Although you must be military (active duty/retired, reserve) or DoD employee/family member, the…read morecampground itself is not located within an area that requires ID to enter. So if you stay here, you could have non-military friends and/or family visit you and even stay with you, without needing a visitor pass.
This is a very small campground that is quite lovely. It seems popular with RV and camper folks, some of whom stay quite a while; interestingly, in the 3 nights/2 days we were there, 3 different sites were used for one night each. So it must be a good waypoint to and from other places.
There was some serious confusion when we arrived, because when my SIL reserved a site online, he booked site #2. However, when he registered and picked up the packet of papers, it said site B. Then as we drove down the loop, we could see someone already in site #2....what? Back to the after hours reg desk in the community center, where he was told to just take whatever tent site was open! We ended up in a very large spot which contained two charcoal grills in the center, and six picnic tables; three were in the spot we chose, one in the middle, and one each at far sides of the clearing... it appeared this spot could potentially have been designed to be three sites. However, we were the only ones there on the Friday night of Memorial weekend, so we chose two level spots near the three tables to set up camp.
Someone arrived on Saturday, and it turned out they were also supposed to have site B! So this is definitely a non-traditional system of assigning sites!
Anyway. The good: spotless bathroom with a large shower, two stalls and two sinks (ladies' side). spacious sites, even for the RVs; walking distance to water's edge, where you could launch a small boat and/or fish; walking distance to the PX and Commissary; no need to go through a gate or have military ID to get in. Beautiful trees, and honeysuckle - love that scent! Great pricing, according to my SIL.
The eh: muddy and slightly hilly for tent sites. When it poured Sunday night, the "driveway" into the site was a river of mud. Nothing for kids to do in the tiny campground itself.
The UGH: mosquitoes!!! We practically drowned ourselves in spray, but all of us ended up with so many bites we looked like we had some mysterious disease that made welts over all exposed skin. Also, I get not having electricity at the tent sites, but it seems pretty basic to have a water spigot available. We had to fill pots (for washing dishes) in the bathroom!
Since this is easy driving distance from home (around 45 minutes on Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend), we said, "If it sucks, we'll just come home!" It didn't suck at all (other than mosquito bites). It was a lovely place on Saturday afternoon, just the right amount of sun/shade, with a light breeze. And the others had a blast in the boat rented by my SIL at the nearby marina (which IS inside the gate so I couldn't drive in alone).