Outlanders River Camp in Virginia
Camp Virginia: I’m speaking with Yvonne. She’s the Owner at Outlanders River Camp in Virginia. How’s it going this morning, Yvonne?
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Yvonne: Going very well. Things are great and it’s still camping season.
Camp Virginia: That’s awesome. How long has Outlanders River Camp been there and how did you guys get your start?
Yvonne: We’ve been in existence about three years and we are open all year round, which makes us a little bit more unique. We started because it was a historic piece of property and a beautiful piece of property on the river, and I happened to have property across the river and had heard it might be turned into a development of 60 homes. So, it was my way of saving the land and preserving the river.
Camp Virginia: I love that. And what are the most popular activities for the guests there?
Yvonne: Because we own three-quarters of mile river-frontage, I believe that most people come there because they want to be able to have access to the river. So, it’s either fishing or tubing or canoeing, kayaking. So, that’s actually our most popular portion of the campground.
Camp Virginia: Fun. Now, is it something where someone gets shuttled up if they want to go tubing, or are they able to just kind of hang out in front of the site there?
Yvonne: Well, what they can do is: if you were to go to our primitive area, there’s a trail there where you can put in your tube and it takes you 45 minutes to just go around on the river on our property. And then you come out by a pavilion. And if you don’t want to walk back, you could make arrangements with our staff and they’ll meet you down there, and bring you and your tube back.
Camp Virginia: Fun. And what other types of camping do you offer there?
Yvonne: We have the primitive camping. We have something that we call hog pens, and these are used a lot by people who are traveling on motorcycles. So, it’s a play on words. You know, hog pen motorcycles.
Camp Virginia: Yeah. Yeah.
Yvonne: And so, they have a place where they can put their bike right beside their tent. We have electric primitive sites, and then full RV hook-ups. All of our sites are larger than the State requires. Wider and longer. All of them come with fire rings and picnic tables. And the RV sites have full hook-up. Everything.
Camp Virginia: Okay, fantastic. And if I were staying there for the weekend and maybe wanted to even venture out for an afternoon, what are some of the attractions in the area I might want to check out?
Yvonne: Well, fortunately, for us, we’re right in the middle of two mountain ranges. So, you have the Blue Ridge Mountains, which is Skyline Drive, and the Shenandoah National Park. And the other mountain range is the National Forest, and it has 26 miles of off-road trails for ATVs or jeeps.
Camp Virginia: Wow.
Yvonne: Or Motorsport bikes. And then, in (Unclear 3:08.0), there’s everything from the Luray Caverns, which is four miles from the campgrounds. There are numerous vineyards and wineries. There’s antique stores. The Town of Luray is only four miles away, and it’s very active with a lot of festivals and free music on weekends. And being in the country, there’s all kinds of craft shows. There are battlefields because the Revolutionary War and the Civil War were all fought there, so there’s a lot of monuments to Civil War trails. There’s a lot to do.
Camp Virginia: Okay, that sounds fantastic. You know, something for just about everybody.
Yvonne: That’s correct.
Camp Virginia: Two more questions for you Yvonne. If you were going to spend just one hour hanging out at Outlanders River Camp, how would you spend your time?
Yvonne: I would probably spend it in the primitive sites on the river. It’s very beautiful. Fortunately, we have a lot of wildlife, so if you sit and you’re quiet, you will have the opportunity. We have deer, fox, turkey, and we have actually resident geese that stay there. So, it’s just a beautiful site, very tranquil, and extremely peaceful.
Camp Virginia: Okay. And if you were going to spend just one night in Outlanders River Camp in Virginia, which specific campsite would you choose and why?
Yvonne: If I had an RV, I would probably stay in RV, because where the RVs are located, they’re right at the top of kind of plateau and you have the opportunity to see absolutely amazing sunsets. And because you can see mountain ranges 360 degrees at that location, you have the absolutely amazing vistas. And if it’s a clear night, you feel like you can literally just reach up and touch the stars.
Camp Virginia: Sounds like a really beautiful place.
Yvonne: Well, you know, if you look at reviews and go to Facebook, that’s what most people mention. That it’s beautiful and it’s spotless, because I’m emphatic about everything being clean all the time. And I constantly have people tell us that it is probably one of the cleanest campgrounds they’ve ever been into. We keep it limited to the number of people that can stay there because we want it to be for people who want to go more to what I feel is real camping. I was raised in Alaska, so I was used to camping out in the middle of wilderness; and I wanted people that come to Virginia to have that same feeling. So, there’s low lighting so that they can experience the stars. The noise level is very, very limited, and you have a sense of privacy because your site is a little bigger.
Camp Virginia: Okay. Thank you so much, Yvonne, for taking some time out of your day to chat with us this morning about Outlanders Rivers Camp.
Yvonne: Absolutely.
Camp Virginia: All right, take care.
Yvonne: And we certainly hope that you can visit us and visit us soon because I think you would love the trip. And just also I want to mention we do have some rental houses there. One is a historic home that goes back to 1730.
Camp Virginia: Wow.
Yvonne: So, those are pretty spectacular. There is an old cemetery there that actually has the families, and like a lot of Virginians, they were slave owners, so there are some burial sites there, but they were very close to the family, so they were buried in the family cemetery. So, it has an amazing history.
Camp Virginia: Wow, it sounds like an incredible place.
Yvonne: Yeah, it really is.
Camp Virginia: All right. Thanks again for taking some time to chat with us.
Yvonne: Okay, you’re welcome, and thank you. Bye-bye.
Camp Virginia: You bet. Bye-bye.
