Sherando Lake Campground

We didn't realize you generally need to book a site here months in advance unless you are willing to risk not finding a spot, so everything was full when we got here. The camp hosts were incredibly helpful, however, and luckily a reservation had been cancelled so we scored a spot for 3 nights. Beautiful trails, decent bathrooms and simply a wonderful atmosphere. Down the road people sold firewood, since the park doesn't. Definitely check out the lake, where you can swim in one area and fish/kayak (no rentals though) in another. We are very happy to have stopped here!! No phone reception for AT&T nor Wifi, but just disconnect for a while! For emergencies you can climb up onto the hill by loop C for a little reception.

This campground is fantastic. Level sites, extremely clean bathhouses that are centrally located (in the center rather than on the sides), and an incredible stream that leads to a lake with a swimming area.

If you have kids (we have 3, ages 9, 7 & 4) the stream that winds around the campground loops provides hours of fun for the kids. The lower lake is really nice, with a beach and swimming area, and there is a walking trail around the lake that's perfect for the whole family. Both the upper lake and lower lake are stocked have great fishing, especially for kids. The shape of the campground loops are especially great for kids riding bikes and scooters. The drive is paved so they can ride around and still be relatively close.

Negatives:
Hardly ANY Cell coverage (there is a spot at the top of the park by the playground where you might get 1 bar or so. You may occasionally walk in and out of reception and receive the occasional text. When I come here, I plan on being off-grid.

Pestering Animals. Bears and Raccoons in particular. You have to put your food away at the end of the day, and keep your things relatively clean even when leaving for the day. That means, no trash out, no uncleaned cooking utensils etc. The bears are sometimes worse than others, but the raccoons are always a source of frustration. my dad once was playing tug-o-war with a trashbag with a raccoon. Also, occasional water snakes in the stream, which are totally fine if left alone.

It's Remote - the campground itself is pretty far from town. The nearest store is a convenience store a few miles down the road, but if you need real groceries, it's a bit of a hike, so plan accordingly. Also, they lock the gate at 10pm, and it's probably 2 miles from the gate to the campsites.

Beautiful forested campground with large well planned sites that include picnic table, lantern pole, grill table and grill, Bear resistant food storage bins, fire ring,water spigots for filling containers are plentiful. Used our Golden Age passes here.

Positives: Campground hosts were friendly, sites were spaced well so you didn't feel crowded, easy to access & reasonably level, nice grassy areas with a nearby playground for the kids. Showers had plenty of hot water and bathroom was large and reasonably clean. Dump station was easy to access

Negatives: The bathroom floor near the showers was always a small lake, the drainage for the showers is obviously not very effective. Watch your step because it's very slippery where wet. The area to fill you tanks with potable water is in a funky location, you have to drive through 2 parking lots to get in and out and on a busy day this could be tricky. The day we left the lots were empty so if timed right you'll avoid a possible hassle. No Verizon service.

Overall it's a beautiful spot that we'd gladly return to!

What a great campground. Very clean and quiet. While only electric hookup, water and dump station were easily accessible. Nice hiking in the area and trout stream runs through park. We will be back.

We stayed here one night as we travelled the Blue Ridge Parkway before the season really hit, so it was easy to get a spot. It is a lovely campground and a beautiful lake. Very quiet and peaceful while we were there and likely a different experience when full but even then it feels nicely laid out to minimize noise.

We've camped here several times (using our National Park Senior Pass) but we've never booked in advance. As a result (since we're about 25 miles away), we've driven over WITHOUT our trailer to try to snag a site, and then come home, connected our trailer and driven back.... This really isn't a good system.

Both of the loops with electric (B & C) are nice, but it would be so helpful if they'd allow reservations to be made for B as well as C loop. Reservations for C are site-specific, and it would be great if sites in B loop could be reserved, too, even if non-specific.

But if you can GET a site, they're wonderful: very level, large, and with decent space between them. Nice trails and nice beach area.

During our most recent 2-night stay, I was pleasantly surprised to find I had enough AT&T signal to at least send/receive text messages. This wasn't the case in previous years.

There are no water or sewer hookups at the sites, but potable water is available at different locations in the campground. Also, there's a place to fill your fresh water tank with water (which we did) across from the lake parking area. The dump station is on the way out of the park.

Bathrooms are clean and well-maintained, and the bear-resistant storage boxes on each site are necessary; it's most definitely bear country!

For more information about our most recent camping experience at Sherando, you can check out this page of my blog:
http://www.art-rageous.net/artrageousblog/?p=4311

We went here traveling north. Apparent you need a reservation. We offered to call recreation.gov but had no cell service. They would not call for us even though we were told they had availability. The gate people were extremely rude and condescending. We’ve stayed in many National parks and forest in our travels over the past 3 years. And never was treated like this. I’m sure it’s a nice place if you can get by the rude gate keepers.

My parents took us here when we were little. I have such happy memories of the lake and my folks who are gone now. I grew up on a farm outside of Harrisonburg and trips like this were a fantastic relief from the heat and exploring the lake an adventure. My dad was from Waynesboro and mom from Staunton.

Is there anywhere on God's Earth more beautiful than the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia? I live in Arizona now but the memories remain fresh.

Palmer Sweet

Large sandy sites good separation between sites
C loop more open with pretty field
B loop more shaded and a bit more private
Small lake for swimming and kayaking but the beach is busy
Close to blue ridge pky
Several trails different degrees of difficulty also intersects with other trails for very long hikes

We only stayed here for 1 night passing thru. The site was very level and super clean. It is near the bath house that was clean. There are lots of hikes to take right from the campground.