roadtripper2266952

We camped as a family in July 2013. We were there over the weekend and the campground was almost full. You may make a reservation online, but the specific spot is first come first serve. The campground is nicely laid out with nice camping spots in wooded areas. One side has water and electricity at each site. The other side is geared more for tents and did not have utilities at each site. There are also small cabins mixed in with the camp sites. Restrooms were clean but there are only two and some sites are quite a distance from them. Showers are included.

Camping fees for Virginia residents are $35/electric,water and $24 for dry camping. Fees for non-residents are $41/electric,water and $28/dry camping. (2015 rates.)

We attended two programs the state park offered. One was a trip to an old gold mine along with panning for gold in the creek. The second was kid focused fishing opportunity. Both had small fees associated with them. I would recommend both programs. There are wheelchair accessible fishing areas near the visitor center.The swimming area was a bit crowded with lots of day-use over the weekend. There are hiking trails and equestrian trails in the park.

The state park is along Lake Anna which is a large lake with a Dominion Power Nuclear Power Plant on it. It is a popular area for fishing and boating. There are other campgrounds and marinas on the lake as well as private homes. (We live approximately and hour away.)

We stayed here one night while we were traveling through the area. This state forest is surprisingly close to Charleston, WV the state capital. We would definitely stay here again, but the campground isn't without issues and therefore difficult to give it a star rating. First, the road into the campground is very steep with many blind sharp turns and through a neighborhood. Large RVs or 5th wheels would not be able to make the road down since we nearly didn't make it with a Toyota Highlander and small tent camper. Most sites are better suited for tent camping due to the size. We found one we got into but getting level was a challenge. I think we paid about $22 to a camp host who came around and collected money. We dry camped with a bathhouse, potable water available, ice and firewood for sale. The bathhouse met our needs but was not fancy. Some playground equipment available.

What we liked: this is very woodsy camping in a cool valley with a tiny stream running though the campground. The kind of stream kids and find crayfish and minnows in. The kind of campground you'd slather on some bug repellent and sit in the shade with a good book.

When we pulled up I was excited to see excited to see that Delaware State parks had won some national award for "Gold Medal of Excellence." I don't think campground layout was part of the judging.

In all fairness, the campground provided what we were looking for in a stop for the night, namely electric hook-ups. After a long hot loud night at our last place we wanted both the coolness and background noise of the ac. The 30 amp hook-ups provided that.

Besides the electricity, other positives were water hook-ups at the site, very clean sites, clean enough bath house with free showers, and friendly staff and campground hosts. There was also one washer ($2/load) and dryer ($1.50/load) with a sign to use liquid detergent only. A dump station is available. Finally, a free bicycle loaner program that we didn't use, but seems like a nice idea.

The disappointing part of the campground is the layout. Three of the loops (A, B, and C) are back in sites that are all close together. There are a lot of trees around, but no privacy and a lot of closeness. Loop D had pull through crescent shaped sites which were slightly better than the other loops, but still close together. Large rigs, Class A, large trailers or long 5th wheels would be to long for Loop D. All of these loops had electric and water. A final area was a tent camping area without electric and water. I didn't check out that area. There are also cabins available.

The campground was pretty loud in the evening sounding like a children's carnival. At least the kids were laughing and having fun but it was still going well past quiet hours.

We camped in Aug 2016.

Rate listed is for an in-state resident standard site. Electric/water site is $30. Out of state residents fees are $24/$35.

We tent camped last spring with my daughter's girl scout troop. The two campground loops are in wooded shady areas. Most sites are smaller and not big rig accessible, but a few are. We squeezed two tents on to the tent pad and it was a tight fit. Reservations are available but not site specific. We saw a raccoon and fox in the campground after dark. The bath house and showers were adequate, but the hot water did run out during the busy Saturday evening.

The park is located along the Potomac river. There is a Fossil Hike that is about a mile long down to the river. You can search for fossils and sharks teeth in the sand along the river's edge. Park has some sifters they lend out on a first come first serve basis to sift through sand to look for items. Ranger led programs are also available in-season. A boat launch is available as well as a swimming pool (to early in the season when we were there.) The boat launch and swimming are included in camping fees. The camp store sold firewood and "forgotten" camping needs. No real groceries beyond s'more things.

We did have some Verizon cell service but I don't remember has good it was.

We are considering camping here again this summer as a family.

We camped Thursday to Sunday morning in Aug 2019. On arrival Thurs night we were 1 of 5 campers in the park. Over the weekend more campers arrived but the campground only grew to half full.

The $40 fee is for instate residents ($45 for out of state) and does not include taxes and a $5 reservation fee.

Campsites are close together with no privacy. Many of them are small and unlevel. We camped on the outside of the loop for more privacy however, the sites on the inside of the loop are more level. There are only 3 crescent shaped pull through sites for very large rigs. The campground host was friendly and said this is a very quiet campground during the week with it getting busy on the weekend.

Bath house was clean and updated. The dump station was being worked on but was functional while we were there. Entire park was very clean and well maintained.

There is a path to one of the two lakes. Canoe/kayak/paddle boat rentals are available. Lifeguards are stationed at a swimming beach during the summer. A snack bar is open at the beach area. Fishing is also allowed on both lakes in the park. Non motorized boats are allowed and there are boat ramps on each lake.

Twin Lakes SP is about 20 min from High Bridge Trail SP (no camping there) which is a 31 mile crushed gravel flat (on old railroad bed) biking and hiking trail. This is an easy trail for biking and may also be of interest to anyone interest in Civil War historical sites.

Despite the campsites not being the greatest we would stay here again.

The rate listed is for in-state resident and includes online reservation fee and taxes.

The good: Bear Creek Lake State Park is a nice park adjacent to Cumberland State Forest. It is a wooded old growth park with some infrastructure dating back to the days of the CCC. The park has hiking trails including a shared mountain bike/equestrian trail. Non-motorized boats are allowed on the Bear Creek Lake. The park rents canoes, kayaks, paddle boats, and SUP by the hour, half day, or full day. Fishing is also common recreation at the park. There is a swimming beach and a playground. In the summer a concessions stand is run at the beach. As a family we enjoy these activities so the park is likable for these reasons.

The bad: The campground. Or at least most of it. The campground is best suited for tent camping. The best area is Acorn Loop (sites 1-18.) Most of these sites have lake views and tent sites 4-12 have the best views. Only sites 16 and 17 are suited for small RVs in this loop and they have partial lake views through the trees. In my opinion these are the best sites for (small) RVs in the entire campground. There was a sign posted that said Acorn Loop would be available for site specific reservations in March 2017. Right now the entire park is non-site specific reservation. We would return next year of we could snag site 16 or 17.

We camped in site 31 in Black Oak Loop. The set up in this loop is terrible in that sites are tiny and right on top of each other. There are 9 RV sites mixed in with tent sites. Three are pull through, 4 are back in, and 2 are where you park along side your campsite. It looked like sites 33 and 38 could handle large RVs.

The third loop, Chestnut Loop, is the overflow loop. These are all tent sites. Ten years ago we tent camped in site 42. This site and site 40 have the most privacy. We were happy with our site, however, we were camping with two toddlers at the time. Our (lowered) expectations didn't go much beyond surviving the weekend with two injury free kiddos.

I had two bars on my Verizon phone. There is wifi in the campground. I didn't try it but my tween was thrilled to IMessage with friends.

20 and 30 amp electricity and water are available at each campsite. There is a dump station inconveniently located at the entrance where folks are parking to check in.

In spite of all my complaints about this park my tween age kids really did like the things to do there. I think it would be very enjoyable during the week in the spring and fall when things are quieter. When we left at 2:30 on Sunday in May there were only 4 campers left. During the weekend there were 4 empty sites.

We stayed 1 night at this campground and hope to return again for tubing on the river. The river was above flood level and not safe for water sports during our stay.

Campground is well laid out with some privacy between most sites. Any site looked like it would be easy to get equipment level and most will accommodate large rigs. Bath house was clean (cleaned extra times per day this summer during the Covid-19 pandemic.) Electric and water at each site and a dump station at the entrance to the park. There is a nice educational nature center open on the weekends.

There are also a limited number of hike-in sites outside of the main campground.

This is an International Dark Sky Park. While hands-on ranger interpretative events were cancelled during our stay due to the Covid-19, the park provided written information about the night sky for the current month to campers.

The only downfall we found was that the road to the park was narrow and vehicles traveled fast on it. It was a little concerning towing.

We have x-finity cell phone which claims to use Verizon towers. I had 2 bars of service at the campground.

We stayed here one night in July 2014. This campground is convenient to I64 and was nearly deserted midweek. There may have been 4 other campers the night we were there. We camped in the South Slope loop of the campground. We had electric at our site and drinking water was available at different spots around the campground. Flush toilets at the large bathhouse and I think vault toilets other areas in the loop. Shower stalls at the bathhouse were large and convenient for those of us who need to assist children bathe in an unfamiliar shower. The camp host sells firewood which he delivered to our fire ring moments after we arrived. We woke to find deer wandering around the campground.

The most impressive thing was how clean this campground was. From the bath house to our campsite we didn't see a single speck of trash. Not even those clear juice box straw covers that seem to be everywhere. Cleanliness was impressive.

We camped in Sept 2016. Like the other reviewers we stayed in Greens Point Loop in site 88. Our site was on the outside of the loop. The marsh grass surrounded us providing visual privacy, but it also obstructed our views of the water. It did not help with noise from sites on each side. We did have some water view from inside our trailer when we were up higher off the ground.

The sites in the outside of the loop were much nicer than the center of the loop. The center sites were small and surrounded by standing water. They didn't have any privacy or shade. I would try another loop before camping in the center sites of this loop. These site were terrible. There was a posting that they treat standing water for mosquitos.

The campground was very buggy. Huge horse flies attacked our car, but didn't bite us. The mosquitos and small biting flies were plentiful. Fortunately we had a breeze most of the time which helped keep the bugs from biting as much.

We liked the dog beach. Also, learning about the area history was nice. Fishing and boating are also popular activities here.

We camped here in July 2014. We were able to get a walk up spot where everything north to Monterey was full. At that time the restrooms were closed and porta potties were provided due to the drought. Drinking water was available. We camped in the lower section within walking distance to the beach. We saw our first Pacific sunset this night. I would definitely stay again, hopefully longer.

If you travel north of here I would highly recommend stopping at the Elephant Seal Rookery along California 1 south of Big Sur.

The negatives: (Besides the water situation which is tragic for those living there and just is what it is for tourism.) Noise was terrible. Very loud people still going strong past 2 am. Firewood sales. At that time you were allowed to have campfires. The camp host sold firewood in wheelbarrow size quantities. He refused to split a wheelbarrow load. Far too much for one night and we would have purchased a small bundle in town at the grocery store if we had known.

I would return and hope party central campers stay at home.