Shenandoah Valley Campground

The cabins looked cute from the outside. I didn't see inside, but to me they seem like a much nicer option than a hotel room. As for noise, yes, you can hear the road. The camp is almost directly beside a major interstate, so highway noise comes with the location. If you want quiet forest nights, choose a campground well away from a major road. Don't come here for that. Despite the tight sites and roads, I rated the camp a 4 because it earned a 5 in every other department. The location is pretty and convenient, just off the interstate, with all the modern amenities you need within 15-20 minutes. Rates seemed reasonable for a private RV park, and they gave us a discount. The grounds were well mowed and cared for, and the bathhouses, laundry, and office/store were all very clean and tidy. Laundry was reasonably priced too, $1.50 for a top-loader agitation machine and $1.00 for a home-sized dryer. The sites, though, are close together. Back-in spots are short, about 25-30 feet, and really only suit camper vans and small motor homes. Many sites are quite unlevel. The roads and sites have decent, consistent gravel, but they're narrow, and grass has grown over the gravel edges so the site boundaries are hard to see. The gravel on the sites needs work. The sites have full hookups, but the connections are near the front, close to the road. Our trailer was 22 feet long, with electric and water connections in the middle and the sewer outlet at the back. If we could have parked the truck and trailer in a straight line, we'd have been about 40 feet from the sewer hookup and 30 feet from electric and water. Since that wasn't possible, we were about 20 feet from the sewer connection. Luckily I had an extension hose, but I had to stretch both hoses to make it work. There was no clear parking space for the truck we used to tow the camper, as on many sites. The rules say not to park on "grass," but it's unclear whether that includes grass that has grown over the gravel. We parked in that "grass" next to the camper, as close to the trailer as we could to respect the rules. We also had quite a bit of leveling to do, mostly front to back because the site sloped uphill, and some side to side. The road was so narrow that backing up our smaller trailer was a challenge, with trucks parked in the road because some sites couldn't fit the trucks towing their trailers. If you reserve here with a camper trailer and a long tow vehicle, give them the combined length of the truck and trailer while hooked up, or you may have to leave the truck in the front lot by the store. For the owner, I'd suggest adding gravel and making the sites that can be longer, enough to fit a pickup and a small camper trailer, like the ones around the perimeter. It would also help to move the hookups or let campers borrow an extra water hose, sewer hose, or power cord. I wouldn't mind a deposit being held on my card to cover the hose cost if I didn't return it.

We were traveling in a 30 ft RV and found reservations and check-in easy, with simple highway access and pleasant staff. Level sites and full hookups were available. We had a pleasant stay and would come back. Thanks!

The waterfall is beautiful, and floating on the river is fun. If you visit, try to book a site on the waterfall side of the park, which is much nicer. The campground could use some updates, but it's a nice place overall and we'll go again.

The pull-through sites were nice, and getting in and out was easy, right off 81. There isn't much high-end dining nearby, so we went back to Harrisonburg for a quality meal.