Gerald R. Freeman Campground

Gerald Freeman Campground is a large campground with multiple loops and many river-front sites. The Black Bear loop, that has the majority of the full hookup sites, is closest to State Road 15 which has a lot of loud truck traffic and happened to be under daytime construction when we visited in late September. It’s a good thing we planned to be away sight-seeing during the day because the jack hammer noise was relentless.

The campground is well maintained, restrooms were clean but showing age. Very low to no cell service in the area so plan ahead with directions. Follow the directions in the reminder email or GPS coordinates for the campground because mapping by the name of the campground lands in the wrong location.

Be aware the check-in time for this campground is 6 pm, check out time is 5 pm so if you arrive early in the afternoon your site may still be occupied. The price reflects the NPS Senior Pass discount. Overall, the draw of a full hookup site was not worth the long, winding, hilly road to get there and the inconvenience of poor cell service.

12.5 miles from I-79 in Sutton, WV, this is an older Army Corps of Engineers campground, but well maintained. Road from Sutton, WV to campground (WV-15) is narrow, hilly and very winding, passable by tractor trailers and large rigs, but exercise caution. Campground has three loops with mostly (but not all) level sites. Riverside sites have boat tie-up posts; there are two boat ramps into the river, a small marina with marine gas available, and rentable slips for $10/day. Three new and very well equipped playgrounds, and a large pavilion. There are a few sites that are very small, or very steep (not level). Stayed over 4th of July weekend 2020, not fully booked, and there were still sites available through the weekend. Even with a good number of families with small children, it remained quiet and relaxing. NOTE: NO alcohol allowed on premises, and local law enforcement patrols a few times daily. Verizon showed 1-bar of 1x speed, text messages would go through, but no voice nor other data.

We stayed at this campground June 15 thru June 22. This campground is an older one which is being updated some. During our stay a bridge is still being finished 3yrs going according to the host. This caused a lot of traffic on a normally one way loop now used as two way. One of the shower houses was closed due to water line work, another was very dated and several of the stalls were not working and blocked off, the shower house on the full hookup loop was nicer and everything was working there. The sites are mostly level and nearly all paved. The dump station is not the best setup.The facilities that were working was cleaned twice a day by a wonderful cleaning crew. Take your time on Route 15 as it is very curvy, did I say very curvy. Cell phone is non existent as you are surrounded by the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. For the motorcyclist take 19N/4N toward Bulltown Campground to Mills Falls Overlook to Rock Cave for a nice ride.

And no regrets! were on the road and it was the 4th of July weekend and they had 1 site available. We were backed right on the water, and while we've been on larger sites it was certainly workable. Mix of non-electric and electric sites, They're doing a substantial amount of renovations by the look of the construction, including brand new playgrounds and internal roads. To the negative, the road in off the interstate can best be described as interesting, and we did have trouble with our EMS system dropping power due to low voltage - but considering it was a 4th weekend and hot with a lot of AC's running I can forgive them for the latter. On a side note I did find the local constabulary running radar in the campground enforcing the 10mph speed limit interesting. Side note: Zero cellular coverage on ATT and Verizon, zero OTA TV coverage, and depending on where you are in the campground getting southern sky for a satellite connect can be a challenge. I really don't consider any of these negatives, as it's camping, right?

we stayed here 7 nights,and had a very large site as all of them were.Most sites are paved and the rest are hard packed and all are pretty level.almost all sites have 50 amp electric,some just electric some with water and electric and one loop with 50/30 amp full hookups.This year that had flooding,and part of the cg closed early,and will open on the spring,they are already replacing all the breakers and other equipment that got wet.The park is on the river that feeds Sutton Lake and does have boat launch and a small marina as well.
The only bad thing we would say,is that the ride from I-79 to the campground is a little exciting! narrow curvy road with some pretty sharp curves,but just take your time,its worth it!