# Cherrystone Cg Or Kipoteke National Park??



## JerseyGirl86 (Mar 30, 2009)

I'm hearing good and bad things about Cherrystone. We have friends who went last year with 5 kids and they all loved it. BUT they also love a local CG that I hate. Others complain about Cherrystone as far as floods, sewer backups, rude management, bad sites, crowded.....blah, blah, blah. All Mike hears is FISHING, catching crabs and clams at the pier. I need someplace that has a lot for the kids to do. I also hear the waterfront sites are only for seasonal campers and the decent sites are for the motorhomes.

On the other hand, I heard of Kipoteke (?) State Park and some like that better, although it doesn't have anything for the kids to do except fish. I also hear that there's absolutely nothing around this area except for the CGs. Kinda want other areas to explore since we might be there a while.

Can anyone let me know what you thought of either places? If you stayed at Cherrystone, do you remember where the good sites were?

Michele


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

I have a customer that goes to Cherrystone every year and loves it!!!

They are always telling me we need to go there.

I have looked at it many times and every year it is on our radar as a place to go!!

Let us know how you make out!! And what you decide!!!

Did some one say Clams







and fishing................







how could you go wrong


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## bill_pfaff (Mar 11, 2005)

The adult side of me says stay away from Cherry Stone but we went there with the kids when they were small and they enjoyed it. I think it depends on how old your kids are. We went when they were 12 and under. Personally I think it is a drag but if you and/or the kids like the fishing/calming/etc thing then you may be OK. Not that I don't like that but as far as I'm concerned there is NOTING else to do there.

Not sure of your idea of a good place but did you consider Chincoteague. Quite a nice place and it's about 50 miles north of Cherry Stone which should be less travel time for you.


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## webeopelas (Mar 11, 2006)

Been to Cherrystone many times. We like it alot. Never had any problems with floods or the staff.

All of their sites are "rustic" in that they are grass or dirt with lots of trees and they are not all regular shapes.

They do have a section that is the drive thru type of sites. We end up there now because the rest of the campground would have a hard time supporting a 35ft trailer.

When we had the 28BHS, we got a site that was on the bay. Never forget sitting in a chair with our favorite beverage, watching the sunset.

Campground has a great pool, mini golf, boat rentals, paddle boats, fiddler crab races, and other activities for the kids.

Crabbing is fun, but the last few years it is hard to catch enough to make a meal. We still go out and try to catch the biggest one, but never plan on catching our dinner.

Don't believe the hype on the clams. We rented a rake the first year and only caught an old shoe.

Now when we want clams, we walk down to the little farmer's market on site and order up a couple dozen cherrystone little necks. You can even have them steamed for you.

If you like a leisurely weekend and want to hang out, Cherrystone is a great place.


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## JerseyGirl86 (Mar 30, 2009)

bill_pfaff said:


> The adult side of me says stay away from Cherry Stone but we went there with the kids when they were small and they enjoyed it. I think it depends on how old your kids are. We went when they were 12 and under. Personally I think it is a drag but if you and/or the kids like the fishing/calming/etc thing then you may be OK. Not that I don't like that but as far as I'm concerned there is NOTING else to do there.
> 
> Not sure of your idea of a good place but did you consider Chincoteague. Quite a nice place and it's about 50 miles north of Cherry Stone which should be less travel time for you.


Where's a good CG in Chincoteague? And it's got to have SOMETHING for the kids....15, 12, and 8. Not too many bells and whistles, but enough that they don't have to sit in a chair staring at their feet all weekend. I like the idea of traveling less!!!


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## JerseyGirl86 (Mar 30, 2009)

webeopelas said:


> Been to Cherrystone many times. We like it alot. Never had any problems with floods or the staff.
> 
> All of their sites are "rustic" in that they are grass or dirt with lots of trees and they are not all regular shapes.
> 
> ...


Anything else around there to do? Or is there a better CG (kid friendly) close by? I just like the idea of being so close to the water. The only one by me that's on the beach has a row of houses in front of it and is only for seasonal campers.


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## bill_pfaff (Mar 11, 2005)

Chincoteague is in no way the Jersey shore or Ocean City MD. It is an island that adjoins Assateague Island National Seashore which if you like the beach you are going to love. They even have a beach on Assateague that you can only get to by bicycle or walking.

The place is great for biking (my passion as much as I am able) has all the amenities of any resort town, be they limited. Shopping, putt putt golf some museums etc. It even has a movie house with, count them, two features that change every Thursday I think. Of course there is the peony thing but we stay clear of the island for that. It's a small island and it just gets nuts the week of the pony roundup and the weekends before and after. You'll probably miss that anyway because it is later this month.

If you like to go out to eat there are a number of restaurants I would recommend.

The link to Chincoteague I included above has some pretty good information. Use the drop downs on the left side of the page.

As far as a CG recommendation. There are a number of fairly good camp grounds but the one we go to is off the beaten path. The restrooms are old but they are clean. We use the TT a lot. It has limited sites with cable TV that we don't use. TV reception is sketchy but the cable sites are up front where the sites are a little cramped for us. We stay in the back where most of the time there are a lot of empty sites. Don't get me wrong I have seen them full up but a lot of the times they are 40 % empty which is nice. It's the one called "Pine Grove". There is a link under the "Accommodations" drop down on the page I sent you the link for.

One bad thing about the entire island is mosquitoes. They spray every day but it is an island and they have mosquitoes.

Like I said, it isn't Wildwood, Point Pleasant or Seaside but it is way more active than Cherry Stone and if you want to crab/clam/fish you can do all that on Assateague Island.

Let me know if you go and how you liked it.

By the way. The Tom's Cove CGs is in my opinion the last one you want to stay in. Although it is the biggest and most popular it is for those very reasons I'd stay away from it. On top of that it is on the far end of the island. Furthest from the town itself. My 2 cents.


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## firemedicinstr (Apr 6, 2005)

If you are looking at VA Beach area take a look at Holiday TravL Park www.campingvb.com/ This is my favorite campground near the beach. They have parking that is free for registered campers. We tried Kiptopeke (sp?) and found every site they offered us over run with poison ivy.

When you look at Chincoteague take a look at Tom's Cove for camping. They have a boat ramp and we have put the canoe in from here several times. The only drawback to the park is the main road into the campground is still gravel and you get that fine gray dust on everything, so stay away from the main road and you should be OK>

MK


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## Jim - Chesapeake VA (Aug 10, 2009)

Figured I'd add to this forum since nobody really discussed Kiptopeke. We've stayed there many times and loved it. It's a state park, there is no "town" or some of the other amenities that Cherrystone has. However, we've camped with lots of kids and never been bored. There are two beaches separated by a fishing pier. One is dedicated to swimming and the other is a fishing/kayaking/sailing beach. There's a launch ramp for putting your boats in. Kiptopeke is the old ferry landing before they put in the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. To protect the ferries they established a breakwater by sinking some concrete ships from WWII. Over the years the area between the ships and the beach has silted in, making it relatively shallow like a bathtub, so the water is generally warmer and calmer. We do group activities with the kids cycling between the swimming and boating beaches. There are also nature trails and the park rangers put on activities. We like it.

You can reserve a site on-line, but not a specific site.

Jim


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