Best RV Parks & Resorts near Upper Tract, WV

We had a great stay at Spacious Skies Shenandoah Views in Luray, VA. 

We stayed in a level back-in site(#39) with picnic table on a concrete patio, Adirondack chairs under a pergola on a second concrete patio, clean gravel surface, and fire pit. The site was big enough for our motor home and Jeep. Full hook-ups with 50-amp service. 

Wow, what a view! Sunset over the mountains from our campsite each evening. Who could ask for more? 

The campground is close to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive as well as Luray Caverns and a few smaller tourist attractions including the Luray Zoo and Bear Mountain Zip-lines. 

They have a clean pool and playground for little kids. The nearby dairy cow farm is fun too. 

You can tell the new owners are making some upgrades including improving the utilities and adding wi-fi. 

The drive in requires about 25-miles through the roller coaster of steep grade(7+%) hills. There’s no way around that, you’re in the mountains. Just be aware and be prepared. 

THINGS I ESPECIALLY LIKED: 

1. The best view from a campsite we’ve ever experienced 

2. Less than 20-minutes from Shenandoah National Park and Luray Caverns 

3. Clean campground

July 10-19, 2020

As my wife and I were discussing my review, I asked her what could we point to to take away from a 5-star rating. Neither of us could think of a single thing.

This campground (RV Resort) is simply beautiful. Wooded, stone borders, stone walls, and stone fire pits at every site, plus full hookup at each site. They cater nicely to big rigs, offering numerous pull-through sites as well as back-in sites, as your need exists. Small rigs down to tent trailers camp here as well. There are only two restroom locations (same with the dumpsters; guests do not leave trash near their sites, guests are expected to take care of their own trash), but they are clean, well cared for, and odor free. Showers are the same.

Most sites are spaced enough to give some feeling of privacy, some are fairly close together. A few sites are nicely secluded for those of us that crave privacy. Staff was extremely pleasant and helpful, and include a “Camp host” for after hours problems. Because of Virginia restrictions due to the current COVID situation, as of this writing the pool and spacious game room are not open. Check with them if that is a gamechanger for you. Their cavern tour (discounted for guests at the RV park) was lovely. Marked well, lighted, relaxed. Our tour guide, Haley, was a sweetheart, taking time for the two little kids, and still giving the information older people like. Plenty of things to do nearby, including museums, Civil War Battlefields, shopping, and Skyline Drive (fantastic).

This is a quiet campground, with no street lights, and quiet hours from 11PM to 8AM. Definitely not a party campground, which totally endeared this place to us. Roads are gravel and can be a bit steep, 4-wheel drive is helpful.

We thoroughly loved our stay here, and assuming we are back this way, we don’t even plan on looking at other locations to stay. Can not praise this campground (RV Resort) enough.

Surprisingly, recreation.gov had excellent campsite descriptions and photos for this campground(very unusual in our experience), which made it possible for us to choose the perfect site for our 30' travel trailer. We would not have been satisfied with the slope of more than a few of the sites here, so be sure to do your due diligence before choosing your site. 

This is a large campground with lots of sites, many of which(like C129) are quite large. The entire campground was clean and well-kept, including the bathrooms and showers. Keep in mind that showers are$5 for 10 minutes but we noticed that shower#4 worked on just$4. Shh! Don't tell anyone!;-) 

This is boondocking(no water, sewer, or electric hookups), but there are plenty of potable water spigots and there is a dump station nearby that is convenient, in good working order, and also has potable water. One complaint about the dump would be that there is no threaded hose to flush out a black tank. 

Generator hours are 08:00- 10:00 and 16:00- 19:00 but are extended to 21:00 from opening until April 14 and again from October 15 through closing. Quiet hours are 22:00- 06:00. 

The campground has a good laundry facility and a small store. A short walk takes you to Big Meadows Lodge with a full-service restaurant, pub, coffee bar, and gift shop. Take in the sunset from the great room, the deck, or a short hike along the Black Rock trail. A little longer walk takes you to the Wayside where you will find a well-stocked store with food, beverages (adult and otherwise), camping supplies, a quick service restaurant, and a nice gift shop. Definitely try the blackberry cobbler at either Big Meadows Lodge or the Wayside! 

Ticks are a big issue here(at least they were when we visited in mid-October). Be sure to check your pups constantly for ticks, and make sure you take preventive measures such as sprays and chews to make sure your pups stay safe. Check yourselves, your kiddos, and your bedding too! 

We had mixed feelings about the staff here, many of whom were quite nice and helpful. We did feel that the person who checked us in seemed a bit haggard and, perhaps as a result, was relatively short with us when we asked reasonable questions. We also felt the campground hosts were more than a bit inconsistent in rules enforcement. For instance, they are adamant about not having even a millimeter of tire off the pavement(even when trying to keep the tow vehicle off the roadway) but didn't care at all about campers who ran their generators all day long outside of generator hours. 

Verizon was nonexistent. 

T-Mobile was good. 

Starlink was great for us, but keep in mind that many sites have a canopy of trees that will obstruct Starlink. 

Solar was so-so, partially because of the tree cover and partially because of clouds and fog.

We recently stayed for a long weekend at the Outlanders campground after we received a referral from a friend and could not have been more happy with our stay.  The RV sites at this campground are very spaced out, you have a lot of room to each side of your RV.  The park and facilities were very clean.  They have a playground for the kids, fishing ponds, cabins, pet friendly with a dog park and they are located right along the Shenandoah river.  You can go tubing on the river but need to provide your own tubes.  The ride down the river from one end of the park to the other is around 30 minutes.  Also for all of the people attached to the internet like us we were able to have plenty of cell signal to hotspot and get internet.

Loft Mountain was the third stop on our tour of Shenandoah National Park. First stop traveling south on Skyline Drive was Mathews Arm and second was Big Meadows at about the halfway point. Loft Mountain is at about the 3/4 mark. These parks are well spaced for viewing and hiking in between each campground.

I'm a big fan of campgrounds in national parks. Why do I like this one? Pretty much the same reasons as I liked the other Shenandoah campgrounds:

• All the basic needs are available in a scenic setting.

• Generator-free sections (because I hate noisy generators)

• About 75% of the sites are first-come, first-served sites so you should always be able to find a site if you arrive early.

• The $15 price is a bargain and our Lifetime Senior Pass cuts the fee in half.

• Hiking: There's a lot to keep you busy in the entire national park, but rainy, foggy weather kept us from exploring as much as we'd like. We'll be back!

Things to Know About the Sites

• Some sites have food storage boxes. Use them as an alternative to keeping food locked in your vehicle.

• Walk-to tent sites: It's not a long walk to your site from a designated parking spot.

• I was surprised to see that most sites (other than walk-to tent sites) have long, pull through parking pads, and most have a grass buffer (and possibly a few trees) separating the site from the road. These asphalt pads can accommodate RVs of all sizes and have a spacious area behind the pull through with a picnic table, fire ring and room for a tent. Great sites!

• Generator-free sites in loop F and part of G are reservable sites. If you want one of these sites, I recommend a reservation. See the site map photo.

Amenities

• Restrooms with a utility sink outside some of them

• Potable water and trash/recycling stations are spread throughout the park. These are all shown on the site map photo.

• Camp store with ice, wood and limited food choices is a short walk from the campground entrance.

• Showers: $1.75 for 5.25 minutes. These are located in a restroom near the campstore and look new. There is a handicapped accessible shower/bathroom combination.

• Laundry facility near the camp store

Loft Mountain Campground is a large national park service campground on the southern end of Shenandoah National Park. The sites are all non-electric, with a mix of pull through and back-in sites, as well as tent only and RV accommodating sites.

We stayed in Loop G, site 182- we were pleasantly surprised to find that Site 182 had a lot more privacy than an ordinarily pull-through site and it was perfect for us, as we tend to like more private, secluded campsites where we can’t see as many people. The campground was not very busy, and the only other campsites that would have been visible to us if they were occupied was the site directly across from us.

We found the campground to be well maintained, well marked, and easy to navigate. After exploring other sites in the park, it was clear that very few sites in the entire campground would be less than ideal- most were spacious and offered ample privacy. Most of the sites have trees dividing them from one another on three sides, and the picnic tables for the sites are sometimes located a short walk from the parking area to offer even more privacy.

This was a safe, quiet, and very comfortable campground that was pleasantly close to amenities, easy access to the park, and even a reasonable distance from the highway if you are looking to leave the park and come back later.

We would definitely recommend Loft Mountain Campground- after driving through all the other campgrounds at Shenandoah, and staying at both Loft Mountain and Matthew’s Arm, we concluded that Loft Mountain was certainly our favorite.

Stokesville campground is a little rough around the edges but offers access to lots of miles of trails in George Washington National Forest. There is an awesome swimming hole on the North River, Four miles of flow mountain bike trails inside the campground with endless miles of trails just outside. Stokesville is a mountain bike destination that cyclists travel from all around, the the campground is alot of those cyclists gateway to gwnf. The campground has primitive tent sites up in the woods and full hookup pull through sites. A playground for kids and fishing pond.

Big Meadows ( Shenandoah NP): (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer) Overall Rating: in the generator loop: 3.5. Most sites are pretty on top of each other. Non generator sites have more sites that are private ( Our site in the generator loop E is spectacular 4.5). Pics included of the absolute best sites in the generator area.

Price: $15 per night w senior pass Usage during visit: high Site Privacy: ours good . Most in the generator area have nonne Site Spacing: close Site surface: Black top Reservations: You better for peak season. First come first serve campgrounds nearby. Lewis Mnt is nice Campground Noise: Not bad for so many people Road Noise: None Through Traffic: Minimal Electricity: No Water: Most restrooms have a water source for filling. Fill at the dump station when you enter Bathrooms: Flush toilets and clean. They are a bit awkward to get to from the sites in our area Sewer: No Dump: Yes Generators: Allowed. Quiet hours are 10pm to 6:00 AM Showers: $5 for about 10 mins. Clean and nice Laundry: Available and reasonably priced. Pull Throughs: Some Cell Service (Verizon): Available from our area most of the time.
Setting: Open forest. Looks to be more underbrush in tent and non generator areas.
Weather: Clear and 10 degrees cooler than the valley below. Bugs: Not bad. No mosquitoes, at least yet! Solar: Fixed panels will not work. Host and Rangers: FRIENDLY Rig size: Site specific. 45’ RVs work in some sites. Sites: E175, 177, 178, 180,183,185, and 187 are along forest edge with a valley below, though through the trees. These are the sites to have in the generator area. (During our stay, generators were used sparingly.)

We stayed in site 150 (premium pull through) which was closer to the amenities. This is a very walkable campground though. The bulk of the sites were fairly close in my opinion except for the ones in the very back (Mountain View I believe) As with any Jellystone, most of the sites were very close. We were well within the widths of our hookups with slides out, and our neighbors had barely any yard at all. Our electric pole was knocked over and the water spigot was about 4 inches from the ground. All the hookups were just in odd spots. The sewer hookups were pretty far away (definitely need the extra hoses here) and the cable hookups definitely need a longer coax cord to reach the pole. Two sites share one cable pole and ours happened to be on the opposite side or normal hookup. The wifi is terrible, even at the premium site. We went and asked the staff about it and they agreed that it wasn’t very good. 🤷🏼‍♀️ The fire ring was the smallest I’ve ever seen.

The water slides and other activities were nice. Kept the kids happy and busy. The staff activities weren’t nearly as entertaining as they are at our local Jellystone, but not sure if that’s covid related. We enjoyed ourselves and loved all the fun stuff to do, but definitely some quirks that would have been nice to know about before arriving.