New River Junction Campground

We stayed here the weekend of Sept 12 so we did not do any tubing. The campground is beautiful. Not for kids. No park or anything. The river is on one side and the railroad tracks are on the other. If you can sleep through a train whistle no problem if not this isn’t the place to stay! They have one shower and bathroom for the entire place. And it closes from 11am to 6pm, yes you read those hours right. Our last night at about 10pm the water and power to campsites was off and never came back on before we left in the morning. This also meant that the dump station was closed and we were not able to dump and clean our camper. We would not come back to this campground.

Came to Blacksburg with a couple of friends and we were treated horribly. They had no respect for younger individuals and assumed we were up to no good. RVers camping there cussed us out for going 5mph and the camp director also berated us after hearing about the RVers getting mad at us. Would never recommend staying here especially for kids.

This is a great campground off the beaten path. The trains are loud but they let you know that on there website. With that said if there is no tubing there is nothing to do but look at the beautiful river. If you have kids and the river is closed it is not the best place to go. I bet when the river is open and tubing is happening this place is great. We called twice and never once were we told that the river has been closed all summer. I suggest you call numerous times to make sure river is opened before you arrive. The communication and lack of cooperation from staff for refund after arriving with river closed is only reason for 3 star rating. Please call a week before and find status of river with option to get refund.

New River Junction was by far the most beautiful campground I’ve seen. It’s nestled in the mountains, right on on the river between two train tracks, which providing a soothing rather than jarring backdrop.
We camped out here on a Wednesday night, without a reservation and were given the «best site» in place… which proved to be nothing short of spectacular. It was right on the river, with water access, of which we took full advantage. Clean and clear water, a shallow depth, and swift moving current make this river perfectly relaxing. Although we didn’t get a chance to tube, it was certainly the perfect location.
Also the service was above and beyond any I have ever experienced. The staff brought us fire wood directly to our site and were very communicative about the goings on in the area.
The only downside about this site is that they didn’t have an area to shower, or at least one that we saw or were told about.

Tubing down the New River is basically a perfect way to spend an afternoon.
For about $ 10 a person you can plop your butt on a tube and plop your beers in a COOLER TUBE and hang out all afternoon.
The water is incredibly shallow, so you can post up on a rock and drink beverages in peace (there seems to be pretty strict rules about drinking on the campground land).
There is a great rock to jump off of in the middle of the rapids. I’m pretty sure the water there is deep enough to dive.
The only things preventing this place from getting five stars are the pretty intense drinking rules (I imagine that this is a liability issue, so it does make sense) and the bathroom. One stall for hundreds of campers and tubers? That seems silly and not well planned out to me. But… other than that this place is totally tubular!

I have a mixed feeling about my experience at the New River Junction. It was a blast, but with MY friends, there isn’t really a choice in the matter.
You really have to pay attention to the website prior to visiting for a litany of reasons. First and foremost, you have to use their directions. If you try to use your GPS, you will not get to this destination. Second, there is a list of rules as long as my… arm for this place. Quiet hours, trash, what you can burn, tubing, etc.
The funniest part of this is the quiet hours. You see, it is a gorgeous camping site that runs along the New River. BUT (HUGE BUT here) not only is there a train that runs on the other side of the river, BUT there is a train that runs about fifty yards from the camping site and crosses the entry road to the site. This means that at 3am, 4am, 5am there can be a mile long train filled with coal that must announce its presence. I think the conductor takes pleasure in this, as he will be very liberal with his warning horn usage.
Also, with ample signage around the campsite to remind you, be aware that it is against the law to drink alcohol in public. This was fine around the site itself, but we had to do some shucking and jiving after taking a cooler with us down the tube float. There were police all over the tubing exit issuing citations to people with coolers of empty cans or water bottles with liquor.
The majority of the staff was a real pleasure to deal with, save Dave the manager who seemed to have lost his sense of humor in the river.
At roughly twenty bucks a night to camp and nine bucks to tube for the day, it was a relatively inexpensive weekend with a beautiful view and serene sound that is frequently thrown into an auditory and visual assualt with every passing train.

Seriously the highlight of my summer here. Beer, beer floaty, tube, sun, freinds = AWESOME. It’s nice that they have a bus to run people up and down and that they assist you in lighting the grill. The bus drivers have an open cooler for beer tips, which I think is outstanding. Who knew that this much awesomeness could exist so close to Blacksburg?
TIPS: The nearest beer store is 12 miles away, so overprepar because the beer run is no fun. Try to go after a heavy rain so you don’t bruise yourself too much and wear water approved shoes (read crocs).

A great place to go tubing and camping, you take Price’s Fork Road to McCoy Road to Big Falls Road and make a right, it is on the left after the tracks.