Big Meadows Campground

I am at Big Meadows right now. I extended my stay by a day and if a site frees up, I may stay longer. The sites are well spaced and there are trees and bushes between creating some privacy. People have been pretty quiet which I appreciate. The ranger programs here are spectacular and children and adults love them. The “Star Party” is a must do! I love the stories about the constellations! The facilities are clean. They have coin op showers, laundry, and a small store. I will return!

This is a large campground with a variety of sites for tent campers and large RVs. A lot of sites are on dirt/gravel which with the rain made for a dirty trailer. It's in the center of Shenandoah National Park with great access to trails. Coin operated showers ($2.50 for 5 minutes) and a laundry operated by a concessionaire. Nice Park personnel at checkin.

No fault of the campground, but 5 days of rain & dance fog! Months of planning down the drain! 😭 Had to leave early, our solar just couldn't change batteries due to fog, & we were located in no generator spot.
But, campground was spotless!! $2.50 for hot, very clean, shower! Very clean, flushing, potties. Lodge was a savings grace, free wifi, and a nice little pub w/ draft beer in the basement. Spent a lot of time playing board games and sipping beer in front of their fireplace. Zero cell service at campground, but about 2 bars LTE w/ Verizon and ATT at Lodge.
Enjoy!

For $20 in a beautiful national park what more can you really ask for? The sites were mostly level, pull thrus. A short walk to a small general store, showers, laundry and a slightly longer walk to a restaurant. Nearby gas station and ranger station. There are a number of hikes in the immediate area. Dry camping at its best. It's quite shaded so don't count on solar and service is very sparse.

It’s a NPS campground - i.e., no hookups & tight parking. But overall, we really enjoyed being here. There was a small group campsite next to us and the bathhouse. So this group of college kids were a little loud and stayed up late. But they were fairly respectful, and not a real interruption. We had shade for part of the day and there was a nice walking path to get to the bathhouse. We like to stay inside national parks when we are visiting one of them and this was one of the best inside any National park we’ve ever stayed at.

We decided to stay here as this campground is the 'village' of Shenandoah National Park. Upon arrival, we were caught off guard that the ranger assigns you a site if you're first come first serve. We had gotten spoiled along campgrounds along the Blue Ridge Parkway and others along the Skyline that you got to choose your own site.

Thankfully, C139 was amongst the nicer feeling sites - so no complaints there.

But if peace and tranquillity are you goals - this is not a campground to achieve them during peak tourist season. Our stay was early-August - and even mid-week this campground was full and active with vacationers. Hey, everyone deserves to get away - but lots of noise of campfires, big groups, dozens of kids riding bikes, tents being set up, mattresses being blown up, etc. wasn't the vibe we were after.

The lodge nearby (easy biking) offers some respite and we found a nice outdoor table at the tavern where we could enjoy some refreshments and listen to live chill music.

While we had paid 2-nights in advance (thinking we wanted a longer stay), we ended up leaving a night early. This campground just isn't as well spread out as others in the park and it wasn't what we were seeking.

We were able to get rocking T-Mobile signal here however suitable for streaming (47 mbps down!), despite not being in the section reported as having better signal. AT&T was poor in our section however.

Luckily for us the lodge up the hill had wifi for work and school! The loops on the very furthest side (h loop?) had some signal because it’s where the ground starts sloping down and you can reach the signals from town across the valley. Most sections are total dead zones.

So besides that little snafu, this was a great spot for exploring the park. So many hiking trails, including some great areas right from the campground. There’s no privacy between sites. Laundry was $1 to wash and 25c/7 min to dry. Big industrial sized machines. I did two big loads that usually take me 3-4 machines and only two loads with $1 each to dry, including lots of towels. It was great. Camp hosts gave us great hiking suggestions.

We did a mid-week 1-night getaway (April 2021); it's still early in the season so all spots are first-come-first-serve basis.

There are no hookups, which was fine for us; nearest restroom did not have showers, but there is supposedly a centralized coin-operated shower facility (and laundry)

Sites are not too cramped; the big downside is there is ZERO cell phone coverage. I have a booster and Verizon and AT&T... nothing with either carrier. Even driving in we lost coverage when we got on Skyline Drive... that area is a cell phone dead zone, and the campground is totally a cell phone dead zone.

But if you don't need to be connected; it's a decent place, campground store and even gas station at entrance. Lots of good hiking nearby and cycling.