Seneca Shadows
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $22–$52Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 81All of them booked ahead
- Season
- April 1 – October 31Open April 1 through October 31
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Seneca Shadows Campground overlooks Seneca Rocks and is surrounded by mountains on both the east and west. Hiking and nature study at Seneca Rocks are just a couple of the popular activities in the area. The North Fork South Branch Potomac River is nearby, making fishing a popular pastime. Keep reading
Seneca Shadows Campground is comprised of 11 standard camping units with electric hookups, 2 double camping units with electric hookups, 23 standard camping units without electric, 2 double camping units without electric, 40 walk-in camp sites and 3 group tent sites with drinking water, fire rings, lantern posts, picnic tables and paved spurs (standard camping units). In addition, there are two developed host sites equipped with electrical, water, and sewage hookups as well as an outdoor amphitheater that features lighting, sound equipment, and seating. The campground contains two four-toilet vault restrooms, one double-toilet vault restroom, and four multiple-toilet flush restrooms with showers. There are trash dumpsters located throughout Seneca Shadows Campground for garbage collection and disposal. There is one recreation vehicle dump station in the recreation area located adjacent to the host site in the campground. The average operation and maintenance season for Seneca Shadows Campground has been from approximately April 10th through Oct 31st. At a minimum, the Forest Service (FS) will expect the permit Holder to fully operate the campground from the second Friday night in April through the last Saturday night in October. Two local caves beckon ambitious explorers, and the 900-foot high Seneca Rocks can be viewed from most campsites.
Recreation
Rock climbers and hikers adore Seneca Rocks. Both sports will take visitors to the top of the impressive rocky tops with rewarding views of the mountains and valleys beyond. The hiking trail can be accessed across the street from the Seneca Shadows Campground. Seneca Rocks Visitor Center provides a catch-and-release fishing area, viewing platforms, educational displays and a gift shop.
Facilities
Seneca Shadows is a modern campground with flush toilets, lantern posts, picnic tables and campfire rings. The large facility has a selection of walk-to tent sites, standard RV sites and tent-only group sites. Loop C has electric hookups. Firewood is available for sale on-site.
Natural Features
The campground sits in the river valley within the Monongahela National Forest, which extends over the north central highlands of the state, straddling many of the region's highest peaks. Elevations range from 1,000 to 4,863 feet above sea level. Variations in terrain and precipitation have created one of the most ecologically diverse national forests in the country.
Nearby Attractions
Campers make Seneca Shadows a convenient base camp while traveling through the Potomac Highlands. Explore the scenic roadways, especially when fall colors are at their peak.
What the agency tells you
Be sure to reserve a site that will accommodate your equipment. The site you reserve is your site. You may not move to another site.
Be bear aware; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from the area after eating
This campground has first-come, first-served sites
Everything else this campground posts · 4
Limit two vehicles per single site; a daily fee is charged for extra vehicles
Click here to learn more about the Monongahela National Forest
Check out the forest's campground description for specific information to Fish Your National Forest
Don't move firewood: To limit the spread of invasive tree-killing pests, firewood from outside the area is not permitted. Some states have quarantines and may confiscate your firewood. Please help protect our forests from invasive species by obtaining your firewood at or near your camping destination and burning it on-site. Visit dontmovefirewood.org for more information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 81 · 3 tent-only, 40 walk-in, 3 group
- Hookups
- 13 electric
- Longest rig
- 90 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 12
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Vault Toilets
- “…The campground contains two four-toilet vault restrooms, one double-toilet vault restroom, and four… / …vault restroom, and four multiple-toilet flush restrooms with showers. There are trash dumpsters located…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “The campground contains two four-toilet vault restrooms, one double-toilet vault restroom, and four multiple-toilet flush restrooms with showers.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “Seneca Shadows Campground is comprised of 11 standard camping units with electric hookups, 2 double camping units with electric hookups, 23 standard camping units without electric, 2 double camping units without electric, 40 walk-in camp sites and 3 group tent sites with drinking water, fire rings, lantern posts, picnic tables and paved spurs (standard camping units).”
- Dump station
- Yes
- Firewood
- Sold here
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Boating
- Climbing
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Night sky · 25th darkest of 69 in WV
- Bortle 3
Full this Saturdayread 14:40 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 73 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 55 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 14:40 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 · 17
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $22–$52 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 14:40 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
81 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 81 mapped sitesAll 81 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 81 of the 81 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. 81 of the 81 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.
| A | 001 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 103 ft | 1,580 ft | 1,419 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| A | 002 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 90 ft | 1,514 ft | 1,345 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| A | 003 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 68 ft | 1,411 ft | 1,416 ft | $22–$35 | |
| A | 004 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 90 ft | 1,454 ft | 1,288 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| A | 005 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 68 ft | 1,360 ft | 1,380 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| A | 006 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 116 ft | 1,291 ft | 1,311 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| A | 007 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 69 ft | 1,280 ft | 1,203 ft | $22–$35 | |
| A | 008 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 69 ft | 1,212 ft | 1,239 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| A | 009 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 159 ft | 1,067 ft | 1,223 ft | $22–$35 | |
| A | 010 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 147 ft | 1,221 ft | 1,104 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 011 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 108 ft | 1,621 ft | 1,228 ft | $22–$35 | |
| B | 012 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 111 ft | 1,666 ft | 1,122 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 013 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 108 ft | 1,552 ft | 1,160 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 014 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 112 ft | 1,604 ft | 1,024 ft | $22–$35 | |
| B | 015 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | yes | 85 ft | 1,495 ft | 1,070 ft | $22–$35 | |
| B | 016 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 118 ft | 1,550 ft | 894 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 017 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 85 ft | 1,467 ft | 1,001 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 018 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 103 ft | 1,513 ft | 780 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 019 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 125 ft | 1,389 ft | 861 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 020 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 68 ft | 1,466 ft | 720 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 021 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 72 ft | 1,363 ft | 748 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 022 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 68 ft | 1,428 ft | 675 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 023 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 72 ft | 1,304 ft | 734 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 024 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 85 ft | 1,251 ft | 705 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| B | 025 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 116 ft | 1,305 ft | 591 ft | $22–$35 | ||
| C. | 026 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | yes | 85 ft | 1,304 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 218 ft | $30–$52 |
| C. | 027 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 1,294 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 367 ft | $30–$52 | |
| C. | 028 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | yes | 85 ft | 1,231 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 288 ft | $30–$52 |
| C. | 029 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 1,244 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 390 ft | $30–$52 | |
| C. | 030 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | yes | 57 ft | 1,193 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 429 ft | $30–$52 |
| C. | 031 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 143 ft | 1,088 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 378 ft | $30–$52 | |
| C. | 032 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 1,253 ft | 52 ft | $30–$52 | |
| C. | 033 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | yes | 90 ft | 1,280 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 143 ft | $30–$52 |
| C. | 034 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 88 ft | 1,249 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 139 ft | $30–$52 | |
| C. | 035 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 90 ft | 1,192 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 208 ft | $30–$52 | |
| C. | 036 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | yes | 88 ft | 1,162 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 227 ft | $30–$52 |
| C. | 037 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 162 ft | 956 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 436 ft | $30–$52 | |
| C. | 038 | standard electric | 90 ft | 30 amp | 162 ft | 881 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 423 ft | $30–$52 | |
| GRP | D | group tent only area nonelectric | 15 ft | 149 ft | 891 ft | 193 ft | $65 | ||
| GRP | E | group tent only area nonelectric | 15 ft | 149 ft | 969 ft | 256 ft | $65 | ||
| GRP | F | group tent only area nonelectric | 15 ft | yes | 237 ft | 1,006 ftNorth Fork South Branch Potomac River | 308 ft | $65 | |
| WALK | 041 | walk to | 103 ft | 609 ft | 219 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 042 | walk to | 69 ft | 583 ft | 116 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 043 | walk to | 69 ft | 589 ft | 51 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 044 | walk to | 89 ft | 605 ft | 64 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 045 | walk to | 62 ft | 637 ft | 152 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 046 | walk to | 62 ft | 698 ft | 189 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 047 | walk to | 79 ft | 741 ft | 289 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 048 | walk to | 79 ft | 818 ft | 361 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 049 | walk to | 102 ft | 914 ft | 305 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 050 | walk to | 60 ft | 977 ft | 304 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 051 | walk to | 60 ft | 929 ft | 364 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 052 | walk to | 54 ft | 848 ft | 419 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 053 | walk to | 54 ft | 796 ft | 435 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 054 | walk to | 32 ft | 752 ft | 377 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 055 | walk to | 32 ft | 736 ft | 387 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 056 | walk to | 78 ft | 675 ft | 307 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 057 | walk to | 30 ft | 636 ft | 230 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 058 | walk to | 30 ft | 612 ft | 239 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 059 | walk to | 37 ft | 573 ft | 135 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 060 | walk to | 37 ft | 558 ft | 168 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 061 | walk to | 72 ft | 514 ft | 104 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 062 | walk to | 80 ft | 484 ft | 90 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 063 | walk to | 78 ft | 468 ft | 133 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 064 | walk to | 78 ft | 467 ft | 198 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 065 | walk to | 62 ft | 479 ft | 271 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 066 | walk to | 62 ft | 481 ft | 333 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 067 | walk to | 43 ft | 508 ft | 424 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 068 | walk to | 70 ft | 557 ft | 490 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 069 | walk to | 43 ft | 617 ft | 564 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 070 | walk to | 95 ft | 688 ft | 656 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 071 | walk to | 84 ft | 787 ft | 736 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 072 | walk to | 126 ft | 907 ft | 785 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 073 | walk to | 61 ft | 778 ft | 670 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 074 | walk to | 61 ft | 729 ft | 610 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 075 | walk to | 43 ft | 625 ft | 531 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 076 | walk to | 43 ft | 543 ft | 408 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 077 | walk to | 48 ft | 710 ft | 518 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 078 | walk to | 67 ft | 818 ft | 659 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 079 | walk to | 48 ft | 663 ft | 485 ft | $17–$28 | |||
| WALK | 080 | walk to | 67 ft | 603 ft | 398 ft | $17–$28 |
25 of 81 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Spruce Knob LakeSpruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area · 7.9 miJess Judy Group CampgroundSpruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area · 8.2 mi
Jess JudySpruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area · 9.1 mi
Big Bend (WV)Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area · 9.2 mi
Big Bend CampgroundSpruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area · 9.3 miGatewood GroupMonongahela National Forest · 13 miFrom Elkins WV, take US 33 east 34 miles. Turn right into the campground.
From Petersburg, WV, take State Hwy 28 south 22 miles. Turn right into the campground.
From Franklin, WV, take US 33 west 24 miles. Turn left into the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Whitmer, WV
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 68°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical April night 38°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
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
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Seneca Shadows 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 Seneca Shadows, Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia
Dear Carol D. Miller, I’m a constituent in West Virginia’s 1st district. I tried to camp at Seneca Shadows, Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia, and couldn’t. All 81 sites at Seneca Shadows are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 73 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Seneca Shadows keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Seneca Shadows. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Seneca Shadows (Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, 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 Seneca Shadows, Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia
Dear James C. Justice, I’m a constituent in West Virginia. I tried to camp at Seneca Shadows, Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia, and couldn’t. All 81 sites at Seneca Shadows are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 73 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Seneca Shadows keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Seneca Shadows. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Seneca Shadows (Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, 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 Seneca Shadows, Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia
Dear Shelley Moore Capito, I’m a constituent in West Virginia. I tried to camp at Seneca Shadows, Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia, and couldn’t. All 81 sites at Seneca Shadows are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 73 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Seneca Shadows keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Seneca Shadows. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Seneca Shadows (Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia) via campanac.com