Misty Mountain Camp Resort

We were fortunate to find a place on a mid-summer Saturday evening without reservations, that's the only good thing we experienced at this campground. Sites 5-17 are tight, when possible stay away from these sites. Cell service was marginal. We thought $64/night with a 10% Good Sam bringing the rate to $58 was way overpriced. Upside: children will like the resort with pool, shaded playground, jumpy house.

We've stayed here several times since it's a close-to-home getaway. We've always opted for sites in the upper campground since some of the sites offer a bit more privacy than those in the lower section of the park.

Water and electric hookups are at each site; cable and sewer connections at some. Good cell service on most (all?) networks, and usually reliable Wi-Fi.

We go to Misty Mountain when we (1) need to be close enough to check on things at home and (2) when we want to take advantage of a "camp resort": swimming pool, pool tables, live music, karaoke, etc. During our most recent trip in early June, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the campground was hosting a free dinner for all camping guests! They furnished chicken, baked beans, potato salad, and rolls, and various side dishes and desserts were brought in by campers.

On one occasion we'd reserved a specific site but found it wasn't available when we arrived as the people who were already on it wanted to stay an extra day. We didn't like the location or features of the site we were assigned, and so they refunded our money and we came home! Fortunately, that's the only negative experience we've had, but obviously it was very, very frustrating.

It's not a quiet, out-in-the-woods sort of place (lots of friends camping together, lots of kids), but we've found that people are usually respectful of the quiet hours. The location puts visitors within an easy drive of grocery stores, restaurants, wineries, breweries, historical sites, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive, etc. and that's probably why it's such a popular campground!

Reservations are strongly recommended, though sites tend to open up during the week.

We really liked our stay here. We stayed 10 nights and would have stayed longer if we could. Very friendly staff and very well maintained. We’re full timers and one of us still works so we review with a slant to that. The camp store was well stocked with most of the things campers might need. The laundry facilities and bathhouse was practically new and very clean. The bathhouse was really four or five private bathrooms.The laundry room could have a folding table but not a deal breaker. The Wi-Fi was so so but the cellular wasn’t bad. We used our hotspots and that worked fine for us. We had a power problem the last few days we were there but the owner did all he could to get it straightened out and did on the last day we were there and refunded some of our money and we didn’t ask him to. Nice pool and fenced dog run. The owner is investing quite a bit in this property which means it can only get better.

We stayed in spot 71, a back in spot, with our 40’ (50’ with rear deck down). The spots are deceptively not level, but it’s easy enough to get leveled. Our spot had a nice deck, picnic table, and fire ring. It was quiet and peaceful. The restrooms are clean and maintained.

When we pulled in, the power was not working,and a neighbor said the guy night before had burned it out. The camp staff got it repaired quickly and we were up and running. 71 is at the top of the hill with tight turns but nothing unmanageable. We have a super duty 350 and if you’re underpowered you might have difficulty getting to the top.

Plenty of wineries nearby and a cool little market on Thursday’s just up the street.

They gave away the site we had reserved 6 months ago(!!!) to a “Long-term resident”. They could have emailed us about the change and given us the choice to stay and choose a new site, or refund our down payment and we’d go elsewhere. Instead they wait until we get here and put us in a leftover site. In the middle of the fishbowl(!!!) instead of having a private forested view. Didn’t even offer a discount for the disappointment.
Horrible customer service. STAY AWAY.

This campground is small and lovely, with good amenities, but it would be vastly improved with two things: an activities director and fly control.

My family has stayed here twice, most recently, last weekend. We chose to camp there due to their 'Haunted Camp' weekend they offer every weekend in October. The list of activities included: hayride to the pumpkin patch (tractor ride on wagon to the field directly behind registration); pumpkin carving (they laid out a table with some carving devices); bobbing for apples (they set out some apples in an aluminum party can holder on the ground); ice cream social (they set out preportioned ice cream cups in the community room); Halloween costume contest (this actually sort of was a contest with judges and prizes); and camp site Trick or Treating (candy to be provided by the campers for the campers). Anyway, everything happened as indicated on the schedule, but the events just felt lacking. There isn't an activity director to engage the campers and kids in participation, so walking up to an aluminum can holder and getting on the ground to grab an apple with your mouth isn't very appealing. Same with the ice cream social. Of course free ice cream is awesome, but at KOAs we have visited, it is usually a 'make your own ice cream sundae' type of thing and everyone kind of hangs out, talks, and eats ice cream. The ice cream was on the counter in their empty community room and most people just grabbed one (or three) and left since there wasn't anything else going on in there. Also, the kids 'arcade' consists of one pool table, two legit arcade games, and three or four scammy claw games. Again, we were happy to have any activities made available to us, but this place could be 5 stars with a tiny bit more effort!

Finally, there is a serious fly issue at this campground - to the point that they sell fly catchers in the camp store. We had previously camped here this past summer, so we came prepared with a battery powered zapper. What we weren't counting on was the aggression and determination of said flies. We thought they had previously gotten in because of our kids leaving the camper door open (sorry kids!), but we knew that wasn't the case this last trip because we were more diligent about closing it (it was much colder outside!). The flies were able to find their way in through cracks in our camper (probably near the slides). Our first night there, we killed 8 with our zapper! The next day, we stayed on 'fly duty' - someone would kill a few as they entered or left the camper. It's a small thing, but it's really annoying and seems like a sign of a bigger problem they might be having (sewers maybe?).

Stayed the first week in October. I was one of only 5 campers in the 26-site electric/water section, which is laid out around 2 sides of a huge playground area. I would not want to have been in the full hookups section, which looked packed. The campground was spotlessly clean, and the staff very friendly. The only negative was the pathetic water pressure (1 star off my rating).

We checked into Misty Mountain after staying at the KOA in Charlottesville. Based on our stay at the KOA our expectations weren't very high. However, we were pleasantly surprised. This campground goes out of their way to ensure a high quality stay. There are plenty of things for kids to do between a large bounce pad, multiple playground sets, horseshoe pits, cornhole setup, pool and splash pad(open in summer), etc.

The cost is a little high compared to other parks, but you do receive a lot for the money. On Saturday's and Sunday's they have complimentary coffee and donuts in the main lodge. On Saturday they offered free ice cream in the afternoon and complimentary hamburgers and hot dogs in the evening.

Restrooms and laundry facilities were clean and the cable and internet were good as well.

My only negative, which isn't much, is that it sits right off a major highway and the spot we had was closer to the road and there was a lot of traffic noise.

I would certainly recommend a stay here though. It is worth the money.

www.thecompassiscalling.com

After Rving across the northeast for two weeks, Misty Mountain was a great reprieve. It was large and not very crowded. The only bad thing was that we got placed in a spot without any shade, which was difficult without air conditioning. The plus was that we were able to go cool off in the pool. There was only one other family there so plenty of room. They also have a cute splash park for kids. Good free wifi. Only used the bath house once but had very spacious rooms. Rooms contained both toilet and shower which were both very clean. Also has laundry room in same building as bath house. We only stayed one night but would like to go back eventually and spend more time at this park and the Charlottesville area. Charlottesville is an easy 15 minute drive away. Very easy to get on and off interstate from this park but no road noise.