Glade Creek Campground — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

This area is our favorite we have been in all of the eastern states. So the sites all have fire pits and picnic tables and there’s tons of wood around to burn. There’s two pit toilet restrooms on both sides of the campground and a full area by the water for walk in tent camping. Boat ramp for anyone wanting to kayak and a big beach area to play in the water so perfect for my dog and kid. No one was around so we had the place to ourselves but each area is well spaced.

Great place along the river. Low traffic, spots are large and spread out, there is s nice trail (5.6miles). Down side, no tmobile cell service, and a train runs on the other side if the river every few hours

Great quiet spot. All primitive, does have a bathhouse with toilets only. Pretty good drive to any stores, so pack in what you need. It is about a 7 mile ride down a gravel road. I did the trip on a motorcycle so the road isn’t bad. I got there at 6pm on a tuesday and got the last spot! Get there early to make sure you get a spot. Very well maintained.

We stopped in the see if our 23ft camper fit and it did!! The spaces are very small all around the campground with about 3 exceptions if you feel comfortable driving down the dirt road. So glad we did. There were 2 other sites occupied when we stayed and it was soo quiet except the railroad every so often! Just serene.

Love this place. Roads are riddled with potholes. Careful in low rise cars. My Grand Prix Pontiac always made it just fine. I’ve seen a snake in the road before lol. I hope it’s open now sorry I don’t have an update. I will when I go next. Since COVID it has been closed >:( nevertheless, the hiking paths are awesome. Leads you to coal mining ruins OR to a beautiful water fall you can swim. I go there even if I’m not camping. There’s an awesome jump off at the top of the falls. Sand campground. You can kayak near the camp spots. Can be huge hydraulics at times. Locals can be sketchy sometimes just be nice. There’s one bathroom

A very nice free CG in New River NP W Va. Probably about a dozen spots for RVs and/or tents. Most are on the loop on the way in. I got lucky and nabbed a spot my Taco and FWC fit comfortably. This spot is last on the way out before exit. Quiet and peaceful near creek/river with boat ramp. The only noise was the occasional train rumbling by across the river.

There are only six drive up primitive sites, and if you can nab one on a weekend consider yourself fortunate. Also available are walk up sites, and in a pinch you can park your camper van in the boat launch parking lot overnight (which we did without problem until a site opened up) Spacious and wooded with hiking and boating right from camp. Much better than Grandview Sandbar, which is 6 miles up the gravel road.

In the New River Gorge National Park, you will not find the sprawling campgrounds found in many other national parks. In general, you're dependent on private and state campgrounds in the area or primitive gems offering limited walk-in or drive-in sites. This is one of those gems. It's farther down the road from Grandview Sandbar, so it definitely fills later. The road is graded, but still has potholes. 

Glade Creek offers both moderate sized drive-in sites somewhat removed from the river and a row of riverfront walk-in sites. The area is wooded. There is river access for small boats/rafts. Latrines are provided, but bring your own water or plan to treat water.

The drive in is best suited for cars, trucks, and smaller trailers. There are trails for hiking and biking in the area. Supplies are available in nearby Beckley.

If you want to arise early, drive back to the top of the gorge and over to Grandview for a sunrise view above the horseshoe bend.

Beautiful area, only a few sites. The creek joins the New River here, you can hear the water from the sites.

My pup and I car camped here last December and it was wonderful. Limited to no AT&T cell service; however, the park rangers drove through the area about twice a night so I always felt safe and knew I could use their phones if needed.

Stopped by on my way up north. Beautiful view of the river, which was high. There’s 5 pull in sites and 5 walk in tent sites. Multiple bathrooms, including ADA friendly, all clean. There were 2 other campers on a Saturday night, which was nice and quiet. It’s about 5 miles down a nice dirt road, easy to drive on. There’s no AT&T service upon arrival. A few spots you could locate a bar to send a message, but that’s it. Lots of trees to hang a hammock. Each site had a fire ring, picnic table and a pole to hang food from. No electricity or water so be sure to bring your own. Overall, enjoyed my stay!

I made sure to be a little early to make sure the drive in spots were not all taken. There are also spots right now the new river which in reality are nicer. The trailhead at the top of the campground was beautiful for hiking. Not great for trail runners though. Overall this place was beautiful clean and safe.

Great semi-primitive campground, I say semi because there are showers and bathroom facilities for the campers. At the very end of the road into the park there are about 8 camping spots. 3 drive in and 5 walk in, but the walk in sites are about 100 yards from the parking lot. Prior to the end of the road is the Sandbar campgrounds, which is a very popular and busy spot so get there early! Definitely one of my favorite campgrounds I’ve ever been to, absolutely beautiful!!! Don’t forget about the Weathered Ground Brewery, about a 30 minute drive from the park on U.S. 19, great beer, amazing food, and beautiful scenery!

We stayed the weekend of 3/13/20-3/15/20 and had fairly good weather despite the damp mornings. There is five drive-in sites and more walk-in sites on the edge of the camp. The drive-in sites filled and vacated several times throughout the weekend. The tent sites were closer than I thought, but were still nicely equipped with a fire pit, charcoal grill, and picnic table.

The camp had clean latrines (no running water) and was easily accessible from an offroad-like gravel entrance road. The camp is steps away from the Glade Creek Trail and the New River Gorge. The flowing Gorge can always be heard, the low rumble is peaceful at night. There is not much open space; this only proves to be a problem if your dog loves to fetch as much as mine does.

Overall, Glade Creek Campground is a nice and somewhat-remote camp that is accessible with a vehicle. The camp is presumably shaded year-round and is completely free.

Stayed one night on 9/7/19. Camped in campsite #1. I think the campsites where all full shortly after dark. Very quiet. Have new vault toilets. Heard a Barred Owl at night. Was able to let my dog off the leash down by the river to play and even played frisbee in our campsite and on the camp road. Trash bins on site. Charcoal grills at sites. The gravel road to get here is a fun drive. Had AT&T cell signal down by the river but no Sprint Signal.

One of my favorite places on this planet. The second oldest river in the world new river meet glade creek at the campgrounds. This place has trails that are to die for. An old railroad runs by glade creek and it is incredible.

No sources of freshwater available @ the campground.  The nearest convenient store is some miles away.  The campground is in the middle section of the New River Park system.  The busy areas of the park are to the north in the Canyon rim district.  The available 5 drive in sites go quick.  I was in the campground 3 days and never saw an empty spot.  The campground is clean and well maintained. A new vaulted toilet was being installed while I was there.

Definitely nab one of the free grounds early in the day, especially on weekends. Its a dirt road drive to the main sites and it's a little dodgy at night. the lot we picked had 6 campsites, with sand, fire pits, and a dock by the river. The community of people out there was great, friendly, and sociable. We learned that playing instruments is also very welcome!