We left home at around noon and after a drive of about 3 hours arrived at Shenandoah River State Park.  It is about 15 miles south of Front Royal, off Route 340.  A light rain fell as we approached the park, but it stopped in time for us to set up.

The RV campground is new as of 2011, and the sites are good-sized and spread apart, though out in the open without much vegetation between.  We chose site 17, which turned out to be a good one, in that there is a Baltimore oriole nest just across the road and we’ve been able to watch those brilliant orange birds come and go. 

The campground host stopped in to greet us.  He is at this park through May and then going home.  Surprisingly, he said that the state parks have been having trouble finding people who want to be campground hosts, so no one is coming in behind him for either June or July.  He also mentioned that the place was totally packed over the Memorial Day weekend, all 32 sites taken.  (At this point, there are 7 in our loop and 4 or 5 in the other loop, so it’s relatively empty.)

 We donned raincoats and headed out to explore. We picked up the Bluebell/River Trail near the other loop and walked the flat path along the river, where we saw many birds and heard them all around.  In one short walk we noted about 15 types, including summer tanager, red-headed woodpecker, and cedar waxwings.  There are bird boxes everywhere for the many tree swallows that swoop and soar over the large meadow. 

After hamburgers for dinner, we had a nice campfire.  (Wood for sale at the campground host’s site.)