Pax River Paradise Grove Campgrounds
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:35 UTC
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 12All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Visitors eligible for reservations at this location are limited to Active Duty, Reservists, Retired Military, Unremarried Widow, Veterans and Department of Defense employees. Learn more about eligible visitors and access to this military base recreation site. A variety of recreational programs and facilities await you and your family at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, located just 55 miles south of Washington D.C. Situated at the confluence of the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay, this is an area rich in both American and Navy history and natural beauty. Part of the legacy of Southern Maryland may be found in the spacious, natural campsite areas aboard the installation. Keep reading
Recreation
Water lovers will find that NAS Patuxent River stretches across approximately 12 miles of shoreline offering locations to launch kayaks, stand up paddle boards, motor and sail boats, places for fishing and crabbing as well as areas for the beach lovers. Bicyclists will find a 10 mile paved loop within the installation as well as designated bike trails. MWR also has a Golf Course, Outdoor Pool, Marina, Theater, Community Recreation Office, Auto Hobby Shop and Fitness Center. Facilities • Tent Only Nonelectric • Overnight Natural Features NAS Patuxent River Paradise Grove Campground is located where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Patuxent River, offering the best views for sunrises as well as sunsets Nearby Attractions • Historic St. Mary's City • Patuxent River Air Museum • Historic Sotterly • St. Clement's Island • Point Lookout State Park • Solomon's Island • Navy Recreation Center Solomons
What the agency tells you
MILITARY BASE ACCESS: Visitors eligible for reservations at this location are limited to Active Duty, Reservists, Retired Military, Unremarried Widow, Veterans and Department of Defense employees, and must have a valid eligibility ID card to check in for a reservation or to gain access to the facility. Gate 1 is open 24/7. Patrons can proceed to their campground but will be turned away at the gate if they do not have proper credentials. GUEST RESTRICTIONS: To enter the military installation, guests must be in the same vehicle as the ID holder and remain with the ID holder at all times. NOTE: Please be sure to verify all policies/restrictions prior to arrival, they may vary based on the military installation and/or location. This may impact (but not limited to) certain guest eligibility such as DoD civilians, contractors, retired civilians, sponsors, foreign nationals, etc. Other restrictions may apply but are not listed. NONAFFILIATED GUEST ACCESS: Visitors eligible for reservations at this location (Active Duty, Reservists, Retired Military, and Department of Defense employees) are authorized to sponsor nonaffiliated guests during their stay. It is imperative that package submission is provided no later than fourteen (14) days prior to your arrival date via email directly to the NASPAXRIV Pass and ID office. For more information please visit: MWR Pax River Camping
MWR Pax River Website
Fishing and Crabbing Information
Everything else this campground posts · 1
Personal or commercial drone usage within the NAS Patuxent River Fence Line is prohibited
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 12 · 12 tent-only, 1 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Beach, Coast
- Canoeing
- Crabbing
- Fishing
- Golf
- Hunting
- Kayaking
- Paddle Boating
- Picnicking
- Softball Fields
- Swimming
- Water access
22 of 24 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:35 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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 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.
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 · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:35 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
12 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 12 mapped sitesAll 12 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. 12 of the 12 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Paradise Grove | F1 | tent only nonelectric | 276 ft | 2,148 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G01 | tent only nonelectric | 85 ft | 2,258 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G02 | tent only nonelectric | 77 ft | 2,377 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G03 | tent only nonelectric | 40 ft | 2,658 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G04 | group tent only area nonelectric | 17 ft | 2,622 ft | $30 |
| Paradise Grove | G05 | tent only nonelectric | 17 ft | 2,608 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G06 | tent only nonelectric | 90 ft | 2,518 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G07 | tent only nonelectric | 73 ft | 2,416 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G08 | tent only nonelectric | 73 ft | 2,348 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G09 | tent only nonelectric | 85 ft | 2,191 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G10 | tent only nonelectric | 59 ft | 2,262 ft | $20 |
| Paradise Grove | G11 | tent only nonelectric | 59 ft | 2,232 ft | $20 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Pax River Hog Point Campgrounds0.1 mi
Fort Hunt Picnic AreasGeorge Washington Memorial Parkway · 45 mi
Fort Dupont Park Picnic Areas49 mi
Greenbelt CampgroundNational Capital Parks · 54 mi
Greenbelt Park Picnic AreasNational Capital Parks · 54 mi
Cabin Camp 3Prince William Forest Park · 55 miFrom Washington D.C:
Take 295 S towards I-95/495, merge onto I-495 S, take exit 7A toward MD 5 S/ Branch Ave, turn left on to Mattawoman Beantown Road, turn left onto MD 5 S/Leonardtown Road, continue on MD 235 to NAS Patuxent River Gate 1, cedar point road
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Drum Point, MD
Typical weather
Typical October night 52°F, day 69°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 30°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
Pax River Paradise Grove Campgrounds is in Maryland’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Steny Hoyer (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →