From Harbor View we headed west to Shenandoah Crossing RV Resort in Gordonsville, VA. We booked our stay at Bluegreen Vacations, Shenandoah Crossing RV Resort through our Coast to Coast membership and stayed for one week.
Shenandoah Crossing RV Resort
Upon arrival we were greeted at the guard house with our site information. We were directed to our site and told to set-up and get settled in then go to the lodge to finish checking-in. The property is beautifully landscaped and well maintained. The Elite sites all have concrete pads and had a table with chairs, fire ring, and outdoor grill. The Presidential sites come with all of the previously mentioned site amenities, but also included a fenced in spa; however, these sites are not made available to Coast to Coast members. The landscaping allowed for privacy between the sites and it appeared that management purposely left sites open between guest for additional privacy.
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The site wasn’t exactly level, but our auto-level was able to handle the slope with out difficulty. The kids really enjoyed the pad because it meant they could use their scooters on the site. We also had a grassy area which was nice, but it needed mowed. Overall we were very happy with the site and were able to get settled in quickly. We then made our way to the lodge to check-in for our stay.
The drive to the lodge brought us by the general store, stables, green house, playground and mini golf areas. We were very impressed with all of the amenities that this campground had to offer. Once in the lodge check-in went smoothly. We were given information and prices regarding the amenities and were then directed to another desk for our wrist bands.
At this next part of check-in we became aware that Shenandoah Crossing RV Resort is part of Bluegreen Vacations which is a timeshare company. The nice lady who was completing our check-in informed us that if we sat through the presentation we would receive a $100 gift card and a free stay or a $175 gift card with out the stay. We decided that we needed more time to talk about it and left for the evening.
Amenities
Shenandoah Crossing has many fantastic amenities. They have many pools, an arcade, fitness center, stables, mini golf, movie theater, and more. There were so many things to do that we were only able to choose a few of them in our brief stay.
The Stables
One of the first things you see upon entering the property are the stables. The red barns with white trim and wooden pasture fences with the many beautiful horses grazing peacefully set the scene of a dreamy equine getaway.
Both Hannah and I love horses and were excited to find that they offered trail rides for her age range. The prices for the trail rides were very reasonable and they have multiple types of rides to choose from. We selected the beginner 45 minute ride as this was Hannah’s first time riding solo. She was paired up on Buttercup, a cute little palomino mare, who took very good care of her on the trail. I was given Fetch to ride as he was good buddies with Buttercup and would allow me to keep close to Hannah during the ride. All of the horses were very well behaved as we took a leisurely ride through the property.
The General Store
Directly across from the stables is the general store. It is well appointed with food basics, snacks, and gift shop merchandise, but no RV supplies.
There is also a kitchen in the general store which provides food from breakfast to dinner. We were told that they have great thin crust pizza; however, orders must be placed 30 minutes before the kitchen closes and we found the store closed randomly during our stay so we were not able to try any.
Be prepared to pay the “resort tax” as the prices in the store are very high. You can save 10% by bringing in a bag of recycling or if you shop on your check-out date.
In addition to the store there is also a pool and splash pad, giant chess/checkers, movie theater, and banquet hall all located in or around the same building.
The Lodge
Through the front doors of the lodge you are greeted by a reception desk where they have guests check-in. The decor shows some of the history of the area and there is a TV information board which cycles through the amenities that you can watch while you wait.
The upper floors are hotel style private rooms that can be rented, but the basement is full of fun activities for all guests to enjoy. There we found a fully stocked arcade with lots of great games. The fitness center in located in a separate room in the arcade. This is a great set-up for parents who would like to work out, but have the kids occupied close-by. Down the hall from the arcade is the natatorium (indoor pool) which was equipped with a pool and spa. Through the glass exterior doors of the natatorium was access to another large outdoor pool.
Laundry Facilities
While we do have our own washer/dryer in the fifth wheel we often utilize the campground laundry facilities to handle our larger loads such as towels and jeans. Each campground we have been to charges around $1.50-$2.00 per wash and another $1.50-$2.00 to dry.
When I went to the laundry room at Shenandoah Crossing I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were free to use and the laundry room was kept very clean. Additionally, they had one oversized washer and dryer which allowed me to wash all of our bedding and Ruggable, machine washable, rugs. I wish that more campgrounds would offer this amenity.
Walking Trails
Another great amenity at the park were the hiking trails. They were not listed on the park map, but I had fun wandering through the different trails while walking Maya, our dalmatian puppy. The trails were easy to navigate and beginner friendly so I could even bring the kids with for some fun exploration.
Blue Green Vacations- a timeshare company
We did not know that Shenandoah Crossing was part of a timeshare company when we booked the site. When we were checking in the lady at the desk invited us to the presentation and told us that we would receive a gift card and free stay in one of their two RV resorts. We decided to talk it over before making any commitments.
We discussed going to the presentation because as a full time RV’ing family we are always looking for memberships that provide great value to us. However; both of the RV resorts were located in Virginia and as we are leaving the area a free stay would not be beneficial for us, but the $175 gift card would have covered the cost of our stay.
We were seriously considering going to the 2 hour presentation, but during our research of Shenandoah Crossing and Bluegreen Vacations we saw that there are a lot of complaints regarding the company and it was common that the incentives were never received. With all of this information we decided not to attend the presentation.
The sales team came by our site on Saturday, but we were gone for the day and only received the note when we returned. I spoke with the sales team on Sunday before we had decided not to go to the presentation and I told them I would reach back out if we wanted to schedule a time to go to the presentation. After that conversation we were not contacted further.
Shenandoah National Park
The weather was forecasted to be mostly cloudy and rainy for the duration of our stay so we chose the best day out of the forecast and headed to Shenandoah National Park. The park was a 45 minute drive from Shenandoah Crossing. Once entering the park we drove the famous Skyline Drive, stopped at many of the beautiful scenic overlooks, visited one of the parks visitor centers, and drove through a really neat tunnel.
You will be able to read more about our trip to Shenandoah National Park in an upcoming post.