Loft Mountain Campground — Hotel in Grottoes

Let me first say this used to be one of my favorite campgrounds. Alas, not anymore. It seems to me that there has been a concerted effort to discourage RV and towable campers in the past several years. It seems to have started when they rearranged the site a few years ago. Prior to that of the over 200 generator permitted sites you could reserve 36 of them online. You could also reserve 9 of the 26 sites in the generator free zone. Currently the generator free sites have been increased to 36 and you can reserve 100% of them online while the generator permitted sites that can be reserved have been reduced to 11 (and half of them are an undesirable left side parking, putting your coach door facing the road). In view of the facts above and: Generator use is generally more prevalent among RV and towable campers. The configuration of many of the sites just doesn’t work well for larger RVs creating a desire to be able to reserve specific campsites. Is why I believe the park is attempting to discourage RV campers away from this campground. This weekend was the final straw. I understand that there was significant winter damage and a lot of the sites were closed. In the past few years have been able to work around the handicaps the administration has put into place by going up to the campground prior to Friday and calling the campground office prior to leaving home to ensure that they had sites that could accommodate a trailer. It seems they have put an end to that as well. When I called this week to verify if they had any sites to handle a RV I was told they would not tell me that on the phone and I would just have to drive up to the ranger station and see what was available. Every time in prior years I got at least and answer to my question and many times a quick list of the open sites. 1.5 hours to Loft, 1 hours to Big Meadow, 1.5 hours home and god know how much wasted fuel, and it all could have been avoided with a simple answer to...

Stayed at Loft Mountain Campground (site 34) for 3 nights in late June. Pros: Amenities. This is the only campground with showers, which was pretty much the entire reason why we picked to stay here over the others. The camp store also has everything you could need and more, so you can pack a little lighter! Every site comes with a bear locker. We loved the extra storage and the convenience of ours. Cooler temperatures. Coming in the middle of summer, we were a little nervous about boiling in our tent. Being that this site was high in altitude, it actually stayed breezy and cool most of the time. Fire ring. The fire ring was very versatile. You can move the grill up or down which came in handy. Large metal picnic tables. I loved that these dried out so quickly after rain, in comparison to typical wood picnic tables. Plenty of room to spread out your camp kitchen. Mostly empty. This place was quiet even during the middle of busy season, so you’ll find it peaceful. Cons: Not centrally located. If most of the hikes you want to do are in the middle or north section of the park, you’re going to be doing a lot of driving! Not all of the sites are created equal. When I made our initial reservation, only site 001 was left. When we arrived we realized it was tiny. And kind of a shared campsite with our neighbors. Luckily there were plenty of first come, first serve sites. So we moved to site 34 which was more spacious. The bathrooms are pretty spread out. Let’s just say I got my steps in. Our closest potable water station was out of service. So once again… got my steps in😅

Overall we really enjoyed our stay here. There was so much wildlife and natural beauty. We enjoyed the convenience of all the amenities and found the staff to be extremely helpful and kind.

Happy trails and...

A56 is a great first come first serve tent or camping site to enjoy the sunsets at Loft Mountain. If you are strictly tenting, A19 and A20 have the absolute best sunset views over the mountain lines. Staying along the western ridge of the campground has a great view, a nice breeze, and good company around us. Most of the western sites are best suited for a small camper RVs, we tent and would stay at most of the sites for their view.

We were pleasantly surprised by site availabilities, there are two host families on-grounds, and bathrooms are clean with sinks and toilets. There are also water faucets at the toilet areas so please bring jugs to fill and use at your campsite as you are not permitted to wash dishes at the toilet areas. If you venture down to the camp store you will be thrilled with the availability of prepackaged goods, cold items (hard cider), ice, trail food, firewood (at a great price), hot showers ($2.50=5-minutes), fuel canisters, and hardgoods in case you forgot something at home.

**Our number one complaint is there are two female deer in the campground and they both have fawns. Well, the moms DO NOT like dogs, so walking your pup in mid-June will be challenging. The mother closer to the main gate is forcefully aggressive, she will intimidate you, push you, and get within 15 feet with lips curled to get you to move well beyond where her fawn is bedded. Avoid the main gate momma deer as she will not hesitate to chase you and your dog back down the hill. Mom number two is down between rows A through D and she is a bit more reserved but will back you down a road if her fawn is out grazing among the campsites. Mom two will let you pass peacefully if her fawn is bedded nearby, stare at you cautiously, but will not walk towards you with your dog unless the...