LITTLE BENNETT REGIONAL PARK, CLARKSBURG, MD (DC AREA)

Our Opinion: Neutral.  A better place for tents than RV’s, but it worked for us as a base camp for visiting family and a trip into DC.  Staff is exceptionally helpful in making and changing reservations.

Date of Stay: May 28 through June 5, 2010, which included the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Weather During Stay:  Warm and humid, highs in the upper 80’s, lows near 70.

Site Description:  This campground is a very small piece of a very large regional park, with a golf course, hiking trails, and historic sites.  The campground has paved roads, with 91 sites in 5 loops.

Of the 91 sites, all but 25 are for tents only.  The 25 RV spaces are slightly larger, with 30 amp electricity.  Sites are gravel and reasonably large, well spaced from one another.  Although many sites are long enough for big rigs, leveling is difficult as most sites slope, either slightly or significantly.  Site your rig carefully if you have slides, as all sites in heavily forested.

All sites are back-ins, with picnic tables and fire rings.  Water spigots as scattered through the loops (no water hookups at sites), and a nearby bathhouse has showers.  Two washers and two dryers are available at the centrally located activity center.  A dump station is at the entrance to the park.

Rate: $31/night, paid at time of reservation and non-refundable.  We made several change to our reservations (moving the dates, extending the stay, and changing sites) without monetary penalty.

Phone/radio/TV: Strong Verizon signal for the aircard and phones.  Southern sky completely obscured for our roof-mounted TV satellite; even the Sirius satellite radio signal had a difficult time if the wind blew!  We got around a dozen channels on the antenna including several PBS stations.  NPR is available at 88.5.  No WiFi.

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain:  Elevation is under 500 feet, in hilly terrain.  This campground is in dense hardwood forest; views are of trees, large and small, and neighboring rigs. Heavily shaded (important in the hot summer).

Lighting/Noise:  Dark, dark, dark at night, and quiet after campers retire from their campfires - or on empty weekday nights.

Favorite Sites:  We preferred the sites on the outside edge of the loop, as they were somewhat more level.  In site 52, we never managed to get completely level, and didn’t see any big rigs that did.

Hiking/Walking:  Excellent!  Trails head off in all directions, with good maps available at the visitor center.

Comments: This is an excellent campground for smaller rigs and tents.  For us, it was the best of the possible alternatives for visiting family in the area.  Though we thought $31/night was steep for what we got, the nearest (and apparently only) commercial park charges more than twice the rate for much tighter sites.  We were 20 minutes from a Trader Joes and Costco, and 25 from the last stop on the Metro Red Line into DC (a 25 minute ride).