We stayed here with a group of friends for a long weekend. The campsites were of a good size, and the bath houses were clean. The only issues with the park are that they have mountain biking trails, but it is difficult to access them from the campground - they don't allow bikes on them, only hikers. The other issues is that the state of MD is changing the alcohol policy effective Nov 1, 2009 - after that date, no campers will be allowed to have alcohol. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
We spend a couple weekends a year at Elk Neck State Park and always have a great time. The camp ground is clean and staff is friendly. The North East Loop has the full hook-up sites (where we stay) and then there are other camping areas where there is E/W only and then no hook-ups for tenters. My only issue is that the every time we stay in the North East Loop there are more and more tenters taking up the nice sites that easily accommodate a larger RV. When making reservations on-line you are to select the equipment that you have. The site is programmed to not allow larger RVs into the smaller sites... so why can't they set up the site that the larger sites will not allow tenters to reserve them? We will definitely be returning, I will just make our reservations earlier in advance in hopes of securing a nicer site. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Beautiful state park. Quiet, clean, and a helpful group of rangers running things. Take the hike out to the lighthouse. We recommend site # 7. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Very nice park; great for the quiet weekend getaway that we used it for. Most sites are pretty spacious, and there was everything from pop-ups to large motorhomes. Some sites for big rig's to avoid 5, 7, 17, and 21. We stayed in the NorthEast loop (full hookups). Bathrooms were clean and the staff very friendly. Only downfall is that you cannot bring your dog into the day use area at all, which we knew ahead of time. And getting to the "beach" area where they are allowed can be a bit tricky; finding it was difficult as it was in another camping loop and the trail to it was not marked. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We camped in Chester Loop Site # 247. LOVED our site. Had a cool trail to the Elk River at Stony Point. Great kids nature activities. We have few places on our see again list and this is one of them. Very shaded sites, playgrounds at every loop. nature center. camp store, laundry. Beautiful lighthouse. Nice people. Bathrooms were heavily used so not extra clean. No soap in ladies room. Great HOT showers, need to adjust pressure at times. For $30 a night, I can't complain. The views and setting cancel out the negatives here. We had yellow jackets at our site, not camp fault. Bring bug spray. Awesome!!! We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Reviewed this park before, but this time we stayed in the North East Loop(full hook-up); great campsite. Bathrooms were very clean and appear to have been refurbished recently. Showers were hot and stong enough to strip paint. Staff and rangers were extremely friendly and helpful. Only reason why did not get a higher score were the ridiculous number of ticks we collected over the weekend. Amusingly, saw a good number of lizards and snakes at the campsite also nothing poisonous or dangerous. Great CG! We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
We stayed in the North East loop with full hook ups. The sites for the most part were nicely laid out (few had hills to back up or down but out site was perfectly level. Great campground with lots of amenities – camp store nicely stocked and even had a small eatery. The bathrooms were not modern but were clean. The walk to the lighthouse was nice and it was nice to be able to climb the lighthouse to the top. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Overall nice... However, it is NOT Big Rig friendly!!! We were on the Chester loop (electric only)which is nice and shady but even the drives are difficult to negoitate in our 40' Super C - nearly hit a tree on a curve. The "pull thru" sites are small, as are most of the full hook up sites. I would recommend to fill water before leaving home to save time. The bathrooms in our loop were not clean. On a positive note, there is plenty to do in the nature center and lots of hiking trails. The beach was full of goose poo, but that is nothing that the park can really control. There are great playgrounds, especially one near the beach! Lots of space between sites. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This park is really nice, well laid out with plenty of scenery. There are several walking trails that where nice and a pond for fishing. The sites are level and most appeared to offer plenty off room. There is a camp store with most of the basics. The blue trail with the lighthouse at the end offered awesome views of the Chesapeake where it meets with the elk river. The town of Northeast is a small little Main St. town with a bunch of antique shops and restaurants. There is only a couple of down falls; The fire rings are positioned so close to the sites that we had to put our awning in to enjoy the fire also the park is so large that you need to drive most places or ride a bike which can be difficult due to the steep inclines. We would definitely camp here again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This cg gets only a 5 due to the bathrooms. They were very dirty and had no soap! The Chester loop was beautiful although we had quite a difficult time getting backed in to our site because of two tree stumps blocking our angle (our rv closed is 22 feet long). We were lucky that our rv holds 45 gallons of fresh water. We filled up in the Chester loop before getting to our site and as we were packing up we ran our of water! We will likely camp here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The State Park is a beautiful place to camp. The full service sites on NorthEast loop were easily accessible (we had a pull through), and were situated to provide privacy at your site. The only problem we encountered was at the check-in booth: we have a large (tall) rig and couldn't fit through overhead clearance in the check-in lane but didn't know until we were already in line. We had to back the rig up and pull through an alternate lane. The clearance on the check-in lane could be better marked. Otherwise it was a great facility and we plan to return on additional weekends. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Stayed in North East Loop (full hook up/pets) site #3. Nice sized site with extra-long and level driveway. Site was very convenient to bathhouse if that’s an important consideration. Beautiful park and very nice staff. Our family was epically impressed with the Park Naturalist, Nature Center, and their programs. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We stayed in the North East loop with full hookups because we wanted to dump the last night of our camping trip before we drive back home the next day. They have two other loops with just electricity (these are not as private as most of the other loops). They also have about 5 other loops without any utilities. These loops are pretty, private and some of them (Miles & Elk) have some sites looking out from the cliffs looking down on the river. At the state park one can boat, fish, swim on the western shore, bird-watching, canoeing, and hunt in season. It really is a beautiful state park on an inlet between the North East River, Elk River and the Chesapeake Bay– there was a nice breeze from the rivers considering that the temperature was in the 90’s. You can make reservations but on weekends you must reserve two nights! There is a park store with a little restaurant attached and behind it is a trail that goes to a lake where one can catch some Bass. There are a number of other trails to hike in the park – one goes down to the Elk Island lighthouse. The trails go through forests, wetlands, marshes. The roads are a little hilly to ride your bikes but it can be done! Nice park and plan to return. If you are over 62 from any state you get 50% your camping fee. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Ditto most other reviews. The lighthouse is worth the easy hike out. Beware that while there are Senior Discounts for Sunday night stays, the "reservation service" doesn't volunteer this. When we inquired at check in we were told we'd have to re-contact the "reservation service" to get a credit. Somehow I think I'll pass on the hassle. At my site the sewer pipe was above my outlet-thus not usable. No big deal. It was a good overall stay and we would return We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Excellent trails, relatively spacious and private sites, river swimming, a host of planned weekend activities, and an abundance of mature trees and wildlife make this campground one of the gems of Maryland's excellent state park system. The few negatives -- bathrooms in significant need of updating, no lifeguards at the riverfront beach, and a park size so large as to necessitate the use of an automobile -- detract only slightly from the magnificence of this park. We camped here in a Tent.
This is the best state park we have been to in mid-Atlantic area. We camped in the full hookup Northeast loop in a pull thru site. Plenty of room at each site. Very well maintained facility. We will definitely be returning. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We've camped at Elk Neck many times and have ALWAYS enjoyed our stay. We stayed in the North East Loop, where the full hook ups are. Even with the torrential downpours our first night, the campsite never got muddy. Most of the sites are paved, which is a blessing when it rains! My only disappointment was that the weekend was booked full. Friends tried and tried to get in, calling daily to see if any cancellations came in. Knowing that my friends couldn't get into the park, I was amazed to see a site being used by a tent, no camper on the site. I was a bit disappointed, as there are many sites in other parts of the park for tents. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
we stayed in the full hook-up loop. What a great place to camp. Beautiful sites and the walk to the light house is very nice. The only bad thing is the campground is very hard to get into. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Fabulous park. It's hard to believe it's a state park considering most private campground's we've been to are not kept as nice. The sites are large and provide a good deal of privacy. The lawn was well manicured. The roads were paved. The site was very level. The bathrooms were immaculate! The campground hosts were very friendly and pleasant. Even the port-a-potty at the lighthouse was clean and pleasant!!!!!!!! Very easy to get to: 10 miles down off I-95 exit 100. You'll hit a bit of traffic going through the quaint town of North East and drive carefully for a few of the sharp turns, but even big rigs will manage it well. We made it just fine! We completely love this campground! We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Very pleasant state park about 10 miles off I-95. We stayed in the Northeast loop (full hookups, pets allowed); some trees, but other loops were really in the woods and heavily shaded. Sites were paved, some more level/longer than others. Our pull-through site (#19) had a rather tight radius and took a little jockeying to situate it so we could open the slides on our 32' fifth-wheel. We had to pull uphill and partly over the grass to exit. However, we saw larger rigs than ours there; bigger motorhomes were generally in the longer, more level back-in sites. Site 23 looked like the roomiest pull-through and sites 6, 10, 11, 14, 20, 26 and 30 were the longest/most level back-ins. There was a nice assortment of trails in the park. The nearby town of North East has a Food Lion, Wal-mart, Flying J, marine supply stores and some great restaurants. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
We stayed at this park mid week in August and had a great time. Stayed at the Northeast loop and the bathrooms were clean. The park has some excellent hiking trails and great fishing. This is a beautiful park and we will return again We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
We stayed in our 21' Hybrid Roo, in the Northeast Loop. This is the full-services loop. It was laid out very well, with the bathhouse located in the center of the loop. There was a nice concrete path, slightly hidden, behind our site...leading to the BH. Site (#15)was very level. Plenty of room, in the site. Picnic tables were a very nice synthetic (recycled plastic??)....no splinters. The park has very nice beach, and boat launch areas. The bathrooms were very clean, and had nice showers. We bought our firewood, right outside the park...but we didn't see where you could get it within. Maybe at the camp store, which looked to be quite nice. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We stayed in the Miles loop, which offers no hookups, but has some great sites. The bottom of the loop overlooks the river (bay?). On Sunday night there were only 3 sites occupied in the loop, very secluded, and this is the prime summer season. Well stocked camp store with a sit-down grill serving breakfast and lunch. However, if you want to eat out, the town of North East is 15 minutes away and offers some great restaurants. Park offers a beach with swimming, restrooms, snackbar. Boat launch and bait shop close by, lots of hiking, the walk out to Turkey Point Lighthouse is a must. We will absolutely return. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
This is a great campground to stay. We will go back every year. The bathrooms are so clean you can eat out of them. The grounds are clean and the sites are a good size for large RVs. There is lots of shade trees and the campground was very well maintained. I highly recommend this beautiful campground. Lakes are within a 15 min walk distance from our site. It is worth every penny of the charge. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Very nice state park. Has several different loops, some with full hookups. Staff at check in were very pleasant and helpful in answering questions I had about the campground and surrounding area. Several loops have beautiful views of the water, but if you have small children you might not want to have the sites that are that close to the water, because there's a large drop down with no type of fencing or anything. The swimming area on the North River was nice, but rather rocky and you'll definitely want to wear some type of shoes while walking in it. The sites are large and spacious, the camping cottages were very clean as were the restrooms, however, we had to go to another loop for the restroom facilities because there were none in the camping cottage location. They also have other more rustic cabins that do have a restroom located in their loop. The restrooms were cleaned daily and I found no problems with them whatsoever. For those with large rigs the road to the campground is rather windy, so you might want to be careful. We camped here in a Campground Cabin.
We stayed on the Northeast loop for two nights. We camped here with our four children and two dogs. The facilities were clean and the park was beautiful. We are going back in September for a mini family reunion. The playground on this loop is a bit run down but there is a great playground next to the camp store and another great playground at the beach. We recommend water shoes or sandals as the beach is rocky and rough on little feet. The Northeast loop is pet friendly and has electric and water which we felt we needed in July. However, it is the sunniest of the camping loops. If electric and water is not on your list of necessities, there are great sites on the Wye, Elk, Choptank and Miles loops. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Excellent CG. Bathrooms were well maintained, very strong hot showers. Campsite was clean and level. Access to beach was a very short drive. Beach was unprotected but water was shallow for over 100yds and felt comfortable that our kids could swim on their own. Very rocky for first 20 feet into water which calls for wearing water shoes or sneakers. Several activities available on the weekends, nature center included. One of our favorite parks will definitely come again soon.. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Nice campground. It can get a bit crowded and noisy on weekends. Staff is very nice and the facilities are well kept. Boat ramp is good and most folk don't take up too much time in getting into or out of the water. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
A beautiful park. The swimming area was nice and the trails are great for walking. Don't miss the lighthouse trail, it's easy and beautiful. The sites were all pretty large in most parts of the park. Also a very nice store on site. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We've stayed in Miles, Chester, and Northeast Loops. Most recently Miles loop (no pets) right on the bluff overlooking the river. Wonderful site. No services (water available) but a nice relaxing weekend. Chester loop (water/electric) tends to be crowed - especially in the summer. Northeast (water/electric/pets) not quite so crowded as the sites are more openly spaced. Still a very pleasant state park and one of the few in Maryland open year round (some loops). All three loops have typical, mostly clean, showers and toilets. We camped here in a Truck Camper.
We stayed in the North East Loop, which has the full hook-up sites. There are a couple sites that are difficult to get into but are well noted on the website. The restrooms were very clean and well maintained (however there was no soap at the sinks). The camp hosts are very nice and willing to help with any needs that may arise and the park rangers regularly patrol the park. Halloween weekend is our weekend to go and we are already talking about our plans for next year's visit. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
We stayed in the Chester loop that has just the electric and arrived on a Thursday night. There was just one other camper then but more showed up on Friday night but this loop was still very vacant. The full hookup loop looked to be totally full and the other couple of loops that were no hookups were pretty full also. Our site #226 was level and open in the back and even though the sites were not close together seemed closer as they are open, but with enough tall trees around to have plenty of shade. I did not go into the bathrooms but my Daughter did and said they were pretty clean except for some spider webs in the ceiling. This is a very clean park. No trash, patrolled regularly, kept mowed and looking very good. I do think it is a little pricey for being a state park but like the location. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We stayed in the North East loop of the state park. The campground has full hook ups. We stayed at site #23 which is a pull through and we think the best and roomiest site in the campground. We did have to level the trailer from side to side but that wasn't a problem. The bathrooms were clean. At night, most of the campers were respectful of quiet time and the rangers drove by regularly. The camp store is well stocked plus there is a small cafe that serves hot food. It is closed on Monday, though. The laundromat is next to the store. There is a pond behind the store where we took our inflatable raft out. There is a boat launch for the Chesapeake Bay, as well. There are many hiking trails that you can also mountain bike on. The trail to Turkey Swamp Lighthouse is a must especially at sunset. The town of North East (approx. 9 miles North) is charming with shops and restaurants. We recommend going to Woody's for crabcakes and warm lava cake. The beach was a big disappointment though. It is situated on the North East River and it is not like an ocean beach. The sand is not like ocean sand and there are many rocks along the shore and in the water. It is great for little boys though because the water is calm and shallow for quite a ways out. There is swimming in a pool (plus many other outdoor activities), however, at a place nearby called Cedar Cove which charges per family at a reasonable rate. We really enjoyed our stay. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
The last three miles on Hwy 272 before you reach the campground are a bit narrow, lumpy, hilly and curvy in places but certainly doable and the campground is worth it. The full hook-up loop (North East) has fairly open sites that are not overly spacious but reasonably level and pets are allowed. The electric only loop (Chester) had some shade but the sites did not offer much privacy and many were not very level. Pets are not allowed. We only have a 30 ft class A and the road through this loop was a bit challenging in spots. The Chester loop was filled with pop-ups on Sunday afternoon but empty on Monday morning. Pets are allowed in the Wye and Susquehanna no hook up loops which were not nearly as nice as Elk and Miles. We much prefered the Elk and Miles no hook-up loops for larger generally more level sites, lots of shade and some nice water views. We loved site #167 in the Miles loop which was fairly private, level, plenty deep enough with a great view of the traffic on the Elk river. The park has a Campstore and laundry but we visited mid-week in early May and they were not open. Showers near us did not have hot water. The walk to the Turkey Point lighthouse is well worth doing. We camped here in a Motorhome.
One of my favorite late fall sites since full hook-ups available year round. Only 31 Full hook-ups sites though and is a little tight manuvering but manageable. Would definately call for reservations during camping season (Even mid-October). Turkey Point Lighthouse to the south is a great little hike. Lots of water and a small beach but don't expect too much. There is a boat launch and storage but can't comment on the specifics. Town of North East (10 miles North) has some great little restaurants and is very walkable. Remember that this is a state park so don't expect ammenities like a private campground. Bathrooms are amazingly clean (although we generally don't use them). Pets limited on certain loops so make sure you check which loops allow them. My only complaint is that it is expensive for a state park but then again, it's worth it for us. If you want a great fall foliage campground and just want to sit by a fire in the cool fall air then this is your place. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.