• About Us
  • US Maps
  • US Camping
    • CAMPING MAP
    • MT
    • AL
    • NC
    • AZ
    • ND
    • CA
    • NE
    • CO
    • NJ
    • FL
    • NM
    • GA
    • NV
    • IA
    • NY
    • ID
    • OR
    • IL
    • PA
    • KY
    • SC
    • LA
    • SD
    • MA
    • TN
    • MD
    • TX
    • ME
    • UT
    • MI
    • VA
    • MN
    • WA
    • MO
    • WY
  • US Travel Tales
    • Travel Map
    • MO
    • AL
    • NC
    • AZ
    • ND
    • CA
    • NE
    • CO
    • NM
    • FL
    • NV
    • GA
    • NY
    • IA
    • OR
    • ID
    • PA
    • IL
    • SC
    • KY
    • SD
    • LA
    • TN
    • MA
    • TX
    • MD
    • UT
    • ME
    • VA
    • MI
    • WA
    • MN
    • WY
  • Boondocking
    • Boondocking How To
    • Boondocking Sites
  • US RVing Tips
    • Overview (All Topics)
    • RVing With Pets
    • RV Lifestyle Tips
    • Volunteering & Hosting
    • Solar Power
    • Health Care
    • RV Mods & Upgrades
    • US Blog Links & Resources

Wheeling It: Tales From a Nomadic Life

On the Road Since 2010, Traveling Across USA & Europe With Pets

  • Europe Tips
  • Europe Travel Maps
  • Europe Travel Tales
    • Denmark
    • Spain
    • France
    • Sweden
    • Germany
    • UK
    • Portugal
  • Europe Blog Links & Resources
  • Privacy Policy

SP Campground Review – Claytor Lake State Park, Dublin, VA

May 25, 2017 by libertatemamo 2 Comments

Walking with Polly by Claytor Lake

A GORGEOUS state park with a slightly mixed-bag of campsites in the western part of Virginia. Only ONE loop (D Loop) for larger rigs here.

Link to campground here: Claytor Lake State Park, VA
Link to map location here: Claytor Lake State Park, VA

  1. Site Quality = 3/5
    There’s quite mixed site quality here, All sites are fairly large, gravel sites either back-in or pull-though with very spacious (very nice) “sitting areas” containing picnic tables, fire-pits and lamp-hangers. Main dings are the narrow roads through the primitive camping loops and the fact that many sites of rather unlevel (be prepared to use leveling blocks!). The campground is separated into 4 loops, 3 of which (A, B, C) offer “standard” (= primitive, no hookup) sites and the last of which (D) offers 30A/water sites, and they are very different in size limits & feel:

    1. “Standard Loops” (Loops A, B & C): These are all primitive/no-hookup sites. The official online size-limit is 20-feet and although some sites can definitely accept slightly larger rigs, you definitely do NOT want to bring “beastly-sized” rigs in here.  The sites themselves are quite spacious, but many are very unlevel and the road that goes thro’ each loop is VERY narrow and VERY curvy with trees on each side. There is NO WAY we’d bring the “beast” down here! Loop A is the absolute smallest/narrowest/curviest loop and definitely best-suited to tenters or max 20-foot campers/trailers. Loop B is somewhat more open and could probably accept rigs larger than 20-feet (say 25, or maybe even 30-feet)? Loop C is in-between in size/accessibility and easily accessed by 25-feet, but would be problematic for larger rigs. Note that many sites are very unlevel in these loops, so be prepared with leveling blocks. Also NO GENERATORS permitted.
    2. Water/Electric Loop (Loop D): These are all 30A/water sites. The official online size-limit for this loop is 35-feet, but IMO you can easily bring in bigger rigs here. There is a somewhat sharp turn into the loop (we saw many big rigs miss the entrance and actually recommend unhooking right after check-in), but the main road thro’ the loop is wide and spacious, sites are huge (our site was probably around 60-feet long) and accessibility of sites is not a problem. Sites near the entrance (#1-6) and by the host (#7-12) are the most private/forested and have the absolute best separation. This was our #1 preferred section of the loop. Sites in the middle pull-through section (#13-21) are quite spacious, but are more open with limited privacy and somewhat variable separation. This was our 2nd preferred area of the loop. The least desirable sites are the pull-ins on the far right (#28-34). They are somewhat smaller and they face the wrong way (your “sitting areas” is right by the main road!), so this was the only part of the loop we really didn’t like. NOTE that many of the sites are rather unlevel so be prepared to use leveling blocks.
    3. NOTE1/ Site Reservations: Right now (2017) you can only book a spot (either water/electric or standard) but not a specific site. So, you simply drive around and chose an open (available) site after you’ve checked in. However starting March 2018 the park is opening site-specific reservations, so you will be able to reserve specific sites from that date on-wards.
    4. NOTE2/ Cottages: This park also offers 3 rentable lodges and 13 rentable cabins which look absolutely amazing!! These are separated from the main campground loop and are all located along Claytor Lake with gorgeous views of the water.
  2.  Facilities = 4/5
    Nice facilities here. Flush toilets and very large, individual shower stalls with good shower-heads, nicely warm water and separate bench and pegs for your clothing. Only ding? Water pressure was low in the showers. On-site dump station (both in primitive loops & loop D).
  3. Location = 5/5
    The main reason to come here is to enjoy Claytor Lake and for that purpose this park is perfect. The grounds are huge with miles (and miles) of lovely hiking trails, a cute on-site marina with SUP & boat rentals, a huge, sandy white swim beach and plenty of spots to hang, picnic and relax by the water. There is also a good pizza place closeby and within 20-40 mins drive you’ll find plenty of shopping (Walmart/Krogers) as well as the lovely town of Blacksburg (Virginia Tech is here, plus lots of dining, breweries and such). It’s a great place to enjoy nature.
  4. Pet Friendliness = 4.5/5
    Great place for doggie. Lots of space in camp, plus miles (and miles) of gorgeous nature trails to hike. Only slight ding? The on-site swim beach does not allow dogs. Everywhere else does, however!

Overall Rating = 4.1
BONUS ALERT = Enjoy beautiful Claytor Lake and miles of awesome hiking trails!

Video Overview: Want to see it in living color? Check out our ~15 min overview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9leOJExOJPo

Summary: This was our first stop by the mountains of VA and although the campground was a bit of a mixed bag, the area was fabulous! Claytor Lake is a lovely recreation area with a huge lake, a gorgeous beach, lots of picnic areas, no end of lakeside activities (kayaking, paddle boarding etc.) and miles of fabulous hiking/biking trails. From the nature side, it really is a wonderful place to come and hang. The campground is in a very private & tree’d area of the park, so it’s wonderfully quiet but it definitely has some draw-backs. Loops A, B, C are all primitive loops (no hookups) with 20-ft official size limit, and I’d say that is close to the proper limit. The road that goes through the loops is curvy/narrow and heavily tree’d, so there is no way we’d ever take “the beast” in here. Loop A is the absolute steepest loop with a very narrow, curvy road and lots of very uneven sites (best for tenters or really small rigs), whereas loops B, C are somewhat more open (could possibly take 25-ft and maybe even 30-ft in spots?). Note that NO generators are allowed in the campground, so if you’re in the primitive area you need to be ready/prepared for this. On the other hand Loop D is much more open and although the official size-limit is 35-ft, it can easily take just about any-sized rig (this is the ONLY loop where I would bring a big rig!). Loop D sites are all 30A/water and there is a mix of back-in and pull-thoughs. Sites nearest the entrance (#1-6) and by the host (#7-12) were our preferred here as they offered the most separation and privacy, whereas sites in the middle section (#13-21) were spacious, but somewhat too close together for our liking. The only sites we didn’t really like at all were the pull-ins on the far right (#28-34) as they were somewhat awkward to get into and their “sitting area” was facing the wrong way into the main road. We ended up with a very spacious and private site (#6) which was (mostly) flat so we had no problem parking “the beast”. Plus we absolutely loved the hiking and nature in the park, so we had a very enjoyable stay. If you’re coming through the area, I’d say this is a lovely spot to stop for a few days and hang in nature. Just make sure you book the correct loop for your size!

Extra Info:  Somewhat iffy cell signal here. Verizon had 2 bars LTE, but the signal was often very slow even with boosting (overloaded towers?). ATT only had 1 bar LTE, but 4G signal was fairly fast/reliable. Surprisingly T-Mobile was our fastest/most reliable connection (Binge-On worked great). Total 110 sites all reservable on-line. 70 sites are standard (no hookups) and cost $20/night (for VA residents) or $24/night (for non-residents) plus tax, whereas 40 sites are water/electric and cost $30/night (for VA residents) or $35/night (non-residents) plus tax. Several on-site dump stations.

A Loop -> Looking down end of primitive A loop with site #25 on right #23, #21 behind it. This is a VERY curvy/narrow/steep loop and best-suited to tenters or small rigs only.
B Loop -> Look down beginning of loop. Site B1 on right. This is a little more open than A Loop.
B Loop -> More B Loop sites. Site B25 on left with B23 behind.
C Loop -> Site C3 on right (camphost is in the back)
C Loop -> More C sites. Site C9 on right with C7 behind.
D Loop -> View of our wonderful site D6 on left with D5 on right. We had lots of privacy
D Loop -> view of our “sitting area” at D6
D Loop -> View of pull-through section. Site D20 on right with D19 to left. These were plenty spacious.
D Loop -> More pull-through views. Site D27 with D20 behind it. You can see the facilities building in the back here too.
D Loop -> View of pull-ins at back. RV in site D28 with D29/D30 in front. We didn’t like these since the “sitting area” faced into the road.
D Loop -> More pull-in sites. Site D32 with D31/30 behind.
D Loop -> Site D7 on right with D8/D9/D10 to left. These were also quite nice.
D Loop -> Site D40 on left, D39 in middle, D38 on right.
View of rentable cabins. These looked amazing and all had views over the lake! This is cabin #16
View of hiking trails. They were fabulous!
View of swim beach area. No dogs allowed here.
View of marina
View of one of many dock areas
More lakeside beauty
View of trail map. SO many trails!
View of campground map. Click for larger size

Share this:

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

« Blue Mountains, Views & Cool(ish) Weather – Shenandoah Valley, VA
CP Campground Review – Glen Maury Park, Buena Vista, VA »

We LOooVE Comments, So Please Do

  1. George Carpenter says

    June 7, 2017 at 5:39 pm

    Thanks Nina for your review of Clayton SP. We just finished three nights there! A big ditto for all of your review comments! It was a great campground! … George

    Reply
    • libertatemamo says

      June 7, 2017 at 5:40 pm

      Awesome! Go glad you enjoyed the campground!

      Nina

      Reply

A Comment For Your Thoughts? Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Where Are We Today?

Home Base, SW France

About Us

Europe Travel Maps

Top Blog Posts

  • Moving To Europe V - Pet Transport Options (By Sea, By Air, Pet Carriers & More)
  • 8 Tips For Visiting & Photographing Niagara Falls
  • The Splendor Of Scenic Highway 395
  • Château Living Part II – Interior Details
  • SP Campground Review - Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Jupiter, FL

Archives

Subscribe Via Email

Disclosure Notice: WheelingIt is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Wheelingit US Camping Map

Reviews of every place we camped 2010-2018. Click to explore and enjoy!

Connect With Us

Want more Wheelingit? Connect with us by subscribing to one of our feeds!
 
Twitter Instagram
RSS YouTube

Tip The Beer Fund

Feeling the love? Share it with a contribution towards the Wheelingit beer fund (or rum fund, depending on weather & other random factors). We'll be sure to raise a glass to your health!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
COPYRIGHT INFO © 2024 Wheeling It. Share and enjoy, but please don't swipe it. All material, text and pictures in this blog are copyrighted. Should you be interested in using them please feel free to contact me and I’ll be happy to talk about it!

© 2025 · Wheelingit · Built on the Genesis Framework

This website uses cookies to improve your browsing experience Got It!
To find out more, or learn how to change your cookie settings, click here Read more
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d