Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park

I had never heard of this place before it popped up on Groupon. We figured at $ 99 for 2 nights (Groupon price) we would check it out. The staff is amazing. When I had made the reservations, there was a miscommunication and the reservation was made for the day before, and the mistake was not noticed until the day we were supposed to check in. I called to explain the situation, and was told that all of the cabins were full, but we would be given a free upgrade so we could stay for the entire time. That was awesome, and a really nice surprise.
The good: The pools were nice, clean, and well-​maintained, albeit a bit crowded on the weekends (which was the case with all the attractions.) The water slides were fun and even at the busiest time the lines move pretty quickly. They have firewood bundles for five bucks a piece, and each of the sites have a decent sized fire pit. The jumping pillows are a blast for all ages and it was fun to jump with the kids. The cabins are gorgeous, spacious, and well stocked, the AC is ice cold, and the TVs even have cable (in the upgrade units.) They have activities every day, and although they seem geared towards the younger kids, my 11 and 13 year olds had fun at Bingo.
The bad: The mattresses are a little thin and lumpy. The grills outside are the same that you would find in a city park. Right before we had arrived there was a rainstorm, and the grill was filled with water. The laser tag was an absolute joke: we were 2 feet apart, and shots weren’t registering, although it was fun to run around and act goofy. Fishing was meh, and you share the somewhat small pond with the paddle boats. The cabin can be a bit fast from the attractions; they rent golf carts although you can drive pretty much everywhere and there is parking everywhere.

Second year I’ve gone with my son (5yr) and his friends (6yr). Lots of activities for kids in a safe atmosphere. We normally rent the primitive campsites, and although there are fewer this year (some of them being converted to red carpet site equipped with a gazebo and electric), they are sufficiently away from the RVs. Was able to show my boys the basics of camping: setting up the campsite, cooking, sleeping, campfires, etc while them still enjoying a few fun amenities, the pool, bouncy pillow, laser tag.
There are a number of improvements this year, a new playground on the west side, the outdoor theatre (though as an adult, I enjoyed the view of the mountains without it).
One downside is that there is no explicit smoking policy or designated smoking areas. There were a few folks smoking at the pool and bouncy pillow (common areas), and, despite being outside, was bothered by second-​hand smoke. This also happened at the campsites as well.
While I would enjoy a camp-​wide smoking ban (this is a kids resort after all), having designated smoking areas away from sleeping areas and common areas would be great.

We’ve camped at this park for several years every summer. It’s great. Family friendly it also relaxed. Nice people work there. It’s been significantly upgraded over the years and gets better every visit. Pet friendly cabins have recently been added. Highly recommend it to anyone who wants a camping experience where it’s easy to keep the kids entertained, easy to get to and get away from the city without having to drive for hours.

We stayed at the Deluxe campsite. Despite the park being quite crowded, the campsites are spaced far enough apart to have some privacy. Surprisingly, insects seem well controlled and we had no issues. If you plan on grilling, the only tent site that includes one is the Red Carpet. There is no option to rent a grill, and the cooking grates that are provided for the fire ring are small and inadequate. If you plan on cooking, bring your own grill, or your own cooking grate. There are plenty of trees and shade — I recommend bringing a hammock.
The communal bathrooms were updated and very clean, albeit crowded in the mornings and evenings. Expect a small wait during these times. Bathrooms close twice a day for a few hours so that they can be cleaned.
The biggest letdown during our weekend was the pool and water slide. Our group was looking forward to cooling off from the heat in the afternoon. This was a big factor in our choice of this site. However, we arrived on Friday to find that both had closed on Thursday and were to reopen on Saturday. Saturday, neither were open again. The kiddie pool was the only option, but was over capacity since there were no other water activities available.
There were no golf carts available to rent. If you plan to get one, reserve one well in advance.
Overall, I give three of five stars. The site itself was comfortable, but our expectations were too high, believing every amenity would be available. I believe it’s worth one visit, but there are much better parks that we will visit in the future.
Edit: The slide and pool reopened Saturday afternoon

Came back for another round of family fun during the Wake Up Yogi Weekend, which is a steal because it’s a BOGO for the weekend.
Great news, they are doing updates and it’s nice to see. For starters, they have brand new golf carts and plenty of them. They’re all electric which helps cut down on the noise, however you do need to pay attention to the battery to make sure you have charge. Plug it up overnight to avoid any issues during the day.
They have added and are still finalizing a beautiful outdoor movie theater. I can see many nights watching classics in front of that thing in the future. They’ve also added a new playground near the rec center which is nice and up to date. Lastly, they now have WiFi.
I’m happy to see all the renovations being done and the staff continues to please as always. They set the bar high for customer service. If I had to have complaints it would be that the putt course needs to cleared from leaves and pine needles. On one of the holes our balls got stuck int eh pipe and we could not retrieve them. We had to walk back to the other side of the course to get new ones. Kind of frustrating, but whatever. Also, the WiFi is good but can be sketchy at times. I don’t let it bother me as I’m not there to deal with electronics.
Other than those minor things, it was another great experience and I can’t wait to go back!

I camped here as a kid and now I bring my kids here. For a $ 10 arm band per person, you have unlimited, putt-​putt, water slides, pool, bouncy things in the ground, volley ball, horse shoes, corn hole, playground, and other special events per week, like scavenge hunts, the raising of the flag with boo-​boo and Yogi, hay rides, and many more fun things. There is a huge yard in the middle of the campgound that you can run wild in. play football, soccer, baseball, whatever you want. Plenty of room. They have a game room and a snack shack. Also cool camping store. It’s great there as also very close by is a really nice zoo. Shenandoah river access, Luray Caverns. A new zip line course/​tree canopy place next door. Even the Wal-​mart is beautiful with the mountains in behind it. Good spot for camping.

We had an RV site AND a cabin site. Motorhome is reviewed first, Cabin below.
We stayed a week here. Its a great place for kids. Just about everything is included in the cost of the site. Ours kids are teens and they still used all the attractions.
Motorhome Site: Our site (204) was very level, had a nice cement pad. The cable box is a good 20 feet away so bring a long coaxle cable with you. We were escorted to the site but the «ranger» said he wasn’t supposed to help guests back in. Fortunately some friendly campers jumped in to help. This row of Motorhome sites has the best views in the park. 204 is directly across from the playground, which was fine with us but if you want quiet you might get one in another row or further away from campground. I had a couple of issues with electric and they handled it quickly.
Cabin Site: We were in Cabin 81. This is a lovely little cabin in the woods BUT, and this is a big BUT!, its right across from Laser Tag. And that is on loud activity. Piercing, weird noise. Its for 2 hours a day, 2X a day. If you want peace and quiet after 10am for your coffee or sleeping in, DO NOT RENT this cabin. When we asked about it the person at the desk sort of suggested we slept too late.
Its hard to reach the front desk by phone. There is one person working there who I think has been there a little too long. However, the young staff was very friendly.
Overall, its a nice park. the «rangers» we called the Yogi PoPo and it did seem sometimes like were the «inmates» as opposed to customers. But that didn’t ruin the trip. When they say «Quite Time» is 11pm, they mean it. All kids have to be back on the site at 11, which is early in the summer, for our kids anyway. The washing machines are clearly marked as «cold water only». The dryers were very good.
The store is nice and has a lot of RV supplies.

I agree with other reviews. This camp is great and particularly noticeable was the friendly helpful staff — that really stood out and made a good camp ‘great’.
Camp is a little tired, but it is safe, clean, loads to do for the kids and all round good fun.
We had a skyline cabin, almost the furthest cabin away you could get to — the golf cart was hence a great help and super fun for the kids.
The cabin had all that was needed to survive, maybe a couple more pots and pans would have been helpful — only had one very small saucepan and a fry pan, also only one of the two hot rings on the stove top worked. So, bring your cooking gear like you would normally take to go camping on your own.
The camp store was adequate, and Walmart is only a few miles away!
All in all I would really recommend the place — and the location is great for beautiful scenario, and Luray and other attractions close by.

We took our kids here in APRIL 2014 for spring break. We were supposed to stay 4-​nights, but we left after the 3^rd night. No refund given so we lost $money$ on 1 night that we chose not to stay. I would say that the best part of our stay was a huge inflated balloon-​like trampoline in the middle of the park. All the kids (and some grown-​ups) loved this trampoline! But other than that, it was pretty BORING. The cabins have a kitchenette, but you have to bring ALL YOUR OWN FOOD. We went to a local grocery store and ended-​up eating microwave meals and cereal everyday. It was pretty GROSS & PATHETIC. By the end of 3-​days myself and a few other moms were saying we «needed a vegetable» and «a real meal.» We ordered pizza 1 night, and even that was pretty bad. They had some activities planned for the kids, but it was nothing impressive. (coloring, a movie & a scavenger hunt is all I remember.) I think if you went there during the summer months and they had the pool & water slides open– it would be much more fun!
They also have a few paddle boats and put-​put golf that are included (unlimited) in your stay. And some people were fishing in the little stocked pond. Families also brought their huge RV’s and stayed there on the grounds. They seemed much more «equipped» (w/​their bikes, grills, picnic set-​ups, etc.) for this location than we were!

Alright — this place looks like the hokiest, Griswold family vacation stop you’ll find east of Walley World, but pull over. Stop here. Have some fun. I mean, it’s called «Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-​Resort.» For real.
We drove by this place on the scenic way home from Luray, literally minutes after I told my wife there was nothing to do with kids nearby, when she said, look, stop there. It looked ridiculously hokey, and well… local. So we stopped. Now, we didn’t stay here, so can’t speak for the accommodations, but loved our visit.
It’s pretty great. The pool is big. It’s very clean. It’s got everything a kid could want in a pool. Mushroom. Raining buckets. Water slides big and small. Fountains.
Bored with that? Giant open moonbounce/​trampoline. Care for a tractor ride? Anyway, if you head out to Luray, this is a fantastic addition to the trip. No joke. Don’t drive by. You’ll be glad you didn’t!

I’m not sure I would exactly call it camping. But yes, think of it as a resort for kids with lots of kid activities, with a bit of camping on the side.
There were lots big groups and parties occurring that weekend. So it seems like a popular place to hold kids birthday parties which seems like a cool idea. As I mentioned, lots of activities for younger kids. I’d say between the ages 4 – 14. After that, older kids may find it a little bit gimmicky and you should probably find a more traditional camp ground. Everything is laid out nicely, but you’re very close to each others site. As others have mentioned, it will be loud going into the evening. If that’s a concern, they have cabins you can rent which may be a better idea.
This being my first outdoor experience with my son who’s almost 4, he had a blast. We didn’t go into the spray-​ground that I hear is new this year because weather was on the cold side, but there’s other activities around that he enjoyed. I probably would have done things differently looking back. All the lights and the noises he did not like, so I probably should have gone the cabin route. Also, I should have set up a tent in our backyard just to have him more acclimated to sleeping outside. But he loved everything up until that point, including setting up the campsite and all the playing around they have.
As a side note, verizon wireless works great here.

A conveniently located campground, right on 211, that seems very professionally run. When you go in, someone leads you over to your campsite in a golf cart, which not every campground does. Good facilities here and plenty for kids to do — paddle boats, mini gold, bounce pillow (that adults can go on with them). A lot of activities overall. Of course, all the kids around mean its not the quitest place, just to keep in mind. Only drawback is the ziplining activity is EXPENSIVE at $ 75 a person, so we didnt do that. But the prices for the campsite overall are very reasonable.

This is a great campground. The positives: Lots of great activities the water slide was the kids favorite but they did everything putt putt, mining, fishing, tye dying shirts. The staff extremely friendly and the campgrounds clean. The negatives: extremely crowded, the camp spots can be tight, the bathrooms dirty. Overall a good experience.

Be very careful about making a reservation. They will not refund your money or allow you to choose another date under any circumstances. Even when that circumstance is a hurricane that is threatening the entire east coast making it dangerous to be on the roads. The management is not helpful, flexible, or even friendly. For a supposedly family-​friendly resort, they do not understand what it means to cater to families. I will never give them any more of my money.

Great place to camp with kids. They have many activities, laser tag, pool, slide, and a pond to fish in. The staff are very nice, and the park is kept clean. We have stayed here in a travel trailer, and will continue to visit.

Fantastic family campground. We have been visiting the resort for 13 years, first in a tent, then a pop up and now a travel trailer, so we have tried most all of the site types offered and have never been disappointed!
The staff is always friendly and willing to help. We have nicknamed one of the rangers Grandpa because he is so nice.