Greenbelt Park Campground

I waffled back and forth between a 3 and 2 rating. In the end it got a 3 because I think this could be a much nicer place if it was given more attention. The main problem is that it's infested with ticks! And by infested I don't mean a tick here or there, I mean, a 20 foot walk from truck to trailer almost guarantees that one will jump on you! Upon arrival we were greeted by a large flashing sign (you know the kind they use to warn of road construction) that said "Tick Alert". Other signs were posted all over the campground. We used the dump station and filled with water before pulling into our site and both found ticks on us after this task. Not a good start!

The campground sties were nice enough, although they did seems a bit run down with some rotting picnic tables and no evidence that the dead leaves are ever raked (probably where the ticks live). The parking pads were paved and mostly level with large yards, picnic tables and fires rings. Too bad we didn't want to sit outside for fear of ticks.

The sties are a mix of open and wooded. We picked a wooded site to try and avoid some of the predicted heat. The downside to the shade was that we couldn't get any sun for our solar panels. The plus side was all the other RVs were on the other side of the loop in the sun.

We choose this campground for its proximity to D.C. With three metro stops only a mile or two away it proved to be very convenient. We had also hoped to explore some of the many miles of trails around the park, but with the tick problem we avoided them, instead choosing to only walk on the paved campground road.

The bathrooms were pretty gross. Old and filled with cobwebs and bugs. Not much attention given to the up keep of things around here.

To top it all off, the cell service was terrible. We expected more of a campground in a major metropolitan area, but arrived to find an unusable Verizon signal and an AT&T signal that switched between a 2-3 bars of slow 4G and 1 bar of even slower LTE. Since we work from our trailer, that was really inconvenient and in the end is what caused us to leave early.

On a more positive note, at $16/night this is the cheapest camping you will find anywhere near D.C. Of course when you factor in the high chance of contracting Lyme disease maybe it's not such a good deal.

The only way I would stay here again is if we were planning to visit D.C. the whole time and only use the campground as a place to park the RV and sleep at night.

This is a pretty forest campground with mostly shady sites, though we were able to find some sun for our solar. There is lots of leaf litter and the concentration of ticks is unlike anything I have seen. Keeping ahead of the ticks, especially with a dog, was a constant battle. The main advantage to this campground is the location a short drive away to the Greenbelt Metro station where you can take the subway right into the heart of Washington DC.

I feel torn about our stay here: I wouldn't do it again while we have a dog due to the ticks. But without a dog, it is a decent, affordable location for camping if you are spending your days in the city which is what we did. Bathrooms weren't great but they did the job. We camped here in May 2015: it got busier on the weekend, but thinned out during the week.

No cell signal - the nearby McDonalds wifi wasn't much better. We sat down at the TGI Fridays restaurant right across from the park entrance to use their wifi and they started blasting music making it impossible to work. In all, our experience was very similar to WatsonsWander. Rated Site Quality 1 star below due to ticks.

We spent six days at the Greenbelt National Park Campground and wouldn’t do it again. Read the other reviews and thought that it couldn’t be that bad? Besides, we would be in the city the majority of our time and would only be sleeping here…

While we didn’t experience ticks (April stay), we can attest to the poor upkeep. This park could be so great, but it’s just withering on the vine due to lack of care. It isn’t because of a manpower shortage either. Plenty of employees milling about, but none seemed to be doing anything in the campground…

First, the positives:
PRICE- Great price.

EASY COMMUTE TO DC - The Greenbelt and College Park Metro Stations (Blue and Yellow lines) are super close. The College Park Metro Station had an easy access, open parking lot that worked for our truck. The commute to/from DC was simple and cheap.

POLICE PRESENCE - We felt very secure at this campground. This is a city campground and you can tell that they have a periodic homeless problem. Given this, the National Park Police were present several times throughout the day and night. When they weren’t driving through, the Camp Host was making his rounds.

AWESOME CAMP HOST – I realize that this all depends on the person and that they rotate through a lot, but the Camp Host was the only redeeming quality that we could discern at Greenbelt Campground. He was always patrolling the park, super helpful, and just plain nice.

Now the Negatives:
DIRTY - Greenbelt Campground was not just the dirtiest National Park Campground, but the DIRTIEST CAMPGROUND (public or private) that we’ve stay in. Trash was scattered throughout and the bathhouses were abysmal. We stayed for six days and bathhouses were cleaned twice. Trash was frequently overflowing.

POORLY MAINTAINED – We routinely saw the park employees driving around the campground, but I never saw them do anything—from the appearance of things, I don’t think they ever do anything other than drive around?!?! Bathrooms were falling apart—moldy tiles that had fallen off the walls were piled in a corner of the shower. The sites are paved, but the asphalt is in sure poor condition (cracked, broken-up, and frost-heaved), that it hindered effective leveling of the trailer and walking around was treacherous. The Fire Rings are ineffective, at best…basically, a concrete slab. There were numerous deep muddy ruts throughout the campground that demonstrate that very few people care about this place.

SMALL, TIGHT CAMPSITES – Recreation.gov said our 30-ft trailer would fit in our site. Upon arrival inspection, you would have trouble getting a 20-ft trailer in that spot! Luckily, the Camp Host was fantastic and worked with us to move to a new site that would accommodate our trailer and tow vehicle. Not a lot of trees and the sites were right on top of each other. Our fire ring was essentially right outside our neighbor’s door?!?!

NOISY - City Campground and you hear a lot of traffic noise. Also, a lot of helicopters flying around...

It should be noted that it rained twice during our stay, so the campground was a muddy, dirty mess throughout. I didn’t upload any pictures because I didn’t take any…it was such a sh!t hole that I didn’t want to take any!

Took a chance after reading previous posts and found Greenbelt surprisingly fine! It drizzled one day we were here but campground stayed clean, not muddy. Lots of trees.

Stayed here for 2 nights in May in campground loop D. Small site but level. Original site was D30 but it was only a bumpout in the road! If we stayed there our slide out would be in the road. Rangers easily let us move to D32 instead. Near campground hosts and easy walk to dumpster.

There are no hookups but there is a dump station and water fills located nearby. I tried using the water fill located in the campground loop but the spigot was old and leaked everywhere. Had a better experience using the water fill near the dump station.

There is a walking trail in loop D that supposedly connects you to the metro stop but heard it was a mile or more and didn't feel like trekking thru on a trail after recent rains. Wish there were easier access from campgrounds to metro. Decided to uber it to College U station and then ride the green line all the way to national mall. Uber was about $14/way and I would schedule pickup 10 min in advance since it takes the driver time to find you and to make it from main entrance down to campground.

Dog owners take note - on our first day, there were no issues probably due to cooler weather. On 2nd day, I found 5 ticks on myself and two dogs altogether!

Rained 3 of 5 days, made a muddy mess. Interior roads very tight for bigger rigs. Many sites, although paved, were well off level. They boast the addition of showers, but D loop had 1 shower stall for men in only 1 bathroom. Toilet paper was empty for 3 days straight in 1 stall. Maintenance truck was ever present but never saw them get out and do anything. Trees are in serious need of trimming. Never saw the camphost. Trees so thick the solar panels were useless. Garbage tossed about and never picked up. Not a lot of alternative choices for RV's in this area.

We wanted to stop in and check out the DC area on our way back to Florida. Full Service park prices in the area made me look into other options and we have had good experiences at other state and national parks.

The paved road to get to the campground was in need of maintenance with one area being washed out. The spaces were tight. We have a travel trailer and when parked hugging one side of the space, the stairs lead you to thorny bushes. The picnic bench for our site was behind the camper. There are no hookups so we chose a space close to the facilities. However, we did not use them after checking them out. Broken tiles, holes in the shower walls, moldy curtain...not a place I would go to get clean. There must have been 5 ranger/maintenance trucks drive through per hour, but not stopping...

The campground was pretty far in, so it felt like you were in the middle of nowhere, while being just 12 miles from DC. There were nice hiking trails and the occasional deer. We were there during the week so it was very quiet.

I would call this a value park, in which I would spend a little extra next time for somewhere else next time we are in the area.

My husband has an access card for disabled veterans, so we only paid half the rate (usually $20/night). It is a long winding road to get up to D loop, but it was beautiful and we would see up to 2 dozen deer at dusk on the drive.

Our site was very, very tight. So tight in fact that we got our awning caught on a holly tree while backing in :'( Our awning is destroyed, but that's more our fault (although the trees should be trimmed back).

It was very empty when we camped there in early December. The weather was great the entire time we were there. I was worried about ticks and signs warn of them, but it wasn't a problem for our 2 dogs (maybe because of the cool weather). Our dogs did get fleas after we left here though, which I don't think was a coincidence.

The park was totally worth it for us though, simply because of the price. You can fill up your water tank by the dump station. We parked near the bathrooms, but didn't use them. I checked them out to see how the shower was, but I couldn't get the water hot after running it for a few minutes. There was also exposed insulation in the shower stall, which I thought was weird.

College Park Metro Station is a 15 minute drive away and just $5/day for parking. The metro was such a convenient way to get into the city and very easy to figure out.

Not a bad park if all you need is a cheap location to park you RV while visiting the sights of Washington DC.
We were there in October, so it was cool, with no evidence of ticks.
The walk to the metro seemed a bit far, considering we would be walking through the city all day, so we drove our truck to the College Park Metro, where there is easy outdoor parking (no height restrictions). It was great coming out of the metro, into our truck and back at the campground within ten minutes.
The campground was ok, but not great for a family to stay for a long period if not going into the city.
Lots of shade, so not good for our solar power.

Used Golden age pass for campground. Purchased senior pass for Metro ($2) at nearby library. Saves 50% on Metro around DC. Take metro into DC from campground about 3 miles. Campground is ok. Hosts helpful

Place could use a few of our tax dollars to fix the facilities. Dry camping w/ access to showers & bathrooms. Dump station (1) at rear of campground. Some lots would have been cramped or a challange to level. We lucked into a decent area and the ones next to us.
Cell service was fine, nice to be in the woods, hints of the highway but not loud unless an emergency vehile passed by.

Reservation only; online or call in to call center.