Best Campgrounds near Romney, WV

We absolutely love camping here. There are numerous locations to choose from. I wouldn't recommend taking a camper larger than 26 ft in some of the locations.

General: Smallish (68 sites) campground near Jennings Randolph Lake, which is not directly accessible from the campground (you need to drive there). Roads and camper pads are all paved, and the sites are in two loops– the Front Loop (Sites 1-30) and the Back Loop (Sites 31-68). All sites have electric hookups, and have a picnic table, fire ring, and lantern ring. There are multiple hosts in each loop. 

Site Quality: All camper pads are paved, and most appeared to be level. They are of varying lengths with 53, 55, and 64-68 having the longest pads. The sites are generous in size and are spaced a reasonable distance apart; there are varying degrees of foliage to provide privacy between sites. You would be hard-pressed to pick a “bad” site; perhaps Site 31 would be the least desirable as it is near the intersection of the two loops. 

Bath/Shower: There is a bathhouse in each loop; although the building itself appeared somewhat dated, the toilets and sinks have been updated to be automatic. The showers looked a bit sketchy, but I didn’t use them. 

Activities/Amenities: There are several short-distance hiking trails; the trail heads are very well marked and, once on the trail, the blazes are very easy to spot. I hiked the Sunset Trail, and it was shorter than advertised but the bench swing at the overlook was a very nice surprise. There is also archery, basketball, fishing, and a boat launch for the small lake. There is a playground in each loop. There is also a camper store in the Front loop that sells ice, firewood, and basic sundries; it is run by volunteers, so the hours are different each day based on availability. Kalbaugh Pond is ADA-accessible for catch-and-release fishing. Shaw Beach has swimming access. There was movie night on Saturday night and a ranger talk on Saturday morning. 

We generally shy away from campgrounds on weekends, especially in the summer months but surprisingly, the campground was only about ¾ full on a Friday in June. The volunteers make this park shine. We were greeted by Alma, who was very welcoming and said all of the volunteers are proud of “their” little campground. Of note: We approached the campground from the southeast through the town of Keyser. DO NOT do this if you have a large RV. There are multiple signs saying that the road was not safe for large trucks; although our 18-foot camper van had no problems, the road was narrow, hilly, and winding.

Virginia has the best state park campgrounds. Water and electric. Large sites. The bathrooms are clean with separate shower rooms. Nice hiking in the park. Near SNP. Responsive and friendly rangers.

Every year we my family does a "friends and family" camping trip.  We always try to stay somewhere where there are a lot of activities and the campsites are spaced far apart.  (My family tends to be loud).   Jess Judy fits this build.

We have camped at Jess Judy at least a half dozen times and I aways enjoy it.  We normally go in August so that we can swim, fish, hike, go tubing, rock climbing or just go exploring.  Our last trip was in late September and even though it rained the entire time, it was still a nice trip.  

Jess Judy is:

Remote - Jess Judy is in the middle of nowhere, in order to get to the campsites you have to drive 3 miles down a gravel road that tends to wash out into the river.   In addition to the access road, there is no cell service with in a 20 min drive.

Small - Jess Judy only has 3 group camp sites and there isn't too much separating them from each other. 

Primitive Sites - Jess Judy doesn't offer any running water, or other amenities besides two latrines that may or may not be clean.  Be prepared to bring in all of you water and be ready to clean a latrine. 

Tent Camping Only - Jess Judy only offers tent camping for groups, works for us but not for everyone.

Lots of Activities - Jess Judy offers a lot of outdoor activities including fishing, hiking, kayaking, rafting, river swimming, star gazing, rock climbing, etc.

In short, we love Jess Judy, but I know that it really isn't for most people.

My family and I have gone camping all over Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, but had never visited Green Ridge before this weekend.  My son's and I decided to do some cold weather tent camping and to explore the Pawpaw tunnel while doing some hiking.  Greenridge Forest didn't disappoint.  I've added it onto my go to spots for Maryland but not one that I'll bring my wife to (true primitive camping).

The Pros:  

The forest is beautiful, the campsites are large and very spaced out, firewood is bountiful, the area feels very remote.  From our campsite, we could not see or hear the next closest campsite, in fact, I'm not exactly sure where it even was.  All of the sites are primitive sites with only a fire circle and a picknick table.  Many of the back sites require high clearance,  4 wheel drive vehicles to get to. (These can be a cons too). 

The Cons:

The area is beautiful,  but it is a working forest so don't expect a ton of old growth trees and some areas will have been freshly logged.   All of the campsites are primitive sites, and some require high clearance and 4 wheel drive in order to get to the site.    You can't make a reservation in advance, you have to take a chance that there will be a site available.   There are no latrines, bathrooms or showers anywhere to be found and the closest store is 30 minutes away. 

My boys and I all loved it there even though it was only 14 degrees at night.  We will definingly return.

Not bad for a long or short trip. Only problem is you need to book in person.

Best and cleanest campground we have stayed at. Great amenities and close to the national park for hiking and exploring. Luray is a nice little town with some good food options

Love staying here for just a night couple small trails around the area not any great views but it is very peaceful in the woods. The only thing is it is next to an off-road vehicle trail and there was a lot of action coming down until about 7 PM. Wouldn’t have bothered me, but it did bother my dogs. 😅

The tent sites are ON TOP of each other. No trees. Zero seclusion. This is an rv resort.

Tented a cabin for two nights to hide from bad weather. Cabin had electric service, a microwave, electric heater, refrigerator and lights. The campground had no other guests during our stay.

The campground is long and narrow bordering on Abrams Creek. We took daily walks to the end of the campground and enjoyed the scenic views.

The campsite has port-a-potties for each cabin and for groups of campsites. Water was clean and had no oder.

The only concern noted was the bath house. It was poorly lighted and made of what looked like left over materials.

The gentleman that checked us in was a wealth of knowledge. He told us all about the campground and told us they offer an outdoor shower. Their were two outdoor shower stalls which were shower curtains next to the shower house.

Sites are located less than a mile from the paved highway. We found 5 spots just off the road. All were easily accessible by cat or with a small teardrop trailer.

True boondocking, haul it in, pack it out. Evidence of a cat hole in the site we picked

Sites were quiet at night. Some traffic related to logging activity. Looks like a popular weekend camp spot for locals.

We camped during the week and had nobody else camping on weekdays.

Present! Lytle noise..

That's the best way to describe this park. It has the primitive feel, campsites are in the natural woods as opposed to a pristine tent pad. I love how open and natural it feels.

However, the plus is that there are lots of little amentities, a coffee pavilion, wood to buy, portapots, and an incredibly kind "staff." I'm mobility impaired and it was just my dog and I. The guys were super helpful bringing the wheelbarrow of wood to me, which would have been difficult for me.

The river is beautiful, but you do have to go down a bit of an incline to get there. On the beach there are rafts, paddleboats, chairs, and across the river there is a ladder to climb up on the rocks.

The property was clean and quiet other than the occasional diesel truck going down the road.

A quiet place to disconnect as wifi and cell service for me was spotty at best. Sites are first come, first served. Nice stream nearby. Nice shaded spots. Dump station and community water spigot closed during winter months.