Rifrafters Campground, Fayetteville, West Virginia: A Review
Stay at Rifrafters Campground in Fayetteville, West Virginia, for a peaceful retreat that’s still only a few minutes to New River Gorge National Park!
This family friendly campground has everything you need for a home away from home, including large wooded lots, cozy cabins, and tent camping spots.
Located about less than 5 miles from the Canyon Rim Visitors Center, this campground puts you within easy driving distance of everything the national park and this area of the state has to offer.
In the review below, you’ll find everything you need to know about the campground to determine if it’s a good fit for your next West Virginia trip.
Camping sites and cabins near the bath house at Rifrafters Campground
This post contains affilliates. If you purchase through the links below, I will receive a commission at no charge to you.
Camping near New River Gorge National Park: What to Consider
When we were on our last leg of our East Coast road trip from South Carolina to Maine and back, I wanted to stop for several days in West Virginia.
It was my first trip to this part of the country, and I fell in love quickly with the beautiful mountain views and the breakfasts from Tudor’s Biscuit World!.
The author’s dad and kids hanging out at Rifrafters Campground
However, I really stressed about where to camp for this part of our trip.
I knew I wanted to explore New River Gorge National Park while we were there, but the park is long and skinny and winds through and around multiple little towns.
I wasn’t sure which area of the park would be best for us and our camper.
I wanted something close to restaurants and the other activities were were doing, including the excellent mining tour in Beckley, West Virginia, but also something that didn’t feel too busy.
(We’ve urban camped before in Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and Salt Lake City, and it never feels relaxing, even if it is convenient.)
I finally settled on Rifrafters Campground since it was close to Highway 19, a major thoroughfare in this part of West Virginia, and I-77, which we’d use to head home to South Carolina.
It ended up being a great choice, and we loved our time there!
Other Camping Options Nearby
New River Gorge is an underrated gem in the national parks system, and I hope more people visit and see how incredible it is.
If you’re looking for things to do in the park, check out my complete guide to visiting New River Gorge National Park with kids!
While there is infrastructure around the park—largely because the park is overlaid on old mining towns—you won’t find the high number of tourism-related businesses that you do at many of the other East Coast national parks.
Sure, there are restaurants and shops and activities around here, but it’s largely to support the locals and not the visitors for the park.
All of that to say, there are campgrounds around New River Gorge National Park, but there aren’t a lot of them.
If you want to stay in the park, there are 8 primitive (and free!) campgrounds available.
However, they’re all first come first served, and I am way too much of a planner to not have a booked site.
Given that I wanted at least water and electric hook-ups and a playground for my kids, we decided to look beyond the park’s borders.
I strongly considered The Outpost, a campground at the end of Fayette Station Road on the border of the park not far from Fayetteville.
It is larger than Rifrafters Campground, and offers cabins, tent camping, vintage camp rentals, and a summer concert series.
Ultimately, they were more expensive and didn’t have a site that was right for my camper, so I kept looking.
Another option in Fayetteville is Adventure on the Gorge, a small campground just a few minutes from Canyon Rim Visitors Center. I was almost sold on this place, but then realized the site didn’t have water hook-ups.
There is potable water at the property, but I could get a cheaper site with more convenient water access at Rifrafters.
NOTE: Compare campground reviews and photos easily, plan road trips, and get RV friendly routes when you use the RV Life Trip Wizard! It’s my favorite trip planning tool.
FREE New River Gorge National Park Planning Resources!
Get all of my best kid-friendly tips, hikes, activities, camping suggestions, and itineraries for your visit to New River Gorge here.
Rifrafters Campground Review
With its convenient location in Fayetteville, beautifully wooded campsites, and easy access to the interstate, we really enjoyed our stay here.
(And, no, I am not an affiliate, nor was any part of my stay covered by the campground. We’re just happy customers!)
Because of how close Rifrafters Campground is to the national park, you can spend your days hiking to old mining towns or driving to scenic overlooks, and then hang out by your campfire each evening.
We arrived here after our stay at the Gettysburg/ Battlefield KOA in Pennsylvania, and were hoping that our final nights on the road trip would be as good as what we’d already experienced.
Thankfully, Rifrafters Campground met all of our expectations, and we had a memorable stay in our 22’ Winnebago Micro Minnie 1800 travel trailer.
Check-in Process
The front office and camp store for Rifrafters
As we turned off of U.S. Highway 19, there was a sign for campgrounds, which is always helpful.
You’ll go past the first campground on this road, Bear Mountain Cabins and Campground, and wind along Laurel Creek Road for 1/2 mile.
The turn off to Rifrafters will be on your right, and it is well marked with a colorful sign.
The entrance road to the campground rises steadily as you approach the camp office, and there is a blind curve, so go slowly.
When you get close to the camp store, you’ll see a sign directing you where to park for check-in. This is also on a bit of a hill. Use your hand brake.
The camp store also doubles as the front office, and an employee looked up my information quickly. The staff here was polite and efficient but not overly friendly.
We arrived in mid-afternoon, a couple of hours after check-in began at noon.
Because of where our site was relative to the camp store (i.e. directly behind where we were currently parked), the front desk employee had my dad back the truck and trailer onto the entrance road, pull up and then back into the site.
Even though my dad wasn’t sure about this approach, her recommendation ended up working out much better than us looping around the campground and then backing down the hill on the other side of the camp store into the lot.
Overall, check-in went quickly and easily.
Individual Campsite Review
Our camper in site 9
We stayed in campsite 9, which is near the camp store and the area of the campground with cabins.
I loved this site even before we arrived as you get to select a specific site to stay in when booking.
I picked it because it was close to the playground, office and bath house, which would allow my kids to run around and play while still being in sight of the camper.
Site 9 is also off by itself and has only 1 neighbor, site 8 just below it. Because the campground is hilly, site 8 is angled away and about 6 feet below site 9.
The cabins are on the ridge above site 9, but we never felt crowded by the layout.
This campsite had water and 30 amp electric, but no site sewer.
You do have access to the dump tank if you need it, but it is awkwardly placed by the camp office so you’re kind of highlighted while you’re out there.
The dump tank area is directly in front of site 8 and slightly down from site 9 on the other side of the road, but we didn’t have any issues with smell while we were staying there.
Our site backed up to thick woods, which also helped it feel more secluded. We even saw a bear walking through the campground as it looped behind our campsite and then disappeared again into the woods behind the platform attached to tent site 1.
Additionally, Site 9 came with a fire pit and picnic table.
Campground Layout
The campground has a large loop around the office with additional RV and tent camping sites along a long, curved road extending off of that main loop.
Within or branching off of that main loop are tent sites 1-7 and 12-13, all 8 of the campground’s cabins, the bath house, the laundry room, the playground the entrance road, and 15 RV sites.
On the long extension road, you’ll find 15 additional RV sites and 5 more tent camping sites.
Another reason why I chose the site that I did is that the main loop sites are within easy walking distance of the bath house and playground.
It would be a hike from one of the tent sites or RV sites at the end of the extension road to take a shower.
Campground Amenities
Bath houses
The exterior of the bath house with entrances for the men and women’s areas
The bath houses are located in a separate building behind the front office.
Both the men’s and women’s bath areas have a screen door on the front, which lets in fresh air. There isn’t any air conditioning or heat here.
The bath house does close during the winter and spring months, though the campground remains open year round.
The bath house was clean, but the lighting could be improved.
The shower stalls were pretty dark since there is only one large light for the entire room, and it’s over the sinks in the middle of the room.
The lights were also on a timer, and, if you forget to turn the timer, or didn’t turn it enough, you’re left showering in the dark.
On-site hiking
Before we arrived, I didn’t realize that we could actually get into the Virgin River from the campground, but there is a small private access point near the tent site R28.
The campground also has 2 hiking trails onsite. They share a trailhead and split around a pond, rejoining again before the trail ends at the other side of the campground.
You can access the trailhead to both the Outback and Pond Loops off of the entrance road near site 8.
Playground
The fenced in playground
Traveling with kids comes with a different set of requirements than when I travel with other adults.
My kids aren’t content to hang around the campsite and read after a long day of hiking—they want to be running, biking, and doing stuff.
That’s why we love it when we find a playground at one of the campgrounds we’re visiting. They’re easy ways for my kids to burn off more energy, and they’re great for making travel friends.
The playground at Rifrafters is gated and includes a swing and slide.
It’s small, but still great for playing into the late summer evenings.
Plus, it’s located next to the laundry room, so your kids could safely play while you’re busy cleaning clothes.
Laundry Room
Interior of the laundry room
The laundry room is always a must have for us on our long road trips, and I knew I’d probably need it while we were on this leg of our trip.
I ended up doing a load one night so I wouldn’t have so much to do when I got back home.
The laundry room is very small. It’s more of a shed than anything, but it has 2 washers and 2 dryers and plenty of counter space to fold your clothes.
It’s also where you’ll find the campground’s free library.
Bring your coins because the machines do use quarters.
Camp store
While you’re not far from big box and convenience stores at this campground, sometimes you just want to grab a quick snack or soft drink.
The camp store in the front office has cold drinks, chips, sweets, and a handful of souvenirs to save you a trip outside of the grounds.
The camp store is open every day from 9 AM to 8 PM during the summer and fall, and from 9 AM to 5 PM in the winter and spring.
U.S. Campground Reviews
Wherever you’re planning to go camping, be sure to check out our interactive map of kid-friendly campgrounds first!
Final Thoughts on Rifrafters Campground
I think the ultimate mark of whether a campground is good comes down to if I’d go back.
And, when we were planning a return trip to the same area of West Virginia this fall, the first place I looked was this campground. (We ended up not getting to go because of a bunch of scheduling conflicts, but I WILL be back!)
I appreciated the layout of the sites, and that each campsite was unique.
You have plenty of foliage throughout the campground to help make all of the sites feel cozy and private.
Even the low point of the property—those dark shower stalls with a light that gave out at the worst times—really isn’t that bad. We’ve stayed in other campgrounds with far worse bath houses!
Rifrafters Campground is a great option for families who are looking for an affordable, quiet camping spot near the best of New River Gorge National Park. Give it a try on your next visit to West Virginia!
