BEWARE! If your visiting for the day or an hour Cove Campgrounds charges a visiting fee of $20 per adult and $10 per child! There are no sinks or showers in the bathrooms. Use of the shooting range, trails and electricity outlets are additional charges. Charges with larger bases do not fit flush and will not charge on the electrical boxes. The trails are rocky and washed out with deep ditches making it difficult to maneuver even for experienced riders. The road getting to the site is very rough, would not advise driving a car and beware of clearance of large rocks in the road when driving on site. read more

I love the Cove. We always camp here. The grounds are nice, plenty of open space with great scenery and the gun range is an added bonus.

I went to The Cove last weekend with a group of 10 adults, ages 21-55. I'll be honest, I was very nervous after reading the reviews on here, I was thinking to myself, not only is the weather going to be bad, but the staff is rude and the place is dirty and loud? My uncle has been going there since 1994, when we walked into the office they greeted us and shook our hands. The two brothers were friendly, and the young lady behind the counter was friendly as well. I really feel whether they knew my uncle or not, they still would have been friendly. The campgrounds were clean; there were signs directing to different campsites/trails/gun range/etc. I'm assuming the cleanliness has part to do with how early it is in the season, but overall, I truly feel like the management and staff care about the campgrounds and their business. Trash disposal is easy; bathrooms and shower houses were clean, the various lakes provided plenty of fish (we caught and released). If you are into shooting, the target range is AWESOME! There is a range officer to keep things safe as well. He was friendly and did not bother us. However, if you plan on going to the range, make sure you have a vehicle with some ground clearance, and preferably 4 wheel drive. You most likely wont need the 4 wheel drive, but the ground clearance is almost a must. A Honda Cross-tour in front of me made it without any issues, but there were some points where he bottomed out. My overall experience at The Cove was great.I will definitely be returning to The Cove for future camping trips with friends and family! I will make sure to leave another review after that trip as well. read more

My family and friends were there this past weekend and we loved it!! This was our second year coming to this place, We love it that much! The people at the check in desk are so nice and helpful!! The kids had an amazing time without electronics (a plus) We were able to hit the shooting range this year and boy it was fun! Def recommend! read more

My fiance has been coming here for a while now, mainly to take advantage of the shooting range (AWESOME and so much fun!). We made a last-minute cabin reservation over the Labor Day weekend with my brother and a friend. The front staff was very friendly and very helpful, especially for someone making such a late request for a cabin. My fiance had never stayed in a cabin and I have never been to The Cove and it was a great experience!!! We had a lot of fun at the range and snuck in some fishing time (no bites, though). We went to the office for ice and wood and we were asked how we were enjoying the cabin and how are stay was going altogether. The cabin was very nice. It was a room with a futon, a loft, a refrigerator and freezer, a table and chairs, a microwave, and a balcony overlooking the lake. There is electricity, but no bathroom nor heating and air. It did get a little toasty at night, but it was tolerable. The bath houses were a short walk and surprisingly clean for a campground setting. Bring toilet paper!!!! Overall, it was a GREAT experience!! We all had a lot of fun (my brother is already trying to plan another trip), but maybe we'll try out the cottage that was next door! read more

The Cove Campgrounds - The cabin we stayed in. Beautiful view and very private. - Campgrounds Near Me - Gore, Virginia

I had a wonderful time this past Labor Day weekend. I rented out the cabin and it was a nice space. It has ac, dorm styled fridge, microwave, and a counter top to store food. I liked the fact that my dog could stay in the cabin with us. I enjoyed using their gun range and lake this past weekend! One thing I would advise is to have an suv or Some type of vehicles that is higher off the ground then a sedan as my scrapped over some rocks but there wasn't any major damage to it. Staff was extremely helpful and friendly! Overall, I had an amazing experience! read more

Great place to camp! My family goes camping every year and we randomly found this place and it was perfect. We had a beautiful view of the lake, rented a canoe for the weekend, visited the gun range and played some beach volleyball. The bathroom situation was pretty rustic but I didn't mind. The people there are so nice! Overall great camping spot. read more

Great place. Went early with my friend and had the whole firing range to ourselves. Best range by far I've been to. One tip though. Bring tons of ammo you'll run right through it. Can't wait to go again. Definitely go with truck. Road is rough! read more

Last visit with multiple friends (14) including the kids and 3 dogs. The outhouse got busy but if you bring extra supplies, you're in good shape. It's camping, so it okay to be a little rough. The price is fair and the campsites are plenty big. We had 5 tents on one site. Although you can buy firewood, it's best to bring some. The gun range is decent. We had one side to ourselves and it had some wood to attach our targets. The sandy beach is a bonus. The diving platform is nice and the water is great! . Dogs are not allowed on beach understandably, but unfortunate for the dogs that love the water. It's a nice place to get away. There is a small convenient store down the hill. They had a couple events there in the past that we're fun to attend, when we just happened to be there. We plan to go there during the week to see a different side of the cove read more

The Cove and its staff were the perfect solution for a venue for a week long church camp. I had visited and researched many camps, but after visiting The Cove and speaking with its owners, it was apparent I had found the place. The amenities of the campground were a huge attraction. We took advantage of the waterfront, canoes, hiking trails, rock wall, etc. All were perfect for our camp's needs. And we look forward to trying to fit in the shooting range in years to come. I personally enjoyed the campground so much that I plan to take my family for camp outs and even to just swim. I am grateful to the staff for making my job easier as a camp director. I look forward to visiting them in January to book our time for next year. read more

This place is owned by 2 brothers,1 of which is really nice and the other is a complete jerk. I was there for my first time for an Offroading event and from the moment we pulled in the guy at the desk was a pain to deal with. The campsites are very poorly marked and the roads to get to even the main sites are so poorly maintained I damaged my camper on the overgrown trees. Then I went to use the dump site, which is nearly impossible to turn around a tow behind trailer at, and again was so overgrown I got yet another scratch in my camper. I have been navigating this trailer for years and have never had an issue, but this place sucked. The showers and toilets were gross and the whole place is poorly maintained. This was my first and last time going here. read more

There is so much to do at this place. You are literally surrounded by beauty. The staff are helpful and friendly. My date taught me how to shoot a gun for the first time here. If you like camping and want a great destination, Cove is definitely the place! read more

Update 7/21/2015: The management at the cove called my parents (mind you I'm a 33 executive level professional and I'm the person who wrote this review) and told them if I did not take down this review we would never be able to come back to the Cove, it's a shame instead of apologizing for their inappropriate rude behavior they choose to intimidate their long time loyal customers. Their is nothing in this post that is not true merely facts about how I was treated and my experience. Terribly disappointed will never go back (7/20/2015) Why I will not go back: 1) Families not a priority 2) Management staff (The son's) Combative, Dismissive, Disrespectful, Patronizing and Rude 3) Rules not actively enforced 4) Trails not marked; Maps not helpful when riding 5) Dangerous shooting range Summary: If you are a family, a couple or a single looking for a relaxing weekend to spend quite time in the woods this may not be the place you want to stay, I would recommend you go somewhere that fosters the environment you are looking for. The management at the Cove admits to catering to large groups 100+, small groups/familes are not a priority. Also, in my opinion the son's who have taken over management could learn a thing or two about customer service. My family and I have been coming to the Cove for over a decade; we typically use the shooting range, camp and ride our side by sides. Over the last two/three years the management of the camp has really gone downhill (management changed hands from the father to the Son's) and my last experience this weekend was the straw to break the camel's back. My family and I showed up Friday, where management at the cove then told us we would be surrounded at our camp site by 100+ church goers, I inquired as to why the rather large group would not be moved to another part of the camp ground that would not disturb the smaller groups such as we were and management said, "they tend to cater to the larger groups as they bring in more money". So right then and there we knew that smaller groups such as my family are not nor will never be priority of Cove management. This is sad, because we love the land and we love being together in this environment. Shooting Range: We noticed at check in that the shooting range was no longer included in your basic admission fee the range is now a separate charge on top of the already LARGE fee you pay for riding and camping. Another note on the shooting range, they have reconfigured the range but not for the better. It now in my opinion is very dangerous because the line of fire is not clearly defined and easy to walk right into the line of fire. I WOULD not recommend using this range AT ALL! After taking a look at the new configuration we decided on this trip not to use the range as we had done every other year prior to this one. Trail Riding: When planning our trip to the Cove we planned to ride for two days (Friday and Saturday), ended up not riding Saturday because of the lack of signs on the trails and the non-usefulness of the Maps given by the cove staff. The map was not readable and the trails as I said were not well marked so we were lost on the mountain for about two hours Friday, thankfully it was not our first time at the Cove riding so we managed to find our way back down to our camp. When we mentioned to the front desk staff we did not ride on Saturday due to the lack of signs on the trails the cove staff again met my complaint with a line of questioning and accusing us of riding up to the "outlook" (a location on the property) without our helmets my Dad's razor didn't Move on Saturday and the only place I took my razor was down to the beach. So again accusing me of lying and completely made up a story about what he saw. Issue during my stay 7/17-7/19: The church group I mentioned earlier held rallies where loud music (live band with Amps ect..) played night after night until mid-night or beyond, the same group also held a morning church service with the same velocity of their nightly music every morning prior to 8 AM. The Rules at the Cove as stated on the little pink piece of paper with your admission, loud music or noise of any kind should not happen after 11PM or before 8AM. When we brought this to the attention of Cove management they said it was up to the customer to report the issue, not for them to actively enforce rules. Also, when I did report the problem I was then subject to line of questioning from one of the brothers who pretty much accused me of lying about the whole thing. He was so combative, dismissive, disrespectful and patronizing that I told him his father should be ashamed of how he is treating the customers. read more

Camped here in July 2012. First time and will be last time. Beautiful camp site on lake at Camp 7 #1...but ... camp roads generally require 4WD to navigate (be warned!); bathrooms are mostly dry pit and are nasty; Map of roads and trails extremely poor, not up to date, got lost while hiking; and no amenities beyond the sites and swimming in lake to speak of. Add that to the high price... and... we are going back to Prince William Forest Park! read more

This place is my favorite place in Virginia, I got about 5-10 times a year and love it, mainly do to the fact that you can let loose in the woods and be yourself without being harassed by the staff. Having a gun range and good dirt trails certainly doesn't hurt read more

I have been going to The Cove for about 18 years now and have always had a Great time. The family that own/operate it are always warm and friendly. Lots of space and not on top of other campers. I started bringing my Son here whan he was 6 and eight years later he still loves it. I hope he will bring his children someday. Thanks to The Cove for many, many wonderful memories.. read more

After reading some of the reviews on here I was a little worried about what our stay this past weekend was going to be like. Three of us went and took our 4 wheelers for riding. We had a great time! Staff was super friendly and helpful at all times. Showers were clean and on the nicer side for a campground. We were in campsite 3 and the sites were nice and large and easily held our large tent and truck and trailer. We had a little trouble riding as we had trouble figuring out the trail markers and the trails were extremely rocky. I wouldn't go back to ride but I would definitely go back to camp and use the beach area!!!!! read more

I called to check on details of campground and to book a reservation. The Person booking the reservations was very rude and short with me. I was just looking for a fun place to go with my 6yr old for a father son outing. My guess is that this in not a family friendly place. Proceed at your own risk. Some of these campgrounds are infested with drunks and kids causing lots of racket at all hours of the night. Make sure you do your research before you book this one! read more

SAFETY ISSUE - You might want to read this before going. DON'T TAKE YOUR FAMILY HERE. I went out there to camp with some friends - the area seems like it's beautiful and I heard it has some nice trails. However, I got there at 7pm, and had to change plans and leave by 9pm. The camping area was full of hammered people, and someone FIRED A GUN INTO THE AIR at 8pm from a nearby campsite. A short time later, someone from a different campsite FIRED A GUN 3 TIMES into the air. I immediately called the campground host to report it, and they said their security person was off somewhere else, but they would come down there "soon". I was feeling really uncomfortable about getting hit by a stray bullet, so I was preparing to leave. This was NOT gunshots from the shooting range - it was nighttime, and the shooting range had already closed, and we could tell the gunshots were from nearby campers (the first incident was the people camping next to us, about 75 yards away). In the meantime, at the campsite next to us, a girl who was wasted was repeatedly getting in her jeep and driving on the nearby off road trails. She flipped her jeep not far from a campsite where there were 30-40 people camping, on the main road (not even on an off road trail, that's how reckless she was driving). She had a head injury and was bleeding a lot and had to have an ambulance come. She could have easily run over people in their tents. So, between stray bullets and drunk driving, I decided I couldn't risk my life to spend the night there. I went back to the main office on my way out to get my $16 back (pretty expensive to begin with!), and the woman was extremely rude and mean to me and refused to give me a refund. She didn't seem appropriately concerned about the gunshots, and she seemed more annoyed than concerned that someone had gotten in a car accident. I argued with her for about 10 minutes and she couldn't understand why I would possibly want a refund and even started yelling at me (I was not yelling at her). I had only been there for 2 hours. She offered me the chance to move to another campground. I asked her why would I want to move to another campground, when people are shooting guns in the air and driving around drunk. She said that the campground she would move me to was nowhere near where they were shooting guns. Solid response. I also asked why they hadn't gone back there to respond to my report of the gunshots, a guy who worked there said they were waiting for the police to come. It had been an hour at that point and no staff had done anything about it. I called the local police department the next day about this, and they said that no one had ever called them and they were completely unaware of the situation. They couldn't do anything about it since it was the next day. Since I was lied to, this situation was not able to be properly dealt with by the police. There is no way I would ever come back to this campground and I think others should know about my experience before they consider going. Bad customer service is one thing; insufficiently responding to incidents where people could have been killed is another. read more

This campground is in a beautiful location with a nice lake with beach, areas for fishing and trails for hiking. But this is NOT for BIG RIGS. The road to the campground is narrow with many blind turns. The picture on the web site with the RV on the hill is misleading. We asked for a full hookup and assumed we were getting water and sewer. There was water but no sewer and the road to the dump station is more suitable for a 4 wheel drive. Fortunately for us, there were no other larger RV's when we there so we did get the choice of spots. We picked one that we thought was the most level but then we only had a 30 amp hookup. So I am writing this review, not to be critical, just to alert others that might want to take a larger motor home. We love RVing but have found that sometimes the more remote campgrounds which offer so much natural beauty are not the best choice for a bigger motor home. read more

We camped here in a tent for two nights in July 2011. It wasn't very crowded and we pretty much had our pick of campsites. We settled on a shaded campsite in camp 2 near the lake. Although there were other campers in Camp 2, it was pretty secluded and we had plenty of privacy. The campsite was spacious, level and had a fire ring and picnic table. The grounds are quite large and only a handful of the sites are within walking distance of the only shower/bath house. However, there are numerous outhouses scattered around the property. The bath house was generally clean and had plenty of hot water. There is a building next to the hot showers with pull string showers with only cold water. You need to make sure you go to the right building for the hot water. The property has one large lake with swimming and boating and several smaller lakes suitable for fishing or heading out on a canoe or kayak. Also, there are plenty of hiking trails as well as ATV trails and a shooting range. From our campsite, we could barely make out the noise from the ATVs and the shooting in the morning. The staff was very friendly and easy to deal with. They keep a close eye on who comes in and out and check each car at the gate. Firewood was plentiful. One thing to keep in mind - there are no trash cans on site other than a dumping station near the main office; you need to bring trash bags and carry out whatever you bring in. All in all, we had a wonderful time and will definitely visit this campsite again. read more

I'm only giving it 1 star because 0 stars isn't an option. What an awful experience. Myself along with three others traveled to this camp ground for an off-road event held by group not associated with the campsite. The Cove just so happened to be the venue being used. To my understanding based on the website, it was 75 dollars + 3 totaling 78 dollars for the event itself, and a 45 dollar per person "land use/campsite fee." Which we interpreted as using the land as strictly camping, not necessarily an ENTRANCE fee. We decided to stay in a hotel because the total was less overall (and more comfortable). Since there was four of us (two people per vehicle) we paid our 78 dollars each and thought we were set to go. After the four and a half hour drive to The Cove, we were stopped by one gentleman claiming we need to pay to enter. We explained that we had paid our fees and we weren't in fact camping on the land. He asked us to come into the office where a bigger man whose name I can't recall "greeted" us. He began to scold us for not understanding that even if we didn't camp it was 50 dollars a person to enter the site (mind you the website says 45 dollars). We became understandingly upset because now this was 200 dollars more than we expected. Obviously we were going to argue that we felt the website didn't clearly state this. His first response was to kick us out even after we agreed to pay the ridiculous 200 extra dollars since turning around and driving 4 hours back home wasn't an option. He told us to leave because he didn't care or need us there and basically didn't give a flying f*ck... Meanwhile we held out a credit card in his face. He the began to say "there's always that one group who causes a problem." Well if the website had been more clear about it being an ENTRANCE fee not just a "land use/campsite fee" there wouldn't have been a problem to begin with. After finally agreeing to let us in we immediately spoke to the gentleman in charge of the off-road event. He was very sorry for what had happened and that we definitely weren't the first to have this issue. He agreed the website doesn't clearly state that even if you don't camp there is still an entry fee and that they raise the prices without notice. He began to tell us that the man we dealt with was one of the sons of of owner who is inheriting the campsite and that he has lost many customers due to his terrible attitude and is running The Cove into the ground. I'm not surprised. Even though we throughly enjoyed the off-road event, we will never be returning under any circumstances. The way we were treated was completely unnecessary all because of a misunderstanding and I will never recommend The Cove Campground to anyone. Save yourself the trouble, there are many better places to camp, off-road, etc for a lot less money where you can be treated 100% better. read more

As an avid camper I have spent many days and nights camping across the country and world. I have yet to find a location to rival the beauty and diversity and freedom of this campground. It is rare in my opinion to find an area that is capable of housing so many activities in the same location and keep them separated and still accessible/enjoyable. The Cove offers a Family friendly environment, yet still has the ability to host large groups at the same time. Whether you are arriving in an RV or just a tent this place can accommodate you. The activities range from lounging on the beach and swimming in the large spring fed lake to enjoying a day on the adventurous ATV trails. The Cove also offers a Rifle/pistol Range that is monitored by a professional Range officer; the range is clean and well defined and offers benches for shooting and steel targets for that instant response when your aim is true. The Cove also offers hiking and mountain biking trails that are quite extensive, they are fairly well marked and if you have questions you can always just ask the friendly staff for advice. They offer boats for rent and you can even fish in any one of the three lakes without a license due to the property being private. Rock climbing is also available though you need to bring your own gear for that. Even though I tend to camp only with my family I always feel as though my needs are taken into consideration whether it is during check in or if I have I noisy neighbor at night (rare). Most of all I feel safe knowing that the family who owns and operates The Cove also live there and therefore are always striving to make the campground and your stay as great as possible. I have visited here many times over the years and every time I come back I see something new or improved. read more