre, games, civil war reenactments, wine tastings, etc. We were certainly never bored, and the kids thought they had died and gone to heaven. Our site was extremely close to our neighbor's site, but still surprisingly roomy and decently shaded. We were right next to the pancake hut (free daily pancake breakfast included during the on-season) and playground, and very close to other activities. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is just a stone's throw away, with great hiking, sight-seeing, and cute little shops.

Overall, this is a really nice place, but much more of a resort than a campground in my opinion. The kids loved it, but I’ll always prefer the wooded seclusion of a state or national park. However, if I was looking for a more action-packed, activities-filled “glamping” experience, I wouldn’t hesitate to return.

This state park is at the top of the mountain and has a smaller lake perfect for a short kayak trip or fishing. Lovely views from the lake and very nice secluded sites. Our site was up a hill a little but we were good. We were right aside of flushing bathrooms and the dump station. We didn't like you had to go all the way out and around to dump and then out and around again to leave. Other than that very nice park with hiking trails, lots of beautiful pavilions, picnic areas, building that had food for sale, peddle boat and kayak rentals, fishing, beach area for swimming, multiple boat launches. Definitely need a bicycle to get to day use area as the loop is very long. Also, watch for no pets allowed signs as it is just the first part of the sites in Area A.