Often times, the national parks get the best territory and the states get leftovers. However, the…read moreShenandoah River State Park, down the mountain from well known Skyline Drive and its accompanying federal parkland, is by no means inferior. A rural drive leads to a visitor center, trails, an overlook, river access, and campgrounds. I had time for only a brief visit, but the views were majestic. It would be an excellent place to return for a hike. As with most of Virginia's state parks, there is a modest entrance fee, but I'm sure it's well worth it.

I travel and stay at a lot of parks during the course of the year, and I have only repeated a few…read moreof them. This location is incredible, rich with things to do, views to see, and adventures to have with enough time. The cabins are gorgeous, fair warning that there is no television, but honestly who cares?! I had great phone signal which almost never happens on these excursions, and I loved making a fire in my fireplace and sitting on the porch with coffee for sunrise, which I could see from Cabin 11. This cabin also was at the end and felt private, even though I could see my neighbors (who had set up Christmas lights! How fun!) There's also a wonderful hiking trail right by these cabins, 10 and 11, the Red Tail Ridge, that was semi-short (2.5 miles or so if desired to create a loop with Big Oak) and had views of the river and Shenandoah valley below!

The people running it were very nice. The location is great along the Shenandoah River and we opted…read morefor electricity even though we were tenting but the sites are very close together. You can see everyone and everything going on around you even though there are short fences between some sites. In fact, 2 camping neighbors kept coming into our site to get branches off the ground for firewood; very annoying. The bathrooms have a shower and toilet but no shelving to put your things, although there are two hooks to hang items. It's very dank and the faucets leak. Everything needs updating. They remind me of stalls to wash animals. I wouldn't advise going barefoot in the bathroom or shower.

If you plan to have a good time listening to music with friends after a long day floating the river…read moreI would NOT recommend you stay here. The taunting, intimidation with K9 force, threatened entrapment and arrest was enough to NEVER come back!!! 11mins past "quiet" hour (10PM) a demand, from unidentified individuals holding the reins of a German Shepard, to turn the music off came from the dark. Which warranted a simple response from the family being asked "I'll turn it down, but not off." Two minutes later, the individuals identify themselves as the owners while on the phone with the Sheriffs department requesting they escort this family off premise. All knowing the compromising position that would put this family in. I question the integrity of any small business owners who put their patrons in immediate danger as they did that evening Our incident was unwarranted and unprofessional! If all rules were enforced in the manner that was exemplified that night, NO ONE would be allowed on premise. I'll list the few rules breached during our stay; rowdy group loud until 3am, dogs off leash, generators being used, underage drinking & lastly underage children working... I would HIGHLY recommend you stay elsewhere, for the safety of you, your family & friends!

Day 4 - Gooney creek isn't the prettiest, but if you're from a place that doesn't have mountains,…read moreclean creeks, or stars - then it's pretty awesome. The sites really close together but Pam, the lady that checked me in, tries to spread peolple out unless if you request a site. The whole place looks kind of messy, but if you're out camping then who cares? Make sure to bring shower shoes or flops if you plan on using the bathhouse. This should be regular practice but you most definitely will want them here. I had stayed at a few different camp sites this week and gooney was definitely the best for star gazing. It may not be primitive, but it's far enough into the middle of nowhere that you don't have much light pollution. If you want a good view of the sky then opt for sites 20,19 and i think may 18. If privacy is your thing then maybe shoot for 18 since it's the last site, but still don't expect any real privacy because the trail to the swimming hole is at the edge of the site. They sell firewood on site and have drinkable water out of the spigots from the camper spots just across from the registration office. Pam was really helpful and even informed me of the meteor showers that night. If you're a big city person then you should appreciate what this place offers - just be aware that it may be kind of dirty.

they dont clean the bathrooms shit everywhere . it bad when the people paying money have to clean…read moreup everything new owners need to do better

My family loves the outdoors and cannot stress how amazing this campground was in beauty,…read moreaccommodations, and friendliness. It is close the Shenandoah park, Luray Caverns, and many more. The staff was great and their little shop has everything that you may have forgotten. The added benefit is how reasonably priced it is... cannot wait to go again!!

Had a group of family and friends here from North Dakota and we did a tube float. Ages from 7-60…read moreeveryone enjoyed the time and the teens enjoyed swimming around and pulling our tube island around the river. Beautiful day and the staff at Downriver are awesome. Very informative and helpful

My group and I had the worst experience staying at Golden Rock Campground. It was so bad, we ended…read moreup shortening our trip from two nights to one. First, when we arrived, someone else had taken our reserved spot; they claimed their spot was taken so they chose ours right on the river. A young woman showed up finally convinced them to leave. That started an entire night of harassment. This specific group of campers played music at a volume I didn't know existed. A few from our group went and asked them to turn it down around midnight and were met with explicit language. We had to leave the campground to get service and call the camp host, who took almost an hour to show up. The group turned down the music while the host was there, but turned it back up the moment he left and played it all night long, while threatening to "take care of" us while we slept because we didn't give them our original campsite. The experience was absolutely awful. This campground does not have an onsite camp host and it takes forever for one to show up. They DO NOT comply by their own campground rules. There are tons of campgrounds in the area, do yourself a favor and choose a different one. Golden Rock Campground hosts are more concerned with campers who have been coming to their campground for years over the comfort of everyone else. We were issued a very partial refund but that did not make up for the awful experience.

This is a beautiful place to get away from it all. The River Run is beautiful and clean, very…read morespacious too. My Family really enjoyed this place l highly recommend it

We stayed here Memorial Day weekend 2018. This was our first time here and we loved it. The kids,…read moreages 11 And 12 met new friends and played all weekend with them, jumping in the river, manhunt/hide and seek at night, great memories! It was a busy and packed weekend of campers, all river-side sites were sold out but it so much fun being right on the river. Make reservations early-on to ensure riverside! We brought some tubes and went down the river several times. Kids swung from tree ropes/swings into river too! Staff was amazing, brought us down more wood and ice if we called for more and $ was extremely reasonable priced for wood and ice, not over charged a bit. We will be back again! We brought our 3 large dogs, no issues. Keep tied up and under control. No breed restrictions, everyone and their dogs behaved! I would rate 5 stars if there were public restrooms. I know this is a biggie for some people. No running water for showers, sinks or anything, just PortaJohns but they were clean! Bring an Xtra roll of Tp in case. As long as you are ok with that it's a good campground, on the river and for kids that can keep themselves entertainedor busy! Some nights the music could be loud from fellow campers but they tell folks that by midnight is "quiet-time". #Great time had by us all

The glamping was great. Near the highway and the train but amenities were great. Massanutten tent…read morehas amazing views but the blue ridge tent is closer to the parking area and showers. The inside was spacious and fit us 5 comfortably. We did the short rafting trip which was perfect for young kids. Jumped off the raft several times for some swimming. Everything went very smoothly with the staff, and they had a food truck on the property where we enjoyed lunch.

What a good HAWT time!…read more We came on a Saturday, mid August, and had a good, relaxing time. Besides the heat trying to take me out, I had absolutely no complaints. Front Royal Outdoors had their logistics in order from start (parking) to the brief bus ride, all the way to finish (exit). Our party all opted to do the deluxe tube (approximately $41 for the entire experience) that offered more support (a place to hold your beverage of choice) and the possibility to maximize on one's lazy river experience. As an FYI, every "order" of course came with a life jacket. The river itself was calm and effortless, for the most part. I think our experience was a little over 3.5 hours. My only recommendation would be to hydrate and find a time/date where the heat is not doing what it does best.... drains ya.

My daughter had an amazing time at one of Adventure Links' summer day camp weeks. She would get…read morepicked up at a spot in Vienna early in the morning then get outdoors-ed all day long. Sometimes they'd go to the park in Clifton (for a lot of the same team building exercises my wife's company had done there); on another day, the kids went caving; and on another day, they went canoeing and swimming. Every evening, she would come back exhausted and happy. What more can you ask for?

Adventure Links has a talented, experienced crew with innovative ideas and a well-trained staff…read more I'm a fan! Most people know Adventure Links for their popular camp programs for children and teens. However, they also offer stellar corporate team building programs, which is how I got to know them. About five years ago, as the CEO of a growing company of 20 professionals, I was struggling with how to address some growing pains and spice up our upcoming quarterly retreat. A friend recommended Adventure Links, so I scheduled a meeting with Anna, the CEO. Anna came to my office and interviewed me to understand my business, our challenges, and what I hoped to accomplish. She asked many questions, listened, and took notes. The next week, we took our team of 20 to their retreat location. Anna and her team had put together an all-day agenda of activities that went way beyond simple ropes courses. What surprised and "sold" me on them was how she'd managed to incorporate our growing pains into her exercises in meaningful ways. Sure, we had fun and bonded, but more importantly most of us began to see certain everyday problems in meaningful new ways, with fresh solutions. To this day our team references those exercises like old Seinfeld episodes. After each exercise - some physically challenging and all mentally challenging - Anna would bring us together and help us draw correlations to some of our corporate issues. It helped that she has a sharp wit and great sense of humor. She and her team also knew when to push and put us on the spot to drive home a point. Six months later, we wanted to bring Adventure Links back for another quarterly retreat, but this time due to bad weather we had to do the exercises in our office. They totally pulled it off! The indoor exercises were unique and again gave us a fresh perspective on both issues and people. An example - during one intense exercise where we split into two teams, a junior staff person had a "eureka!" moment with a brilliant solution to a problem, and spontaneously took control of our team, which included several executives. I had no idea this young lady was so intellectually gifted and capable of leadership under pressure. How valuable is that information for an employer? My firm has engaged Adventure Links several times since then, all with success. When my children are old enough, I'll be sending them to the Adventure Links camps...I know they'll learn and have fun. Adventure Links rocks!

Sent my grandson to camp with State Climb and he loved it!! Everyone is super laid back. Very…read moreflexible with making up time and registration... Definite unique variation to normal camp:)

Inside a 1938 movie theatre that once was segregated is State Climb, a climbing gym open to all…read more Operating as a non-profit, State Climb asks visitors to either join as a member or pay what you can. My friends and I went right when they opened at 3 p.m. on a Friday in October. Here's our experience: 1) Instructions: Two staff members taught us how to tie knots, belay, etc. Once we had the hang of it, they stayed with us to make sure we were climbing safely and/or had any questions. They were great instructors and very personable. 2) Walls: There are four different climbing walls and three ropes. Two walls you can climb without roping in and two others you rope in. (One had an automatic belay machine.) If it's your first time, but you want to climb high, go to the tallest wall and follow the blue markers. 3) Space: It's in the space that was the stage of an old theater. It's kept clean and comes with a training area, restrooms, changing rooms, etc. 4) Staff: When you check in, they give you shoes to climb. (There are cubbies to place your shoes in.) If you didn't sign a waiver online, they'll have you sign when you enter. Every staff person we met was very nice and helpful!

Our two kids have attended for a while and both love it. There is something special about this…read moreplace and the love the teachers and staff have for the kids. You feel it when you walk in.

We've had a great experience with the infant - 18 month classes and the 3-prek classes so far…read more Every single teacher has been kind, wonderful about communication and supportive of our kids. When our second kiddo started at 4 months, I was really struggling with returning to work. But the baby also wasn't sleeping well and we were all struggling. His teachers got him to nap independently and helped our family get to a good place. I'm so glad our family found CCCS.