Bayshore Campgrounds — Hotel in Stevensville

Bay Shore Campground looks out over a spectacular swath of the Chesapeake Bay. By day, you can see the mouth of the Chester River, the Bay Bridge, and north to Annapolis and Baltimore. By night, the lights of those cities glitter on the far horizon. At sunset, you can sit in your camp and watch the sun sink over the Bay, and sail out over the rest of North America to the west. Flashes of white sail on bluejean water, the crooked wings of an osprey, the distinctive white head and tail of a bald eagle, the trailing legs of a great blue heron; all sights seen right from your camp chair.

The camp sits on typical Bay sand bluffs backed up by riprap (rocks placed for erosion control). Parents of small toddlers or overactive dogs may want a campsite farther from the precipitous bluffs. There are a couple of small beaches accessible by stair and boat ramp/trail. I sailed my model boat off the boat ramp's beach, backing shoreward when I noticed the fins of a cownosed ray breaking the water (harmless, unless you step on it, or get one on your boat's deck).

For more beach access, right up the road is Rock Hall (with nice shops, eateries, and a small, free, uncrowded beach)... and a few minutes away is Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge is free; you can hike it, bike it, kayak it, fish it, watch birds, play on the small sandy beaches, train your Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, walk your Shih-Tzu, or launch a larger boat from the boat ramp at Bogle's Wharf. Check out the excellent visitor's center. Farther north is an African American Schoolhouse museum, Chestertown (shops, eateries, historic buildings, waterfront, and a really cool tall ship called Sultana). A bit beyond that is the Sassafras River; excellent paddling, especially from mid-July to mid-August when the lotus are in bloom. Bayshore Camp is a nice staging area for these local attractions.

Bayshore is pet-friendly. I met a number of happy dogs (all quiet). Lots of room to play, though responsible pet parents keep their critters on leash or under direct control. There is beach access at the boat ramp for them, and you can take them up to Eastern Neck or Rock Hall for a swim as well.

The camp staff is very helpful. The camp is amazingly clean and well kept. While the Bay is notable for its dozens of species of bloodsucking insects, I found very few at the campground (if you're camping, you should have bug spray anyway... and they do sell it at the camp store). There are some old trees, and some new ones growing into shade. There are a couple of ponds as well. There are fire rings at each site. The bathhouse practically glowed in its white paint; very clean, nice hot water in the showers. There are a number of permanent camps; big well-kept trailers kept on spacious lots. Everyone seemed to be friendly and interested in enjoying the camp and making it enjoyable for everyone else.

This would be a great experience for your kids (better than a hotel room), even...

The views are incredible. The campground has is most very visually appealing with very nicely groomed grass, trees, flowers, and ponds. Our site was their "buddy site" which was absolutely awesome. It was right on a pond and fairly far away from most of the other sites. The flowers and bushes were really pretty surrounding our site. We also found the staff to be wonderful. Why only three stars? Read on... It appears that there are no full hookup sites anywhere. The bathhouse was a long walk from where we were camping but there was a portapotty right near our site which gets gnarly in the summer heat. The bathhouse was small with only one urinal which you have to manually turn the water valve on and off before and after you flush. The showers were not the filthiest I've seen. If they had full hookups this would have been a non-issue. There is no beach as the map claims. The water comes right up to the steps. Perhaps there used to a beach or maybe there is one at extreme low tides. You have to buy your firewood from them. No outside firewood allowed. They don't exactly go easy on you with the price either. I get wanting to eliminate pests from being transported in via firewood but the price was unfair. Instead of reselling pre-packaged bundles of wood, buy several cords and sell it by the bucket full. Your margins will be higher and your overall price will be lower. Plus the pre-packaged bundles generate excess waste. The storage area and dumpster area was the exception to the picturesque setting. One of the dumpsters was overflowing and we had to walk past this on each trip to the bathhouse. A gated storage/dumpster area would do wonders for visual appeal. There was also lots of trailer/vehicle traffic in and out. Probably because of the storage yard being used for boats which are used for fishing each week. The rest of my experience boils down to personal preference. The campground seems to be largely permanent trailers. I guess you call it "seasonal" but the trailers are surrounded with permanent decks and outbuildings. Most were tasteful but this changes the dynamic of a campground. Everyone knew each other and when they see an "outsider" they knew exactly who we were and where we were staying. There are no activities for young kids. This was a guys trip but we all agreed we'd never come here with...

A beautiful place to "see the magic" of a scenic Sunset over the Chesapeake . Perfectly located to see the Sun Set into the smog smoking towers of Bailtimors oldest industrial towers. Without our proper camping gear we were able to rent a beutiful (Amish shed) made to look like a rustic Cabin. .All inclusive ;Microwave, Tv, refrigerator and the bumpest pull out full size loveseat . I can almost stand up today. Just a heads up, the Tv dosnt work and there actually no Microwave. Also the four Windows and door to shed have no screens so dont let any of the Chesapeakes fresh air in. Well unless you love giant mosquitos and hudge spiders. Otherwise for your convenience a Jiffy John portapoty is located outsid the front door. Its a public event so when your camping neigbors come to releave themselves at your site you get a very social welcoming. Not to worry thought the showers do work here. Although it must of been just bad luck that so much human hair was to be found everywhere. Or maybe some showered a black lab dog just before our arrival. The beach at this site is a good place to explore the many remains of a old tires . We counted over 30 different brands.The beach is small maybe 20feet but taking the rustic steps (rusty steps) down the 20 foot cliff is a excitement you will never forget. The camp does offer golf carts to explore the grounds. For a fee. Just don't let the kids drive it. The repercussions are worst than bearable. In conclusion be sure to not leave your bagged trash out for pic up. Their is a dumpster at end of road . At the price of a nice hotel room you are expected to transport trash. Its not posted but expected. Our penalty for not knowing where the dumpsters are located was minimal. Management tossed the bag ontop of our car for easy transport. Otherwise its hard to put a shadow on the beuitifil Chesapeake and in the end Nature always wins no matter what humans will throw at you. Bags of...