John H. Kerr Reservoir in September

mcjimjam

mcjimjam

Junior Ranger
Donating Member
We spent a lovely 4 days & 3 nights at North Bend Park, on the John H. Kerr Reservoir in Virginia. It is a US Army Corps of Engineers campground, and you would be hard pressed to find a bad campsite in the entire campground. There are 249 campsites divided into 4 different sections, many lakeside campsites some with good beach access, a nice paved bike/walking trail, updated bath houses, and playgrounds for the kiddos. The lake is huge, clean, and in the three trips we've made there, we've found it to have minimal power boat traffic. It has quickly become our favorite lake campground, so far!

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Our campsite, before photo. All sites have gravel pads, and are "timbered" in.

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Northern Breeze with a nice view of the lake, kept the flies at bay while we ate.

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Weather was perfect, no need for a canopy.

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Sweet double hammock and strap system our #2 son just gave us.

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We had our own private sandy beach.

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We had our own private cove as well. The beach sloped off steeply to a depth of 8 feet.

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Returning from a 14 mile round trip paddle, fortunately the water turned smooth as glass. Campsite is another 2 miles beyond those islands in the distance.

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View of our beach and campsite from our cove.

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Just to keep you all confused, here is our newest set up. Using Jim's Tundra, bikes are stowed safely in truck bed, canoe on trac-rack, using two action packers for bike and canoe stuff, poles, tarps, stakes, ropes, REI Alcove, "Changing Station",etc. A
 
I love the smooth waters for the canoe. I am afraid if I went swimming the next days news would be "White whale spooted in lagoon"!

Nice pictures. Thanks
 
Sounds and looks like a great spot. Do I see a change in your tow vehicle? No more Sequoia??
 
We still have the Sequoia. We wanted to try Jim's work truck, a Tundra, mainly because of how complicated the hookup gets with bikes, canoe, and teardrop. With the Sequoia, everything needs to be loaded in a certain sequence, and then there is the worry of hitting the propane bottle with our particular type of bike rack. We still haven't ruled out the Sequoia, but when we are going fully loaded, the Tundra may be the way to go! We are still refining our teardrop camping experience, always learning something new!
 
Glad to see you had a great stay!! I'm partial to Corps lakes since well that's who I work fer. I also see that you have a ENO, picked one up this summer and love it.
 
Thanks Jason! We are pretty much sold on USACE campgrounds and lakes! One reason to look forward to turning 62 (in a few years!) is being eligible for the America the Beautiful Interagency Access Pass for just $10. which will give us a 50% discount at Corps campgrounds.
Our #2 son gifted us with the double ENO (a deal he couldn't pass up through his job) and a slap strap system as well. First time we got to use it, and we enjoyed it too!
 
Yeah the discount is nice, I've got a few more years (21) till I'm eligible. I'm at Hartwell, If your ever this way passing thru give us a shout. We operate 7 campgrounds and the state has 4, so plenty of options around here and most are close to the interstate.
 
We have several COE parks in the Tennessee area as well. I have not stayed in a bad one yet. Most sites are quite spaceous, and if the space happens to be left vacant for a couple hours, the crews will get in and do a policeing of the area and clean out the fire pits and rake the gravel smooth if it is a gravel site. Not all the sites are level, but for a TD there shouldn't be a problem.

And yes that Senile Discount is wonderful. Great on a limited budget.
 
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