Plane & Train

For those of you coming from far away, here are handy ways to get near camp:

Airports

1. Charlottesville (CHO) has a small airport with regional service from several airlines, and a fleet of rental cars.  You can drive from Charlottesville Airport to Rapidan Camp in 60–90 minutes.
2. Dulles International Airport (IAD) is the closest major airport to Rapidan.  You can drive from Dulles to Rapidan Camp in about 2–3 hours (depending on traffic; allow more time in evening rush hour and yet more time on Friday evening). However, Dulles is the only major airport without a reasonable connection to trains, so you must rent a car
3. Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) is the closest major airport to Greenbelt, and often has lower fares for domestic travel.  You can drive to Greenbelt in 30 minutes, or drive to Rapidan Camp in 3–4 hours (more in rush hour). If you are averse to driving, it is possible to fly into BWI, take a free shuttle to the BWI Amtrak station, and take Amtrak to Culpeper with a 2-hour layover at Union Station in downtown DC.
4. Washington National Airport (DCA) is in northern Virginia inside the Capital Beltway.  You can take the Metro subway to Greenbelt, or drive to Rapidan Camp in 3–4 hours. It is also possible to fly into DCA, take the Metro subway to Union Station, and take Amtrak to Culpeper.

Amtrak

1. Culpeper (CLP) is about an hour by car from camp, and is served by two trains:
   • The Crescent goes from New York to Baltimore, Washington, Culpeper, Atlanta, and New Orleans (and back) once each day. It’s train #19 southbound and train #20 northbound, and is fairly reliable.
   • The Cardinal goes three times per week from New York to Baltimore, Washington, Culpeper, Charleston, Chicago, and back. Don’t expect it to be on time, especially heading East. (According to Amtrak, the eastbound Cardinal has been on time 10.2% over the past 12 months.) It’s train #50 westbound from New York to Culpeper, and train #51 eastbound from Culpeper toward New York.
   Both trains are fully reserved—you need to buy tickets in advance like on an airplane, from the Amtrak website. Johanna has enjoyed taking the train from Baltimore to Culpeper to meet Tom.  Enterprise Rental Car has a location in Culpeper, and they provide pickup at the train station.