Wood Mountain Campground

Wood Mountain Campground sits on a hilltop in Glen Jean, West Virginia, directly off Highway 19 at the geographic heart of New River Gorge National Park and Preserve—across from both the Summit Bechtel Reserve (one of the largest scouting and outdoor education facilities in the world) and the National Park's administrative hub, placing it as close to the action in one of the East's premier adventure destinations as any private camping property can get. The campground's hilltop position gives it views across the surrounding forested ridgelines while the national park infrastructure, river outfitters, and town of Fayetteville are all within a short drive. Full hookup RV sites accommodate travelers with rigs, and the two-bedroom cabins with fully equipped kitchens and large covered porches provide comfortable enclosed accommodation for groups and families who want the New River Gorge experience without a tent. Firepits, a heated bathhouse, and a campground atmosphere that encourages outdoor gathering—cornhole, ladder ball, and frisbees available for general use—give the property the communal camping character that the whitewater and climbing crowd that comes to the gorge expects. WiFi and bathrooms round out the practical amenities, and whitewater rafting departures are available directly from the campground on a daily basis. New River Gorge National Park, designated as a national park in 2020 after decades as a national river, protects 73,000 acres of the ancient river gorge where the New River—one of the geologically oldest rivers in North America, flowing north rather than south through a gorge that predates the Appalachian Mountains themselves—has carved a spectacular 1,000-foot-deep canyon through the plateau. The gorge's sandstone walls support over 1,400 documented rock climbing routes, making it one of the most significant climbing destinations east of the Mississippi. The New River Gorge Bridge, the longest single-span steel arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere at 3,030 feet, spans the canyon 876 feet above the river and defines the visual identity of the park. Within a 30-minute drive of the campground, rock climbing guide services, horse riding operations, and river fishing outfitters provide structured access to the gorge's full outdoor recreation range. Arrowhead Bike Farm operates mountain biking trails on the plateau above the gorge that have earned recognition as some of the better intermediate and advanced trail systems in West Virginia. Babcock State Park, a short drive from Glen Jean, protects a spectacular landscape of rhododendron-lined streams and the famous Glade Creek Grist Mill—one of the most photographed structures in West Virginia—in a setting that provides excellent hiking and swimming in its natural waterhole. Wood Mountain Campground operates year-round in a climate where fall foliage season from mid-October through early November draws the heaviest non-summer demand, the Gauley River's autumn water releases create the premier commercial whitewater rafting events on the East Coast, and Bridge Day in October transforms the New River Gorge Bridge into the site of the world's largest extreme sports festival. Summer is peak season for climbing and river recreation, and spring delivers the wildflower bloom across the gorge's hardwood forest floor that makes early-season visits to the plateau particularly rewarding.