Doughton Park Campground

First, I can't believe this is the first review of this campground on Campendium - and we consider it a MUST when traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway.

There are two loops (one for tents, it says for vans.. but its not) and one for RVs/trailers across the street. The RV loop seems much newer than other campgrounds along the parkway - and the sites are much more spacious and accommodating for larger RVs. Some also have a pad for a trailer and another for the tow vehicle.

Most are pretty level and offer a decent sense of privacy. When we arrived, reservable site A9 was open for a couple nights - so we snagged it. HUGE landscaped pull through site with lots of privacy. Lucious would be a great word for it. But there were several other site we'd be happy with.

There's a hiking trail that crosses the campground- go north and you can explore some preserved cabins (with ranger led tours). Go south and you go to the visitors center where there's a recently restored diner with amazing food.

Ok.. but wait. there's more.

We got speeds over 200 Mbps on AT&T here. Yes.. 200. On LTE. With no fiddling.
Verizon was on extended LTE (so no Visible here), and we got 20 down / 10 up.
Sprint was barely usable.
T-Mobile was flakey, but we could get some usable speeds from time to time on Band 71.

Sites were fairly separated and in good condition compared to other Parkway campgrounds. Trails were easy to moderate and in decent shape. The highway is very close so noise is a factor during the day but after dusk there is little to no traffic. I use my generator for 20-30 minutes and feel bad about that. Unfortunately some campers run them for hours at the Parkway campgrounds so beware of that issue.
Restroom was dated and cave like with no illumination. All in all a decent place to spend a night or two while traveling on the Parkway.

Beautiful small campground. Dry camping but potable water available. Flush toilets - very clean. Sites nice sized and fairly level. Asphalt. FCFS and reservable available. Some completely shaded, some partial sun. Trails nearby - one runs through the campground. We stay here frequently and never have trouble getting sites probably because it’s dry camping.

Price reflects senior discount. We only stayed one night here, and only took one short hike to the cabin. Saw lots of bear scat, so note that it's an active bear area. Our site was beautiful, quiet, and walkable to the only bathroom in the loop, although some of them are a good distance away.

Despite it being a cold night, we didn't hear any generators running. The campground was only about half full. No rangers on site, but very helpful and engaging camp host.