Big Meadows Campground - Shenandoah (VA)

We love to come to Big Meadows to kick back and relax. We had a great trip this year and our final week was at Big Meadows. Besides all the great features, there were three things that were a little bothersome this year. The cost of the showers had increased a lot. There was a long power outage which was bad for the lodge. We always make a point to eat a meal there one night and a lunch up at the visitor center grill. At the campground I could hear the generator noise at night that kept the freezers going at the lodge. Not their fault. We ended up going to Skyland for dinner, and we did eat lunch at the grill. An annoying thing that seems to keep happening at campgrounds across the country is people setting off their car alarms, especially in the middle of the night. Not much Big Meadows could have done about the noise issues but the five dollar shower cost seemed to be a lot. They do keep the showers clean and they are nice showers with plenty of hot water.
Big Meadows has wonderful sights and hikes all around. A few minor things would not keep us from going back. We were happy to see the cabin unit that burned at the Lodge being rebuilt. From the outside it looked great.

We love Big Meadows Campground. The wildlife is beautiful. The spots are spaced well apart so you can enjoy the solitude.

it was an awsome experience camping out in big meadows would totally do it again

We decided spontaneously to camp at Big Meadow when we saw that the campground was not full. The woods, meadow and roadsides were at the peak of summer wildflowers and unforgettably beautiful. Everything about it was wonderful. The site had privacy, was flat, restrooms conveniently located, and well maintained. The ranger led walk/talk explaining Big Meadow was full on facts about the plants, animals, geology and CCC history. Visiting the lodge was the perfect place to view the sunset and enjoy a delicious dinner of seared trout.
Only wish we'd had more time there.

SUPER tight camping. I had people walking through our site the entire time to get to the bathrooms. Campsite was clean, check-in was smooth. It was just wasn't as private as we're used to (being able to see everyone around you was different). Night sky was SPECTACULAR.

Nice clean shady campground. Lots of toilet buildings and hot showers available for $5. The restaurants and stores were well run and supplied. A fun experience.
If you come in summer, you may get to ‘enjoy’ the little black gnats, no one warned us about

Tent camped in a spot near a restroom for two nights. Nice place that requires generators in RVs to be cut off by 7 pm. (Thank you!) Oddly the check in office closes at around 3:45 PM which doesn't really make sense since check in is probably heaviest from 1-7 PM. It would make more sense to open that office 3 or 4 hours later and close 3 or 4 hours later. Bathroom was clean every time I used it. Camp hosts were friendly and helpful, but they don't camp in the designated camp host spot. They are in a different camp site that is not marked as the hosts. Another camper pointed them out so that's how we found them.

Campground was well kept. Gentleman at the ranger station was really helpful. I had originally booked a pull through site that was tent friendly, upon arrival site was rocky and ground was very uneven where tent set up was located. He helped get us moved to another site.
During our stay mowers came through and mowed sites. They hit a rock and sent it flying from the site next to us, it cut the fly on our tent and the tent itself. Thank goodness no one was in the tent or they could have been injured. Notified the ranger and she stated she would pass on the information to the mowers “to be more careful around sites”. She offered no apologies. Now thanks to their carelessness our new tent is ruined.