Camping- Washington, DC area

[sparklynails23]

Where is a good place to camp with a bunch of boyscouts in the Washington, DC area. We have one place reserved, but there are homeless people who live in the woods, and we aren't sure we will be able to leave our camp supplies at the site. Do you know of any other options? Thanks.

 

[VAfamily1998]

How close to the Washington DC area do you want to be? About 45 min/1 hr south of DC along I-95 is Prince William Forest National Park. I go hiking there a lot and I've seen boyscouts camping there. A couple hours away from DC off I-66/ I-81 is Shenandoah National Park.

My boys are in cubscouts and have camped with cubscouts at Bull Run Regional Park, which is also off I-66 about 45 minutes southwest of DC

 

[sparklynails23]

We want to be close enough to take the kids into the city almost every day. Proximity to public transportation would be nice. Forty-five minutes isn't bad. Is that in a safe area and close to a metro?

 

[sparklynails23]

They both look nice. It would be nice to have a pool, like at Bull Run. I wonder how much that costs, daily.

 

[leagirl12]

We went on a BUDGET trip to DC for Spring Break last year. As you may know hotels in and around DC are not budget. So we decided to camp. We stayed at Greenbelt National Park in Maryland. It was perfect for location. We were about 5 min from a metro stop and about a 20 min train ride into the heart of the city. We drove to the metro each day but the park had a map of a path you could walk through the park to the station if you didn't want to pay for parking.

We were not able to see everything we wanted to see while on our trip so we plan to make another trip and will be staying at this park again.

 

[LaraK]

There's a KOA in Severna Park Maryland which isn't too bad in terms of distance and they have field camping for scouts...but it IS a KOA.

There are a number of Girl Scout camps around here....maybe contact the National Capitol Region Boy Scouts?

There's a wonderful campground about an hour and a half north of the city also....Cunningham Falls State Park. On the other side of the highway from the State Park is also a National Park (more rustic camping). That's in Thurmont Maryland. Cunningham Falls is my personal favorite campground (great hiking, wonderful lake with a sandy bottom lake, boating and flush toilets).

When you actually are close in to the city, you are not in a secured area. I know I would personally not camp there, I'd be worried about safety. Prince George's County Maryland (next to the city) has already had something like 14 murders this year.

 

[leagirl12]

duplicate

 

[2goofycampers]

A bit of info from the camping board

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2623914&highlight=washington

 

[sparklynails23]

We went on a BUDGET trip to DC for Spring Break last year. As you may know hotels in and around DC are not budget. So we decided to camp. We stayed at Greenbelt National Park in Maryland. It was perfect for location. We were about 5 min from a metro stop and about a 20 min train ride into the heart of the city. We drove to the metro each day but the park had a map of a path you could walk through the park to the station if you didn't want to pay for parking.

We were not able to see everything we wanted to see while on our trip so we plan to make another trip and will be staying at this park again.

I think that's where we have reservations. Could you leave your camp supplies unattended all day, safely? Did you encounter any homeless people during your stay?

 

[VAfamily1998]

We want to be close enough to take the kids into the city almost every day. Proximity to public transportation would be nice. Forty-five minutes isn't bad. Is that in a safe area and close to a metro?

No, sadly they are not what I would consider close to the metro. I know you exit I-66 at exit 52 to get to Bull Run Regional, and the nearest metro is the Vienna station on the orange line, which is at exit 62...so at least 10 miles away on the freeway, plus whatever mileage to get from your campsite to the freeway.
Where ever you do choose to camp, if you will need to drive to a metro station, you will want to check out the parking situation before hand. I know the Vienna station is the closest one to me and if I don't get there very early in the morning, it is completely full.* There is a section of reserved spots, that are "open" after a certain time (I think 10 am?) but I've never had much luck with that either.

*ETA: Just want to clarify that is my experience on weekday mornings. Weekends, we have had no problem finding parking at the metro station, and it's free parking on weekends

 

[leagirl12]

I think that's where we have reservations. Could you leave your camp supplies unattended all day, safely? Did you encounter any homeless people during your stay?

We left our things as did several others around us. I never saw anyone that wasn't at a campsite with tents or pop-ups so no I didn't see any homeless people. We were there for a week in mid April. There were times we came back very late at night and even then didn't see anybody that didn't belong.

 

[sparklynails23]

Thank-you all for your advice.

 

[sparklynails23]

We left our things as did several others around us. I never saw anyone that wasn't at a campsite with tents or pop-ups so no I didn't see any homeless people. We were there for a week in mid April. There were times we came back very late at night and even then didn't see anybody that didn't belong.

The Ranger said there were homeless people in the woods and didn't advise walking to the metro. We're a bunch of country bumpkins, so I didn't know how much of a problem this would be. It does seem like a convenient campground. It would be nice to have a pool.

 

[Janet Hill]

http://www.nvrpa.org/park/pohick_bay/content/family_camping

Here's a Fairfax County VA park that is reasonably close to the Huntington Metro stop (you would have to drive there and arrive early to get a parking spot). We've been there for day functions (never camping) and it is a nice park.

 

[manning]

Cherry Hill Park

http://www.cherryhillpark.com/index.cfm

Can't say enough about them. I suffered a stroke while there and they bent over backwards to help.

They have a Metro bus stop.

 

[RangerPooh]

When we were living in Maryland we camped at Lake Fairfax County Park, which is part of the Fairfax County Park System (Virginia). It was a nice campground with fishing, sports fields, picnic areas, and a water park in the summer. We were there during spring break of last year (early April) and the weather was pleasant. The park is located in Reston which is about 30 minutes from DC if there's no traffic. The park is situated in a nice residential area, and felt very safe. There was only one campground area open when we went, but there was a mixture of tents, RVs, and pop-ups. We tent camped in a site with electric hookups. HTH.

I too would avoid Prince George County, it;s not very safe. If you are looking at Southern Maryland you might consider Smallwood State Park, located in Charles County. There's a playground and fishing pier. It's probably about 45minutes south of DC with no traffic. Avoid trying to go to/from DC during commute hours. It would take DH between an hour and half to 2 hours to get home most night thanks to traffic.

 

[sparklynails23]

Cherry Hill Park

http://www.cherryhillpark.com/index.cfm

Can't say enough about them. I suffered a stroke while there and they bent over backwards to help.

They have a Metro bus stop.

I can't find anything on their website about group camping.

 

[vroomagain]

I can't find anything on their website about group camping.

Their map shows several group camping spots. You may just have to call.

 

[manning]

Received this from Cherry Valley Hill Park Campground


Hello Thank you for your interest in Cherry Hill Park. Cherry HIll Park has camping sites for groups the rate is $10.00 per night per person for every 10 scouts, 1 leader is free. We are located 12 miles NE fo Washington DC. Check out our web site at www.cherryhillpark.com please call if interested in making a reservation for group camping at 1-800-801-6449. Thank you Cherry HIll Park
-----Original Message-----