Douthat State Park — Attraction in Clifton Forge

I took a last minute trip to Dow Thet and camped at White Oak. Rangers are nice at registration and the gift shop/restaurant at another location. My only interaction with rangers here as yet.

This review is about the Tobacco House Ridge Trail. (Scroll down for review of Beard's Gap Trail to Mountain Top Trsil to Ross Camp Trail to Wilson Creek Trail to Beard's Gap Trail. Looped it.)

From the White Oak entrance. Park. Walk over bridge. The trail is trail on left just pass the first campsite on left. The first half mile is straight uphill. It levels out and then round a corner. Straight uphill again. In the distance it appears to level off and then gd. Straight uphill again. At the top enjoy the bench and the dam waterfall in the distance. I left out the "n". Following the trail left it descends for about a mile at the grade you just went up. I will come back to that. Actually I won't. Don't get distracted by side trails. Keep bearing right. Speaking of bear. Found responsibly fresh bear scat. When you dead end at a fence go left over small bridge. Now just keep bearing left. You will see a gravel trail on right. Ignore it. Shortly you will see stairs. Up the stairs. As you stop and sit on the stairs you will see it's a natural amphitheater. At the top is a bench, a wonderful bench. Take a wiz and rest. Beautiful view of Douthat Lake. Cross the goose poop path. Another beautiful view of lake and small dam. Down the other set of stairs. Bear left on the tree line. Welcome to two other dams. Very pretty. Lots of different views available. From here you can be a masochist and go to Blue Suck Falls Trail (yeah, I didn't name it, but there you go) and meet the mile straight up hill you left on Tobacco House Ridge Trail. Or... Follow the gravel picnic area, on left facing away from last dam, to the main park road (not a busy road). Go right. Pay attention it's still a road and take to registration building. Cross road and your back at starting point. I highly recommend this trail and route.

Beard's Gap Trail to Mountain Top Trail to Ross Camp Trail to Wilson Creek Trail to Beard's Gap Trail. Loop is about 7 miles. Started the day after the prior review. Start 8:45am and returned 1:15pm. I will not be complaining about the grades. I knew what I was getting into when I started this loop. Beard's Gap has pretty streams and shale out crops. Don't trust the Creek stones when crossing. Mountain Top Trail is mostly a shale beast up and down. You think you reached the top and nope, more climbs. There is no trail camping at Douthat. But the park borders the George Washington National Park. Part of this trail goes into the GW Park. There is a spot that is a great location for trail camping. A comfortable stone pillar to refresh at the top. Enjoy the views. Rose Camp Trail. Uphill, good luck. Downhill, pay attention to your steps. Stop once in awhile and pat a tree, refocus, enjoy the drop-offs. Wilson Creek Trail is a moderate trail that will make you grumble. Rose Camp Trail goes below grade. More climbs but not aggressive. Just more climbs. Wilson is near the road and lodges. And can be used for the final section I reviewed yesterday without being on the road as long.

I am coming back...

After days of researching multiple parks and campgrounds in the Virginia Shenandoah Valley area, I chose to visit Douthat State Park’s White Oaks campground. My choice was primarily based on the description of the park, its amenities, and need for peace, relaxation and some hiking and swimming. To my surprise, helicopters were flying all around the park and campground area for several days during my stay, and they flew for long hours each of the days (eg.: 10AM to 7PM). Their noise was excessively disruptive and ruined the enjoyment of the entire park region on those days and the main purpose of my visit. I discussed the matter with park office staff, but they claimed they could not do anything to stop it. I overheard, and spoke directly with, many of the other campers (including the campground hosts) who were also very bothered by the helicopter activity. I requested a partial refund or other form of restitution / compensation for the upsetting experience I had, and below is the dialog that ensued between me and Virginia State Parks Visitor Services Director Nancy S. Heltman.

Nancy’s reply to me: “I'm sorry but the helicopters were not ours and not in our control. Had you been upset by them and chosen to leave, we'd have been happy to refund you. However, when guests stay they are accepting the situation.”

My reply to Nancy: “It is not easy for someone in my situation for example (visiting Douthat with my 27 foot travel trailer from Connecticut) to simply "leave" the park. I invested a lot of planning and preparation to travel ten hours and over 500 miles to visit Douthat for the nine days. You have a customer service obligation to all guests near and far to make sure each guest leaves happy. Many of your guests, including myself, did not leave happy. The online surveys conducted afterward, which you read and address, is an opportunity for you to satisfy unhappy guests after the fact, even if a certain circumstance is "not in your control". Or would you rather have upset guests like me spread through online reviews and verbal word-of-mouth about poor experiences like mine had there? I simply can't believe your apathetic and somewhat arrogant response to me Nancy. Big failure on your part so far.”

Nancy never replied again. ?

....Anyone thinking of visiting Douthat State Park, consider the above experience. You may want to...

Beautiful park! Very well kept and has such beautiful scenery! It’s about 10 minutes off the interstate. There is NO cell service in any area of the park. We tried moving around to connect to Wi-Fi, we have straight talk service and there was absolutely NO cell service.. they have pay phones but they are for emergency calls.. don’t pay cause the call will not go through and you will loose out on your money! Electric/water hookups and there is a dump station at each campground in the park. We stayed at WhiteOak #13 and it was perfect. Nice and spacious. Bathhouse was in walking distance of our lot(bout a minute from our site) We have a 32ft trailer and we’re able to fit two vehicles in the lot. Each lot comes with picnic table and fire pit. Firewood is for sale using the honor system @$6/bundle. Campground was very quite and peaceful. There is a small bridge to cross to get into the white oak campground. Dumper is at the entrance for you to dispose of your trash. The restaurant is closed but they have a grill inside of the camp store. You order your food at the camp store register. Cash and card is accepted. See pictures for the menu. The have a back deck or inside area with chairs while you wait for your food. Camp store has general necessities for camping… they do not carry anything in bulk(water bottles or soda.) Camp store also had t shirts, jewelry, cups, and keychains to name a few. Visited the lake/man made beach and it was nice. Had a nice boardwalk to walk to rent water activities(canoes,kayaks, bikes, John boats, paddle boards, pedal boats) we payed $27 to rent 2 bikes and a pedal boat. They charge you by the hour accept cash card or Apple Pay. I believe you can rent at camp store, however we rented from the shack down the boardwalk. We didn’t see any bears on our trip. Kroger/CVS pharmacy, gas stations, Chinese restaurant and a pizza place within 10mintues of the park. Overall great experience nice park, perfect for a...