Agency-listedVirginia DWR · dispersedFree
Rapidan WMA
Dispersed · Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources · VA · 38.43924, -78.42396
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Rapidan WMA
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,692 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Rapidan WMANIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Rapidan WMA · Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources · VA
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- WWater3 mi
- ShShower3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- OOutfitter6 mi
- DDump6 mi
- @Mail6 mi
- LLaundry6 mi
- RxPharmacy10 mi
- MMechanic10 mi
- EVEV fast charger10 mi
- +Urgent care10 mi
- HHardware10 mi
- PPropane16 mi
- AAir-up16 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 3 mi out.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Rapidan WMA
Access
Dispersed
Land
Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources · dispersed
Elevation
2,692 ft
Ground slope
64.8% · steep
State
VA
Coordinates
38.43924, -78.42396
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Rapidan WMA · Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources · VA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureConway River · ~0.6 mi · USGS: perennial river
- Nearest townStanardsville · ~9.7 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~2.9 mi
- FuelBig Meadows Wayside · ~5.5 mi
- Propane / LPG7-Eleven · ~15.7 mi
- Dump station~5.7 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~3.0 mi
- PharmacyPharmacy · ~9.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicGreene Care Clinic · ~9.9 mi
- HardwareCardinal Home Center · ~10.1 mi
EV charging — from Rapidan WMA · Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources · VA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger9.8 mi straight-line SE — Madison, VA - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach13 within 25 mi · 44 within 50 · 411 within 100 · 742 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS15.7 mi — Marlow Ford, Luray
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO23.9 mi — MALLOYCHEVROLET CPE250 1, Charlottesville
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.5 mi — Shenandoah National Park - Big Meadows, Stanley, VA (at a national park) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-01-13 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 153789 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Rapidan WMA · Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources · VA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomPATC Bearfence Mtn Hut Shelter Vault Privy · ~2.5 mi W · NPS
- RestroomLS05-10 Lewis Mountain Picnic Ground Comfort Station - NPS · ~2.9 mi W · NPS
- RestroomLS05-12 Lewis Mountain Campground Comfort Station - NPS · ~2.9 mi W · NPS
- RestroomCH24-65 Rapidan Camp Vault Toilet - NPS · ~3.7 mi N · NPS
Coming out here — Rapidan WMA · Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources · VA
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Conway River as a perennial river, ~0.6 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 64.8% — steep. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Assume no services at all. Most dispersed camping in a national forest has none: no tap, no power, no dump, often no toilet. Everything you need, you bring.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Rapidan WMA elsewhere
Other camps near Rapidan WMA
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Camp 6~14.0 mi
- Boones Run Massanutten Shelter~15.4 mi
- Camp Roosevelt~20.9 mi · fee
- High Cliff Canoe-Decommissioned~23.0 mi
Who holds the land at Rapidan WMA
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Rapidan Wildlife Management Area, manager on record: VA Department of Wildlife Resources (state). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Rapidan WMA
Fire rules
It is unlawful to leave a campfire unattended. From February 15 to April 30 campfires are allowed only between the hours of 4:00 PM and midnight.
Stay limit
14 nights (up to 14 consecutive nights)
Permit
A new regulation (4VAC15-20-155) effective January 1, 2021 makes it unlawful to camp on Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) without written authorization. There is no charge for camping authorizations at this time. Camping authorization can be obtained from the Go Outdoors Virginia website or any DWR license agent. Any person 17 years of age or older who does not possess a valid hunting, fishing, trapping license or boat registration is required to purchase an access permit or Restore the Wild membership, which includes an access permit, to visit and utilize a WMA.
Area rules
Camping is only allowed in previously cleared locations; no vegetation can be cut to make room for a camp. It is unlawful to camp within 300 feet of any lake or facility (building, boat ramp, etc.). Camping is prohibited in certain other areas as displayed on WMA maps, publicized on WMA kiosks or where posted as "No Camping."
Source
public land records
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Virginia DWR Wildlife Management Area, Madison and Greene counties. DWR flags this WMA as offering Primitive Camping. DWR page states primitive camping with no developed sites or facilities is permitted throughout the management area, subject to WMA rules. About 25 miles west of Culpeper and 30 miles north of Charlottesville. Four tracts adjoin Shenandoah National Park along nearly 25 miles of boundary. Middle River Tract access via Route 615/Bluff Mountain Road -- DWR recommends 4WD. Nearest town named by DWR: Culpeper. Camping authorization required (free, Go Outdoors Virginia, listed under Special Licenses). Anyone 17+ also needs a VA hunting/fishing/trapping license, boat registration, Access Permit or Restore the Wild membership. Primitive camping up to 14 consecutive nights and no more than 14 nights in any 28-day period. Camping only in previously cleared locations; no cutting vegetation. Unlawful to camp on or within 300 ft of any boat ramp, fishing lake or facility, or where posted. Campfires may not be left unattended; Feb 15-Apr 30 campfires are allowed only 4:00 PM to midnight. Food must be stored so wildlife cannot reach it. Pack it in, pack it out. COORDINATES ARE A COMPUTED REPRESENTATIVE POINT inside the largest tract of DWR's own boundary polygon (4052.2 acres of 10046.9 acres total across 8 tract(s)), NOT a surveyed campsite. DWR states there are no established campsites on WMAs. Sources read 2026-08-17: https://dwr.virginia.gov/wma/ (Primitive Camping amenity flag) | https://dwr.virginia.gov/camping-on-wmas/ | https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/wma-rules.pdf (General WMA Rules) | boundary geometry from https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/arcgis/rest/services/HUB_Layers/DWR_WMA_Boundaries/FeatureServer/0 WMA page: https://dwr.virginia.gov/wma/rapidan/ | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Rapidan WMA
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Whether the fire rule stated above still stands today — what we have is a dated reading of the agency's listing, not a live restriction feed
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Rapidan WMA
Stay limits →Your first dispersed night →Fire rules & restrictions →Reading the aerial →All field notes →