Searching for a place to camp with your dog near Shady Spring? Find the best information on pet-friendly camping near Shady Spring, including sites, reviews, and tips for getting the most out of your RVing experience. Whether you're looking for a quiet location in the woods or a happening campground near the attractions, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to go camping with your dog.
$35 - $40 / night
Rifrafters Campground provides tent and RV camping and economy cabins in the woodlands near Fayetteville, West Virginia (WV) -- only two-miles south of the New River Gorge Bridge. Our cleanliness, accessibility, and quiet family atmosphere have earned us a place among West Virginia's most-popular camping areas. You'll also find a friendly full-time staff, exceptionally clean showers and restrooms, and plenty of space for small gatherings and walks in the woods behind the campground. Use our website to explore our camping amenities and find out more about the New River.
$15 - $44 / night
Pipestem Resort has endless adventure activities and is the perfect place for a couple or family retreat. Campers can enjoy everything from zip line tours to horseback riding to biking and more.
The sprawling 4,050-acre park is located on the border of Summers and Mercer counties and features 82 campsites open year-round, 31 of which are equipped with full hookups. Nineteen sites are electric only.
The campground is open year-round, weather permitting.
Campsites may be reserved anytime online, by phone, or at the campground office.
Reservations may be made for no less than two consecutive nights on weekends (Friday and Saturday) or one-night Sunday through Thursday.
The number of vehicles or units on a site, payment, cancellations, and refunds information is good to know prior to making a reservation. Read more.
Small pop-up tents, large RVs and everything in between are welcome.
Campers with units over 25 feet in length may contact the park to discuss suitable sites.
Heated bathhouses
Coin laundry
Campground store
Playground area
Camp Creek WV State Park and Forest is known for beautiful waterfalls and great camping. With nearly 6,000 acres of lush forest, 35 miles of trails and seven miles of seasonally stocked trout streams, there is something for every hiker, biker, horseback rider and angler to explore and enjoy. Located in Mercer County, two miles off Exit 20 on I-77, Camp Creek is ideal for family vacations and stop-overs during a long drive through the beautiful mountains of southern West Virginia.
$33 / night
Located on 1500 wooded acres adjacent to the New River Gorge National River ACE Adventure Resort offers white water rafting trips on the New and Gauley rivers and great camping near Fayetteville. But, that’s not all! Over the years we’ve added all the outdoor adventures that our state is known for including the only zip line tours with views of the Gorge. We also host rock climbing, mountain biking, lake adventures… we even have a waterpark on base. Plus, at the end of the day, we have a range of lodging and camping options plus dining facilities on property. So, what are you waiting for? Live free this summer at ACE Adventure Resort!
$15 - $600 / night
The closest campground to the New River Gorge Bridge. Chestnut Creek Campground offers quiet primitive camping in the woods. We are a mere half a mile (0.5mi) from the New River Gorge Bridge! That's walking distance folks. Our hygienic facility has hot showers, lavatory stalls, hand washing sinks, and a wash basin located outside for dish washing and filling up water jugs. Firewood and Ice are available on site as well. Each campsite has a picnic table and a fire pit. A general store and burrito bar are located literally around the corner; Both are within walking distance. Hiking and Climbing trail-heads (Fern Buttress, Endless Wall, Beauty Mountain; to name a few) are just down the way and access to the river is a stone's throw away (our drive is just across from Fayette Station Rd). If you're wanting to venture further to more local restaurants/shops; we are only a 5 minute drive from downtown Fayetteville. We are a pet friendly establishment for those with dogs who love to travel as much as you do. We keep quiet hours from 11pm-7am (starts @ midnight on weekends). Mainly we accommodate rustic tent camping, however; some sites are able to accommodate pop-up campers and trailers up to 20ft (we do not have hookups/electric). Call today to reserve a site for your upcoming adventure at the New River Gorge.
$10 - $11 / night
Cute place off the freeway with water access and a playground, 6 mile hiking trail to waterfall and not far from town. There is a train station nearby and the trains are loud. They come by every now and then night and day, they do live music some nights and church gatherings where a man basically yells all night long. Lots of freeway noise so the nightly fee is kinda stupid considering you won't get any sleep if you stay here. The river is super planted so I wouldn't swim here either sadly.. and the showers have NO water presser yet you gotta pay for a bathroom key otherwise there's porta-potties by the dumpster.
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.
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.
THE TRAINS: HOLY HELL. The trains alone are reason enough not to camp here. Especially with a tent. Five trains between midnight and 5am. Every one of them blew the horn well past the crossing. This is not an exaggeration; it sounded like the trains were going to come through the tent. We might as well have been on the tracks themselves. We had to cover our 3yo daughters ears to keep her from getting scared awake during every train passing. The tent camping is closest to the tracks which makes zero sense to me as the RV's would be less subject to the noise and would block a lot of it from reaching the tents. The train schedule probably varies, but I assure you, it's not worth the roll of the dice. I would find somewhere else to camp, especially if you like the peace and quiet(which is a huge part of camping). I know this isn't really in their control, but it kind of is. They do mention that the trains do come through and that the guests don't usually mention it after the second night(probably because they leave after the first night LOL JK). They definitely sugar coat it. However, they need to have that in BOLD RED LETTERS"THE TRAINS ARE LOUD AS F**K". I would've just canceled the trip immediately and camped elsewhere. They need one of those huge sound blocking walls you see along the interstate. The Bathrooms: Bathrooms need work. The toilet seats are gross, the walls have mold on them, the shower curtains are piss yellow. All of which would cost around$80 to fix. Those are the"Campers Only" bathrooms. The"Tubing Showers" are basically a wooden shack with a pull string valve. Looks like something out of a horror film. Not sure why they even have them because the river will get you cleaner than those ever will. The River: The river is beautiful. Great views of the mountain sides. The views and fishing were the only saving grace. I was able to catch a small-mouth bass pretty quickly and missed a few others. The water ranges in depth, but nothing deeper than waste deep really. It's rocky and slippery so it's dangerous and not very family friendly. Especially for young children and older people. Honestly, my wife hated the river because it was so hard to move around. So while it looked nice and fished well, that was about it. Tubing: I didn't do the tubing, but I had family with me that did and they said it was NOT worth the money. The water level was said to be good for it, but they said they dragged their butts the majority of the way. I also think that their base level tubes they rent out are not enough to keep you high enough out of the water. They look like inner tubes from some sort of truck and they are not beefy enough for this application, you'll just droop through the middle. If you do tube, bring your own river tube or rent the premium versions with the bottom sewn in. The People: The people were very nice to us during our short stay. This was a non-issue. However, I think they should worry less about the grass and more about the amenities getting updated(build a new bathhouse building). For Young Kids: Nothing really available for younger kids to play on. No playgrounds or anything other than a few ride around toys and a basketball hoop. They have plenty of room for an awesome playground for much younger kids, but I don't think that's their focus. Conclusion: Would I ever stay at New River Junction again? Absolutely not. For me, camping is about getting away from the noise and my house is quieter than this place and I live on a busy street. The trains are awful for tent camping and I'm sure the thin-walled travel trailers too. Had it not been for the trains, the place would have been okay, but even the good parts weren't that great. I didn't set this trip up, a family member did. I'll never let her live this one down lol. Don't let the positive reviews mislead you. The majority of the reviews are from people there just for tubing. In all my years of tent camping, this was the worst trip I've ever had.
Pit toilets, but was nice to have something ++ FREE. Super cool river near by, great scenery.
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
The site is nice, tent stakes went in easily, and the shower is close by, clean and has hot water. The people running this are also very nice. The issue though is the highway the camp is next to, and the railroad across the river. The train do use it every other hour and do use their brakes and horns.
Most campground reviews are from the RV crowd. This is from the tent camper perspective, particularly motorcycle tent camping. The roads/lanes in the park are paved, but otherwise where you would ride are lousy for motorcycles. The "gravel" parking lot from the road to the office and in the RV/electric loop is more like rocks, and you stand a good chance of dropping your bike. Park your bike on the asphalt drive and walk up to the office. In addition, the tent parking spots are sloped upwards with some very slick crushed rock and are challenging for a motorcycle. The office closes at 5 (4 on Sunday and probably Saturday) and there is no campground map posted to see where the tent camping area is. They have copies of the campground map in the office and I suggested they put one on the outside of the office door so people arriving after they close have a map to view. The tent camping (primitive) is off a paved lane a lot further down the hill past the office. The sign for the lane says primitive. Straight up at the top of the hill for that lane is site 6 which is somewhat acceptable for motorcycle parking although you are not going to get good enough of a cell signal there to use any internet apps. You might get one bar to make calls or text. At the top of that hill, take a left and go up a steep hill to the shower house and where sites 1 &2 are at. At sites 1&2 and outside the shower house you can get a good enough signal (2 bars) to use internet apps. The campground does have an open wifi, but it doesn't reach to the tent camping sites. They should add some directional antennas to extend to that area. Sites 1&2 are best for motorcycles if you can reserve one of them. 2 has a wide enough turn around that you could easily park a group of motorcycles there. When you check in you are assigned a 4 digit code to unlock the shower house doors. If you arrive after hours you'll have to ask another camper if they'll share their code with you like we had to. Don't bother trying to call the campground number after hours to check in or ask for a code because you'll just their voicemail. Bring a hammer or find a rock to hammer your tent stakes in because the ground where you would want to pitch a tent is mostly rock. Being primitive there is no electric at the tent sites. There is an outlet by the sink in the shower house if you need to charge your phone. There aren't any external outlets at the shower house. There is a spigot outside the shower house, but I did not open it to make sure it worked. We got our water using the shower house sink. The rate as of July 2024 is $10.50 PER TENT per night. There is no discount for only using one site with several tents. We (four bikes with 4 tents) stayed there four nights. We would have left after the first night, but had paid for all four nights and also didn't want to have to pack everything up to look for a different campground.
This campground rests by Bluestone Lake, which is where the Bluestone River runs runs into the New River. Meador CG is up the Bluestone portion of the lake and the backwaters do have a swampy appearance. The area is gorgeous with tons to do at both Bluestone State Park, Pipestem State Park (short 20 min drive, and the broader New River area.
The campground is very quiet and well spaced. Our site was one of only a handful with water and electric but there is a dump station on the way out of the campground area.
The bathrooms and other facilities are a little dated but the campground is very clean. There is an outdoor pool within walking distance of campground but the playgrounds need upgraded. Lots of space to run around for the kids. It rained one day we were there and we took a quick drive to Pipestem and swam in the heated, indoor pool that is included in camping fee.
Stayed in the tent area. Site was good. Bathhouse was great and newly remodeled. Had a band and food trucks.
Stayed here with friends and everything was good except the fact that there were about a half dozen skunks. Kinda kept me on edge.
The State Park is as close to the interstate as you can get without hearing a single truck- just about 10 minutes.
The campsites have electric hookups but no water or sewer. There wasn’t a dump station but the bathhouse was very well maintained and had great shower. For being so close to the interstate, the park is very quiet. Close to many interesting places to visit.
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!!
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.
This is a great campground! I came here in June with my wife, daughter, and my parents. My wife, baby, and I stayed in a tent only campsite while my parents were in a pull through RV site.
This place is huge! There is so much to see and do. But because of this size, I would not recommend walking the campground or even using a bike to get around. I say this because on top of it being very large and spaced apart, it is also very, very hilly. You'll find yourself either having to drive your car or rent a golf cart.
The staff was pretty nice and helpful. We even met the owner. She was nice to talk to.
The camp store was a bit of a letdown, a lot of knic knacks, and not many actual camping supplies. The pool was small and very, very cold well maintained. The mini golf was fun, but unlike other campgrounds I've been to, you have to pay for it. The ice cream store was also satisfying.
The campsites themselves are roomy, plenty of space! Ours even had an amazing view of the small airport and surrounding hills. The restrooms were alright, about average for a campground. But they seemed to be cleaned every day.
The beach was nice, we definitely enjoyed it. Also, make sure to stop by serenity point for sunset. You won't regret it!
I would recommend either bringing your own golf cart or renting one. But make sure if it's electric, you book a site with a hookup to charge the cart when not in use.
All together, this is a great place. We will hopefully be back!
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!
The family that runs the place is very nice. Basic campsite was very level and easy to get in/out of. It was very peaceful and quiet at night.
Nothing much going on here but the bathrooms were clean and well kept. No views to be had at this campground but a solid stay in a great location run by people who care about it.
nice little free campground with about 5 sites with grill fire rings level gravel drive with tent pad and lantern pole, restrooms but I didn't use them well water pump for drinking water but didn't use it, quiet, few people in and out I stayed just shy of 2 weeks and 1 other came in a few days after me and stayed the whole time I was there and both of us worked on our rv without any disturbances. trail right through the campground and the Apalation trail just across the road
We had 2 of the larger campsites (#2 and #3) for Memorial Day Weekend. We had a great time all weekend with hiking,picnics,campfires and ghost hunting. However,on Sunday night a strong storm came through that brought down trees with it's fierce wind and torrential rain. The power went out in the campground. The Park superintendent offered a free room in the lodge to anyone who wanted to stay where there was electricity. We were camping in a tent which ended up with lots of water in it. Kudos to Superintendent Ken for making a bad situation better. We will recommend this beautiful park to everyone.
We had an amazing overnight stay at Rays Campground. The site we had, site 10, was large and secluded. Clean shower house and hot water and the owners were extremely friendly.
This state forest is expansive with lots of trails popular with mountain bikers. It is a bit challenging to reach with a large(ish) van like ours. Narrow, winding roads take you to the Forest entrance. Campground was quiet with few campers in mid-May. The weather was hot and buggy when we visited. We did find a few ticks. Campground does have playgrounds, showers, electric hook-ups, and a dump station.
You can’t beat an established campground (picnic tables, fire pits, bathrooms) in a national park that’s also free! Good amount of spiders and ants but didn’t notice any mosquitoes in mid May. Peaceful and quiet!
Great spot, private, with good running water hot showers and flush toilets. Picnic table and fire ring with grate, the creek by our site was so nice and bubbling. Every spot was private and maintained. Absolutely no issues and was worth the $20, easy check in, self check out. Felt very safe here despite it being remote
I visited this campground on April 11. The location was easy to get to and there were lots of open spaces. I practically had the campground to myself. The sites are spacious and each site has a sturdy metal table and BBQ pit. The vault bathroom was clean at the time I visited. You can easily walk to the river from the campground. The gnats were out even in early April, so be sure you have bug protection.
Saw $44 per night on website. Was charged $54 when I showed up.
Nice level Campground, easy access from I-64, AT&T and Verizon both 5 bars. Sit & watch deer in the valley most mornings. No on-site management, you have to txt for reservations.
The Outpost was a great place to camp. We stayed in a full service RV spot, but the camp offered a variety of accommodations. Power had been knocked out the few days prior to our visit but luckily came back on soon after we checked in. They have a large community center w/ clean bathrooms, a large green area w/ fire pits and a ton of space for a dog to run around in. Our site was right on a little creek, had a picnic table and fire pit. The bathhouse was clean, big and heated. On our way in, we stopped at The New River Gorge which was beautiful and then for a beer at Bridge Works Beer. We met Barley the brewery dog who became fast friends with our pup. The beer was great and there were plenty of heaters on the patio to keep us warm in the rain and cold. 🍻
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Shady Spring, WV?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Shady Spring, WV is Grandview Sandbar Campground — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve with a 4-star rating from 22 reviews.
What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near Shady Spring, WV?
TheDyrt.com has all 78 dog-friendly camping locations near Shady Spring, WV, with real photos and reviews from campers.
