As part of our ongoing series of camp site reviews we’ve visited, today I’m going to share our thoughts from our recent stay at Cherry Hill Park, located in College Park, MD.
If you’re planning a trip to Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas (like Annapolis or Baltimore), and want to stay in your RV, camper, travel trailer or even a tent – then Cherry Hill Park should definitely be on your radar.
According to the website, Cherry Hill Park originally began as a tent camping park behind the general store of a poultry farm in the 1920’s. The same family has owned and operated the park since then, making major improvements along the way to turn the property into a full-fledged RV campground, able to accommodate even the largest of rigs.
Cherry Hill Park is also the closest campground to Washington, D.C., making it a convenient base camp for your explorations around our nation’s capital.
We arrived at the park and checked in at the Registration Office/Camp Store. If you’re used to camping at state parks (like we are), this is a much bigger operation – with multiple agents checking in guests, and a large gift shop/camp store with essentials for your stay. You can also purchase firewood and ice there.
Depending on the size of your camper, the staff will help accommodate the best location for you to park. The campground is close to busy interstate traffic – so if you’re noise, sensitive, you can ask to be placed farthest away from that. There were back in and pull-through site options – and almost all that we saw were level, graveled lots.
Each parking pad had a picnic table and fire ring. The premium sites we saw also had a paved patio area, with wrought iron picnic tables, cable access and a fire pit.
Staying at Cherry Hill Park is kind of like staying at a luxury hotel – with tons of amenities and activities going on throughout the week. It’s definitely geared towards families – each night we were there they were screening outdoor kid-friendly movies near the pool area.
There’s also a mini golf course, with the $1 fee going towards the local Children’s Hospital. Our kids loved the arcade room, the two pools and the full-sized basketball court.
They even offer RV detailing and pet walking services during your stay – which we thought was a nice perk!
As for getting around, Cherry Hill Park makes it really easy for you to travel in and out of Washington, D.C. They offer complimentary shuttle buses to the closest metro station, and you can also purchase your metro tickets right at the park. They offer guided tours of the city each day (times vary), as well as a free planning session each day to help you map out your experience.
After long days of touring Washington, D.C., it was so nice to be able to come back to our camp site and unwind. The park was crowded (it was the summer tourist season), but didn’t feel overwhelmingly so. While the sites are pretty close together, you felt like you had enough space to spread out and do your own thing.
The park has a strong WiFi signal, as well as plenty of TV channels to connect.
In short, we had a great time staying at Cherry Hill Park. While it’s not necessarily a place you would go to relax and unwind, it’s the perfect campground if you’re looking to travel by RV or travel trailer to visit Washington, D.C.
Good for camping with kids: YES
Good for getting off the grid: NO
Easy to access: Yes – it’s located just a few miles off of a major interstate
Good amenities and outdoor activities: YES
Bathroom Conditions (scale of 1 – 10, with 1 being I would rather go in the woods and 10 being sparkling clean): 7
WiFi access: Very strong
