7 Best Shenandoah Campgrounds
The Blue Ridge Mountains are perfect for summer vacations and these 7 Shenandoah campgrounds will put you in the center of the action!
Shenandoah National Park, located in Virginia, is known for its epic landscapes. From the peak of the mountains to the Shenandoah Valley, outdoor activities abound. Hiking, biking, fishing and kayaking are all popular sports in the area.
If scenic drives are more your speed, the Skyline Drive is a 105 mile trail that runs the length of the National Park.
No matter how you experience the park, these 7 Shenandoah campgrounds are ideal for setting up your basecamp.
Let’s dive in!
1. Big Meadows Campground
Location: Inside the Shenandoah National Park.
Price: $20
Why You’ll Love It: Big Meadows Campground is ideal for campers who want to stay in the National Park. You’ll have immediate access to great hiking trails, the park lodge and laundry services.
The downside is cell connectivity. You probably won’t receive signal at this campground.
You can camp at Big Meadows in a tent or RV. It’s a beautifully developed property with access to water & bathrooms. View the park map here.
What’s The Word: A recent entry on Campground Reviews says, “Even though this campground has no hookups, it felt like a full service park. Big Meadows Lodge has a full restaurant upstairs & bar restaurant downstairs. Its Great Room is a nice air conditioned place to relax or work with multiple outlets to charge your phones.”
Shenandoah Campground Vibes: 8.3/10 Classic camping vibes with the best hiking trails!
2. Outlanders River Camp
Location: Luray, VA (15 miles to National Park entrance)
Price: $45 and up for RV camping, $40 and up for tent camping.
Why You’ll Love It: This private campground has great nature-vibes. Many of the tent camping sites are positions along a forested river. The facility offers golf cart rentals, hiking trails, a modern bath house and playground.
If you want full RV hook ups near Shenandoah National Park, this is the spot for you. You’ll get the best of both worlds.
What’s The Word: Roaming Together on Campground Reviews writes, “Part of what you’re paying for here is location, which is great. We stayed here in a 40 foot motorhome and interior roads easy to navigate. Easy in/out, friendly staff, well maintained property, clean bathhouse. Great location for exploring Shenandoah National Park and Luray Caverns, and also nice to sit at the campsite and look out at the mountains on both sides of the valley.”
Shenandoah Campground Vibes: 7.8/10 Amenities & Nature – great combo.
3. Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp
Location: Luray, VA (6 miles to National Park entrance)
Price: $46 and up
Why You’ll Love It: This is the perfect campground for a family vacation. Let me start with this – they have a freakin’ water park on site! Additional to RV sites, Jellystone offers rustic cabins, luxury cottages, a group lodge and tent sites.
This campground has a well kept laundry room. They also provide a camp store and onsite dining options.
What’s The Word: A recent reviewer on Campendium says, “This was our 2nd Jellystone experience and it didn’t disappoint. This one is huge with multiple parks, tons of activities, and an awesome pool with water slides. There were a lot of cabins and golf carts zooming around but we didn’t see any long term campers.”
Shenandoah Campground Vibes: 8.5/10 Family camping at its best!
4. Endless Caverns & RV Resort
Location: New Market, VA (28 miles to Shenandoah National Park)
Price: $43 and up
Why You’ll Love It: Endless Caverns is a unique camping experience. In addition to camping, they offer guided tours of their cave! The cave has multiple rooms with beautiful natural-formations.
The camping sites are is peaceful and surrounded by nature. They can accommodate large RVs (up to 40 feet) and tent campers as well.
What’s The Word: A recent Campendium review says, “We stayed in early June. The pool had just opened and it was COLD! Our campsite was large enough to accommodate our 38’ travel trailer, tow vehicle, and extra car with no problems. There were many, many larger rigs at the campground. In spite of the campground being at almost capacity, you couldn’t tell. It was quiet.”
Shenandoah Campground Vibes: 6.9/10 Longer drive to the National Park, but fun activities onsite.
5. Luray KOA
Location: Luray, VA (9 miles to Shenandoah National Park)
Price: Around $59 and up
Why You’ll Love It: Luray KOA is another family friendly RV park. The kids will love the pool, playground and large grassy fields. This KOA is dog-friendly as well!
For those campers who don’t like roughing it, there are cabins available for rent, too.
KOAs pride themselves in offering great amenities – at the Luray KOA, they easily deliver on that promise.
What’s The Word: A recent review on Campground Reviews says, “Beautiful location on a small hill so that there are great views of the mountains in the area. Farm right next door, loved seeing the cows walking by during the day. Smaller than most KOAs which in fine with us, not really big resort type fans. Campground was very clean and neat.”
Shenandoah Campground Vibes: 8.2/10 Small, well kept KOA close to NP!
6. Shenandoah Valley Campground
Location: Mount Jackson, VA (29 miles to Shenandoah National Park)
Price: $39 and up
Why You’ll Love It: If you want to escape the crowds and camp in a peaceful setting, Shenandoah Valley Campground is for you.
Some of the local attractions are within 10 miles, but the National Park will be a 40 minutes drive. However, if you’re in search of a quiet spot, this is the place.
The campground is big rig friendly and offer large, 50 amp pull through sites. Onsite they also have a bath house, laundry facility and many outdoor games.
What’s The Word: A recent entry on Campground Reviews says, “Owners and staff are all extremely friendly and helpful. All amenities very clean especially the pool and shower/restrooms. We stayed over 4th of July weekend and they had several activities for both children and adults. Some reviews mention highway noise but, it could not be heard inside”
Shenandoah Campground Vibes: 7.9/10 Relaxing and spacious!
7. Loft Mountain Campground
Location: Inside Shenandoah National Park
Price: $20
Why You’ll Love It: This is a beautiful, rustic campsite within the National Park. If you’re looking for the most scenic campsite, this is the one!
Whether you’re viewing a summer sunrise or the fall colors, Loft Mountain will leave you awe inspired. Keep in mind, this remote site has minimal cell reception. You may want to arrive with a cell booster to increase your signal.
What’s The Word: GamingDad on Campendium says, “Shenandoah is amazing. Gorgeous views and this campground makes it easy to seem almost all of it in an easy day drive. AT loops around the campground and it has the best Amphitheater I have ever seen. Well worth staying the night despite the enormity of 200+ campsites.”
Shenandoah Campground Vibes: 9.1/10 National Park Campground, for the win!
Trip Routing to Shenandoah
If you’re traveling with an RV, trip planning to Shenandoah is essential. The Blue Ridge Mountains are known for its terrifying mountain passes and sharp curves. With RV Trip Wizard you can get a much better understanding on what to expect for travel day. After spending a big amount of money on an RV, you don’t want to run into a low hanging bridge!
We use RV Trip Wizard to route our cross country trips. With tools like budgeting, fuel planning, and avoiding bridges, we can easily travel safely through the USA.
You can also avoid steep passes, tolls and tunnels when you select the appropriate filters. Give RV Trip Wizard a try!
The Best FREE Camping in the USA
We love camping across this amazing country. And, we really love it when its free. Here’s our list of the 20 Best Free Campsites in the USA.
If you haven’t tried free camping before, also known as boondocking, take a look at our beginners guide to boondocking filled with everything you need to know to get started.