This is the first time I’ve ever felt compelled to post a negative review. We were in North Carolina on vacation and decided to look around for a nice family campground while in the area of Winston Salem. Dan River campground seemed to look great from all the things we saw on the internet.
We drove there without the trailer just to check it out. When I went to the office to ask if we could look around I was berated for driving too fast down the gravel entrance road. I was maybe going 15mph because it is a very bumpy, potholed, gravel road. I was told the speed limit is 10 mph throughout the park. I told them I never saw a sign and apologized.
We then went into the park making sure we didn’t exceed the 10 mph speed limit. It looked clean and well maintained so we decided to book 4 nights. On the way out we were again stopped by the manager, Glenn, who again bashed us about driving too fast. I told him I was driving 10 mph and asked if there was a sign I had missed at the top of the road when I came in. He said yes.
Despite these 2 run ins we went back and got the camper and kids. Upon our return I noted that there is no speed limit sign at the top of the gravel road. It is at the end by the office. We checked in and set up camp and decided to let the kids go swimming in the rather small pool. We took 2 juices in plastic cups because we know you can’t have glass at the pool. Glenn drives up and yells at us that there is no alcohol allowed at the pool. I told him we weren’t drinking alcohol and he replied there is no drinking of any kind allowed at the pool despite the numerous cups beside pool chairs. He then accused us of moving the pool chairs around. After all this hassle by the management we left the pool and the following morning left the campground.
I can’t really say much about the campground but the attitude of management is reason enough to avoid this campground. When I went to the office I was told by the employee that others had complained about Glenn’s attitude and he was well aware of it. We spoke with several other campers and they were not happy either. One couple had been there 6 months for work and when the job got extended 2 weeks management made them pay full price for the additional 2 weeks. Have a heart!
In my opinion the owner Glenn, is beyond rude. We parked, unhitched and went to Walmart, got back an hour later, the entry gate would not open, so I tapped the horn and this guy yells from the door “what’s your business here”. Is this the way to greet guests? This guy has a problem. If you don’t like people than close your business.
After reading all of the reviews of this campground I was a little concerned about staying there but gave it a shot anyway. Was pleasantly surprised. Owner was very easy to deal with, great site, clean, and quite. Owner was very straight forward about how he wanted people to act when staying there in order to keep it family friendly. But not rude about it at all. Respected him for that. Highly recommend staying here but just be prepared to show respect to other campers and understand he runs his business his way and I feel it works good for all concerned. My wife and I stayed there Halloween weekend to go to martinsville race great experience.
We have stayed at this campground twice, as I guess we like the punishment but never again. My daughter plays travel softball and it was close to the fields. We had asked Glen, the manager to remove a branch that was hanging down into the campsite and was told that each branch had a purpose, even though this one was scraping our camper. He did remove it though once he finally took the time to look at the campsite. Very strict on any music or activity unless you are a “live in”. We had several run ins but the final one was when a friend came to drop off her daughter at 5pm one evening (which the overnight guest costs $6 by the way) Glen dropped the entrance gate in front of them and came out from his home and said they pay the fee of $6/per person to enter $24 even though they would only be there for 10-15 minutes. We tried explaining but no resolve. We will not be back.
After reading all of the negative reviews on this place can anyone recommend a decent site w/electrical hookups in this area?
My son just spent a week at this campground, and complained of rude behavior to him and his friend, also. He said the guy accused them of trying to sneak his friends in, which he was not doing. He told me he would never stay there again. I see that many of these reviews were written a while ago and here it is 2013 and nothing has changed. It is too bad people have to have to deal with such a rude, miserable person while on vacation.
Thanks for the heads up everyone I was looking for a camp site for the night for a great family vacation. I WILL NOT be camping here!
The manager was very rude to me on the phone. My family and I are moving down to North Carolina and were looking to go camping while looking for a home and from the website Dan River sounded real nice until we tried to book a site for 20 days for our whole party. Glenn then told us that he didn’t want our business. If the management is that rude and unprofessional on the phone I can only imagine what it would be like to be at the campground. I feel bad for anyone that has already had to deal with these people. We will look for another campground that is friendlier and can accomadate our party. so if anyone has any suggestions for a better campground that would be greatly appreciated.
I completely agree with JR! We were there around 8pm and then got threw out for only trying to sleep and told the kids to get quit they where camping I think on our site that night that we paid for and all we could hear was laughing and the load live music from the other camper that was right across from us. We stayed a total of 4 hours and that was enough for us. This was one of our worse trips ever… we were so glad to go and find another place that was so so quit and did not have the kids running around our tent and the live music till after 2am in the morning….What a bad trip that was. It was after 2am and still the load music and fighting from the camper t where the live music was coming from. How can anyone think to stay in this kind of place. You will not get any sleep.. 🙁
I have not stayed at or visited the campground… But, I was researching campgrounds near Dan River and I can say based on this feedback I won’t stay at “Dan River Campground”.
Thanks for the feedback!
I think that this campground is way overpriced! For 3 people in one tent and tubing it was over $75 for one night! We asked if they could help us with the fact that our campsite had a nest of very aggressive bees and nothing was ever even acknowledged. He didn’t even come to look. All in all I would highly suggest going to a different campground.
We have been going to Dan River campground for a few years now and each time has been great. Our son came down and yes he did get in trouble for driving too fast but Glenn explained that their are lots of children there and he wants everyone to be safe. We have been friends ever since. The July 4th fireworks are beyond belief. The fireworks are spectacular and no traffic getting in or out. Just bring a chair and enjoy!
My husband and I were also berated by a man upon driving into the campsite. This was before we paid so we just left and found another campsite since we were just passing through anyhow. I would never stay there.
I completely agree with JR! The manager, Glenn, is a very rude and disrespectful person. I went on a tubing trip through them, and I was treated miserably by Glenn.
First, my reservation was not properly recorded. Then I was called and told that I needed to rush, even though my party arrived more than the suggested 30 minutes early. Once our tubing trip was complete, we had to wait more tahn 30 minutes to be picked up from the river access, although the party we arrived with got picked up and taken back immediately. (I guess some guests are deemed more important than others.) Finally, to top it all off, I took my mother in to use the restroom and we were rudely told to go outside, as if we were dirty animals!
I would not want anyone to be treated the way I was, so please do yourself and favor and go somewhere else!