Mathews Arm Campground

Really enjoy Big Meadows campground. Sites are spaced out well and mostly level, although there are some that are not. T-Mobile coverage was adequate to work and stream videos, so that's a huge plus while living on the road. Some of the sites had better coverage than others. Staff were very friendly allowing us to drive through and "pick" our site before paying. We enjoyed the hike to Dark Hollow Falls (moderate elevation, so be ready for a climb coming back up from the falls) even though the water level is low and the falls were just ok. Not sure if you're allowed to bring in your own firewood, but $10/bundle is a little steep. We recommend this CG and will be be back.

I travelled here with a 35’ 5th wheel, long bed pickup and parked in the site #B135, a dry, BI site for $15/night with an America the Beautiful Sr. Pass. The road into the CG was asphalt and easy to navigate although there is a big hill at the entrance and up to Loop A. This site had pretty much total shade. The best sites for solar are not reservable – they are in the FCFS portion of the A Loop. The bathroom was tolerable. One had a bunch of dirt on the floor almost like a little flood had come through. There were no showers in the CG. No cell signal, wifi or OTA reception. There was a nice hike right from the CG which was fun. I would stay here again, but only for a few days since the shade is so heavy, or later in the season when it might be easier to nab a FCFS sunny site.

As another reviewer mentioned there are many sites that are tilted in both directions. Amazes me that they went to all the trouble to spend big bucks on asphalt but did almost no site levelling. It was very quiet on a Sunday night and the lady at registration was friendly and helpful. Despite all the asphalt there are no dedicated walkways to the bathrooms so you have to walk through someone's site to get there. Trails were in decent shaped and marked fairly well. Since the campground is down in a hollow there is zero road noise and zero cell service both of which were kind of nice.

It's a nice campground, a lot of space to back onto the pad, and good space between sites. It's pretty quiet here, even on a busy weekend. Everyone must be doing a good job with their trash, because there were no scavenger birds or even squirrels about. My only disappointment was that I had to drive so far for a shower. Skyline Drive is absolutely beautiful, and while I didn't have any T-Mobile or Verizon at camp, a nearby overlook usually made it possible to connect with the outside world.

We originally reserved site B118. Upon arrival, we found the site had a severe incline. We moved to a first come first serve site (A75) and it was wonderful! The campground has no hookups and limited morning and evening generator hours in designated loops. We stayed during the week and it was absolutely peaceful! The drive in to the campground on Skyline Drive was easy and the road is in fantastic shape. We would absolutely stay here again!

We stayed here September 2- 8, 2020.
We loved this campground, no hookups at all but a dump on the way out.
There are some sites that are reservable but the outer loop (A) is all first come first serve, lots of pull throughs or back in, all concrete pads not all are level.
We got there late the first night and stayed in site A26, the cicada bugs are loud in this part of the park surrounded by a forest of trees.
Then we moved to site A94 end of the loop and got a nice open level site. We had grass between sites, enough privacy. Able to set up solar on our grassy area.
Absolutely no cell service once you head into the forest.
Bathrooms had warm water and kept clean.
They are pretty strict on who comes in and out of camping area with passes to every car, which is nice for having a peace of mind. Rangers came through the park quite frequently.
There are bears here so bear boxes are at the campsites.
We cannot wait to head back to this park.

Matthews Arm is a great national park campground inside Shenandoah. It is well taken care of and clean. While it has no hookups, it is exactly what you are looking for from an NPS campground. The most important thing is that it feels close to nature and is actually close to many of the best attractions in the park. This is a great stop to add to any excursion into Shenandoah National Park.