Mathews Arm Campground

We really enjoyed our stay here! Sites are a little close together, but not a huge problem. Water is available (not all spigots worked though). There are generator hours and a dump station. Unusually, they never put a camping pass on our windshield. Hosts Russ and Leslie were very nice. We were encouraged to burn whatever firewood we could find! This is the first time we've experienced this in a National Park. The firewood for sale there is very expensive! We left the park a couple of times and went into Luray and we found it odd that we didn't see any firewood for sale on the way to and from. We spent a whole day just driving from one end of the park to the other! It is a wonderful National Park and the locals use it a lot

We arrived late, so did not get a chance to tour the whole campground. But the restroom on loop b was well maintained. There was a young Ranger out early Sunday morning, checking sites and soaking unattended campfires. Unfortunately, there was a large group of kids that were allowed to scream well past quiet hour and early in the morning.

If you want to see bears, then come here. There are several here roaming through the park, so take heed and do not leave anything out that may attract bears. We saw a ranger confisgate a cooler that someone left out. It really wasn't very busy. Maybe it was because the weather wasn't great. We had a lot of rain. Camped here late September. The website said they were under construction, but nothing was going on when we were there. On the weekend, it was busy and sites are close. During the week, though, so much better. I would say it is about 3.5 to 4 stars. Would definitely come back here. Upper sites had some cell service. I would walk up and get on and check email. Most sites did not have cell. All boondocking sites.

Although we only spent one night at Mathew Arms campground, we really enjoyed our experience. Andy, the volunteer camp host was so friendly and shared so many interesting stories about the park! We really enjoyed meeting him. He even came by our site to make sure we got back from our late afternoon hike okay.

We hiked the Overall Run Falls trail in the morning and saw 3 bear cubs and a momma bear less than 20 minutes into our hike!

The sites are very well maintained. Nice tables and fire rings with a nice buffer of space between each site. Their bathroom facilities were also clean and well maintained.

The only downside was that there was no cell reception. While it's always difficult to be forced to step away from work, it does make for an experience sure to be filled with memories.

We only spent one night at Mathew Arms campground on the way back home but we will be back when time permits. Great place to see wildlife, saw a bear sitting on the shoulder of the road on the way there and wondered who was watching who as we passed by. Great place for hiking trails. Bathroom facilities were clean and maintained. No wifi or cell reception. Dry camping with water available and a nice dump station, level sites with good spacing. America the Beautiful pass helps out with getting in the National Park and half off the campground fees.

We arrived late and were fortunate to get a spot on a weekend night. The site was nice level gravel, but your neighbors are relatively close and there is little separation. We later saw that other sites offer more space and/or privacy. The Ranger that checked us in and later stopped by was super friendly and welcoming. We were warned about bears, but did not see any. Bathrooms were adequate and clean.

This is a wonderful campground. Check in was easy with a pleasant volunteer. We especially enjoyed it during the week before it filled up and got very crowed and noisy on the weekend. Barking dogs was a thing. Campers are apparently allowed an unlimited amount of tents and cars. Tents were lined up on the powerline trail to the restrooms. The rangers/hosts did nothing about any of this but they took and killed our basil plant for no reason!! Basil has travel with us to every state and Canada with no problems. Believe me, bears don't care about basil. This obviously upset us a lot. Clean area with good restrooms available. The trails from the CG are great hikes. The sites are not all level so check them out first. We did not have any services or cell coverage which made for a wonderful unplugged stay.

Located inside Shenandoah National Park. The sites are well maintained which includes a parking pad, fire pit and picnic table (metal). Most come with a bear box to store your food. Restrooms include a potable water sink outside to get drinking water and to do get water for dishes, cooking, etc. Restrooms are kept clean and spaced far apart from one another. Saw deer and chipmunks in the park. Several hiking trails which most are poorly marked. Rangers and hosts were friendly and helpful. Some sites have cell reception while most don't.

Matthews Arm is a great national park campground inside Shenandoah. It is well taken care of and clean. While it has no hookups, it is exactly what you are looking for from an NPS campground. The most important thing is that it feels close to nature and is actually close to many of the best attractions in the park. This is a great stop to add to any excursion into Shenandoah National Park.

We stayed here September 2- 8, 2020.
We loved this campground, no hookups at all but a dump on the way out.
There are some sites that are reservable but the outer loop (A) is all first come first serve, lots of pull throughs or back in, all concrete pads not all are level.
We got there late the first night and stayed in site A26, the cicada bugs are loud in this part of the park surrounded by a forest of trees.
Then we moved to site A94 end of the loop and got a nice open level site. We had grass between sites, enough privacy. Able to set up solar on our grassy area.
Absolutely no cell service once you head into the forest.
Bathrooms had warm water and kept clean.
They are pretty strict on who comes in and out of camping area with passes to every car, which is nice for having a peace of mind. Rangers came through the park quite frequently.
There are bears here so bear boxes are at the campsites.
We cannot wait to head back to this park.