What Makes Lower Falls a 5 Star Campground?
Everything!!! I’m a member of Campendium, a site where parks are reviewed and rated on a 1-5 star basis. My goal is to eventually go full-time RVing, and I’ve found their site to be quite helpful. A few posts back I lamented that my beach house doesn’t fit into the tent section at Millersylvania State Park. Lower Falls Campground is the answer! The campground has everything I could have asked for! Well, except for a lake to go kayaking on, but I’ll take this park any day. It is a gorgeous, green, lush campground that RVs can fit into. The sites are huge and spaced far apart giving families the privacy they seek in a camping experience. Campers actually feel like they’re out in the woods. Children have plenty of space to play and won’t be quite as tempted to cross into other’s sites. The trails are easily accessible from the campground and hikers can be down at the river to view the beautiful waterfalls in a short time.
Trailer Access
The campground was easy to drive to, however, the National Forest Service website does warn that it might be difficult for trailers to get through a short section of gravel road and that you drive at your own risk. I called the forest service the day before to confirm the warning was still in effect and to determine whether or not we should go. The lady I spoke to said it should be okay if we drive slow. The mile long section of road is passible, but slow going is definitely the key. Fortunately I drove it very late at night and couldn’t see what I was driving over. It didn’t look so bad then! Driving out I put the truck in 4 wheel drive; probably didn’t need it, but it made me feel better. The other obstacle while towing a trailer is dodging the overgrown trees, even on the paved roads. I hit a few branches on the way in, but didn’t damage anything. On the way out I drove down the center of the road as much as possible to avoid them.
The road doesn’t look so bad in the video, but Amber’s having a difficult time holding the camera still due to the road conditions.
Trails & Waterfalls
The crown jewels of this park are the waterfalls! They are photographic heaven!! The only thing I didn’t bring were the right shoes to stand in the middle of the river to photograph the lower falls. It wasn’t possible to stand in the river at the middle falls, and I didn’t see a way, other than swimming, to get across the river to put myself at a better angle for those images. There must be some other way across, but that will have to wait for another day. Most of the trails we hiked were easily accessible with great views of the falls and several points to stop and enjoy the surrounding areas.
Beach House Adventures 