Camping Adventure 2024: Doddridge County Park

Until my in laws stayed here a few years ago, I had never even heard the word ‘yurt.’ Upon hearing about this place again when my brother and his family stayed there earlier this summer, I thought Lone Pines Campground at Doddridge County Park would be the perfect place for introducing camping to our boys. A tent that includes air conditioning, a mini fridge, and a gas grill and fireplace is my kind of camping trip! I love being in nature, but I hate sleeping in a stifling hot tent. This was a perfect solution, and at $42/night, you can’t complain about the cost!

Y1. There are 3 yurts at Doddridge County Park. This one is the smallest, at 16 feet. It is in a nice shaded spot that’s easy to get to.

Gas grill, kitchen sink, and seating area 

Picnic table and gas fireplace 

Ours was furnished with one twin over twin and one twin over full bunk bed. 

Mini fridge!

Spiderman shows the height above the top bunk 🕷️ 👨 

This is Y3 🛖, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. It is completely in the sun, and doesn’t include an outdoor kitchen. According to the staff, it’s supposed to be getting one this fall.  ☀️ ☀️ ☀️ 

Amongst those trees behind the main office is where Y2 is located. It is a 24 foot yurt 🛖. I made friends with a staff member and he was more than willing to give us a tour of it since it was unoccupied. If we go again, this is the one we’ll stay in because it has a sitting area inside. There was a heat advisory while we there, and Quinn ended up with a heat rash the first day. We kept encouraging him to stay inside the AC, but he didn’t want to stay alone, and with no place to sit aside from the beds, Philip and I didn’t really want to be inside. 

Y2 🛖. It had a sink inside, which is another nice addition. The bed to the left would’ve been ideal for Ash, who rolled out of a bottom bunk, not once, but twice 😑🤦🏻‍♀️. 

I think it was the top of that full bed to the left in this pic. There were two other sets of bunk beds, as well. 

Y2 🛖. It has a gas grill and fireplace, and a kitchen sink outside, also. Being atop the hill provides the most privacy of the three, however, the parking situation is sketchy and probably requires 4WD in wet conditions. 

The best, although ridiculous, part about this campground was that we were able to bring our air fryer and waffle maker, since there were electrical outlets in the outdoor kitchen 😅. Waffles are in my top 10 favorite foods, for sure, so you can imagine how annoyed I was whenever Philip told me we had a visitor during our first night who ripped open the pre-made waffle mix we had prepared 🤬. 

This little fluff ass ruined our waffle mix and made off with two bags of tortillas! We stored most of the food inside the yurt, but those things were outside in a tote. He or she came right over and joined Philip for coffee, not caring one bit that he was around. 

Asshole 🐿️. 

Things to do
There are tons of hiking trails, a creek to fish in, and a fantastic pool and park. 

Baby bean can’t make it far with his tiny legs, so he got to ride on my back. 

Getting Quinn to make a normal face for pictures is a challenge 🫠. 

They liked skipping rocks in the creek. 

We found this little guy just sitting on a rock by the water, 

And this one on the trail. It is a Northern Slimy Salamander. If you’ve never seen one run from fright, they’re the silliest looking things ever. They wiggle around all crazy. I tried to get a video but as soon as I started to record, it pretended to play dead 😵. 

There were some pretty plants to see, 

And some not so pretty ones 😑. Philip and I are extremely allergic 🫣 ☠️ 🌿

Quinn absolutely loved the animal sounds exhibit at the park. He sat and listened to the animal noises and facts forever! 

The splash area at the pool was amazing! They loved the slide, and both of them were able to play on it, which was nice. There was a shallow wading pool and lots of sprayers, too. The main pool area was separate from it, with a gate around the splash pad. The pool had a 3-5’ swimming area, as well as a deeper diving section with two diving boards. 

We made our own entertainment by gorging ourselves on smores. There was a regular old fire pit next to our site, but the gas fireplace was wayyyy easier. Jumbo marshmallows are messyyy. And delicious 🤤. 

Quinn’s birthday party was the day before we left for the park, which is where he got this awesome slime making kit from Kiki. I decided to bring it with us to help fill in the downtime. TV is the only electronic the boys have, and there wasn’t one of those 🤪. 

Quinn also got a Captain America throw and catch game for his birthday, and both boys enjoyed playing with that. 

We only stayed two nights, which was the perfect amount of time for our first trip. Philip and I hadn’t been camping for many years before having children, so I was stressed about packing and remembering all of the things. The only essential items we forgot were the boys’ toothbrushes, and that was because they’re in a different bathroom than ours. That was easy enough to fix since the office/general store was right beside our site. 

While we had a great time, I was exhausted by the time we got home because I barely got any sleep. The first night, Quinn slept on the top bunk above us, and Ash slept in the bottom bunk across from us. Well, until he rolled off onto the floor, anyway. He roams while he sleeps, which is why his bed at home is a floor bed and against a wall. I never know how I’m going to find him whenever I check on him at home. Anyway, yeah, he crashed onto the floor and woke up crying, of course. I put him in bed beside me, at that point, but again, the thrashing about kept me awake. Not to mention, bunk beds are the worst for feeling every movement anyone makes. I’m a super light sleeper, so whenever Quinn moved above us, it woke me up. The second night, I put the unused top mattress on the floor beside our bed, Philip slept in the other bottom bunk, and Ash slept beside me. Because it was a round room, the bed didn’t go square against the wall, so this was really the best solution we could come up with. He ended up rolling off again, onto the mattress, but then bounced forward and still hit his head on the floor! 🤦🏻‍♀️😭😭. So, I then slept on the floor mattress with him, if sleeping if what you call it. I was on edge, afraid he would fall off again. It would’ve been a much shorter drop, but still frightening. This is why the bed with rails in Y2 🛖 would’ve been perfect for him. If only I had known what a hazard he is to himself while sleeping 😆.