Riverside Campground

Nice campground. Kinds of close sights for the seasonal folks, our pull through gravel site was nice. Full hook up and fire ring. Nice bathrooms and showers. Stayed 2 nights. Enjoyed the river (chocolate lab loved it). Lots of amenities that we did not use, pool , volleyball court, basketball court, nice recreation room. River access was great. Saw deer in the fields in the evening. Everyone was friendly. Would recommend this place. Was not busy this time of year through the week, I’m sure summer is very busy with kids, etc. Close to stores, Virginia Creeper Trail, hiking trails.

We stayed here before. Love the location, very private and in a nice valley along the river which can be accessed anywhere in the CG. Most of the Rv’s in this park are full timers. The location is private but it is not close to the highway, bit of a drive. We had to stop in this area and there is nothing much around as far as RV parks. Shopping and restaurants are maybe 15 minutes to the town.

There is a narrow road about two miles long to get to the park and it’s a bit scary if another vehicle is coming the opposite way. A tractor trailer was approaching us and we both had to stop and put our mirrors in so the truck could get by. It should be a one way especially with campers and large rigs coming down the road. Thankfully we had no vehicles coming towards us when we lett. Wi-if in and out.

We originally planned to stay ten days, but a severe early cold snap drove us out. The campground is down in a valley and the low temperatures in the fall were about 4-6 degrees colder than forecast for the town of Abingdon.

The campground is beautiful and well maintained. The two couples that own the campground are very friendly and responsive. We enjoyed the stay very much.

The trickiest part is access. North Fork River Rd is off of US-19. Coming on US-19S from Hansonville the turn is a left across the median with no turn lane. The median is not wide enough to get the tail end of a large RV out of the left lane of US-19S. I could not see a safe way to make that turn. A better option is to continue about three miles on US-19S to Rich Valley Rd at a stop light. Just beyond the light make a right turn into Big John's service station and turn right onto Rich Valley Rd. You can then turn left onto US-19N. The access from that direction is somewhat better, but is still a rapid stop followed by a sharp turn. Do not even try to do the 35 mph limit on North Fork River Rd. It is narrow with sharp drops on either side of the pavement. Take it slow.

The location is wonderful. It is quiet and on the North Fork of the Holston River. It is just a few miles to Abingdon and the Virginia Creeper bike trail. I shot some nice pictures on the river.

The campground is very clean and well maintained. It is mostly seasonal campers who were very friendly. We did not use the bathrooms but I saw people cleaning them twice each day.

The sites are level and well maintained. The utilities were in good shape. The transient sites are a bit narrow, but they are sufficiently staggered that you are not next to the neighbor's sewer hose when you are at the picnic table.

There is no road noise, The campground is rural, beautiful and peaceful.

Cell service was not good. We have Visible phones which run over Verizon's network. We had one bar of service. Our hotspot is T-Mobile; it had no service. The campground has both 2.4G and 5G Wifi. That connection was excellent except on busy weekend days.

We would have happily stayed the entire 10 days we planned, but an unheard of cold snap was forecast to drop temperatures to the low to mid 20's. We left ahead of that.

We stopped over for one night while in route. It was a Sunday night, so they did have a few open sites. Most are long term. A bit off the main route but worth the extra drive. Had a site just off the river where we could back in along a concrete slab, which made it really nice. The grounds were well maintained and shower house also well maintained and clean. Was the best stay of our trip. The owners obviously take pride in what they provide fir their guests. Would definitely stop again if able, but most of their sites are occupied long term, so limited availability for drop ins.

This park has permanent trailers, some full time residents, but most are vacation “homes”. There are a few transient pull through and back in riverview sites overlooking a few dozen tent sites directly on the river. Our site was gravel base with concrete porch pad, picnic table and fire pit but very close neighbors on both sides, too close. Road to the park is 2 miles winding blacktop along the river, not quite two cars wide in some areas which was problematic when two rigs meet which happened to us. If I were rating the trailer park, would give high marks for maintenance, management, landscaping and facilities. But as a campground, we were disappointed. Too closely spaced, too much stuff for us.

We recently stayed at Riverside Campground on our trip to enjoy the Virginia Creeper bike trail. We were amazed at a friendly community of campers in this campground and the great amenities that were provided here. There are full hook ups, and great pull through sites for trailer campers like us, and a number of permanent residents there who treat this like their own neighborhood and are friendly with all the guests.

But the greatest blessing we received while being there was the way in which we were treated and cared for by the staff of the campground. While we were there we encountered a number of problems with our camper that required a mobile technician to come out and accommodations to be made for us while we were straightening this problem out. Linda and her staff were unbelievably nice to us and gracious to us. One of the staff even closed up the office temporarily so she could get her vehicle and come jumpstart my car when we noticed the battery had run down. We ended up having to stay longer than our reservation, and Linda was so gracious to allow us to stay longer and refused to charge us for some of the dates that we were there because of our camper problems. These people are a true blessing! We highly recommend this wonderful and picturesque RV park!