Jellystone Park™ Natural Bridge in Buena Vista, United States - reviews,open hours,photo spots,things to do

United States Virginia Buena VistaJellystone Park™ Natural Bridge

Jellystone Park™ Natural Bridge

16 Recreation Ln, Natural Bridge Station, VA 24579

4.0(784)

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Phone

(540) 291-2727

Website

sunoutdoors.com

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NC TravelerNC Traveler

We paid a steep price to stay at the Jellystone Park at Natural Bridge last week for three nights in campsite UTM. I was not really impressed with the campground as we drove through the check-in point, but I said to myself – give it a chance. I was able to easily park my truck on the rocky and slightly sloped campsite, and still have room to put a 10x10 canopy over the spider covered picnic bench. The site has a raised tent pad with a gravel surface that can easily fit two tents and appeared to have good drainage. We put up a 6-man and a 4-man tent with room to spare, and the tent stakes held well. The campsite has two electrical outlets and one waterspout that was shared by the UTM and UTN sites. I brought two 25ft cords, allowing me to run a fan at night in my tent as well as have power under the 10x10. While the area around the fire pit was somewhat level, the rest of the site was not and the site sits under very large and established trees that provide excellent shade. Just as an FYI, a little buggy as expected, mosquitos in the morning and gnats in the evening. Based on the campsites I’ve visited and stayed at over the years, I think the price charged for this site was too high for the campsite facilities, amenities and convenience. Here are a few of my complaints; - The campsite was dirty, when I got out of my truck I found numerous pieces of trash, including a pacifier, old tent stakes and lots of colorful plastic trash that should have easily been spotted by a cleaning crew. - Next to the fire pit, there were a large number of spikes, nails and screws scattered around the pit that looked like they were in ash recently (I attached a photo showing the last handful before I threw them away). - Water from the spigot runs down the hill and right next to the tent pad. The spigot should have rocks and a French drain like site UTL has under its spigot. - The restrooms were not that bad, but for 24-hours one of the doors to the toilets was broken off its hinges, taking out one of two toilets. There is no cleaning crew for the restrooms - we saw the same trash in the shower stalls until I threw it in the trash can on the last day and the showers had shampoo/soap stains. - The firewood is $6/bundle, a bit pricey but it was green/wet wood. - On the last morning my son waited over 20 minutes and his breakfast sandwich, even though we had paid, I told him just to leave as I doubted the quality of the food with the sub-par performance of the kitchen crew. I normally don’t like to complain about facilities, especially service because I know that it is difficult to find good people in the service industry. Some of this could be chalked up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though I had an issue with the kitchen crew in the café, everyone else I interacted with at the campground was friendly and professional. The incident at the café was just the last straw and really got me to the point where I had to write a bad review. I just can’t accept that having a guy dressed in a Yogi costume driving around justifies charging double the rate compare to other campgrounds in the area. If the facilities were better and cleaner, then I would’ve just sucked up the price-point and had a good time. The only thing positive I came away with from this campground was good memories from company we traveled with – we enjoyed our time together in spite of the run-down facilities at Jellystone Park at Natural Bridge.

CaseyCasey

My family and I stayed at Jellystone Campground in Natural Bridge, Virginia in June 2025, and unfortunately, our experience was far from what we expected — especially considering the premium cost and the reputation of the Jellystone brand. We encountered several significant issues that disrupted our trip and left us feeling disappointed and frustrated. I’ve broken down our experience into three main areas: 1. Site Reservation Change — Misleading and Frustrating I booked our stay at Jellystone Campground in Natural Bridge, VA back in December 2024 and paid extra to reserve a specific waterfront campsite. The site was supposed to give us a direct view of the James River with no other campsites between us and the water. To ensure this, I also paid a “site lock” fee. However, just five days before our scheduled arrival in June 2025, I received a call informing me that our reserved site was being changed. I was told the new site was “comparable,” and while they refunded the site lock fee, that completely defeated the purpose of locking in a specific spot. When we arrived, the site we were assigned was not comparable. Instead of the peaceful waterfront view I had reserved, we were placed in the middle of a crowded row, boxed in on both sides by other campers. Rather than looking out at the river, we looked at the wall of a neighboring camper roughly 15–20 feet away. This change felt misleading and diminished the value of our trip right from the start. 2. Overcrowded and Noisy Environment The campground overall felt extremely congested. The campsites were packed tightly together, with very little space or privacy. Golf carts were constantly driving around, and the volume of people made the campground feel more chaotic than relaxing. On our first night, our neighboring campsite kept us awake until nearly 1:00 AM, sitting around their fire singing loudly. Despite quiet hours supposedly being enforced, no staff intervened, and there was no visible presence from campground personnel to address the disturbance. It did not feel like a peaceful or well-managed environment. 3. Sewage Leak and Poor Emergency Response The second night of our stay brought the most serious issue. We were woken up by our neighbors due to a sewage backup that was leaking into both of our campsites — and eventually spread to at least four total sites, including one across the road. The neighboring campers had called the after-hours number, but no one responded. The sewage leak persisted for approximately nine hours overnight before it was finally addressed — and only after I walked up to the office at opening time the next morning and reported it in person. This was a serious health and sanitation issue. I have photos and videos that document the extent of the leak. Final Thoughts To their credit, the staff did allow us to leave one night early without penalty and refunded one additional night. We paid for one of the two nights we actually stayed, though we originally booked for three. While we appreciated the gesture, the overall experience was extremely disappointing. Between the last-minute site change, the overcrowded conditions, the lack of enforcement of quiet hours, and a serious and prolonged sewage issue, we cannot recommend this campground. We won’t be returning — and strongly encourage others to ask questions and carefully consider whether the experience is worth the risk.

Kelly MayneKelly Mayne

So I'll start this by saying we came to Jellystone because we have been to others and they were wonderful! This particular Jellystone - natural bridge has been bought by sun outdoors, might be why it was not as good. We arrived at 150pm, told we can't check in early, come back at 3. Ok, seems odd because she gave us the welcome paper and tag for our car. Came back at 3 and signed 1 paper and were checked in. Didnt get to have any points added to my jellystone account. Tells us an app to download, its the wrong one. What about our golf cart? Have to come back later, short staffed. When? Just later. Ummm ok. We go to cabin and unpack. Kids want to go to pool so off we go! Pool is closed. We proceed to the check in area to ask. She doesn't know why pool is closed but golf cart is ready...yay! Tells us to swim in the "lake" (it's a large pond at best.) We go to the lake and are immediately yelled at by Ranger Rick. He says it is thundering. We tell him the other employee literally just told us to come to the lake 🙄. We decide to wade in the river as there are no swimming holes within walking distance then return to the cabin. I decide to take a nice hot shower and go to bed. Just kidding! There is no hot water! We call the ranger station, it's 901 and they closed at 9. We call the after hours number and leave message, no one ever calls back. Day 2: call ranger station first thing in the morning. About an hour later, maintenance arrives and confirms the outlet that runs the water heater is bad. It is fixed in another hour. We swim then inquire about fishing worms for fishing. They don't sell any and suggest we flip over rocks at the river to find some. Ok.....not exactly helpful. I also inquired about renting tubes to float the river. No, they don't do that anymore. Corporate hasn't given permission and they are too short staffed anyway. No shuttles either. Grrrr! We go to the Cafe, it's chicken tender Tuesday! They are sold out of chicken tenders 🙄. We get ice cream and my son discovers what fountain soda tastes like without the syrup....eww. He does get a free replacement in different flavor. Day 3 we drive to various sights. Spend time at lake because pool is mostly closed all day d/t distant thunder. My son does try the water slides....he ends up crawling back up the slide as there is not enough water flowing for him to go down. We decide to eat at Cafe again.....no, fryer shuts down at 330 and the rest closed at 5. Seems early. Closet decent restaurant is 30 minutes away. Day 4: mostly swam at green pond again because pool is closed for distant thunder. Decide to play mini golf...they only have 3 clubs......but we are the only ones playing. Odd. The arcade is open but none of the games work, they operate by some card system that isn't hooked to wifi. Overall - would not recommend. There are almost no activities planned for the kids like at other Jellystones. The bathrooms are old and outdated. The campground is cut in half by a local road, not busy but still don't want my kids crossing by themselves. Never played any movies at the amphitheater. The canteen and other little buildings were never open. Staff not welcoming. Check in area is congested because they don't allow early check but only have 2 people working the desk. So everyone has to wait in line at 3.

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Reviews of Jellystone Park™ Natural Bridge

4.0

(784)

4.0

First of all, I want to say that management does not take negative reviews seriously. Some of the same negative comments that I am going to make are the same comments that I read several times, with each one management saying that they take comments seriously. It is pretty obvious that they don’t care. The worst campground we have ever been to. I reserved 3 sites right next to each other and paid the $35 hold fee to guarantee the sites. Why do you have to pay an extra fee to hold a spot that you paid to reserve? About a month before our reservation date, I received a call that the sites I reserved were under construction and would not be ready in time. They moved us to different sites with 2 sites together and 1 quite a few sites away. We never did see any work being done on the original sites I had reserved. We arrived on a Sunday and a big storm came. A large tree fell on top of a water line and we had no water. Management told us the water would be back on in the morning. No big deal. The next morning, we were told that the maintenance workers don’t come in until 9:00 or so. You would think that if something like that happened, they would bring workers in as soon as possible. Monday morning a lot of campers had pulled out and our 3 campers were the only ones left in that whole big area. I asked the office if we could move 1 camper next to the other 2 campers in our family. The lady in the office was so hateful and not helpful at all. She did not want to let us move even though there was an empty site on one site of the other campers and several empty sites on the other side. Another person in management was very helpful and worked it out and we were able to move. The splash pad was not open and they said that the pieces had been sent off to be cleaned and had not been returned. A good power wash probably would have been sufficient. They should have planned better so that the splash pad would be open by the time the busy season started. The water slide was closed on Monday due to debris being in the slide. On Tuesday, they opened one water slide around 3:00 in the afternoon. Really?? The worker who was supposed to be watching the kids on the slides and let them know when it was safe to go down the slide, was on the phone the entire time and not paying attention to the kids. The kids had to watch on their own to see when they could go down. The pool was so dirty that I had to skim the pool while there were 5 or 6 workers nearby just hanging out. I made a lot of noise while knocking the debris off the skimmer and talking loudly that customers should not have to clean the pool while employees just sit around. They never did clean the pool that day. They have a dog walking space that the trash can was overflowing on Sunday and was still overflowing on Thursday when we left. The trash had never been emptied. The day we got there, all of the golf carts that the campground had were rented out plus there were a lot of campers had their own golf carts that were going faster than the posted speed limit with loud music blaring. The bath houses were a disaster, with dirty toilets, toilet paper on the floor and dirty showers. I know they have employees who are designated for certain job duties, like housekeeping, but when there is a lot to do and employees are just standing around, you need to tell the employees who have nothing to do, to help the other employees get caught up. On Monday, we went to the mini golf course and there weren’t any golf balls. I asked the office if they had any and they said there were balls stuck in pipes and in the rocks that I could find. I told them that customers should not have to find their own golf balls and it was the campground worker’s responsibility to make sure things like that were available. They asked me what site we were in and they would bring us some but they never showed up. One night was movie night and the office worker did not know what movie would be playing and they did not know, but said they would find out and come to the site and let us know. They never showed up. My grandkids did enjoy riding their bikes and fishing in the small pond and...

2.0

Our family visited June 23rd-26th. My daughter, SIL and grandson had a tent site and I had a cabin. We were excited about this visit having stayed at Jellystone Luray last year and had a good experience. My cabin was fairly clean. The floor was sticky. when I got a butter knife out of the drawer it was covered in a greasy residue. The stove top had crumbs on it. The refrigerator was clean but be aware, it’s smaller than the average mini fridge. The bathroom was clean but the shower was the smallest I’ve ever been in. Also, the flooring in front of the shower was soft when you stepped on it so I suspect water damage underneath. The TV had a nice, clear picture and many channels to choose from. WiFi was good until Friday when more guests arrived. The ceiling fan was covered with cobwebs. The A/C was very adequate. I feel this campground needs better security and enforcement of the rules. My daughter was awakened at 2am by rowdy guests on golf carts driving around with their lights on, yelling and partying. Luckily my grandson stayed with me at night so he wasn’t exposed to the ruckus going on. The speed limit is not being enforced. We were on our golf cart and a pickup truck from out of state came speeding up behind us and rode our bumper until we turned off and then he sped up again and continued on. We became hesitant to be on the golf cart after that. Then at some point one night there was a noisy golf cart parade which resulted in an altercation between the participants and I assume, a resident that lives on the road coming in to the campground. Lots of cursing during this confrontation. Also, there were a few golf carts blasting music day and night which was annoying when you’re trying to relax at your site and enjoy nature. My grandson and I were in the pool when two teenagers, a male and a female, the female wearing a “Staff” shirt came in to the pool area, in street clothes and covered in whipped cream. They both jumped into the pool while it was fairly full of guests and there was an immediate white, oily film dispersed amongst those of us in the pool. Some people in the pool commented it was gross/disgusting and got out, as did we. The female ended up sitting next to me in a chair and I said, “I can’t believe y’all did that”. She said, “They clean the pool everyday “. I said, “ I understand that but no one wants to swim around in a food product.” She didn’t say anything else and left. The pool smelled like milk about to go bad. So, my grandson and I left. He was upset because we had been having a good time, he’s 5 and the pool is his favorite thing. I was angry because we paid for this amenity and could not use it for the remainder of the day. At Luray, The Bears made frequent appearances. At least once per day, they rode the campground on a golf cart but not here. The Saturday night movie started almost an hour late and about 20 minutes into the movie there were technical issues so my daughter gave up and brought my grandson back to the campsite. The camp store was ok but the wait to pay for items was long. There was a middle aged lady in there working who was so pleasant and so efficient but it was too much for her to handle on her own as the store got crowded so she asked a teenaged employee to help some of the people waiting in line. She never made eye contact with anyone and didn’t seem to know how to do anything to help anyone. I really didn’t see many employees of the campground out and about. The place had a feel that you were on your own and had to figure out things as best you could. The grounds were clean, hardly any litter. Though I often saw trash cans overflowing throughout the park. Though there were some good things about the park, but the bad was serious enough to outweigh the good. We won’t be returning. The lack of security & enforcement of rules makes it feel like an unsafe party zone & inappropriate for little ones which is who the park is supposed to be...

3.0

We stayed chose to vacation at this jellystone location in Natural Bridge VA from July 10-17 2020 in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic. I chose this park for the child friendly amenities since we have a 7 and 1 year old. Due to the virus and social distancing regulations, the arcade, water slides, splash zone and the inflatable water course were all closed. That left the mini golf, bouncing pillows, playground, swimming hole and pool open. Let me start by describing the "swimming hole". This pond that they allow swimming in, has a dock to jump from and a beach to play on. The water was so gross and has green stuff floating on top along with garbage that had been in there for far too long. The mini golf is tiny but cute except for the broken window at the outbuilding right there. The back window had a hole in it, it was poorly taped together with broken glass still on the ground. You have to sign up for a time slot to go to the pool since they are operating at 75% capacity. Basically an employee sits there on their phone at the pool entrance with their clipboard and depending on who's there, you can sign up for one or three 1 hour slots. There are signs that say no running or jumping but its not enforced by enyone including the employee taking sign ups for swim slots.. After each hour swim session they ask everyone to leave so they can "clean". Their "cleaning" is hosing down the chairs with some type of cartridge attached to the garden hose but they don't clean the gate handle that everyone touches to enter/exit or the handles to get in/out of the pool. By the way, don't rely or put your weight on the handle of the main entrance pool steps or you'll fall because it moves. Im very disappointed in how the park operated differently on the weekdays vs weekend. By Wednesday evening, the pool was so gross with huge bugs and bunches of human hair laying on the pool deck. ( remember, an employee circles the pool every hour) Thursday morning they were on their A game with more staff and getting the park cleaned up for the weekenders. The park offers some recreational activities to entertain the kids about every 2 hours (weekdays 2pm-7pm) and (weekends 9:30am -8pm).. we had mixed experiences with the recreational staff. Some were absolutely lovely with high energy and got my child pumped while others seemed miserable and waiting for their shift to end. The BUGS were terrible at our site L128. Its one thing to have mosquitos but our site was infested with FLIES. I have never camped with so many flies before and it was gross, My dog couldn't eat his food outside because they were too much for him. The field where the outdoor theater is was also very buggy. My husband had to pull two knats out of my eyes within a 10 minute period of us trying to join a recreational activity. Positive notes to mention: their point of sales system was awesome because they could just charge to your card on file and also deliver your purchased wood straight to the camp site. Wood is $6 a bundle. We went through one bundle a night. Also trash pick up (am and pm) was convenient, they were always super nice and would drive by and ask to make sure we do or don't have trash to get picked up.

I wanted to have some friends over for dinner one night and paid for their visitors pass. It was like $36 for that family of 4 to come into the park for a few hours when it cost my family of 4 $57/night to camp there so that was a bit of a rip off especially with half the park closed and they just wanted to eat at our site.

All in all, We traveled from south Carolina to natural bridge to explore and also see a friend. If we camp in the area again, I will not choose this park. They really do have the potential to be a great park but I think it starts with employees having more pride in...

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