During the last week of September, we camped at Big Meadows Campground, centrally located within Shenandoah National Park. We hoped we would get lucky and see beautiful fall color, but we were a little bit too early for that.
One thing I do before booking campsites is to thoroughly and excessively research campsites them. We chose the site we did specifically for three reasons: proximity to the Appalachian Trail, beautiful view, and having neighbors only on one side.
The recreation.gov website was clear that the site might have challenges: “This site offers a spectacular view of the Shenandoah Valley but sits atop a sloped area. The uneven terrain surrounding this site may create a hazardous environment for anyone challenged by such conditions.”
Despite that description, we booked the site anyway, thinking that it looked doable based on the photos we could find online. We mistakenly thought the description referred to the entire campsite and not specifically the pad. We did not expect to find uneven terrain on the concrete parking pad. Most of the pad was pretty beat up, which made leveling our camper next to impossible. There were large portions of the parking pad that were completely gone. So it was never possible to get all of our truck tire wheels on a similar plane, which made our leveling blocks almost useless. We spent a frustrating hour trying to position ourselves and never got it right. We settled for a slight slope, which we could feel when walking around and sleeping. The group staying at the site next door even came over to offer help, which was a little bit embarrassing. You can see some photos of our site in our Campendium review.
Like all national parks, there were no hookups. This site did have enough open sky above it for our solar to work. Unfortunately, it rained and was overcast often while we were there but we never ran out of power or battery in the four nights of our stay.
More about Big Meadows Campground
Big Meadows Campground has more than 200 campsites for tents and RVs, with amenities such as fire pits and picnic tables. The park also offers numerous hiking trails, including the famous Appalachian Trail, for visitors to explore. The nearby Big Meadows Lodge provides a cozy spot for meals, relaxation, and a chance to find a cell signal. We ate dinner at the lodge restaurant one night and had a couple of beers and lunch at the taproom.
When you walk into the lodge lobby, they have a sandwich board with information–that is where we learned about the sunset hike. Just past the lodge is a short hike up to a beautiful view. We found a spot just below the main viewing area and waited for the sunset. The real treat was listening to a couple nearby with their dog take their vows as the sun dipped below the horizon. After they were married, the entire cliffside erupted in cheers from us and other visitors who had also witnessed the couple getting married. Check out our Reel to see the sunset view.
Hiking the Appalachian Trail
One of our goals for this trip was to hike the Appalachian Trail, tent camp, and return to our site the next day. This was our first experience doing anything like this. We set off on the trail with plans to take a short detour to check out Hawksbill Summit, the highest point in the park. Once we hiked up to the summit, we were exhausted, and it was a disappointment because there was no view due to an immense amount of fog. We worked our way down back to the AT and continued on. Somewhere between Hawksbill Summit and Skyland Resort we realized we had miscalculated and would not make it to intended destination until dark. Since it was our first time doing this, we decided to turn back to our camper at Big Meadows. On our way back to the campground, we hiked BACK up to Hawksbill Summit, which sounded like a great idea then. We got the view this time, but it added additional miles to our hike, and we were worn completely out when we got back to the camper.
Back at the campground, we decided to use the coin-operated campground showers instead of our own. We thought the showers were $1.75, but they were $5. That wasn’t a big deal, but ensure you have enough cash if you intend to use the showers. We were able to use an ATM nearby.
Rock scrambling for the first time (and in the dark!)
On our departure day, we woke up at 5:30 a.m. and headed down Skyland Drive toward home with plans to do a quick hike up the Bearfence Loop Trail to view the sunrise. We had read the 360-degree view would be spectacular and that the hike was short–which sounded great since we would be doing it in the dark. The website we read talked about a beginner-friendly rock scramble, and rock scrambling is not something we had ever done. Halfway up I suggested we turn around because the rock scrambling got more intense, and I’m a pretty big clutz and deathly afraid of heights. However, we continued on and were the first ones to the top before we were joined by other adventurous hikers. It was cold, it was high, it was dark, but it was absolutely worth it, as you’ll see in this post. If you’re interested in trying it out yourself, this blog post has some great photos of the climb.
Camping at Big Meadows offered us beautiful views, peaceful surroundings, and an opportunity to reconnect with nature. We frequently saw deer just off of our campsite and while walking around the campground. We liked that we could hike straight off of our campsite rather than drive somewhere to hike. Check out our short Reel summarizing our trip.
The view of the Appalachian Trail from our campsite.
View of our unlevel parking pad.
The view right outside our door.