When you think of visiting Washington DC, camping probably isn’t what first comes to mind. But why not? You won’t be disappointed in camping at Cherry Hill Park instead of a hotel on your next trip to DC.
They have RV Sites…
They have Yurts….
They have cabins….
And they have tent sites…
Whatever your camping (or glamping style is), Cherry Hill Park will accomodate you. Check out the campground map here to get a full feel of the campground. There were campers there staying in all the different types of sites which was great to see all walks of life out enjoying nature. Granted we were close to the city and the interstate ran alongside the back of the campground, it was a beautiful campground that you would not expect to see that close to a major metropolis. Check out our tour of the campground on YouTube below (stick with us as we learn to navigate our Lectric Bikes and phone mounts – can be a little bumpy!)
The majority of the campground is paved road, with the exception of a couple of the tent site loops. The RV sites themselves had small stone as the base. While we did have to be careful not to bring in small pieces of stone on our shoes, it was much better than campground with dirt bottoms (hello sweeping!).
While we did have neighbors for some of the nights, the campers were spread far enough out that we weren’t looking in each other’s windows (not the case at some RV campgrounds!). We were able to sit outside in our camp chairs (we did give in and buy two of the hammock style ones for the kids. Jesse and I use them more than the kids) and not be in the neighbors way or have them in our way. And there was plenty of room for the dog crates. Jesse made a short video on how great these are! They truly have been amazing for us when camping with our beagle (who is a runner).
We cannot praise these fences enough. If you have dogs, these are worth the investment. They come in different heights and lengths. Here are the ones we got from Amazon. You won’t be disappointed.
We visited the campground during the middle of October and the pool was still open. Being from up North, pools usually close at the end of Labor Day Weekend. It was a special treat to get to go swimming in October for sure!
There was a shallow pool on right and a bigger, deeper pool on the left. However, it was indeed October and leaves were falling so there were quite a few leaves in the pool. And while the bigger pool was heated, you were still chilly getting out. Luckily they had an indoor hot tub and sauna to warm you up after.
We found it quite nice to go sit by the pool and take a dip in the hot tub first thing in the morning, or while we were waiting for laundry to be done.
Speaking of laundry, this was the first facility that we didn’t need quarters to do laundry. This one had you download an app to pay! The app was Pay Range. I simply had to fund the account with how much money I wanted to use, then select the number on the machine and it would add the funds to it so I just had to hit start. It was so easy! I could check the app and see how much time was left on each machine I was using (see why we could go sit by the pool?). The bad part about doing laundry though, is someone then has to tote it back to the campground. Go Emma! (It’s not like I made her actually carry it!)
The biggest reason we chose to stay at this campground is for the proximity to DC. There is so much history to be seen in DC that we knew we wanted to include it in our homeschooling for the girls.
The campground was only miles to the heart of DC, and traffic was never a problem getting there. However, each day we went and tried to head back to the campground…traffic was awful. A 12 mile drive showed a 1.5 hour drive. That we weren’t a fan of!
Instead of filling this post with our DC sights, we created a separate post just for that. Read it here. We truly had a great time learning about so much of our Nation’s history.
On a separate day trip, we visited Arlington Cemetary, including the JFK Memorial, Arlington House, Robert E Lee Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It really is amazing to see and an emotional experience as well. Definitely worth the trip if you are in the area.
While Aliyah loved the Washington Monument (see her drawing below), she was really taken by our trip to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum.
She has always loved learning about the planets and constellations, so this was great for her to see first hand. Given that these museums are all free, everyone should be visiting these during their time in DC. One interesting thing that we learned here as well is that if you are 14 and in good health, you can get a permit to become a hot air balloon pilot. How cool is that?
We are very glad we took multiple days to explore these things in DC, however, each time we did, we were stuck in a lot of traffic all over again. And did we mention the five lane interstate ran right along the back of the campground? We aren’t city folk, so this was definitely a downside for us to being this close to DC. Although during the day when we were puttering around the campground, we didn’t notice the outside traffic, but at night we sure did.
This campground had probably the best mini golf course for a campground that we’ve been at. Most are pretty run down and not well thought out. This one had a lot of animal statues and little straw umbrellas that made you feel like you were golfing on a safari!
Can you believe Jesse won again? At least I got us all to sit for a photo!
We were told that you could bike right from the campground to DC on a bike path, if you wanted to bike 40 miles each way. We did not. However, we did get to bike on the trail and see some beautiful views. Now that we all have Lectric bikes, it was easy to keep up with one another. You’d never know looking at these views that we were that close to a major city.
On the trail we stumbled upon a sign that we stopped to read. It was actually about the “Field of Firsts” which appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. It was the “Oldest Continually Operated in the World, First Military Airfield in the United States.” This was a really interesting thing to stumble upon!
We ended up biking for 27 miles and seeing some great wilderness views as the trail weaved in and around bridges, tunnels and freeways.
A big attraction to the campground, that we didn’t take advantage of, is the shuttle bus they offer. They will cart you right to DC and drop you off, or provide tours and sightseeing. I’m sure this would have been a great thing to do, and help you to avoid driving in the city. We preferred to keep our own schedule this trip, but perhaps next time. There seemed to be a lot of campers taking advantage of this.
Despite the traffic of a city life, we had a truly memorable time in DC. While there are a million ways to explore a city like this, we hope you enjoyed reading about our time here. Take the time and plan a trip to DC. You’ll be glad you did!
Are you following us on all the socials? Click each of the links below to follow:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561917326237
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/loveatfirstsiteblog/
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/@LoveAtFirstSiteBlog
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/theloveatfirstsiteblog/