Baltimore, Annapolis and/or DC area campsites

We were at Cherry Hill 2 weeks ago. Nice place, we had fun. It is about 30 minutes to DC if you don't go in rush hour. Baltimore was a little further. We looked into going to a ballgame but ended up not going.

I live right across the street from Patapsco,state park. There's a campground 5 min off 95 at the I -195 Catonsville exit. You can catch a train into DC from the BWI train station which is 10 minutes away or a couple commuter stations even closer. sites are wooded and spread out. Not sure about hookups. We can be at the inner Harbor in Baltimore in 20 minutes. Washington is 45 minutes during non rush hour by car. Annapolis is about the same. No bridge coming from this direction.

Can't help with the CG recommendations, but I am guessing since you are going over Easter Break that you might be traveling with kids. We flew in to Dulles at the beginning of summer this year and stayed in a hotel in Virginia. A word of advice for getting into D.C., for the 6 of us it was cheaper to drive in and park than take the Metro. Also a lot more convenient to have a car in case a quick exit is needed.

Despite all the scare tactics to keep personal vehicles out of the District, parking was relatively easy to find and cost less than the Metro. You still had to walk to see everything, but if you planned where you wanted to visit on a certain day, it was easy to find either street or garage parking nearby. Most expensive was $29 bucks a day at the Reagan Trade Center, but it puts you right between the White House, Washington Monument, American and Natural History Museums, and sort of close to the National Archives.

D.C. parking uses an app called Parkmobile that allows you to pay and add time to your meter with your smart phone from anywhere. If it would only find an empty parking spot!

I think the break-even point would be between 4 and 5 people that makes it worth it to drive instead ride. But small children might make it more worthwhile to drive. Yes, there is some traffic. But by the time we got out the door in the morning, most of rush hour was over.

Just my $.02, either way, enjoy the trip!

Patapsco is a nice state park, but it is not central to all 3 locations. The park is located in the town of Catonsville in Baltimore county. It is about 45 minutes from Annapolis and an hour from DC if traffic is good.. There is a low clearance bridge that only allows you to enter the park from eastbound route 40 and exit to east bound 40 as well.
This is a state park and it does not cater to tourist. Not a bad spot but it would be helpful if you were familiar with the area. There are no shuttles , no public transportation etc.
KOA and Cherry Hill would be a better choice for someone unfamiliar with the area. Don't under estimate the traffic and parking in DC and Annapolis. For an out of towner these are significant issues.
A big plus for Patapsco is that the rates are much cheaper than the KOA or CH

Oh... good call on Patapsco! Very nice state park. It is right off of Rt 29, a major corridor between Baltimore and DC. Its closer to Baltimore than DC, right at the top of Rt 29 close to Rt 70. Rt 70 takes you in to the Baltimore Beltway, which you can take down to Annapolis. Or you can take 29 south about 30 miles, straight into downtown Washington DC. Great rates, wooded state park, very nice and quiet.

Patapsco Valley State Park is nice and close to Baltimore. http://dnr2.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/central/patapsco.aspx

Generators are allowed at GreenBelt - hours are restricted.

There were some upgrades to the Rocket Garden at Goddard Space Flight Center (part of NASA) a couple years ago. It's pretty cool - even if you don't have kids.

Veebyes wrote:
It really depends on how much time will be spent where. If Baltimore & Annapolis are the primary attractions then the Millersville KOA is the one. For DC I'd be inclined to move to a CG closer to DC. Cherry Hill is hellishly expensive for the questionable convenience of having a bus to the METRO.

I'll add Lake Fairfax Countty Park to Bull Run & Green Belt for CGs much cheaper than CH but close enough to a METRO staion with relatively inexpensive all day parking. LFCP is an oasis of tranquility, besides maybe Dulles air traffic by day, compared to CGs close to major highways.

We stayed at Greenbelt years ago in a PU. It is basically a park with no utilities, so you will be roughing it or using a generator (if they allow that). It is only a few mile drive to the Metro station, but be warned that traffic in that area is ridiculous and you can get stuck in serious gridlock during peak periods. It seems like every road in the area is about 12 lanes wide and there is a traffic light every 500'. Greenbelt is close to NASA's Goddard Space Center, if you have any interest to visit.

GMandJM wrote:
Staying at CH gives the option to commute into DC without driving (via bus/metro).

The drive to Baltimore and Annapolis from CH isn't so bad.

IIRC Annapolis was only about 20-25 minutes from CH. We took the CG shuttle into DC, which was about 45 minutes. I think it cost about $15/person. The only disadvantage is that you are locked into the schedule for drop off and pickup. And the day we visited, there was something going on at the mall area, so they had to drop us off at Union Station, which meant we needed to walk further to the sites we wanted to see.

We did not visit Baltimore on that trip.

I just looked at the Millersville KOA web site and it says they have a DC shuttle.

It runs through 30 Sept. Anyone know when they might restart it for Spring? In time for OP's visit, perhaps?

The down side is that 50a/FHU at KOA is $77 (minus a KOAKard discount if the OP has or gets one). So we're still in the ballpark of CH, pricewise.