Camping in Shenandoah National Park

UPDATED: 2/4/2023

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Shenandoah National Park is located off of Skyline Drive, which starts at the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Because Skyline Drive is in a national park, there is an entrance fee.

As I blogged about previously, consider getting an annual pass if you visit enough participating parks, as it can pay for itself fairly easily.

campgrounds within shenandoah national park

Within Shenandoah National Park are 5 distinct campgrounds, one of which is quite small (Dundo Group Campground), one of which has sites on a first come, first served basis (Lewis Mountain Campground), plus three others that do take reservations as well as walk-ins. Those three are Loft Mountain, Big Meadows, and Mathew Arm campgrounds. We’ve stayed at Loft Mountain on a few occasions but our favorite is Big Meadows, where we’ve stayed often enough that we even have a favorite campsite that we tend to book far in advance. Selfishly, we’re not going to share which site that is!

the basics for camping in shenandoah national park

One of the best parts of these campgrounds is that their elevation is high enough that even in the middle of summer, it is typically a good 10 degrees cooler than surrounding areas lower in the valley. This makes for really great camping weather and also typically means bugs are not a big problem. There are coin-operated showers for those who prefer a rustic shower to none at all. Count me in that group! This is definitely one of those situations where you’ll want to wear shower shoes of some sort, but each shower is in its own little room with a changing area. You likely will find yourself sharing the space with one or more spiders, but as anti-spider as I am, as long as I keep my eye on it to avoid surprise antics by said spider, it’s all good.

There is also a small camp store and restaurant for those who leave key items behind at home or want a break from camp cooking, though why would you?

hiking near big meadows campground

Big Meadows is named for the fact that right near the entrance to the campground is in fact a large meadow. Near there are several trails. One route that we’d recommend is the Story of the Forest trail (1.8 miles) combined with the Dark Hollow Falls trail (1.4 miles) for a route that is a good length, easy to take from the campground, and provides both scenery from the forest and meadow as well as a waterfall. You can check out a map of the area and trails here.

Of course, don’t forget that the very well known Appalachian Trail runs right alongside the campground. We’ve done several day hikes along the Appalachian Trail as well. The proximity of the campground to the trail means you may have some interesting encounters with day- or through-hikers. Over the years, we have smelled a whole lot of hikers with their musky smell of sweaty bodies. We have seen hikers veer off at the campground to share stories and seek a beer from campers.

tips for camping at big meadows

What else should you know before you go? Big Meadows is very popular, particularly during warm weather weekends and holidays. Sites can be booked up to 6 months in advance online. Check out the site map.

As a side note, due to the threat of the Emerald Ash Borer, no firewood may be brought into the park; however, firewood is available for purchase on site. Make sure to bring some cash for the firewood and also quarters for the showers (there is a change machine available as well). To get a sense of the threat invasive bugs can cause, we have seen devastation first hand in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. While that destruction is caused by different bugs, the balsam woolly adelgid and the hemlock woolley adelgid, it is alarming to see what something so small can do to a forest. We came across similar destruction in the Canadian Rockies on our trip to Banff; in that case, the destruction was caused by the pine beetle.

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