Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Easy to get to and get set up. Had to deal with one camper who let his kids walk and run through everyone else's campsites, plus there was a stray dog roaming around that set off other campers' dogs. But otherwise, a peaceful night.

We just returned from our third annual father-son camping trip at McCoy’s Ferry. It’s a beautiful place along the river and has become a special spot for our group. We had plenty of room to camp, cook, and gather around the fire. The dads and boys spent Saturday kayaking, fishing, biking, and relaxing together. We especially enjoyed the music and conversation by the campfire that evening. A little rain made Sunday’s packing up interesting, but everyone pitched in. We headed home grateful for another good weekend and the memories we made together. We’re already looking forward to coming back!

On the plus side, the campground is quiet, less train noise and highway noise than many other campgrounds. But on the negative side? There are free hiker-biker campgrounds every 5 - 10 miles along the trail, and they all have non-potable water pumps that must be filtered or treated before use, portable toilets, a picnic table, a fire ring, and no trash dumpsters. I thought for the $20 fee that Antietam Creek charges that you would get something more than the free campgrounds offer. But no, it's the same non-potable water pump, no trash receptacles, a picnic table, a fire ring. Only difference for the $20? A vault toilet instead of a portable toilet. If I were riding the trail again, I would just keep on riding by Antietam Creek and save my $20.

Campsite 4 gives a direct route down to the creek and the boat ramp, at the expense of being potentially downwind of the privy, and everyone else in the campground thinking your site is okay to walk through. Some people can be really rude about just walking through campsite 4, either from the campground to join up with the towpath (they could walk close to or on the other side of the privy building), or in some cases, literally walking through our campsite to walk down to the creek (sorry, but that's just rude, and you can walk down the hill or the road to the boat ramp).

The woman who was there checking people in and out was so nice! No one was checking in after us so she allowed us to stay a little after checkout so our boys could continue to fish and we could take our time packing up. We were on site 4 and it was a great site. Direct trail to the water and close to privies. The privies were stocked with toilet paper and didn’t smell bad, so that was good. The site campground was super close to the battlefield and to Main St to get provisions as needed.

Well maintained, adjacent to crushed rock bike path. Bathrooms were clean. Cons are that the water pump didn't work and the parking (along the side of the road) leaves a little to be desired.