Riffle Run Campground
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 2 of the next 30 nights read 15:46 UTC
- A night
- $28–$46Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 60All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Riffle Run Campground is in the heart of scenic Central West Virginia area near the Little Kanawha River and boasts 54 full hook-up sites and 6 primitive sites. This campground offers wooded and serene campsites without compromising any of the modern amenities such as a shower house and laundry facility. Keep reading
Recreation
Relax in the peaceful and quiet campground, take a hike on the over 100 miles of trails, visit the numerous playgrounds, or take a bike ride. The marina also offers boat/jet ski rentals and food specials that will please everyone in the family.
Facilities
The campground offers 60 campsites, 54 are full hook-up with 50 amp electric service, water, and sewer and the other 6 have no hook-ups. Playgrounds and a bathroom that houses a shower facility and laundry facility are located within the campground. A boat ramp is availble just before the entrance to the campground and the marina is conveniently located near the boat ramp.
Natural Features
The campground is located at Burnsville Lake that is on the Little Kanawha River. The hilly, forested region lies at the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, just west of the Allegheny Plateau. The geographic features of this area make the trail system and recreation areas one of a kind with breathtaking views in a family-friendly environment.
Nearby Attractions
Near Riffle Run Campground is the marina that offers boat and jet ski rentals as well as seaonal tours, the Riffle Run Left Fork Day Use Area, the Little Kanawha River Trail system, Burnsville City Park, and the Burnsville Veterans Memorial. In the town of Burnsville there are two convenience stores and a Dollar General as well as the Kreamy Korner Ice Cream Shop.
What the agency tells you
No person(s) may camp at one or more campsites for more than 14 days in a 30 day consecutive period at Burnsville Lake. This includes the reservation holder (primary occupant) and all other overnight occupants.
Any person utilizing a Federal Pass for a discount on camping fees must present the discount pass upon request, be registered on the campsite, and occupy the site overnight for the entire duration of the reservation to receive the full discount.
You may only be registered as the primary occupant at one campsite upon check-in.
Everything else this campground posts · 12
All trash and debris must be completely removed from the campsite upon departure.
All motorized recreational vehicles, including motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV), utility terrain vehicles (UTV), mopeds, scooters, golf carts, hoverboards, etc., that are not licensed for use on all roadways are prohibited in the campgrounds.
Please contact the campground or lake office for questions on power driven mobility aids.
The primary occupant is responsible for the adherence to camping rules and regulations by all other occupants, guests, and visitors on the campsite.
- Pets must be penned, caged, on a leash under six feet in length, or otherwise physically restrained. - Owners must clean up after their pet.
Only two vehicles allowed per campsite. Any additional vehicles should be parked in an overflow parking lot. Driving and/or parking on the grass is prohibited.
- Check out time is 5 p.m. Check in time is 6 p.m. - Quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. - Visting hours end at 10 p.m.
All fireworks, including sparklers, are prohibited. Loaded weapons, loaded projectile firing devices, and any kind of explosives are prohibited.
If devicesd are discovered that adapt electrical connections from one amperage to another, you may be held responsible for replacement of damaged equipment, including labor, and subject to a fine of not more than $5,000.
You are responsible for conserving energy. Do not leave air conditioners or heaters running with windows open, and turn them off when they are not needed. Do not use excessive outdoor lighting. Vehicle, trailer, motor home, or bicycle washing is prohibited in the campground. Failure to conserve may result in increased camping fees in the future.
Failure to comply with any park rules and regulations could result in written warnings and/or citations at the discresion of park officials.
For addition information, please contact the Burnsville Lake Office at (304) 853-2371.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 60
- Hookups
- 54 electric, 54 water
- Longest rig
- 118 ft
- Paved pads
- 3 of 60
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “This campground offers wooded and serene campsites without compromising any of the modern amenities such as a shower house and laundry facility.”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Biking
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Kayaking
- Recreation Programs
- Water access
- Water sports
- Night sky · 48th darkest of 69 in WV
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 15:46 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 16:35 UTC. See them
OpenBookedClosed
Every one of the 7 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday, and on four midweek nights after it as well. read 15:46 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $28–$46 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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 1
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:35 UTC
- Gerald Freeman CampgroundSutton Lake · 12 mi · 3 of 67 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:46 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
60 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 60 mapped sitesAll 60 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 25 of the 60 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 60 of the 60 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.
| 001 | standard electric | 64 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 65 ft | 119 ft | 2,395 ft | $46 | |
| 002 | standard electric | 63 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 22 ft | 111 ft | 2,462 ft | $46 | |
| 003 | standard electric | 65 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 31 ft | 111 ft | 2,527 ft | $46 | |
| 004 | standard electric | 62 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 37 ft | 115 ft | 2,602 ft | $46 | |
| 005 | standard electric | 65 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 18 ft | 105 ft | 2,666 ft | $46 | |
| 006 | standard electric | 61 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 37 ft | 125 ft | 2,748 ft | $46 | |
| 007 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 23 ft | 130 ft | 2,826 ft | $46 | |
| 008 | standard electric | 74 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 30 ft | 174 ft | 2,897 ft | $46 | |
| 009 | standard electric | 67 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 69 ft | 203 ft | 2,978 ft | $46 | |
| 010 | standard electric | 64 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 27 ft | 178 ft | 3,055 ft | $46 | |
| 011 | standard electric | 60 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 24 ft | 165 ft | 3,115 ft | $46 | |
| 012 | standard electric | 51 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 8 ft | 164 ft | 3,175 ft | $46 | |
| 013 | standard electric | 93 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 15 ft | 160 ft | 3,253 ft | $46 | |
| 014 | standard electric | 53 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 18 ft | 71 ft | $46 | ||
| 015 | standard electric | 56 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 21 ft | 91 ft | $46 | ||
| 016 | standard electric | 53 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 34 ft | 69 ft | $46 | ||
| 017 | standard electric | 50 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 13 ft | 55 ft | $46 | ||
| 018 | standard electric | 58 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 32 ft | 47 ft | $46 | ||
| 019 | standard electric | 61 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 43 ft | 44 ft | $46 | ||
| 020 | standard electric | 58 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 19 ft | 59 ft | $46 | ||
| 021 | standard electric | 63 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 24 ft | 76 ft | $46 | ||
| 022 | standard electric | 62 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 27 ft | 95 ft | $46 | ||
| 023 | standard electric | 60 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 20 ft | 96 ft | $46 | ||
| 024 | standard electric | 60 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 44 ft | 119 ft | $46 | ||
| 025 | standard electric | 58 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 60 ft | 111 ft | $46 | ||
| 026 | standard electric | 54 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 27 ft | 76 ft | $46 | ||
| 027 | standard electric | 66 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 27 ft | 74 ft | $46 | ||
| 028 | standard electric | 72 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 44 ft | 84 ft | $46 | ||
| 029 | standard electric | 87 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 20 ft | 82 ft | $46 | ||
| 030 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 27 ft | 70 ft | $46 | ||
| 031 | standard electric | 59 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 24 ft | 56 ft | $46 | ||
| 032 | standard electric | 52 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 19 ft | 44 ft | $46 | ||
| 033 | standard electric | 46 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 41 ft | 26 ft | $46 | ||
| 034 | standard electric | 48 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 32 ft | 29 ft | $46 | ||
| 035 | standard electric | 53 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 13 ft | 44 ft | $46 | ||
| 036 | standard electric | 61 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 40 ft | 66 ft | $46 | ||
| 037 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 21 ft | 70 ft | $46 | ||
| 038 | standard electric | 57 ft | 20/30/50 amp | yes | 18 ft | 55 ft | $46 | |
| 039 | standard electric | 59 ft | 20/30/50 amp | yes | 69 ft | 48 ft | $46 | |
| 040 | standard electric | 59 ft | 20/30/50 amp | yes | 91 ft | 84 ft | $46 | |
| 041 | standard electric | 67 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 76 ft | 134 ft | $46 | ||
| 042 | standard electric | 66 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 52 ft | 142 ft | $46 | ||
| 043 | standard electric | 52 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 15 ft | 146 ft | 3,244 ft | $46 | |
| 044 | standard electric | 51 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 8 ft | 156 ft | 3,171 ft | $46 | |
| 045 | standard electric | 57 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 24 ft | 153 ft | 3,125 ft | $46 | |
| 046 | standard electric | 62 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 30 ft | 162 ft | 3,073 ft | $46 | |
| 047 | standard electric | 73 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 27 ft | 177 ft | 3,029 ft | $46 | |
| 048 | standard electric | 58 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 30 ft | 144 ft | 2,876 ft | $46 | |
| 049 | standard electric | 78 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 23 ft | 109 ft | 2,808 ft | $46 | |
| 050 | standard electric | 83 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 37 ft | 96 ft | 2,720 ft | $46 | |
| 051 | standard electric | 78 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 18 ft | 87 ft | 2,664 ft | $46 | |
| 052 | standard electric | 77 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 37 ft | 78 ft | 2,591 ft | $46 | |
| 053 | standard electric | 75 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 31 ft | 86 ft | 2,509 ft | $46 | |
| 054 | standard electric | 75 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 22 ft | 91 ft | 2,455 ft | $46 | |
| 055 | standard nonelectric | 118 ft | 48 ft | 285 ft | $28 | |||
| 056 | standard nonelectric | 108 ft | 14 ft | 390 ft | $28 | |||
| 057 | standard nonelectric | 67 ft | 26 ft | 416 ft | $28 | |||
| 058 | standard nonelectric | 73 ft | 14 ft | 383 ft | $28 | |||
| 059 | standard nonelectric | 66 ft | 35 ft | 342 ft | $28 | |||
| 060 | standard nonelectric | 64 ft | 35 ft | 307 ft | $28 |
25 of 60 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the phone number
Where it is
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Burnsville, WV
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 69°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 · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Riffle Run Campground is in West Virginia’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Carol Miller (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyCarol D. MillerU.S. Representative · West Virginia’s 1st district
No contact form we could verify, so that link is their own site. Contact is inside it. Washington office: 202-225-3452.
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJames C. JusticeU.S. Senator · West Virginia
- Your senator, on the same appropriationShelley Moore CapitoU.S. Senator · West Virginia
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Riffle Run Campground, West Virginia
Dear Carol D. Miller, I’m a constituent in West Virginia’s 1st district. I tried to camp at Riffle Run Campground, West Virginia, and couldn’t. All 60 sites at Riffle Run Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Riffle Run Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Riffle Run Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Riffle Run Campground (West Virginia) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Riffle Run Campground, West Virginia
Dear James C. Justice, I’m a constituent in West Virginia. I tried to camp at Riffle Run Campground, West Virginia, and couldn’t. All 60 sites at Riffle Run Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Riffle Run Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Riffle Run Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Riffle Run Campground (West Virginia) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Riffle Run Campground, West Virginia
Dear Shelley Moore Capito, I’m a constituent in West Virginia. I tried to camp at Riffle Run Campground, West Virginia, and couldn’t. All 60 sites at Riffle Run Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Riffle Run Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Riffle Run Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Riffle Run Campground (West Virginia) via campanac.com