The Site: Rapidan Family Camp

Rapidan Camp is in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, near Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park, and west of Culpeper.

Rapidan Camp has never hosted a wedding. Its 5 cabins are part of the retreat built by the Herbert Hoover administration as the predecessor of Camp David.  Since 1953, this part of Rapidan Camp has been owned by a cooperative of families in the area who like to go there for vacations. Tom’s dad was president of that cooperative before Tom was born, and Tom’s mom was registrar through the 1990s. Tom is currently President and all of his immediate family are members. (If you are interested in renting a cabin for your own stay, or becoming a member, talk to Tom—the sooner the better.)

If you have a GPS, neither Rapidan Camp nor the unpaved road to get there are in it.  Rapidan is beyond the reach of cellphones, and has no zip code. Most cars can navigate the 5-mile dirt road up the mountain. We are planning to run a shuttle from either the nearest town (Criglersville) or (if the National Park will permit us) from Big Meadows along Skyline Drive. We’ll let you know the details, but if you have an SUV, Subaru, or other high ground-clearance vehicle, it should be able to make the trek.  Think twice before taking a Volkswagen car to camp.  If you rent a car, choose it wisely.