Mid-Atlantic Streamers : MD, DC, VA

[Soyboy]

One of our favorite “mountain” campgrounds is Rocky Gap in western Maryland. It’s about 8 miles east of Cumberland. Very nice facilities with a large lake. The day trippers and campers each have their own beach on opposite sides of the lake. There is is one loop that is that is electric only. Although a number of park personnel have told me, that plans are in the works to convert another loop to 3 point full service. There is a casino across the lake in the hotel. It doesn’t really have any impact on the campground other than perhaps a few extra campers. I have noticed that it’s (thankfully) not made much difference in that regard since it opened. We don’t waste our money on that activity. YMMV.

That said most of our trips are to the beach. Which of course is tough on our stripped and polished trailer. Such is life LOL. Generally we go to Assateague National Seashore when the bugs aren’t out. It’s beautiful and one of our favorites, but horrible when it’s bug season as far we are concerned. No hookups, cold showers and pit toilets. But we have the AS so those are not an issue. Big beautiful uncrowded beaches and some nice natures trails. It’s also a great place to ride bikes. It’s worth noting that the adjacent state park is also very nice and it does have a couple of electric loops and nice bath houses with hot showers. But we prefer the less crowded, less camper intense, Federal Park.

During bug season we head up to Delaware Seashore State Park. It’s at the Indian River Inlet between Bethany Beach and Rehobeth. It is also relatively bug free during the peak season for insects. The campground itself is not particularly beautiful if compared to Assateague, but it is well maintained and the surrounding area (Indian River, the marshes, the bridge (yep) and ocean all have there own beauty. What it offers is full hookups walking distance from the beach. This makes it one of our favorites too. We spend the equivalent of about 3 weeks there each year. One of the pluses is that it is close to some good food in Bethany and especially Rehobeth, where you can get something other than the usual beach fare. As a matter of fact this year they opened The Big Chill Beach Club. It’s an open air bar/restaurant built over top of the beach bath house. It’s got decent, generally Mexican style food, and super views of the ocean and bay. They also have a carry out downstairs where you can get the same menu if you want to eat on the beach.

It is also worth noting that all of these campgrounds are opened year round.

So those are three of our favorites/regulars in the area. All highly recommended.

[Dan_Rox]

Thanks for starting a great thread. Sadly, we have winterized the Airstream for the season. Looking forward to trying a few of these places next spring.

Our favorite local spot is Pine Grove Furnace State Park near Gettysburg, PA. Sites are wooded and nicely spaced. Most have electric but no water.

The bike riding there is excellent. There are miles and miles of single track for mountain biking. Unfortunately you need a local to show you around, it's not marked or documented well. Also a great place for gravel riding. It is hilly, but you can easily do a 100 miles mostly on forest service roads.


Happy Thanksgiving and stay warm.

[OTRA15]

If you winterize using only air in the supply lines, and carry a good 12-volt compressor like the Viair 450, winterizing on the road is fairly simple, once you have done it a few times. For us on the East Coast, the ability to winterize on demand really opens up the possibilities.

Great thread, thanks.

Have a good Thanksgiving!

Peter

[Soyboy]

FWIW following up on my earlier post, here are pics of us camping at Assateague National SS, Delaware Seashore SP and Rocky Gap SP

[DewTheDew]

Originally Posted by Soyboy

FWIW following up on my earlier post, here are pics of us camping at Assateague National SS, Delaware Seashore SP and Rocky Gap SP

Just pointing out that we are just up (down?) the road from you, and we store our AS in Frederick. We just bought it and have only been to Greenbrier (trial run) and Lake Anna so far. I'll keep an eye out for that shiny thing!

[Soyboy]

Dew:

If you have been to Greenbrier, then I highly recommend Rocky Gap. It's only about an hour or so further west from there (about 1.5 hrs from our home in DT Frederick). I think it is more enjoyable IMHO. It's a bigger park, with a bigger, more beautiful lake. It's especially nice in the summer when Greenbrier being so close to the metro areas gets very busy (as does the nearby Cunningham Falls for that matter). As I mentioned above, when camping at Rocky Gap you are totally separate from the day use people so the beach etc. is much more relaxing. Plus it is just flat out more beautiful IMHO. Greenbrier is not bad and it is handy, but RG is just better. Plus it's a lovely drive out there through the mountains. Bear in mind again that the Ash loop is the one with electric. I also feel that loop has the most "private' sites of the entire campground as it still retains a lot of ground growth under the trees. If you like to kayak etc. there are a number of sites on the Ironwood loop that are directly on the lake.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Soyboy

........ Generally we go to Assateague National Seashore when the bugs aren’t out. It’s beautiful and one of our favorites, but horrible when it’s bug season as far we are concerned......

Hi

So, other than the last three weeks of January and the first three weeks of February .... when is it sure *not* to be bug season?

Bob

[Soyboy]

Lol Bob. Seems like that sometimes. In reality, we used to find the bugs (mainly misquitoes) bad from mid to late June until late Sept. With the more recent weather we have had it seems like now it’s earlier in May through early to mid Oct. it’s funny that place gets booked up during bug season. I don’t know how folks can stand it! I guess it keeps the riff raff (like me) out ;-)

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Soyboy

Lol Bob. Seems like that sometimes. In reality, we used to find the bugs (mainly misquitoes) bad from mid to late June until late Sept. With the more recent weather we have had it seems like now it’s earlier in May through early to mid Oct. it’s funny that place gets booked up during bug season. I don’t know how folks can stand it! I guess it keeps the riff raff (like me) out ;-)

Hi

We got hit pretty hard with various bugs right into November this year. They have slowed down a bit now that we are getting a freeze each night. The last batch crawled all over everything. Open any door and a heard of them started coming in or out ....

Bob

[Too tall]

SoyBoy thanks for the awesome tips. We just got back from 5 days at Shenendoah River SP and it was fantastic. Excellent facilities, hot showers hikes, biking galore. It is a very well maintained place. Thumbs up. We plan to return. Daytime temps were a glorious 50's ++ and frigid nights in the 20s!!! The coach was perfect, we used less than one bottle of Propane and kept the thermostat at 62F. Also, we used a small ceramic disk heater at night...the dog seemed especially fond of that The one observation I have regarding such cold nights is that the walls are very cold. We used extra sleeping bags to insulate between the walls and ourselves (twin beds) which was a good move. LOL There is NO Verizon cell service in this State Park...thank g-d.

Dan FWIIW we were winterized before we left for Shenendoah and dry camped using a 2 1/2 and a 5 gallon water jug for dishes, commode flush, drinking/cooking. It was a piece of cake and helps put us on the road for boondocking. This was practice of sorts.

SoyBoy, we are thinking about going to Rocky Gap this weekend. After such a wonderful week on the River we are thinking why quit now?!!! I've found many many good road rides from the SP and the reservation system is wide open. Only one loop is open right now which is excellent, that means less people.

Mid-Atlantic readers, what say you? Keep the conversation going and let's work twords a Spring event? We would love that. I'll throw my hat in the ring to provide bicycle and dirt road .gps routes if the site we pick has good routes available.

Last, I'm about to order parts to do a Cell Boost (SWMBO orders) setup. Lewster gave me a list. Once I muddle thru this and have it dialed in I'm glad to help locals with their own install. FHFFA Friends Helping Friends Fix Airstreams.

Shenendoah River SP and yes I am about to make a pecan pie on a wood fire

IMG_3983 by , on Flickr
IMG_3965 by , on Flickr
IMG_3973 by , on Flickr

[elektrik]

Hi everyone,

I'm not an AS owner yet, but I'm spending a lot of time reading the forums and learning what may be in store for me. I just saw this thread and wanted to introduce myself. If there is a local meet up, I'd love to join in the fun.

@TooTall, I'm in your neighborhood. Just moved east of you, near Plyers Mill and Georgia.

Looking forward to joining the fun!
e

[Too tall]

Originally Posted by elektrik

Hi everyone,

I'm not an AS owner yet, but I'm spending a lot of time reading the forums and learning what may be in store for me. I just saw this thread and wanted to introduce myself. If there is a local meet up, I'd love to join in the fun.

@TooTall, I'm in your neighborhood. Just moved east of you, near Plyers Mill and Georgia.

Looking forward to joining the fun!
e

Excellent news. Local is good. You might have seen us coming home from Va today!

[Blackdog06]

Originally Posted by Dan_Rox

Our favorite local spot is Pine Grove Furnace State Park near Gettysburg, PA. Sites are wooded and nicely spaced. Most have electric but no water.

The bike riding there is excellent. There are miles and miles of single track for mountain biking. Unfortunately you need a local to show you around, it's not marked or documented well. Also a great place for gravel riding. It is hilly, but you can easily do a 100 miles mostly on forest service roads.

Pine Grove Furnace SP is one of our favorites also - it feels so rural being in the middle of the Michaux State Forest.

We're also really like Trough Creek SP which abuts the wilderness area of the same name. It's a rustic campground with 27 electric spots. It's close to Raystown Lake which has great boating, hiking and mountain biking. There is a COE campground on the other side of the lake but it can be a zoo on the weekend.

[Soyboy]

Too Tall, thanks for the update on Shenandoah SP. Sounds nice.

If you go to RG, let us know what you think. They have a nice drive through Christmas Light show going on right now too.

Thanks and have fun!

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by elektrik

Hi everyone,



I'm not an AS owner yet, but I'm spending a lot of time reading the forums and learning what may be in store for me. I just saw this thread and wanted to introduce myself. If there is a local meet up, I'd love to join in the fun.



@TooTall, I'm in your neighborhood. Just moved east of you, near Plyers Mill and Georgia.



Looking forward to joining the fun!

e

electric

Welcome to AirForums. Good that you are gathering information and learning before you jump in with one or both feet. It would also be helpful to go to a gathering of Airstreams if possible. You don’ have to have an Airstream.

I am learning about a lot of great places to go camping from this thread. Thanks TooTall.

Dan

[Too tall]

Thanks Dan.

We are on the bubble for Rocky Gap. I'm hopeful weather holds and Mrs. Too Tall is up for it. Plan "B" is to go fishing at Dewey Beach. Win win dare I say?

[KellyCreek]

Small world! We were the Bambi in site 3 at Lums last weekend, we were going to stop by and visit but never saw anyone in camp, must be out playing! We biked the trail on Thursday. We do a lot of rail trail as well, keep us posted when you go out!
KellyCreek

[romaa.13]

Just wanted to say thank for this thread.

I don't have an Airstream yet, but had to say I appreciate the thread as it giving me so many choices of places to go to when I get my AS. I am hoping soon though it is approaching winter and can't wait to try out all the places that have been shared in the thread.

Lilian.

[KellyCreek]

We'd have some interest as well -- state campgrounds, rail trails (we seem to spend a lot of time in PA).

[Fred L]

Enjoyable thread. Somewhat new to RV camping with the purchase of our first AS back in August. Long time camper, mostly backpacking and extended canoe trips. There is a comfort only a tent camper could grasp to hear your first rain drop on the roof of your AS and know you will not get wet (hopefully) feet or backside while camping that night.

My first night in the AS was warm and dry, but one I will never forget since I purchased the trailer from some wonderful folks in Alabama, but hired a fellow to tow it and meet me half-way down in SW Va.
Its a long story of changing out wheels and tires in a vacant parking lot in 86 deg temps and blazing sun in SW Va., then installing a weight dist hitch, but I wont go into the details, except to say that after 4 hours of work, I crawled into the truck to get going and the brake controller flashed no connection. I only provide this insight to let you know that I threw caution to the wind, decided to drive under the speed limit on Rt81 and head to the Highlands Haven AS park. I had no idea what I was getting into and while I recall seeing directions, I simply followed a GPS, which was a huge mistake for someone without brakes ( I had no idea engineers could design switchbacks that tight on a road ....)
Suffice to say I made it and met some of the nicest and most knowledgeable follks, in a simply beautiful setting of Airstreams. I cant recommend Highland Haven enough and even though its a good 8-9 hour ride for me, I plan to head back with my wife this summer.
Other than that, we have spent several weekends at Bald Eagle State Park just north of Bellefonte Pa. Our Saturdays being spent at the Penn State football games, but Bald Eagle is a very nice place to spend a weekend. Most sites have electric, some have water. There are two loops and the one we stay at for pets does not have sewer hook-ups. I believe the other loop may.
Sadly both campgrounds are a bit chilly this time of year, but we look forward to the spring and new areas to explore. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to meet some of you along the way. I would be glad to share the extended story of my maiden voyage, aka baptism by fire.