Explore Park Campground

I don’t know when people started supporting highway robbery for kids and families to just have a good time. Nothing about this place is worth $35 maybe $15, no more no less. Wouldn’t pay a dime different. Go up to north creek campground, guaranteed a better stay and it’s so cheap im not even gonna say the price 😱 but less than $10 a night lollll , again this place has lost their minds.

The biggest asset of this park is modern, clean showers that and maybe location, although I should have boondocked at Rest Area, Cracker Barrel, or Camping World. It was not worth $35. There are only 6 sites(all with 30amps, no water). Sites are all on top of each other—no privacy and no shade. Although there are hiking trails in the park, they can’t be accessed from campground unless you walk along busy road. Signage is poor for locating campground. Hours are not generous. Check-in 3:00pm; check out 11:00am. 4 hours to turn sites over? Picnic tables are warped and have fungus growing on them.

This is our favorite place to stay in Roanoke. Small and friendly (& pet-friendly), nice bathhouses, great location for going into town or staying at the park: walking/biking paths, weekend brew pub restaurant with live music, small museum/shop, and activities for kids all in the main park just a little walk down the road. There is very little wifi or cell service and only electric hookups (plus a spigot you can use at the front of the park and a dump station in the main park). Totally worth it for $28 a night.

This CG is a very small CG just off the Blue Ridge Parkway that we stopped overnight in. The staff were nice and friendly and check in was a breeze. It is very convenient to the parkway and the bathrooms are immaculate, with a commode sink & shower in each room behind a key coded lock, very private & secure.
Unfortunately the sites are very close together and not at all private nor level (we were in D5 which sloped down about 8” over our 20’ van). To make matters worse the electric hookup was out of reach, being on the passenger side when backed into the site about 10’ from the parking pad, ok if I had a 50’ cord but not my 25 footer.
There are also a few tiny cabins and yurts here that can be rented.
All in all this CG is convenient to the Roanoke area and ok for a night or two, but not one of my favorite spots.

Friendly Staff. Very Poor Signage In The County Park. Hard To Find After Hours Check In Packet. All Sites Are Only 30 Amp. No Water And No Sewer. The camp store has lots of nice camp things and firewood. Beautiful park and trees. There Is A Water Spigot Near Site D1 That Can Be Used For Filling Your Fresh Water Tank. We Camped In Site D3 And Could Reach The Water Spigot To Fill Our Tank With 75 Ft Of Water Hose.

This is a nice little park. Not sure we’d want to spend more than 3or 4 day. For our overnight it was great.
Quite a few things to do in the park (like a cool ropes course) but we were only passing through so could not avail ourselves to activities.

The only drawback is the RV sites are short and very perpendicular to the road making the back in a little more troublesome with a travel trailer.
Also, sites are close but we didn’t care. It was quiet.

We had a dude next to is who built his own little trailer!

Pros:
-Convenient to Roanoke
-Nice bathhouse with individual shower rooms
-Big disc golf course and playground 1.5 miles down the street (part of the park)
Cons:
-We prefer campgrounds with privacy and shade
-Only 6 sites
-Water access is next to site 1. You'd have to fill while parked in the street. We didn't find it until day 2 since we forgot to ask at check in.
-Dump station is in a parking lot. I don't think they have quite enough space marked off to get close to the dump if the parking lot is full.

This little RV park is privately owned, but managed by the County - but also part of the official Blue Ridge Parkway visitor's center. They seem to be making the visitor's center an adventure park destination with tent camping, zip lines, tubing and biking. A really odd little combo of things.

We came here due to the detour through Roanoke off the BRP and wanted some power to get through some hot temperatures. And to get in some bike riding.

The RV part of the campground is just 6 sites with power hook-ups only. Ours was on the wrong side of the site and we had to park on the very back edge corner of the pad to get our cord to reach. The sites get full sun during the middle of the day which made a hot day even worse.. and there's no privacy between sites.

But, the bathhouse is amazing - separate huge bath suites that are really well appointed and kept immaculate. We indulged in long showers after cruising the parkway!

We enjoyed exploring the park, the trails are a bit difficult to figure out.. and the new bike park was only partially done. And we were told the county is aiming to open their own RV park too - so perhaps things will get better in time.

We had a tough time with cell signal here, despite being close to a major city. Best we could get was about 8 Mbps down on AT&T.. which plummeted to unusable in the evenings.

Pros: The location of this campsite is great in terms of proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway and a short-ish (15min) drive to town. Staff was also very friendly and helpful. Bathhouse was very clean, providing private bathrooms and showers. The bathhouse also had a nice setup for dish washing as well as WiFi. Bike trails looked fun as did the treetops adventure.

Cons: There are no trees separating the RV sites. Just side by side in the blazing sun. With the parkway closed, access is slightly difficult…driving through rural neighborhoods. Also, you are close to the river but it was pretty gross and there was a ton of trash and nastiness around the spot we were told to visit.

We will likely return, but after Parkway construction is complete and definitely in the fall or spring. It was just too hot for us to enjoy activities without having shade at our site or a river to cool off in.

Very convenient off the BRP. That’s why I chose it. But then with the bridge closure came complications. Detour to get here was difficult and then I had to rely solely on gps. It brought me in the back service entrance (after hrs) and had to figure things out. This review is based upon pulling a 32’ trailer. Backing in was a snap. Only one pole at the front of site to watch for. Pretty level. Only had to raise one side 1”. I ran water hose across another site to fill, about a 65’ reach. Note that the odd numbered sites have the electric post on the opposite side that’s typical, unless you have a motor coach which probably so wont fit most class As. Need an extension cable for electric in odd numbered sites All are 30amp. Each Shower room is separate and impeccable, well thought out. Odd sites are protected from sun in morning and even numbered sites start to get shade in afternoon. Full midday sun for all 6 sites. Quiet, peaceful and apparently a lot to do. I didn’t partake as I was just resting up a full day after traveling down the Parkway.
3-stars because of difficulty of getting water, dumping is hard to reach and no after hours packet or communication.
NOTE: upon coming in off of BRP there is a sign stating camper to stay right. That is for fill & dump. Problem is it was a retro fit in the main parking area. It is hard to navigate to get close enough because of parked vehicles. A. “no parking” section is designated. Just didn’t give enough room to navigate closer. I have 2 ten foot and 1 twenty foot sewer hose and it took the 20 & a 10 to get to sewer.
I would stay here again knowing what I now know.