Hollofield Campground — Hotel in Ellicott City

We stayed at Hollofield Campground in a 37' 5th wheel as a trial run before heading out west. While camping in a tent or small trailer may be fine, for larger RV's, overhanging limbs on the road and in the camp sites is an issue. The steep climb up the hill to the campground is a narrow 2-way curvy road with little room for two large RV's to pass each other. At the beginning of the campsite loop, a Class A motorhome coming down as we were arriving, forced us to stop to allow him to inch past us, with inches to spare. While the campsite was clean, we were aghast at the amount of litter on the trails, along the railroad tracks and by the river, as well as the graffiti on the large rock walls along the railroad and on the bridge structure, as well as cigarette butts, lining the shore that storm water can flush into the river and be ingested by fish. We camped here July 5th - 8th. On Mon, July 5th after the July 4th weekend the campground was very crowded. We were stunned at the number of immigrants overrunning the river, leaving no room for other guests to enjoy the space. Groups of 20+, I kid you not. Spanish labeled bags of litter everywhere. The main trail, walkway down to the river has a platform and steps that is overrun with about 2 inches of mud. The sign is in Spanish. Spanish? This is the U.S., not Mexico! You want a sign in Spanish, fine, but put one up in English first. We spoke to a ranger about our concerns of litter everywhere and she did say they have a problem on the weekends with non-English speaking groups, making it difficult to get them to understand their obligation to keep the park clean. We witnessed one family get up from their table in the picnic area, right near the park entrance where a large sign says help keep out parks clean. They chose to leave their trash at the picnic table as well as empty drink containers on the picnic table instead of walking a few yards to place it in a trash bin. It's infuriating that people just don't care about the environment and trash the park and river. With the shortage of rangers for the size of this park, it's near impossible for them to keep up. But they shouldn't have to be trash collectors to irresponsible park attendees who are too lazy to clean up after themselves. By Tues, things calmed down and were were able to enjoy our hikes and swim in the river peacefully, albeit trash still everywhere. And a few of the people who remained the week we were there disregarded the 10 mph speed limits. We witnessed several trucks blowing up and down the road at 35+ MPH. Not good on a blind curve, when there are kids on bikes and people walking dogs. Will we come back?...

6/20/23 Wonderfully isolated state park -- what a gem!

The campground's campsites are arranged in 2 loops connected by a single road. Essentially, it's barbell-shaped. 🏋🏼‍♀️

The site's amenities, eg, fresh water, bathrooms, wood, ice, camp hosts, etc., are nested inside in the campground's inner ring.

PROS ... ➗. The park is bisected by US-40. The highway is divided, but convenient park exit ramps are provided for northbound and southbound traffic. 🚫. Campground access is tightly controlled. Day access to the park requires first stopping at the manned ranger station. Access to the park's campsites is then restricted via a second gate and PIN code. ⚡. The campground's larger loop is completely non-electrified and lacks amenities. The larger, non-electrified loop forms an "outer ring", encircling the electrified loop, the "inner ring". ✂️. Unimproved cut-through trails connect the inner ring and outer ring. 🎪. Most non-electrified campsites are relatively large, with room to park 2 (or more) vehicles. 🌳. The campground is heavily canopied with lush undergrowth. 🌿. There are downed trees. There aren't many fallen branches to collect for firewood. A pick and pull firewood pile offers excellent quality firewood for $5/milk crate. 🧊. Ice is available at reasonable prices, $2.50 (or similar). 🕵🏻‍♀️. Each individual campsite's size and staggered spacing provides a high degree of privacy. ➰. Hammocks are permitted if using straps, ie, ropes damage the tree's bark and are, therefore, prohibited.

CONS ... 🛎️. The amenities, eg, fresh water, bathrooms, firewood, ice, camp hosts, etc., are available only in the inner loop's inner sanctum. Translation: the bathroom is a long ways away. 🔦. Getting to the bathroom at night requires a trek around the outer loop to the road intersection leading to the bathrooms. 🥾. Or ... a treacherous hike over unimproved trails. 🚽. The smaller barbell offers only port-a-potties. ⛺. During our recent multi-day stay, the Camp Host was consistently unavailable, ie, "not at home".

SUMMARY ... A tent camper's perspective ... despite the bathroom situation, I'd return for an overnight if passing through the area or over 3-day weekend. I would not, however, select this campground for long...

I love this campground. It is our closest state park being only 20 mins from home! We've stayed there 4 or 5 times and plan to go many more. It is amazing value for money. It is for the most part, extremely peaceful. One occasion was ruined by an awful family who was spead over 3 pitches though. I believe that that was a one off and do not in anyway blame that on the rangers or staff. We've had no other issues since. The bathrooms are outdated but are functional and are kept clean. On 3 of out visits we experianced extremely heavy rain. I know it won't be the case in every site, but our firepit completely flooded with inches of water, again not an issue but better drainage would be helpful. There is a children's play area, but it is on the otherside of the valley so driving to it is the best option. It would be nice if there was one at the actual campground but understand the importance of keeping it peaceful. There is a "nature playground" at the campsite but it is rather run down comprising of rotten logs etc which is great for bug hunts but little else. Each site is relatively private due to the amount of trees so it stays nice and cool. My best suggestion for selecting a site is to view the campground map and to look at the photos of each one. After your first visit, note which one you like the best and chose it for subsequent visits. Due to the barrier you need to be a camper to access so you can't scout the area prior to staying there. This might be a negative for some, but it means that only campers can go to the campground which keeps traffic down and makes it more secure. This campground is my happy, relaxing place and I highly...