Skyline Ranch Resort

Used to love it here. Beautiful Mountain View, friendly staff, quiet. Now it seems as if they’ve hired some shady people and there are creeps lurking around. What sector be a beautiful place for a family walk is now an eye sore. Full timers who have overtaken it with their hoarding and unattractive yards. It was still quiet, which I appreciate, but could be so much better. It’s a shame. If only they’d restock the pond, there’d be something to do when the pool is closed.

Arrived just before office was closing. Very friendly receptionist assigned us a spot. We are in camper van, found spot close to level, pretty surroundings. WiFi was an extra $3 per device which we declined but my cell phone provided adequate bandwidth for our two iPads.

Bathrooms, both his and hers, were not maintained. It was obvious they knew the hot water was not working as the panels were off. No hot water, cold showers. No paper towels in either bathroom, the dispenser were empty. The bathrooms were basically clean.

We averaged $37 / night for 4 nights with our Passport America discount ($74 without) for W / E50 / S / I. Our pull-through gravel site provided some shade. It required a few boards in order to level our motorhome. Free internet was available from the campground but very difficult to access and very slow. Our Verizon cell phone coverage only had 1 bar so using our hot spot was slow too. We were enable to make & receive calls. Our neighbors were so close that our awning was within a few feet of their driver side slide outs. The Western themed campground offers a pool, jacuzzi (not open), baseball field, performance stage and much more.

Though only 11 miles off I-66, it takes almost 25 minutes to arrive due to traffic in Fort Royal and slow windy roads. Once at the campround, I-81 is about 20 minutes away by car. From there, many sites from Winchester to Charlottesville are within an hour. Sites include Virginia Museum of the Civil War, Shendoah Caverns, Luray Caverns, American Celebration on Parade and Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum. North entrance to Skyline Drive is only about 10 minutes.

Skyline Ranch Resort is included in the Coast-to-Coast network of RV Parks that we belong to. It's a somewhat dated park, but fairly well maintained. We stayed the last week of April thru first week of May. The pool is very nice, and the clubhouse has a small gym along with a snack bar serving standard fast food. The clubhouse and pool were closed in April due to covid and re-opened the 1st week in May. Cell phone reception was three bars on AT&T, and 1X on Verizon. We ended up purchasing high speed wi-fi at the rate of $21/wk which worked out very well for us. There is a high mineral content in the water, so be sure to use a water filter - we had to change the filter during our stay.

I called for availability about 3 hours before arriving and they has sites available. When I arrived, the security guard was out on rounds and I had to wait for them to get back. I had to pull in further so that I wasn't blocking people coming back to their sites. When the guard arrived, she told me that the best way to my site was to exit the park and come back in the entrance that I was sitting at.

Arrived at the site and the angle for entry was opposite of the angle you needed to back into the site. I had to go down further and make a U-turn to get a decent approach to backing into the site. When others say that the sites are tight, they aren't kidding! Once into my site, there was no way that the truck could be parked anywhere other than a few feet forward or the RV With awnings out you would almost touch the RV next to you.

I didn't have any issues with water or sewer but the 50amp power was out of phase. Only one of my teo inverter/chargers would work because it only sensed on leg of the 50 amp. After making an adjustment to the settings in my Multiplus', by allowing them to see different phases, before I saw both legs of the 50amp.

I didn't try any of the amenities while there due to rain. The gravel sites held up well to the heavy rain though. ATT&T had very good signal but I cold only get Verizon cell service by walking to the top of the hill and that was still spotty.

We stayed 3 nights in a 43' Fifth wheel.

Skyline Ranch RV Resort

RV Resort?? Well, maybe back when the campground was initially opened. There is potential here, just not happening now. Some investing and modern management could make this place great.

So, let me get started with the “sheriff”, or gate keeper. Older gentleman, genuinely nice and polite. Kept the place calm and pool attendees under control. There is a western style theme to the place, but most of the buildings are in poor condition. The saloon town structure around the pool is mainly for looks. The restaurant (snack bar) is inside with bathrooms, a gym, and jacuzzi. Evidently there is horse back riding, but we never checked into it. There is a small pond, but unsure if it is stocked. Also, animals on the property; pigs, alpacas, goats, ponies, and horses (fun for kids). There is an event stage and a huge field for some big entertaining. Recreational area has a baseball field and a volleyball net. Campground is about 20 minutes from major store chains and food.

Campsites are full hookup, but do not let that entice you. The campsites are tight like a parking lot. There is about 10 feet between campers. The 50-amp service had been upgraded but kept cutting off due to the transformer. The transformer looked old, like it did not get the upgrade as well. The section we were in lost power throughout our 4-day stay. Maintenance personnel had a water hose and box fan running and blowing on the unit, trying to keep it cool throughout the day.

The waste disposal hookup was to the rear of each campsite and some are on an uphill slope. You should have at-least 3 sewer hoses to be able to connect. The dump station itself was closed and not functional. There were serious water issues. We have visited many campgrounds and acknowledge you get that initial brown water from the spicket that quickly clears up. I get it. What I did not get was the water stayed light brown our entire stay. The toilet even had a ring from the water that sat in the bowl. We typically break out the Brita pitcher to drink from, but not this time. The main in-line filter did not even work against the brown water situation. At the end of our stay, I back washed the filter and coffee-like water started flowing from it. A new filter will be purchased, and our water pipes flushed at the next campground.

If you are tech savvy and dependent on being connected to the outside world, you are out of luck. There is (in their words) “limited WIFI”, cellular service is extremely limited. WIFI is not a free amenity. You must “pay to play.” There was a propane fill station, but we did not inquire on any fills. There was a bath, shower, and laundry facility, but did not check them out.

All the campground roads are dusty and in the woods. Do not wash your vehicle or rig before going (lol, I did.) A lot of permanent sites in the campground. I am not against permanent campers, want to try it out one day, however, rigs that are under extreme disrepair and accumulation of “junk” around them could be avoided. Throughout the campground there are some dead trees that are just looking for someone’s rig to crash on top of. Really needs to be addressed. There is a no firearms rule on the premises, but that did not stop a campground resident from cleaning his high-powered rifle on the tailgate of his truck, while campground staff made their rounds.

The pool was great. It was a walk in and had a splash area with available tanning space at the entrance. There was a small snack-bar (was called a restaurant) on site but had limited, quick prep items. Make sure you take cash, the snack bar does not take modern day currency, credit cards. The pool area quickly populated with outside area residents. We were wondering why everyone had on wrist bands, except for a handful of people (campers). The pool area got really congested by lunchtime. Just my thought, but I would have limited area visitors during a pandemic so that the campers would not have to leave early to prevent violating social distancing rules (we left and do did several others).

We arrived at the pool early the next morning to avoid the lunch time rush. Upon arriving, the pool had a green tint that progressively looked worse as the time passed. The pool continued to be open, without the use of working pumps. No closure or delay; only increased local area visitors.

This place may look like it is worth checking out at least once. But, if there were current day photos available, I might have thought twice. Please make sure this is the campground for your stay. There are no refunds available, even during pandemics. Only credit for future stays are given. Happy Trails.

First put and charged us for 50 amp site, even though our rig is 30, so we ended up paying more because of electrical issues on their end. We still lost power twice in the first hour. The sites on the row we were on was close together and full sun. The rest of the park had shaded sites with a little more room, I feel like using our PA membership lowered our placement priority. Water had a fishy smell, had to go out and buy an additional filter plus drinking water. Pool area was nice. Staff was responsive. WiFi was $3/day

We used our Coast to Coast membership here. I needed to travel a week for work, but also wanted to visit the area. The campground itself has horse back riding, salt water pool, etc. but also lots of camp fires, kids, etc. Weekends are especially busy. The also have day visitors so the pool gets busy. Only two washers and one was out of order. Roads are a bit tight in areas. Most sites are within trees and well shaded.

While I have signal on Verizon, my ATT bandwidth (50dn/12up w/o booster) was so much better I just used that.