Cranesnest Campground (VA)
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 16 of the next 16 nights read 15:31 UTC
- A night
- $20–$24Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 31All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
The John W. Flannagan Dam & Reservoir Area boasts an expansive lake nestled in the rolling green Cumberland Mountains of southwest Virginia, offering visitors an oasis of recreation in the summer months. The nearby dam, built primarily for flood control for the Cranesnest and Pound Rivers, creates a breathtaking lake that is maintained at nearly 1,400 feet above sea level. This facility is an ideal spot for picnicking, water activities and hiking. Keep reading
Recreation
Flannagan's reputation as a fisherman's paradise is well-known. Visitors can enjoy secluded coves of deep, clean water that are well-stocked with bass, walleye and trout. Boating, canoeing, whitewater rafting and biking top the long list of activities available nearby.
Facilities
The campground offers campsites with electric hookup options, bath houses, playgrounds, launch ramps and picnic shelters with grills and horseshoe pits which provide an ideal location for parties and other get-togethers.
Natural Features
The John W. Flannagan Dam, completed in 1964, carves out a 1,145-acre lake with nearly 40 miles of beautiful shoreline in the lush Virginia mountains.
Nearby Attractions
Breaks Interstate Park is nearby, offering lodging, dining, a museum, gift shop, rafting, canoeing, rock climbing and other outdoor activities.
Charges & Cancellations
Changes and cancellations subject to potential fees and cancellations are not automatically subject to refund.
What the agency tells you
No more than 2 vehicles per site. All other visitors must park in the overflow parking areas.
Reservations must be made in advance by utilizing either recreation.gov or by calling +1 (877) 444-6777.
No parking is allowed in the grass. If there is not room at your site, please utilize the overflow lots at various locations within the campground.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
No person(s) shall camp at one or more campsite for more than 14-days in a 30-day consecutive period at Cranesnest Campground.
Any person utilizing a Federal Pass (i.e. Golden Access or any America the Beautiful) must be the primary occupant of the campsite for the duration of the reservation. Passholder must be able to present pass upon request.
Visitors may only be registered as the primary occupant of one campsite during a consecutive time period.
Campers are responsible for disposing of waste. There is a complimentary dumpster placed near the campground entrance for your convenience. Campers must NOT leave garbage at campsite for contractor staff or USACE staff to remove nor shall it be left in their firepit. Any prohibited items must be placed in the silver bin adjacent to the green dumpster.
All motorized recreational vehicles (including but not limited to motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV), utility-terrain vehicles (UTV), mopeds, scooters, golfcarts, etc..) that are not licensed for use on public roadways are prohibited for use in campgrounds. This does not apply to mobility scooters.
All occupants at a campsite must adhere to the above posted restrictions and all rules and regulations posted in 36 CFR Part 327. Failure to adhere to these rules may result in a citation issued and/or being asked to vacate the facility.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 31 · 3 tent-only
- Hookups
- 19 electric
- Longest rig
- 50 ft
- Paved pads
- 12 of 31
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Portable Toilets
- PORTABLE TOILETS on 12 of 31 campsite records
- Showers
- Accessible Showers
- ACCESSIBLE SHOWERS on 12 of 31 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 12 of 31 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Playground
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, River, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Picnicking
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 60th darkest of 88 in VA
- Bortle 4
7 of 15 sites open on Sat, Oct 17read 15:31 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 18
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $20–$24 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Changes and cancellations subject to potential fees and cancellations are not automatically subject to refund.” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 15:31 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
31 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 19 mapped sitesAll 31 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 19 of the 31 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| Area 3 | Site 21 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 22 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 23 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 24 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 25 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 26 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 27 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 28 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 29 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 30 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 31 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| Area 3 | Site 32 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | ||||
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 002 | tent only electric | 36 ft | 34 ftCranes Nest River | $24 | ||
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 003 | tent only electric | 34 ft | 39 ftCranes Nest River | $24 | ||
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 004 | tent only electric | 34 ft | 44 ftCranes Nest River | $24 | ||
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 005 | rv electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 44 ft | 34 ft | $24 |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 006 | rv electric | 50 amp | 44 ft | under 10 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 007 | rv electric | 50 amp | 51 ft | under 10 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 008 | rv electric | 50 amp | 42 ft | under 10 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 009 | rv electric | 50 amp | 38 ft | 30 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 010 | rv electric | 50 amp | 38 ft | 67 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 011 | rv electric | 50 amp | 41 ft | 105 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 012 | rv electric | 50 amp | 38 ft | 143 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 013 | rv electric | 50 amp | 38 ft | 180 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 014 | rv electric | 50 amp | 40 ft | 199 ftCranes Nest River | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 015 | rv electric | 50 amp | 41 ft | 121 ftCranes Nest River | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 016 | rv electric | 50 amp | 40 ft | 112 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 017 | rv electric | 50 amp | 37 ft | 70 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 018 | rv electric | 50 amp | 37 ft | 36 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 019 | rv electric | 50 amp | 40 ft | 74 ft | $24 | |
| CRANESNEST CAMPGROUND (VA) | 020 | rv electric | 50 amp | 41 ft | 128 ft | $24 |
25 of 31 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Pound River Campground (VA)3.5 mi
Lower Twin Campground (VA)6.1 miCane PatchJefferson National Forest · 15 miBark CampJefferson National Forest · 21 miHigh Knob CampgroundJefferson National Forest · 21 mi
High Knob Recreation AreaJefferson National Forest · 21 miFrom Clintwood, VA main street turn left onto Rt. 83. Travel 2.6 miles and turn left onto Cranesnest Campground Rd. Travel 2.8 miles to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Clintwood, VA
Typical weather
Typical October night 40°F, day 66°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 22°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Cranesnest Campground (VA) is in Virginia’s 9th congressional district. Its representative, H. Morgan Griffith (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →