Just North of my house about 4 hours, Is the southern edge of the Monongahela National Forest, and the Washington-Jefferson National forest.  They have a lot of very interesting geology and awesome hiking trials  They are also plentiful in National Forest Campgrounds.  The campgrounds  vary in their levels of amenities.  While we like the primitive campgrounds with no electricity in late summer and early fall. We always like hot showers and flush toilets.  That’s not to say we are against fully dispersed camping – boondocking with no modern conveniences.   But for us, in the Aliner, it requires a good deal of privacy so I can shower outside and not scare off the other people enjoying the outdoors.

So 5 years ago, I took Akela to the Blue Bend recreation area’s campground.   There are only 14 campsites with 2 that have electricity.  We did a video and had a great time with the new puppy and the old dog (Dakota) teaching him the way of the woods!  We did a lot of exploring when we were there and I saw future opportunities to return.   And it only took us 5 years to make it happen. 

So in Virginia there is the Bolar mountain recreation area with many 4 and 5 star reviews of the campground and lake.  The reservation site on Recreation.gov even has a photo of an Aliner in one of the sites.  So we were planning on heading there.  But then I read that they were rebuilding the bathrooms and they were using Porta-Potties in the meantime.  We ditched that idea.  At the bottom of the reservation page for Bolar it said 8 miles away was Lake Sherwood.  You are easy   So that was the next choice. 

We originally thought we could do both since they were so close.  Stay one night at Bolar, and one night at Sherwood.  Then we discovered  8miles on the reservation page was actually “as the Crow Flies”.  And actual driving distance is 2 hours  and 60miles.  There are no straight roads in West Virginia.  But Sherwood was “First Come, First Served” (FCFS)  which usually means there aren’t going to be too many people there.  And it was just up the road from Blue Bend, in case it was full.

The road in was the first surprise.  It was big beautiful paved road 11 miles long.  It seemed like it was 25miles long, but the sign said 11.  Along the road there are true roadside dispersed campsites for free.  According to the ranger 25 of them and they do keep an eye on they and keep them clean and try to keep them from spreading too far into the surrounding woods.  He told me they do have designated tent pads and they try to keep people from going way off into the woods to protect the vegetation.  He also told me about once a year they have to call for a meth kitchen cleanup.  But as I was driving in there were 6-10 sites with tents of small campers on them.  Very nice area.  We could have camped there.

Lake Sherwood was nice.  My campsite was a bit different, as they had just spread 10tons of stone on it to increase the size and had not yet finished.  But we liked it.  He also told us the bathroom right across from our site was scheduled to be torn down and re-built this winter.  That will be nice. To match the other one that is individual rooms. He indicated the current hot water tank he was always having to fix it to keep it going.  It worked fine of me, though water pressure was variable, but nothing to take away from a great shower.

The other amenities at Lake Sherwood were pretty detailed in the video.  Great Swimming beach. I did learn the second beach is just place kids can swim to. It’s all one big Swimming area.  It’s an awesome lake to paddle around in.  No Motors are allowed, except electric.  And while I did give a number of sites that were the best, really there are a lot of good sites.  To give you that list of my favorite sites: site number 2, 11, 12, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 68, 70, 69, 73, 78, 80, 86, 87,.  And then the Lakeside sites that are really nice is site number 38, 40, 41, 43.  I’m not sure how Lakeside site 12, 19, 21, and 24 are.  I could not see the lake from those sites they were all occupied.  There were also campsites 98-108 which I did not realize until we left.  So no opinion on those sites but they look all wooded sites.

So I guess that’s all I have for Lake Sherwood recreation area and campground.  I don’t think you’d be disappointed going there most any time.  It’s got nice roads, decent sites, and lots of fun things to do along the lake.  And don’t forget to experience some of the local White Sulfur Springs attractions like the Greenbrier resort.  And if you can make the hour and a half journey up to Cass State Park for a scenic train ride that’s a lot of fun too.  Thanks for stopping by folks, will hope to see you on the road.

Rick and Akela