Meadow Creek Campground In New River Gorge National Park

Meadow Creek Campground is a primitive campground located in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia.

This is a free campground managed by the National Park Service with a 14-day stay limit.

 

This is dry camping so absolutely no water or hook-ups can be found here.

There are clean toilets available for use though. No trashcans can be found at the individual campsites, but large dumpsters are available for trash disposal by the restrooms.

There are about 20 campsites located here available on a first come first serve basis.

According to their official website, this is a tent-only campground. You have to cross railroad tracks a couple of times to access the campground and they state that the railroad track crossing can be dangerous for RVs and longer vehicles.

 

That being said, there are no signs at the campground stating RV’s aren’t allowed and many were camping there during our visit. Rangers drove by almost every day and never said anything to us or other campers so I’m assuming this rule isn’t really enforced.

 

I’m guessing they just state this on their website to protect themselves from being sued if someone messes up their rig.

Smart on their part!

We were lucky and got the very first campsite which was much farther away from all the others. We think that once upon a time this may have been a camp host spot which is why it was in such a prime location.

 

The other sites scattered around the campground weren’t that far apart from each other, but you’re not right on top of each other either. Multiple spots can accommodate larger rigs.

The campground on the whole was very clean and quite quiet considering most of the sites were full every night.

 

We walked around the whole campground multiple times and all the spots seem to be pretty level.

Each site comes with a grill, picnic table, and fire pit as well. Remember to place campfires in rings only and please don’t leave them unattended. Always check fire restrictions for the area you are in when camping.

Pets are allowed in the campground as long as they are properly leashed.

Please make sure to pick up after your pets. If your running on solar there is plenty of sun here so power won’t be an issue.  If you have to run a generator quiet hours at this campground are 10 pm-6 am.

 

Let’s talk about cell phone service.

I’ve read that this is one of the few campgrounds located within the national park that even has cell service.

 

We had service too, but for the life of me cannot remember if it was with AT&T or Verizon. We have both and I know one worked fine and the other didn’t.

I know that isn’t very helpful.

The campground is located right along the New River and has a river access point with a boat ramp at the far end of the campground. You can walk or fish along the bank of the river.

It was very pretty down there and is where we gathered most of our wood for campfires.

 

If you walk all the way to the back of the campground you will come across a meadow with a small walking path around it. This meadow was beautiful with wildflowers blooming and milkweed blowing in the wind.

We took the pets on multiple walks here during our stay.

 

The campground is spread out over a large open field surrounded by beautiful green lush hills. There are incredible views to take in and there were a lot of mornings where fog covered everything. It was very cool.

The Sandstone Visitor Center for New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is located just a couple of miles down the road. This is an excellent state-of-the-art center with some amazing exhibits.

Talk to a ranger for information on hikes and other attractions located nearby in the park.

 

The Sandstone Falls and Grandview sections of the park can be found a short drive from the campground and are excellent areas within the national park to explore. Multiple hiking trails can also be found in the area.

We really enjoyed our time exploring the park.

If it wasn’t for the trains this would have been an excellent campground.

That’s right, there are trains running by the campground day and night.

 

The railroad tracks run right beside the campground. When I mean right beside, I mean there’s the campground, the campground road, and then the railroad tracks. They are all lined up right next to each other.

 

Before camping here we had read that only two or three trains would run by during the day. The truth is there were at least 8-10 trains a day and they ran at night too.

Like an hour after I would fall asleep, a train would come screeching by and they were so, so, so loud! Our cat, Everest, was terrified of them and he isn’t scared of anything.

 

It was the trains that made us leave the campground way earlier than we intended. They didn’t bother the hubby, but I hardly got any sleep in three days and I just couldn’t take it anymore.

So if your looking for an incredible campground to stay at for a few days to explore this area of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, Meadow Creek Campground really is a great place.

If you can deal with those trains.
I despised those trains!