Hungry Mother State Park - Marion, Virginia

Andrew S.

Beautiful State Park on the Hungry Mother lake and river. We camped here in our RV. Awesome hiking trails and natural beauty all around. Historic downtown Marion is also absolutely worth a visit.

Annette V. D. W.

The staff at the Park Office were so friendly and helpful.

The cabin was spotless, everything that we needed was in the cabin. Hot water shower which was amazing after a long day of exploring.

Firewood was readily available.

Park was quiet.

John S. I.

Stayed at the Hungry Mother State Park while doing a multi state RV trip. We arrived very late in the evening. Our check-in information was left for us with a RSVP for our camp site for the night. The spot was clean, clear and ready for our arrival. We had to contact the camp host due to our sewer drain cap being frozen and needed a wrench to remove. The camp host was professional, courteous and quickly came to our rescue. I don’t remember the gentleman’s name, but he was from Laurel, MD. Again, a true professional. Our overnight stay was short, but the state park memory will last forever.

David L.

We visited and cabin camped in early November 2024. This was our 24th Virginia State Park for the VA State Park Trail Quest.

We stayed in Chestnut Lodge for 2 nights (minimum booking time). We used this location as a staging area for our next couple days of exploring this part of Virginia.

We checked in at the Discovery Center. This was a very cool area for the kids. There were animals (including a hellbender salamander) and things for the kids to touch and play with. There is also a junior ranger activity booklet where the kids can earn a patch.

The Chestnut Lodge itself was also very nice. Cleaner than expected for a state park. One of the bathrooms was also newly remodeling and was very nice. Looks like there was a cord of wood provided but we didn't get a chance to use it. Same with a gas grill. There was plenty of hot water too. The road leading up to the lodges wasn't in great shape though. Lots of potholes and you had to drive slowly.

We unfortunately didn't get to do as much as we wanted in the park because we used it as a staging ground for hiking The Channels and Grayson Highlands. We did do a portion of the trail around the lake.

We 100% have to stay again and plan on spending more time in this park. There were so many things we wanted to do that we didn't get an opportunity to. Speaking on the lodging aspect, we would definitely stay here again.

David H.

This is such a well designed state park! We were able to spend Thanksgiving weekend there in their rental cabins. We hiked and played outside during the day and then stoked the fire and played cards until bedtime. We slept so well, the place is so peaceful.

Emily G.

Camped with our two young kids at the creekside campsite and are already planning our next trip there! This site has bathrooms and showers, hookups for those with campers, and was reasonably priced per night. The visitors center, campsite, trails and park in general are stunning! The 5.7 mile loop around the lake was great, the lake beach front was well kept and the views were awesome. Highly recommend!! Park wasn't too crowded either in early/mid May

S.C. O.

Stayed in site 4 Royal Oak. Love this campground because it is tent only, you will not hear generators up here. This site is closest to the bathroom and the light from the bathroom lit up my tent from the back a bit, so be aware of that if you need it totally dark to sleep. I’ve camped at this park twice now and I love it. There’s a 6 mile loop around the lake, easy well defined path, no elevation to speak of. Also did lake loop to ridge trail to Molly’s knob and the elevation was hard for me but I’m out of shape. There were benches strategically placed all the way up. Super beautiful here.

Lisa B.

Generally we would absolutely recommend visiting Hungry Mother, great trails, beautiful beach, fun playgrounds, great staff and informative programs.
The only reason for the 4 star rating is that we stayed in the Royal Oak Campground specifically for tent camping only to find the tent pads were in fact wooden decks where we could not stake up the tent. This seemed to not be a problem for most campers but having a bell tent this caused us a significant problem, which we were only able to solve by using rope to tie the tent to the deck rails. We cannot understand for a state park why this was a good idea seeing as they would know how tents are erected.