Campsite #181 at Big Meadows Campground, Shenandoah National Park, VA

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Campsite #181

9 reviews
Drive-In 6 people
42 ft Back-in
2 weak
181
5/27
6/1
Campsite #181 Features: Drive-In access, Back-in parking, 42ft driveway, Fire ring w/ Grill, Food Storage Locker, Picnic Table, RV Site, Tent Site, Trailer Site, Pets Allowed

Campsite Reviews (9)

5.0 out of 5

5 star
67%
4 star
22%
3 star
0%
2 star
0%
1 star
11%

@ThomasS5574085 · Camped on Apr 4, 2025 at Campsite #181
Awesome
@PaulB8317136 · Camped on Nov 1, 2024 at Campsite #181
Big Meadows is just an outstanding place to experience the Blue Ridge. An advantage of visiting late autumn through spring is that as the trees shed their leaves the views from within the campground open up. We live a little over an hour away and visit several times per year. We're pretty keen on our hack for arriving late - just go to the lodge, have a cocktail while viewing the sunset from the deck, and get dinner in the restaurant. We'll be virtuous and cook the rest of the weekend.Plenty of hiking opportunities and the rangers can help you sort out what's right for you. We've enjoyed Rose River / Dark Hollows fall loop, and the Rapidan Camp loop. We also really enjoyed the Byrd Visitor Center's exhibit on the history of the park. We usually wrap up the weekend by catching a hike somewhere down Skyline drive on our way home.Note that cell phone service is spotty throughout the park. We view this as a feature not a bug. You can get WiFi service at the lodges and visitor center for those last minute All Trails downloads.
@SarahP6892621 · Camped on Jul 26, 2024 at Campsite #181
Great location. Close enough to restrooms and water for convenience, but not so close that folks cut through your campsite. We easily found level land for our tent and a great spot for our hammock. A doe and her fawn walked through the site early every morning.
@BrianH4556502 · Camped on Jun 20, 2024 at Campsite #181
Peaceful and beautiful
@NaomiB8F8C2704 · Camped on Jun 5, 2023 at Campsite #181
We had a great time camping and hiking with our family.
@AnneR7760816 · Camped on Jun 2, 2023 at Campsite #181
I always enjoy this campground, I hope the spongy moth caterpillars can be stopped before they destroy all the oak trees.
@MichaelW725874 · Camped on May 23, 2023 at Campsite #181
Nice campground. Sites a relatively close together with no privacy and many are not at all level. On the plus side the amenities are good, and clean with easy access to the AT. This is also a great jumping off point for great hiking. We did a couple waterfall hikes right from the campground. The lodge is great with sitting areas, Tap room, wifi, and restaurant where we had the best desert ever (a blackberries ice cream pie). We would stay here again.
@CoreyR436 · Camped on Jul 28, 2021 at Campsite #181
My wife and I love this campground! It is an extremely beautiful campground and the Meadow is a sight not to be missed. The campground has new picnic tables and clean, well lit bathrooms. Pay showers and laundry are available. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Definitely one of the more pleasant places to car camp along the BRP/Skyline Drive.
Seriously, if you go, do NOT miss out on taking a walk in the Meadows! I have bad legs/feet and, due to medical conditions, cannot take pain meds but I still make a point of spending an afternoon walking the entire thing each time I am there! Just too lovely and not too strenuous I cannot pass it up. I also recommend the nearby Dark Hollow waterfall though I can no longer walk it.
@AdamJ264 · Camped on May 31, 2021 at Campsite #181
We were disappointed one evening we came back to camp from our day hikes to find that our leveling blocks, firewood, and some astro turf squares we had left at our site bear bin were taken. We took our bikes around the camp and found that the camp host had these items in their golf cart. We had the site reserved for an additional night and they claimed they were just "cleaning out the bin" despite our site being reserved.

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