Best Dispersed Camping near Terra Alta, WV

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Terra Alta

41 Reviews of 7 Terra Alta Campgrounds

• 

  Kevin C.

  Ranger

  

  Oct. 14, 2024

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  Great Disbursed Camping

  There are numerous disbursed camping sites at this location. We arrived on a Sunday and found all the sites near the vaulted toilet empty.

  The campsites are boarded by boulders. The toilet was one of the cleanest I have seen. Most sites have good shade while still open to the sky.

  Sites are level and have good back-in driveways. Fire rings are large. We removed lots of trash from our fire ring, mostly aluminum cans.

• 

  Harley G.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 16, 2024

  Canaan Loop Road Dispersed

  First night

  This was our first night ever for dispersed camping for us. Did have nice secluded spots for camping. Road was a little rough so take your time.

• 

  Leonard M.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 30, 2024

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  Dont try to show up on a Friday afternoon

  We tried to get a spot this weekend and arrived around 430pm on Friday.  Every single spot was taken with many people who look like they have been set up there all summer....

• 

  Michael H.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 24, 2024

  Canaan Loop Road Dispersed

  Great area for backcountry car camping /overlanding!

  Loved camping here! We found a nice site in the pine trees! Perfect for 2 vehicles and 5 people hammock camping!

• 

  Dallas C.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 29, 2023

  Dolly Sods Backcountry

  Magical

  Camped here several times and I love it.

• 

  John W.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 28, 2023

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  Great place to camp solo or w/family and friends

  Camped solo first week of June then with neighbor and his friends a week later. Had great time both visits! Highly recommend getting firewood on right not far from turning off main road! Watch for deer on back roads anytime of day or night!

• W

  Wesley W.

  Scout

  

  May. 24, 2023

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  Loved it !

  Arrived 8 May for a week. Nice and cool. 4 to 8 other campers. No one next to me. There were a couple of small groups, like two rigs together. Nice and quiet. A few friendly fishermen each day, sharing local knowledge.

• M

  Maegen C.

  Traveler

  

  May. 23, 2023

  Canaan Loop Road Dispersed

  Great Spot

  My partner and I like to camp here every year, this year being our third. We’ve found a few nice little spots to set up camp. Great trails nearby with wonderful views.

• 

  joe W.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 12, 2023

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  Great private campsite with an established firepit

  No one bothered mom and I on Easter weekend. We pulled our 28 foot travel trailer in past I’d say ten other campsites that were taken. The last big turnaround featured four rv accessible campfires for us to pick.

• E

  Eric H.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 30, 2022

  Dolly Sods Backcountry

  Favorite backpacking in WV

  Berries abound. Gorgeous views. Be sure to hang your food. Make sure you see bear rocks! Take a map. This place is just magical.

• S

  Scott R.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 11, 2022

  Canaan Loop Road Dispersed

  Nice

  We arrived in the late afternoon and found a very pleasant back-in spot about a mile or so in. Hiked a few of the nearby trails. Saw some bear scat, but past that the only animals we saw were a few frogs.

  Very, very damp.

• 

  Clayton S.

  Guide

  

  May. 6, 2022

  Canaan Loop Road Dispersed

  Great spot for winter camping

  I really enjoyed the Caanan Loop Road.  It all dispersed camping and if you have a 4x4 you can complete the loop.  If you come in from the east, it's a very well maintained road for any vehicle (RVs may have trouble turning around), but the last mile or two you need a 4x4.  This will take you to Blackwater Falls state Park.

• 

  Melanie S.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 27, 2022

  Gandy Creek Dispersed Camping

  Easy camping

  We picked a spot about halfway into the dispersed camping area, creek side along the Gandy creek. We were closer to the road than we wanted to be but because the past few days had been beautiful spring weather, the area was packed. The only others we saw from our campsite were people fishing downstream from our camp and they were respectful of our space. Will be back to this area to explore and stay at other campsites!

• W

  Wyatt S.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 27, 2022

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  Nice, quiet dispersed camp sites

  Nice camp sites, and good fishing.

• J

  Jacob

  Guide

  

  Apr. 25, 2022

  Dolly Sods Backcountry

  Best backcountry camping spots in the state

  Excellent weather. There will always be puddles / ponds in the middle of the trails in Dolly Sods, but conditions were generally excellent. Camped at the Forks and most sites ended up full there, but plenty of dispersed camping off other trails.

• J

  Jacob

  Guide

  

  Apr. 3, 2022

  Canaan Loop Road Dispersed

  April Snow

  Still snow on the ground and very wet in early April, but great dispersed car camp and walk-in camp sites.

• 

  Jon N.

  Guide

  

  Feb. 2, 2022

  Lower Glady Dispersed Campground

  A large camping area tucking the mountains.

  To start this review off, I drove in during a small snow storm, it was in the single digits for temp, and I woke up with about 8 inches on the ground. Due to this, I was the only one here, so I'm not sure how crowded it would be in the warmer months, or with less snow. 

  I didn't pull in until close to 11 PM, but a couple notes on what I could see. There is a very sharp turn if you come in from the south on Sully Road, which seems to be the primary way to get there. My Subaru Forester didn't have any issues, but if you're driving an RV or have a trailer, you may have a struggle. However, once you get past that, there camp area is huge. You could easily fit a dozen cars there. There are some toilets, which are really more of out houses. There was also a creek running on the side of the camp, so with a water filter and enough food, you could spend many days here. I could also see a few fire pits, but again, 8' of snow made it hard to really tell what I was looking at, and as it was still snowing and getting late, I didn't feel like trekking too far. There is a wonderful view of the night sky and having the mountain backdrop in the morning was really nice.

  I'll def be back here in the warmer months and bring along some friends and family.

• 

  Mic F.

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 16, 2022

  Gandy Creek Dispersed Camping

  Peaceful primitive camping

  We pulled into the first spot we found by the creek mainly due to having a big rig and not being sure of other spots. After driving up the road when we left there's about four or five spots total. The gravel road can get pretty narrow but there wasn't really anyone else there so we didn't have any issues. The view by the creek was so pretty. There's a little store called Ruby's about an hours walk up the road for some small supplies and whatnot. As far as traffic on the road we got about two to three cars drive by a day but that wasn't a problem for us at all.

• 

  Rhea B.

  Traveler

  

  Dec. 23, 2021

  Canaan Loop Road Dispersed

  It snowed but we didn't die 🤣

  We camped here on a winter road trip fully prepared for the worst weather and this mountain top dispersed site delivered. It was muddy and snowy but our Subaru made it fine about half way into Canaan loop road. All of the sites were mud pits but they were easily identified by big fire rings.

  The scenery was gorgeous but don't come here in the winter unless you are prepared for any kind of weather event. It's very secluded and you need to definitely be self sufficient

• 

  Brittany B.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 18, 2021

  Gandy Creek Dispersed Camping

  My favorite campground!

  This was my first stop on my cross country trip from Virginia to California and out of all the amazing places I’ve seen, this is by far my favorite spot!

• 

  Ben

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 13, 2021

  Dolly Sods Backcountry

  AK in WV??

  With the incredibly varied landscapes and diverse vegetation, Dolly Sods truly feels like you are somewhere far north from WV. The ferns and evergreens reminded me of being in Maine, the vast meadows felt like I was in Wyoming or Montana. 

  I spent Labor Day weekend in Dolly Sods. With the parking lot packed full of vehicles at Bear Rocks Trailhead, I thought it might be difficult finding any decent campsites on the trail. Thankfully I was very wrong. There are so many incredible spots to camp pretty much everywhere along the trail. Finding water near camp is difficult in some areas, but some simple planning negates this. 

  (I lost my Oakley Frogskins somewhere on the Rocky Ridge Trail, free to anyone that finds them lol)

• 

  Kelly G.

  Legend

  

  Aug. 29, 2021

  Brushy Ridge Road Dispersed

  Great location near Dolly Sods Wilderness

  Brushy Ridge Road is Forest Service Road 75 and is in decent condition. There are several pull off campsites along this road on the way up to Dolly Sods wilderness but this primitive group of three large unmarked campsites with stone fire rings is before you get to the Bear Flats Plateau and the Red Creek camp grounds. It is a 2.5 mile, 2000’ climb to get to the trailhead for Bear Rocks Trail in Bear Rocks Preserve which is about a half mile past the entrance to this unmarked group site. I camped in the middle of these three large campsites that are each about 100 feet away from each other. Firewood was available on a self serve honor system (put $5 cash in the box for each bundle you take) at the farmhouse across from the turn on to Brushy Creek.

• 

  Heather H.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 25, 2021

  Gandy Creek Dispersed Camping

  Great primitive camp

  Quiet location with clean sites along Gandy Creek.

• 

  Megan B.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 9, 2021

  Dolly Sods Backcountry

  Beautiful wilderness

  Lots of spots along the trails. Sites in the more popular areas by the rivers fill up on busy weekends. The trails can be muddy and rocky but a gorgeous area. Bear country so bring a cannister or hang your food. But 100% worth the trip.

• m

  marcus

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 1, 2021

  Canaan Loop Road Dispersed

  Loved the space

  Real dispersed and nice for meditation and views. Beautiful scenery

• 

  Alexandra B.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 12, 2021

  Dolly Sods Backcountry

  Amazing Views

  So many different landscapes packed into on area. We did an overnight trip and had so much fun. 10/10 recommend.

• 

  Justin L.

  Traveler

  

  Dec. 23, 2020

  Gandy Creek Dispersed Camping

  Great spot

  Great dispersed camping area. Camped here in winter and just pulled into the first designated spot. There was snow but the fire pit was easy to dig out. Very quiet in late December and the sound of the creek was really peaceful.