Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never take my young child camping. Too many crazy people out there. Backyard camping is safer.

Sad for your child Although we did not take our kids camping until the youngest was 5. It's bad enough to have to wash dishes by hand let alone deal with poopy accidents with no washer dryer.

Ditto. Camping is no less safe than other kinds of travel. Do you never go anywhere because of "crazy people"?

We started camping when our youngest was 3. For me, camping + diapers is no fun!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at all fancy, but we stayed at the KOA campground at Harper's Ferry last summer, staying in one of their cabins, and my kids loved it. It has a pool, mini golf, jumping pillow, pancake breakfast along with plenty of hiking trails in the area.

Something similar might be the Jellystone campground in Hagerstown.

Jellystone is much more expensive and the KOA is much nicer

Anonymous wrote:Not at all fancy, but we stayed at the KOA campground at Harper's Ferry last summer, staying in one of their cabins, and my kids loved it. It has a pool, mini golf, jumping pillow, pancake breakfast along with plenty of hiking trails in the area.

Something similar might be the Jellystone campground in Hagerstown.

Anonymous wrote:I would never take my young child camping. Too many crazy people out there. Backyard camping is safer.

Sad for your child Although we did not take our kids camping until the youngest was 5. It's bad enough to have to wash dishes by hand let alone deal with poopy accidents with no washer dryer.

We did a cabin rental at Douthat State Park in WV - they have affordable two bedroom cabins with climate control, fireplace, full kitchen & bath etc & a fire ring and picnic table you can use outside. The park features a lake, restaurant, nature center, a waterfall hike and a creek. It's also a short drive to some great hikes and fishing rivers as well as the Homestead resort and Jefferson Pools.
Big Meadows in Shenandoah also has cabins and lodge rooms that could ease you in, the hiking in the meadow at the entrance to the lodge road would be plenty of adventure for a 3 year old and the short hike down and back from Dark Hollow Falls would be doable with a baby carrier.
2 places I have been looking at are cabins and camping at Blackwater Falls State Park and Canaan Valley State Park.
There is a yurt you can rent at Kiptopeke State park, over on the bay side of the Eastern Shore near Cape Charles. I have been to the bay beach there and it is very clean with lots of ocean water mixing in to the bay down there, small waves and nice white sand. Its an hour to the Virginia beach boardwalk and an hour and a half to the beach near Chincoteague. I can recommend The Shanty in Cape Charles for a kid friendly lunch or early dinner.
Cunningham Falls near Thurmont has camping and a waterfall and a swimming lake, it's also a short drive away so if you want to bail you could easily. Try the Shamrock for lunch or dinner. Another close by camping place is Pohick Bay. There's a waterslide park there called Pirate's Cove that is open in summer.
Our first camping outings with the kids were with our tent at Assateague State Park (there is a company that will set up an RV for you http://www.assateaguecampers.com/ ) and at Loft Mountain which was an easy overnighter with a camp store etc.

Not at all fancy, but we stayed at the KOA campground at Harper's Ferry last summer, staying in one of their cabins, and my kids loved it. It has a pool, mini golf, jumping pillow, pancake breakfast along with plenty of hiking trails in the area.

I would never take my young child camping. Too many crazy people out there. Backyard camping is safer.

Sounds like a horrible idea OP. I like someone's suggestion to just let your kid camp in the backyard.

I think I saw some glamping accomodations on airbnb.com.

Do you have any friends who camp regularly? If so, they may let you tag along and set you up so it is pretty comfortable for you.

If you are totally against a regular tent style camping, then you should probably stick to the suggestions of renting a nice cabin somewhere and pitching a tent for DH and DS to sleep in.

Most campgrounds have small "cabins" you can rent

Savage River Lodge in Garrett County, MD also has yurts. Nice place.

We love The Yurts at Rose River Farm http://www.roseriverfarm.com/accommodations.html They are really nice wood yurts/cabins with all the fine touches and plenty of mountain scenery. Plus they have really nice fire pits with wood provided for the kids to roast marshmallows. Your son will love it. My kids are always asking when we are going back. They have a special two nights for the price for Jan and Feb.

Do you have a backyard? Why not pitch a tent there or in the basement one night and see if that satisfies him?

If not, there are tons of cabins you can rent at various resorts and state parks and pitch a tent for the afternoon so he can pretend.

DS (3) has been asking non-stop lately if we can go camping for our next family vacation. He has a couple of books in which the characters go camping and some friends who went recently and he really wants to do it too. DH and I are pretty adventurous travelers and into the idea in theory but pretty much have no interest in actually roughing it, plus we have a small baby as well. We've done "glamping" in Africa and in Australia and think something along those lines would be perfect for a family vacation (ie: staying in a luxury style tent with beds and an attached bathroom). Any suggestions of places that have this type of thing closer to home than Australia or Africa?

Thanks!