Capitol KOA

We stayed here for 3 weeks while visiting friends and former co-workers (we used to live in the area). We chose this campground instead of staying at Cherry Hill Park again because it was cheaper and we didn't need to be inside the DC Beltway. It is a fairly typical KOA, with a mix of RV and tent sites along with cabins. The front section of campsites has three rows of pull-through sites of varying lengths, 4 back-ins, and a few cabins: this section has a few trees but otherwise has a clear view of the sky. The back section, which seems to house longer-term residents, has mostly back-in sites with a few pull-throughs and cabins, and is a bit more shaded. The third section is a pair of roads that run behind the office area with a mix of back-in and tent sites, plus more cabins and that section is also fairly shaded.

We stayed in site 11, which is a pull-through site in the front section with a gravel pad (all of the RV sites in all sections have gravel pads), a grass lawn, a fire ring with a grill cover and a picnic table. The site wasn't long enough to fit both our 37-foot fifth wheel and 21-foot truck, but we simply parked the truck in the parking area in front of the office, which was right behind us. We had booked our stay a couple of months in advance and had settled for a 30amp FHU site, but discovered that we had 50amp service at the site. We checked with the office and learned they had recently upgraded that site as well as several others: they did not charge us for the upgrade, which was nice. We did put a board under the driver side camper tires, but otherwise the site was pretty level.

This campground has all of the typical KOA amenities for guests: an office store with some convenience store items but mostly toys and souvenirs, a pool area (not yet open during our stay), a playground with a jump pad, a collection of large tricycles available for rent, and outdoor gaming equipment that includes a volleyball court, a basketball hoop, an oversized chess board, and horseshoes. The office sells both firewood and ice. There are bathrooms on the outside of the office building as well as inside a satellite building located between the first and second section of the campground, which also has laundry facilities. There are two dumpsters on the property, both accompanied by trash cans repurposed to take recyclable aluminum, glass, and plastic items. A bit surprised they don't have any cardboard recycling considering they allow guests to receive packages.

The enclosed dog park is located on the south side of the campground. It has an airlock-style gate and a row of ground lights to provide some illumination at night. There are also grassy areas to walk dogs on the outskirts of the playground (dogs aren't allowed in the playground) and along the entrance road into the campground, or you could take them on the narrow wooded nature trail that can be entered from either the front or back end of the campground and passes through the woods on the north and west ends of the campground.

In terms of cell service, the best speed I got on my Verizon Jetpack with MIMO antenna was 83 Mbps down and 42 up, so we had no problem streaming video during our stay. The best speed test I ran on my 5G AT&T smartphone showed 73 Mbps down and 11 up. I tested the campground WiFi the Saturday evening before we left and got 5 Mbps down and 2 up (the campground rules note the WiFi won't work well for anything with heavy data requirements).

You will hear a fair bit of road noise from nearby Route 32, but the location of the campground makes it easy to get to either DC or Baltimore.

We would stay here again if we return to the area.

Conveniently located between Baltimore and DC. I liked that it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere and not really near any cities but close to towns. Staff was extremely friendly and the manager even came over and helped us with our debacle which was quickly resolved as soon as he showed up to help. They have this really cool little nature trail that we would take the dog for a walk through every morning. We’ve been in campgrounds where you’re packed like sardines and this doesn’t come close to that. There was a good amount of room between campers. Would definitely stay here again.

I stayed here for one night and had a great experience. After checking in, I followed an employee (Darnell) in his golf cart to my RV spot, which was helpful and he was super nice. The staff was very friendly, the grounds were clean and well maintained. The campground store had a great variety or merchandise and camping essentials. I was also fortunate enough to have awesome neighbors that shared their travel stories with me. Overall, I would be happy to stay here again.

Camped on a long site that we picked from their Select My Site on koa site. It is the best campsite in the park. Has cement patio with gas barbecue and fireplace . And outdoor chairs and table. Site 34. Lots of room for all our stuff. Clean restrooms and camperworkers were helpful when ever we needed something. Swimming pool has a lifeguard which was a first for us at a KOA. Only downside that was annoying was other campers walking from nearby cabins right through our campsite. ALOT!! Even one guy let his dog pee on our campsite. We had to hose it down. Campgrounds should have a rule book for campers. Will come back here in the later season after crowds die off.

I guess when you have a convenient location you can charge crazy high rates for a mediocre at best campground. Sites are extremely close together. Feels more like a parking lot then a campground. Sites are gravel and unlevel. Right next to the highway so constant road noise which also ruins the experience. Might as well be at a free truck stop. Low end site ( 30 amp electric/water no sewer) was $70 and prices went up from there. For those prices I would expect much nicer amenities and full hook ups. Complete disappointment. Go elsewhere.

This is our second stay here. We won't be back. The campgrounds are fine and there is a nice little nature trail that winds along the creek. However, it is very close to two highways and not at all quiet. That's still fine in my book as the location is perfect for us, half way between where my 90-year-old father lives and the hospital where I have been treated for cancer.

But, and this is a big but, the staff here do not have their act together at all. Here's the details of our little odyssey: while checking out during our first stay, we booked a second stay and were told "Sites in the winter are first come, first served. When you pull in, take ANY available site."

We subsequently received an email saying to stop at the Night-Check In and there would be a list of available sites. So, some conflicting information there, but no problem. Upon arrival, we checked the Night Check-In Station for the list. No list; so, I picked a site, per the original instructions I got.

The staff here watched me pull into the site, set up, and then came over to tell me I could not stay there b/c they were shutting off the water. So much for ANY open site. This guy, at least, was specific about which sites I could use, however. More on that in a minute.

I was discouraged. But, OK, I tore down and moved to one of the sites they said I could use. I pulled in and got set up. The second site had a bad sewer hook-up. We stayed there one night using our holding tanks and decided to move again the following day, selecting a site that guy said was going to remain open. Remember they guy who waited until I was set up before making me move?

The office is closed; so, we called to tell them we had moved. Guess what? We were told we could not stay there. BTW, there was still no list at the Check-In Station.

Also, twice we were informed the laundry room was to be used "by reservation only." So, we called for a reservation. Nope. We are not allowed to use the laundry room. Hey, I get the COVID-19 restriction, but get your story straight. People make plans based on the information you provide.

Bottom line: these people have not idea what's going on in their own campground or how to communicate clearly or how to follow through on the (sketchy) information they provide. Terrible management. Terrible.

Only recommend staying here if absolutely necessary or if you are way more tolerant of utter incompetence than I am.

The location for this campground was good with easy access to DC, Annapolis and Baltimore. Also a pretty reasonable off-season rate.

The staff that we encountered was very abrupt in our only encounter with them. There were no more than 10 occupied sites (out of about 100) during our stay so we didn’t think twice about briefly parking in a neighboring site while unloading materials to make a repair to our TT. We are always very considerate and would have moved immediately had another guest arrived for that site. After just a few minutes, a woman approached and was very coarse with us telling us to move our truck - NOW - unless we wanted to pay for the extra site. Pretty sharp tone in my opinion.

We would have extended our stay had we not had this encounter. Absence of customer service had been mentioned in reviews on other websites but we figured we could manage for a week. Couldn’t wait for our week to end so we could move to another CG. Then we stayed in the area for another week. No doubt that the lack of customer service cost this business some revenue during a lean time of the year.

We were here a couple of weeks before they shut for the winter. Very well situated midway between Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis. (Note our GPS routed us to an entrance off a highway ramp that does not exist anymore. Follow the KOA road signs.) Most expensive KOA we have ever visited. And, for that money, we were originally assigned a small non-level site in the woods. Thanks to the staff, we were able to move into a larger site in the open, and the upcharge was waived. FHU. Plenty of OTA (over the air) TV. WIFI was excellent.

Just as a note we drive a 45ft coach and tow a truck for those who are also needing a place to park a big rig. Getting in and out of the park was relatively easy.
The staff was very friendly and had plenty of local knowledge of what to do and where to go. The park itself is in a nice neighborhood which made it very nice for daily walks. They do offer shuttles to area attractions but we found it much easier to just use our truck.
Sites along Pennsylvania Ave are satellite friendly. Overall this is one of the nicer KOA’s we have stayed at.