Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park - Natural Bridge, VA

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park

http://www.campnbr.com/

We camped at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Natural Bridge, VA June 15-18, 2012.
This place was ok, the best part was being surprised by a couple of our best friends who got reservations at the same time we did and didn't tell us.

While I love to camp in the mountains, this campground is divided by a public road in the middle of the  campground. You check in just off the road, but the sites starts down by the James River and kind of flows up the side of a small mountain.  I found it can be very difficult getting from one side of the campground to the other. I recommend renting a golf cart if you don't have one, I rode my bike up the mountain once, and that was enough for me :-)

On the Plus Side

• This place is so kid friendly (unless you want to let your 12 year try to drive the golf cart... that's a no-no). They have a list of activities as long as your arm going on everyday. 
• The staff was very friendly and helpful for the most part, even helped my 12 year old and his friend fill and fire water balloons with the three-man slingshot.
• They rent golf carts (first come first serve) and they are very helpful for getting from one side of the campground to the other.
• Snack bar is nice with quick foods and ice cream.
• The bath houses were routinely checked and cleaned

On the Down Side 

• The campground is divided into two sections - Upper and Lower Campgrounds. The lower campground is closer to the amenities and the river, but is more crowded and most sites are only W/E. The upper campground is dived into two sections as well, the field and the forest. The field has more spacious sites, but zero shade. The forest as you can guess is the opposite, total shade, no room. it's a pick your poison type of situation. I'm glad we got the forest site because it was 95+ the whole weekend.
• It is a rock pit. The roads and sites are rock pits, hardly any grass except in the common areas
• The pool is about two sizes too small, and they let folks from the local area come up on the weekend and pay for a pool pass. it was like watching sardines get free, we stood in the water to cool off, but forget about trying to swim.
• Kind of pricey. We used a Groupon that we bought the year before, but the cost are like $60 a night for full hook ups and the golf cart rental was $100 for the weekend.
• Selective enforced rules. Now I'm not by any stretch and old crank, I love a good time and party as much as the next guy, but when the campground says quiet times are from 11pm to 8am, I do my best to respect that. When you've got families running around screaming and guys with their drink on blaring music at 2am there is a problem. And when you deiced that 7am is the best time to chop your wood outside my camper door, you better be lucky I left the conceal carry at home for the family trip.

Overall Opinion 

I think that overall we had a good time and that expect for the fact that it was very crowded and busy this is a very nice place. There is a bunch of stuff to do at the campground as well as the area around Natural Bridge (visit the Virginia Safari Park Zoo it is awesome).  I would stay here again, but I'd try to get on of the sites with full hookup (there are like 5) closer to the river and I would stay during the week.