Stuart Recreation Area
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $33–$58Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 28All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Stuart Campground and Recreation Area is set in a mixed forest along the banks of the Shavers Fork River. The river provides excellent fishing and is regularly stocked with trout. Hiking trails lead to outstanding overlooks, local caves and Blackwater Falls. It is comprised of one campground, one group campground and a day-use area. The campground has 26 (25 single, 1 double) camping units with electric hookups, fire rings, lantern posts, picnic tables and paved spurs. In addition, there is a developed host site equipped with electrical, water, and sewage hookups. Keep reading
Most of the campground sites and facilities within it are ABA accessible. The campground contains two single-unit vault toilets, one double-unit vault toilet, and one six-unit flush restroom with four shower units all of which are accessible. The group campground contains one reservable site that will accommodate up to 40 people. The group campground contains fire rings, picnic tables, lantern posts, and two single-unit vault toilets. There is no electric at the group campground. Drinking water may be obtained from Stuart Campground. The group campground is not accessible. The day-use area contains three reservable pavilions. The “Large” Pavilion has electricity and can accommodate 100 people. There are two non-electric pavilions: the “Small” Pavilion is non-electric and can accommodate 50 people; the “Alpena” Pavilion is non-electric and can accommodate 25 people. The day use area also contains 5 separate vehicle parking areas, with space for approximately 25-40 vehicles in each lot, a 14 acre field (approximately), multiple picnic tables, multiple pedestal grills, four restroom facilities with two toilets in each restroom (two changing rooms located at one of the restrooms), a river-beach area, easy stream access to Shavers Fork of Cheat River, and volleyball net. The restrooms, changing areas, parking areas, Large and Small Pavilions are accessible. The entire 14 acre field (approximately) must be mowed and trimmed. Holder will be responsible for all grounds maintenance of the site and facilities. New for the 2025 season the day-use area also contains a historic cabin that was previously managed under the local Forest Service district office for storage and administrative use. It was recently fully renovated and has been added to this prospectus for future use as a rental. The cabin contains a fully furnished kitchen (overhead cabinets, refrigerator, oven/range, sink, and countertops with drawers underneath), a single full-bathroom (with standing shower, toilet, and sink), a study room with two desks, a living room (with two couches, and end tables), a second living/dining space (with table, chairs and benches), and two furnished bedrooms (with two single beds, night stands, standing closets, and lamps in each room – 4 beds total). The cabin has electric heat, public water, and the sewer is tied into the on-site wastewater system. The cabin does not have air conditioning. Permit holder will be responsible for adding the cabin to the reservation system. Similar to all the other sites listed in this prospectus, the permit holder will be responsible for all daily upkeep of the cabin, check-in/check-out, as well as repair and replacement of consumables within the cabin. Due to the cabin being on the National Register of Historic Places, any proposed alterations/repairs to the cabin and the adjacent landscaping by the permit holder must be reviewed and approved by the Forest Supervisor in conjunction with consultation with the Forest Service Archaeologist and the State’s Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) prior to implementation. Applicants must consider the cost of cabin maintenance, upkeep, and cleaning as part of their business operations when calculating operating costs. Applicants must include a proposed nightly fee for the cabin within the fee structure portion of the application. There is one trash dumpster located at the Stuart Recreation Area and one trash dumpster located in the campground for garbage collection and disposal. There are individual trash bins located at each of the shelters and at the group campground. There is one recreation vehicle dump station in the recreation area located adjacent to the campground. The average operation and maintenance season for Stuart Recreation Area has been approximately from mid-April through October. At a minimum, the Forest Service (FS) will expect the permit Holder to fully operate the recreation area from the third Friday night in April through the Columbus Day weekend in October.
Recreation
Day Hiking - There is a hiking trail in the recreation area: River Loop Trail - #119 which is 2 miles in length. Mountain Biking - There is a hiking trail in the recreation area: River Loop Trail - #119 which is 2 miles in length. Picnicking - Stuart offers tables, grills, and waste receptacles for picnicking. There are three reservable pavilions - the large electric, small non-electric, and the Alpena - are available for family outings. Pavilion reservations may be made online or by calling (877)444-6777. Pavilion reservations must be made at least 5 days prior to your arrival or can be made 360 days in advance. Group Picnicking - Stuart offers tables, grills, and waste receptacles for picnicking. There are three reservable pavilions - the large electric, small non-electric, and the Alpena - are available for family outings. Pavilion reservations may be made online or by calling (877)444-6777. Pavilion reservations must be made at least 5 days prior to your arrival or can be made 360 days in advance. River and Stream Fishing - Catch and release fishing is allowed in the Shavers Fork River. A state fishing license, National Forest Stamp, a Conservation stamp, and trout stamp are required. Please contact the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources for more information on fishing and hunting licensing requirements. River Swimming - It's a lot of fun, and there are plenty of trout to tempt anglers of all skill levels. The 2-mile River Loop Hiking Trail is enjoyed by many visitors, and is a great way to watch for birds and wildlife. No lifeguard.
Facilities
The campground lies on a single loop with long spurs. Drinking water and accessible flush toilets and showers are provided, with a dump station is on-site. Each site comes with a campfire ring, tent pad, lantern post and electric hookups. The day-use area has three picnic pavilions with maintained fields and a beach on the riverfront.
Natural Features
The campground is perched along a bend on the Shavers Fork River. Shavers is a tributary of the Cheat River, a popular rafting river with rocky rapids. Stuart is in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. The Monongahela Forest extends over the north central highlands of the state, straddling many of the region's highest peaks. Elevations here range from 1,000 to 4,863 feet above sea level. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (304) 567-3082.
Nearby Attractions
The town of Elkins is a 14-minute drive from the campground. An annual Mountain State Forest Festival takes place here every October.
What the agency tells you
Be bear aware; keep all food out of site in approved containers or locked inside your vehicle and remove all food from area after eating
Entrance gates are locked from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
This campground has first-come, first-served sites
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Limit 2 vehicles per single site; a daily fee is charged for extra vehicles
After Labor Day, the day-use area closes at 6 p.m.
For more information on Monongahela National Forest, click here
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.
RECREATION AREA MAY FLOOD - YOUR SAFTETY IS YOUR RESPONSIBILTY
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 28 · 1 group, 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 27 electric
- Longest rig
- 99 ft
- Paved pads
- 26 of 28
- Accessible sites
- 4
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Not allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 1 of 50 campsite records
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- SHOWERS on 1 of 50 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 1 of 50 campsite records, WATER (SEASONAL) on 1 of 50 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek, Beach
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Swimming
- Night sky · 53rd darkest of 69 in WV
- Bortle 4
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $33–$58 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
50 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 30 mapped sitesAll 50 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 28 of the 50 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Cabin | Historic Cabin | cabin electric | 12 ft | 30 amp | $150 | |||
| DAY USE | Alpena | day use | yes | 480 ft | 149 ft | $55–$75 | ||
| DAY USE | Large Picnic | day use | 30 amp | yes | 480 ft | 469 ft | $130 | |
| DAY USE | Small Picnic | day use | yes | 472 ft | 323 ft | $55–$75 | ||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX | unnamed record | 45 ft | yes | $33.97 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX1 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX10 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX11 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX12 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX13 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX14 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX15 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX16 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX17 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX18 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX2 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX3 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX4 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX5 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX6 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX7 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX8 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX9 | unnamed record | $33.97 | |||||
| OVERNIGHT | GS1 | group standard nonelectric | yes | 827 ft | 185 ft | $70 | ||
| RCDB | 010 | standard electric | 99 ft | 30 amp | 103 ft | 659 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 001 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 176 ft | 1,037 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 002 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 967 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 003 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 114 ft | 900 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 004 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 869 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 005 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 851 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 006 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 95 ft | 873 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 007 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 88 ft | 864 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 008 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 72 ft | 834 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 009 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 72 ft | 793 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 011 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 81 ft | 662 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 012 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | yes | 63 ft | 699 ft | $33–$58 |
| STUA | 013 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | yes | 63 ft | 702 ft | $33–$58 |
| STUA | 014 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | yes | 88 ft | 719 ft | $33–$58 |
| STUA | 015 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 110 ft | 710 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 016 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 110 ft | 703 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 017 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 893 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 018 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 112 ft | 963 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 019 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 105 ft | 796 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 020 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 101 ft | 632 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 021 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 98 ft | 631 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 022 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 93 ft | 701 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 023 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 93 ft | 743 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 024 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 120 ft | 831 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 025 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 938 ft | $33–$58 | |
| STUA | 026 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 1,019 ft | $33–$58 |
The agency files 22 more records here that aren’t sites for the night: 3 it files as day use and 19 it types MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
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.
25 of 50 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Middle Mountain CabinsMonongahela National Forest · 16 miGatewood GroupMonongahela National Forest · 17 miSpruce Knob Lake CampgroundMonongahela National Forest · 18 miFrom Elkins, West Virginia: Take Highway 219 to Highway 33. Travel east for approximately 4 miles, turn north on old Route 33 and travel for 2 miles. Turn left at Highway 6 (at the Stuart Recreation Area directional sign) and drive .25 miles to entrance.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Bowden, WV
Typical weather
Typical October night 39°F, day 66°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 20°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
what threatens it · who answers for it
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

Stuart Recreation Area is in West Virginia’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Riley Moore (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →