Camping in Verona

One thing our family loves to do is camp.  Well maybe not every family member loves it but they at least go and put on a happy face while mom is around.  So finding a good camp ground is always worth it's weight in gold.  Years back our family was invited to this camp ground.  It was under a different name at the time.  Now it's run as a Good Sam Park and is known as Shenandoah Valley Campground.  Since our first visit we have made the trek a few times to spend either a few days or a week.  Located in Verona Virginia this park is right next to a section of the Middle River.  This river actually supplies the water for some of the fun activities that you can take part in while at the park.  They also have a pool, hot tubs, mini-golf, an arcade and on Saturday nights they do Karaoke.  They also have a small pond you can fish (all catch and release). 

Our last trip we took my mother, father, sister, brother-in-law and of course all the kids in tow.  Actually the last trip only had two children as one was still incubating. 



My sister getting ready to take on the river


The river is not very deep (maybe a foot) through this portion of the park which is good and bad.  The good part was I did not worry about the kids being in the water when I was at our camp site.  Keep in mind my two older kids were over 10 at the time.  The bad part is tubing can really be a pain in the butt.  Literally! The park office rents inner tubes and I would really recommend anyone over 50 pounds to get one of their tubes unless you have a really heavy duty tube.  The floats we used did not provide much protection from the rocks in the river bed.  If you didn't tip over or get hung on a rock and made it to the end you really got a wonderful view of the waterfall. 

The campground has tent camping, RV camping and has a few cabins for rental.  We generally tent camp and found the sites more than big enough.  There are sites right along the river and one site designated as a group site.  The group site is grassy and a little secluded but books up fast.  There is one main bath house with showers and bath rooms.  The mornings and evenings the shower area did get a little congested but not enough that I had a problem getting a shower.  I don't think it was until the third day that I realized there was a smaller bathroom/shower near the concession stand.  They have a pool for adults/larger kids as well as a toddler pool.  My kids spent most of their time there as well as at the playground.  The camp store was well stocked with everything from marsh mellows to bait for fishing. 

Sitting around the fire getting ready to float down the river.


The town of Verona,in Staunton Virginia, is just a quick drive up the road from the camp ground.  When we don't feel like cooking on the grill or fire we load up and go for pizza.  Now does life get any better than that? There is an antiques store close by and either a Family Dollar or Dollar General. 




A quick shot before we leave.



As much as we love going to new places we tend to go back to this one simply because we know that it is a great place to go and relax.  The kids have so many things to do that they never get bored and that gives mom a break!  And we all know a happy mom=a happy family :)