Military Campgrounds An In-Depth Review: Mid-Atlantic

MILITARY CAMPGROUNDS

An In-Depth Review

MID-ATLANTIC

Michael and Patricia Abreu

MILITARY CAMPGROUNDS

MID-ATLANTIC

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2015 by M & P Abreu, LLC. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the author or publisher.

NOTE:

This document reflects the opinions of the authors and does not reflect the position of the US Government, Department of Defense or any other entity associated with the facilities being reviewed. The information listed is true and accurate based on our visit and reflects the data to the best of our knowledge as of the date of the review. Some information may have changed since the review. This is especially true of rates, hours of operation and phone numbers. We have listed near-by military facilities and retail establishments in our reviews. As the Department of Defense addresses budget changes, hours of operations of these facilities, indeed, whether they even remain open, could change. Consequently, no warranty, guarantee, or representation is made as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the data contained in these reviews and we can assume no responsibility.

Additionally, in our reviews you will also see a rating of cellular phone coverage. This is a reflection of our cellular phone connectivity given our service provider. Almost exclusively, the lower number is on their 4G network, the higher on their 3G. Your actual levels of connectivity may differ.

In our reviews we also list establishments that allow overnight camping. There are several; for example, Cracker Barrel restaurants, Bass Pro Shops, and Walmart. We chose to list Walmart stores, because they are the most ubiquitous establishments that allow overnight stays while on the road. However, there are some local governments (e.g., county governments or municipal governments) that do not allow overnight stays at such establishments – and these laws change all the time. Therefore, if you should choose to stay at a commercial establishment for the night, whatever it is, please check with the management before setting up in their parking lot.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Delaware

Delaware National Guard Bethany Beach Training Site

Dover Air Force Base FamCamp

Maryland

Aberdeen Proving Ground RV Park

Annapolis Campground

Camp Meade RV Park

Goose Creek RV Park

Joint Base Andrews FamCamp

Skippers Point Recreation Area – officially is for tent camping only

Solomons Island Navy Recreation Area

New Jersey

Earle Deer Run RV Park

New Jersey National Guard Training Center RV Sites

Range 14 Camp

Willow Pond Camp

New York

Remington Park Recreation Center and RV Park

Round Pond Recreation Area

Virginia

Bethel Recreation Area

Champs Camp RV Park

DLA-DSCR FMWR RV Campground – Richmond

Ft. Belvoir Travel Camp

Ft. Eustis Recreation Area Campground

Ft. Story Joint Expeditionary Base RV Park

King’s Creek RV Campground

Little Creek MWR RV Park

Ocean Pines RV Park

Sea Mist RV Park

Stewart Campground

West Virginia

Sea Bee Park and Sugar Grove Cottages.

INTRODUCTION

This is the third in a series of reviews of military campgrounds. As a retired military family and avid RV enthusiasts, we want to not only use military campgrounds in our travels, but hope to provide information on them to other military families who also may wish to visit them. Our reviews are on camping, focusing on RV use at these campgrounds, whether with travel trailers, pop-ups, or motor homes, but we do look at tent camping as well. We also want to provide more information than our opinions on a campground by including information that we would like to know before our arrival. For example, often other reviews don’t include information on check-in procedures, unusual hook up configurations, or where the nearest military facilities, such as gas stations or medical facilities, are located. We think such information is beneficial to know in deciding whether you and your family want to visit a campground. In all cases, as a reader of this campground review book – and our other review books already published or being produced – you can be assured that we have physically visited the campground and actually walked its grounds prior to writing a review about it.

This book on the Mid-Atlantic Region’s military campgrounds is our third book and follows our previously published books on Hawaii’s and New England’s military campgrounds. We will follow this book with others that regionally divide the Nation. Since this will be a labor of love and since we feel the need to actually visit a campground before we write about it, reviews will come over time. We hope you will find this set of reviews – as well as those previously published and those yet to be published – interesting and beneficial. If there are other items of information you would like our reviews to contain, we would welcome your suggestions. Contact us through our webpage: militarycampgroundreviews.com.

REVIEWS OF MILITARY CAMPGROUNDS IN THE MID-ATLANTIC

Although there may be other military recreational facilities in the Mid-Atlantic Region, our focus is on camping, specifically camping in our motor home. We have physically visited those military recreational facilities that allow camping (even if they could not accommodate our recreational vehicle, RV) and list them here. If the military recreational campgrounds we visited offer renting of cabins or cottages, we will mention them in our reviews and often include photos, but cannot evaluate those rental units because we did not actually stay in them; again our focus is camping.

Below is the list of states and their respective military campgrounds that we have reviewed and grouped into the mid-Atlantic region:

Delaware – two military campgrounds

Delaware National Guard Bethany Beach Training Site

Dover Air Force Base FamCamp

District of Columbia – has no military campgrounds

Maryland – seven military campgrounds

Annapolis Campground

Aberdeen Proving Ground RV Park

Camp Meade RV Park

Goose Creek RV Park

Joint Base Andrews FamCamp

Skippers Point Recreation Area – officially is for tent camping only

Solomons Island Navy Recreation Area

Although still listed in some periodicals, Westhaven campground is closed.

New Jersey – four military campgrounds

Earle Deer Run RV Park

New Jersey National Guard Training Center RV Sites

Range 14 Camp

Willow Pond Camp

Although listed in some periodicals, the following military campgrounds are no longer functioning:

Lake Denmark (Picatinny Arsenal) is closed; the Arsenal’s MWR website sends you to Mahlon-Dickerson Campground, a civilian campground run by the Morris County Parks Commission

Lake Laurie is now commercial

Townsend Inlet has no camping or RV sites.

New York – two military campgrounds

Remington Park Recreation Center and RV Park

Round Pond Recreation Area

Pennsylvania – has no military campgrounds

Virginia – eleven military campgrounds

Bethel Recreation Area

Champs Camp RV Park

DLA-DSCR FMWR RV Campground – Richmond

Ft. Belvoir Travel Camp

Ft. Eustis Recreation Area Campground

Ft. Story Joint Expeditionary Base RV Park

King’s Creek RV Campground

Little Creek MWR RV Park

Ocean Pines RV Park

Sea Mist RV Park

Stewart Campgrounds

Although listed in some periodicals, the following military campgrounds are no longer functioning:

Lunga Reservoir is closed

Picket RV Park is closed

Cape Henry Inn and Cottages is closed

Yorktown is closed

Colonies Trail is now a public campground.

West Virginia – one military campground

Sea Bee Park and Sugar Grove Cottages.

Coming soon….

We hope you enjoy this book on military campgrounds in the Mid-Atlantic. We will be publishing our review of military campgrounds in the Southeast Region in 2015. This review will cover military campgrounds in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Happy Camping!

DELAWARE

DELAWARE NATIONAL GUARD BETHANY BEACH TRAINING SITE

BETHANY BEACH, DE

MILITARY CAMPGROUNDS: AN IN-DEPTH REVIEW

Review as of: 5/29/2014

This campground is a well-kept secret. Although there are limited military facilities on base, this is a great place to vacation.

Campground name:Bethany Beach Training Site (BBTS)

Location: Delaware National Guard Bethany Beach Training Site, Bethany Beach, DE 19930. The campground is on base.

Campground contact information: Billeting Office, Bldg. 114, 163 Scannell Blvd., Bethany Beach, DE 19930; 302-854-7902. Although we were told this is a good number, there were occasions when we had trouble getting through to the billeting office and other occasions when we had no issues and the call went right through. If you have trouble, the number for the Delaware National Guard at Bldg. 114 is 302-326-7692, and they may be able to assist in connecting you to the Billeting Office.

Does the campground take reservations?Yes, but reservations are initially done through a lottery for Delaware National Guard (DENG) personnel only. Lottery instructions are posted each year at the Delaware National Guard website under press events. If you obtain a reservation through the lottery, cancellations must be made more than 15 days in advance of arrival date. Cancellation within 15 days of arrival will result in forfeiture of reservation and cost one night’s payment. Payments must be made a minimum of 15 days in advance of arrival or approval (i.e., lottery award) will be cancelled. Payment can be made by credit card (MC, Visa, Discover), check or money order, payable to BBTS Billeting Fund and mailed to: Bethany Beach Training Site, ATTN: Billeting Office, 163 Scannell Blvd., Bethany Beach DE 19930-9770. Normally you must apply for the lottery before the middle of March and lottery selections are made by the end of March. After lottery awards are made, other military personnel, active and retired, may use the facilities on a space available basis. For example, if after lottery awards are made to DENG personnel there is still an RV spot available in mid-July, that space is available for use and can be reserved by eligible patrons. Although the cabins are rarely available, we were told that RV sites are quite often open. So, it is worth a phone call to the billeting office beginning in April if you wish to secure a site.

Open year round: Yes

GPS directions to campground from main artery: 38.54702, -75.06237; From 113 north or south, take State Road 1 to Bethany Beach. Turn off of State Rd. 1 onto Scannell Blvd. at the gate of BBTS.

Pet friendly: No. No pets are allowed on BBTS, even in privately owned RVs.

Check-in procedures:

During business hours: If you obtain a reservation, either through or after the lottery, you may call the billeting office, 302-854-7902, 14 days prior to arrival to obtain a current gate code that can be used at the south gate entrance. Otherwise, enter through the main gate and check in at Bldg. 114, (across from the flag pole). Check in hours are: Mon – Thurs, 1PM – 4PM; Fri, 1PM – 8PM; Sat, Sun and holidays, 1PM – 4PM. Check out is between 7:30AM – 10AM.

After business hours: Call ahead during business hours for arrangements.

Rates: $22 per night

Restrictions on length of stay: Seven nights; if staying over a weekend, there is a two night minimum stay. If space is available, it is possible to make a new reservation and extend your stay.

Ability to receive mail on site: No

Wi-Fi availability: Yes

Quality of cell phone reception: 2 -4 bars.

Security procedures e.g., security guards, safety patrols etc. 100% ID check to enter the base; the campground is on base.

Activities available:There is a private salt water lake on BBTS and Bethany Beach is within walking distance.

Site information:

Amenities on sites e.g., fire ring, picnic table, grill: Picnic table and grill.

Preferred sites: Site 22; it is closest to the lake and offers privacy.

General Description: This RV park is divided into two sections: Bare’s Lane, sites 1 – 12, which are back in, 30 amp sites for RVs less than 35 feet; and a second RV section, sites 13 – 22, for RVs 35 feet and larger which are pull through, 30 and 50 amp sites. All sites in both areas are level with concrete pads and all sites border a helicopter landing area; however, sites 13 – 22 are closer to the dock and private beach on the salt lake. Sites 1 – 12 are closer to the bathhouse and community pavilion. Sites 1 – 12 are also closer to south gate and 5th St., which is the walking access to Bethany Beach. NOTE: at the time of our visit, the south gate entrance was closed due to construction. There is a laundry facility on BBTS with 10 washers and 10 dryers for use by campers and BBTS trainees, but you have to drive to it. There is a bathhouse near sites 1 – 12. The women’s room has three toilets and three showers with one toilet ADA. One shower, although not a larger shower, had support bars. The men’s