Navy Recreation Center Solomons

We stayed Aug 20 to Sept 6, 2021 in our 40' motorhome with tow vehicle. We had to move twice, so we stayed in three different areas of the park. G, F and D. Each had its pros and cons. First let me say their reservation system is terrible. Having to move sites multiple times during a stay is ridiculous and, the sites you're assigned rarely fit your rig. We witnessed this with multiple rigs/people. Our first site, G38 was a site we chose after being assigned a site that was not only flooded, but the trees made it impossible for us to fit our class A. We had full hookups but was our least favorite because the area has poor drainage and most sites were flooded. Many people had pallets laid out to get from their vehicle to their rig so they wouldn't have to walk in the water. And, you are very close to your neighbors. Our second site was wonderful, site F1. FHU's and lots of space between sites. I highly recommend area F if you are self-contained. The only negative about this area to me was the bath house and laundry were in need of a thorough cleaning and repairs/updating. Especially compared to the facilities in G and D. Our third site, D41 was electric 50/30 amp and water only, but was very nice aside from needing the grass cut badly. That applied to the entire park. Not sure what happened to their landscape crew. . . . When we first moved to the site, we found the 50 amp wasn't working. It was very hot and we definitely needed both a/c's so I called the front office. Selena is a rock star! She contacted maintenance and they were out within 15 minutes. Within an hour, we were up and running - thanks to a great maintenance team! I didn't get their names, but all 4 men were very nice and asked repeatedly if we were happy and set now. They said not to hesitate to call if we needed anything else. I mentioned we didn't have a picnic table like the other sites, and within minutes, they arrived carrying a table for us. All the while smiling. Very nice! Even though everyone was nice and accommodating at this park, we will not be back. For us, a retired couple, this park was just too crowded and not a lot to do for us. For families/kids, tons! We camped at Solomons Island Navy Recreation Area in a Motorhome.

It has been over 20 years since we last camped there and the pool was still closed! The location is great because there are some key spots to visit while in the area: Point Lookout State Park, St. Mary's City, Pax River Test Pilot Museum, Annmarie's Sculpture Garden (great for kids and adults), and Solomon's Island. The campground has some nice amenities but they have limited operational hours, if they open at all (pool). Sad thing is that the pool complex looked nice. Bathrooms look to be newly renovated and were clean. If you stay there, pay for the premium sites as they are better spaced and have less permanent residents and a closer to the recreational facilities (pool / beach / tennis courts / mini golf / nature trail). The regular full hook-up sites we were in were not well maintained: trash on the ground, ashes dumped on the grass, broken cover on electric pole, insulation ripped off of water connection, charcoal grill had a nice tilt to it, and the grass was long. There was a chair in our site when we arrived that I assumed belonged to our neighbor so I put it in their site only to be informed that it wasn't theirs and had been there for about 6 weeks! The sites were a little packed in but not any worse than some commercial campgrounds. I would say 35-50% of the sites were long term. The people on one side told me they had rented their home in another Navy town and were living in the campground because it was cheaper than renting. The other side appears only to come in during the week for work at Pax River. As indicated by other reviews, many of those sites looked trashy. As for rules, the residents broke them: washing cars at their site, being loud during quiet hours, parking on the grass, etc. My wife said it was not a Family Camp, it was a Trailer Park! They should really set one area up for long term and a separate area up for short term / transient campers. If you are a bike rider, take bikes. You can use them to get around the campground, ride to Annemarie Sculpture Garden, and into Solomon's Island (better than driving).

Great location if you are looking for something out of the way. Situated in southern Maryland on the Patuxent River near the Chesapeake Bay, about an hour southeast of Washington DC. The area was hit very hard by a storm last year (possibly a tornado) which caused a great amount of damage. Most of it has been cleaned up, but there are still some areas that ware marked off. Pros: Lots to do! Swimming pools and beaches, fishing pier, hiking trails through a nature area, playgrounds, mini-golf (indoor activities suspended because of Covid-19), plenty of room for kids to ride bicycles. Bathhouses are clean and well maintained, but a little dated. Sites have picnic tables and charcoal grills. Staff is friendly and helpful. Cons: The majority of the sites are extremely close together and are back-in sites, which wouldn't be an issue if other campers didn't park their extra vehicles along the narrow roads running through the campground making navigation difficult. Seems to have a significant number of homesteaders with rigs that haven't moved in years, who don't really care how trashy their campsite looks and evidently there is no pressure from the management to do otherwise. Some sites need to have the parking pads graded and additional gravel added to remove the tire ruts that are there. Not the facilities fault, but at one point we had to take our grandchildren and leave the playground because of two teenage delinquents who felt it was OK for them to monopolize the playground and scream vulgarities at each other (we did notice the next day that signs were put up closing the playground a 8 PM and I have to wonder if there was a connection). Tips: The Lodging Office (Check-in) is on the right as entering the gate. If the lodging office is closed, the gate sentry will call the Camp Host who will come meet you and tell you your site number. Do yourself a favor and print a copy of the base map from their website and take it with you. The one we were given was printed on green paper and marked with a green highlighter. Several outstanding seafood restaurants a mile or so down the road on Solomon's Island. To put it bluntly, this place is a diamond in the rough! It has the potential of being a showcase for military recreation centers/campgrounds and with a little work it could easily do that. We enjoyed our stay and will definitely return.

We made our first visit to Solomons Island Navy Rec Center with our 43' Motorhome and we had no idea what to expect, it was our first visit to a military campground. We were there to attend a friends wedding, which was in the area. First the reception lady we dealt with, Dena, was great. She helped us with an errant UPS shipment and generally was a pleasure to deal with. BTW lowest full-hook up daily rate we were eligible for, as retirees, was $41@night. So our overall impression was that the place looks a bit like a cross between a mobile home park and an RV park. Many TT, MHs and 5th wheelers were parked there for a LONG time, had wooden decks built and were generally on the best sites, ie, secluded sites, or corner sites. Our site was very narrow, as were our neighbors. HOWEVER, in speaking with Dena, and noticing the incoming marquee, which read "INSPECTIONS start the 22nd of June", we learned that new rules were about to be implemented. New policy was a 90 day maximum stay, after 90 days if space was available the individual still was required to move to another site. With a 270 in park maximum within a calendar year. The restrooms and laundry was a bit rough and could have used a good cleaning. But functional. The pool was excellent. And the fishing pier was open and a few folks were there fishing. They do have 24X7 security guards on the front entrance, which was nice. All in all we'd go there again, especially if they implement and enforce the new policy.

This campground has been a "jewel" of the East Coast campgrounds. I have camped here for the last 10 years, during the month of August, and have seen it steadily decline, due to mismanagement. The pier is in disrepair, life preservers are missing/have no lines tied to them, many lights are out, rails are broken, to name a few....seems that maintenance is nonexistent. No longer have rental boats. Homesteaders have taken over most of the sites in F section, as well as the other areas. It appears that the command does not have a "handle" on what is happening there or does not care.

We are snowbirds traveling from Florida to Maine. First time this year we used the storage area at this campground because our daughter's place was to muddy and we sank in the grass.....we paid a small amount for 2 weeks until going back to Maine. Well please read all reviews before you go there.....we would go check our 5th wheel every other day, well on May 9th we had the surprise of our life..when we got there someone had STOLEN our $1400.00 Hitch right off our camper, cut the cable wires for the brakes and the 12 volt lights...upon going to the security guards there, they acted indifferent towards us..didn't even come see our camper, filled out a police report with the description of our 5th wheel as 3 ft long plus the info on our insurance policy....what's strange is that in 20 yrs of camping this is the ONLY campground that asked for our insurance of the camper (red flag!!!) Went back today and it was different cops, the other cops there who took our report, had 4 of them there, hadn't even told these cops that this had been stolen..... I asked where was security to not see someone take a 200 lb hitch with 12 bolts out of there and one replied "We are low on security", they should tell people that security is low WE would NOT have put that there that's for sure!!!Now all the expense of having someone go there to put a new hitch because we can't take it anywhere!!!!! I was fit to be tied!!!!! It will cost close to $2000.00 to have that done so we can get back to Maine.....guess what someone will pay!!! Please people read the reviews and don't go there. The second day we put it there a dumbass did the lawn and did not put the chute down, all 4 sides of our camper was covered with grass, took my husband and I one and 1/2 hrs to get that cleaned up...so please from the reviews i can see this place is the DUMPS!!! Will never go there again period! We will go further with this, that's false advertising saying its 24 hr security, now they are saying not security for that part of the park.....I guess people live there year round and they make trouble for other tourists, read the reviews!!!

We live close and it is a good place to go to get away. They changed the reservation system, you can no longer request a specific site or you have no idea where you will end up. The F sites are the nicest. There are a lot of homesteaders they need to get rid of, limits the amount of full hook up sites and some of their campsites are inundated with crap. I found it strange that people live there year round and the school bus comes in a picks up children. DOD over-run the place on holiday weekends with everyone in their families joining in. We always have a good time, most people are mindful of kids riding their bikes.

We purchased a pop up camper in 2004 and the first campground we stayed at was the Solomon's Rec Center. It was a very nice campground. Over the next year, we stayed there several times. Saw a nice weekend coming up, did not have duty, let's go camping, no problem getting a reservation. I believe that it was in 2006 MWR opened the Rec Center up to all DoD card holders. Nothing against the DoD civilian workforce, but the rec center has gone down hill since. You basically have to make your reservations 1 year in advance and good luck with the sites and neighbors. We have not returned as it is too much of a hassle. This is just another example of the Military benefits being eroded away.

This campground has the potential to be a nice place if the management would keep it up to the standards of other campsites. Solomon's Island is a decent location but is very unmaintained. For the standards of the military, and the hard work of our soldiers, I expect a nice place to relax, but this campground does not offer that standard. We are navy retired and stayed at this campground 3 years ago and had a pleasant stay, so we returned this year 2013, but had a very different experience. We had reservations, but the staff made us wait at least a half hour to find a site for us because they were over-booked. The staff was insulting when we asked questions, they talked to us like we was stupid, and her coworkers in the background being insulting as well. Seems training in hospitality and customer service would be of help to this staff as well as management.

We made reservations in advance, but upon arrival the section the office assigned to us already had somebody there, so we went back to the office and Joan said they were over booked. It took us over 9 hours to get there and we worried we had no place to go. Joan assigned us to a site someone just left section C38, this site had several tree and no grass, so when it rained it turned into mud and muck. There was dead tree branches thrown around, this site was clearly unmaintained. The positive was the neighboring campers who invited us onto there grass so we could get out of the muck. When we complained to the front office, they made us feel like our complaints were unwarranted. The manager at the time, Tracy, did come out to our motorhome to view the mud and muck, but did not credit or discount our stay. Beware....especially if you make a complaint. Will we return....NOT!

This is a very unkept campground. Individual spaces are mowed by homesteaders that bring their own lawn mowers. Other sites are left in deplorable condition including ankle length grass debris on the street. Looks more like a carnival caravan than a campground. Homesteaders have junk and storage units half covered beside their motor units. We were greeted by a loose dog and saw several as we walked around. Besides looking like a junk yard one trailer had 4 gas cans under their rig. The two husky dogs next door were left on chains most of the day while the owners were away. We are very disappointed as we made our reservation months ago thinking this was going to be a nice place. You would think for $30 a night they could at least mow to avoid ticks and fleas. Not up to standards of the many military campgrounds we have been to across the country. This would be a a no, never again place to come unless you enjoy the thrill of disgrace.

The location of this RV park is prime, but the facilities are severely lacking. If you need 50 amp service, your only options are the "C" and "G" camping areas. We were booked in the "G" area where you are packed into the camp like sardines. It is only 30 feet from center point to center point of the RVs. The sites are relatively level graveled sites, but the gravel hasn't been replenished in years and is mostly covered with weeds. The majority of campers are homesteaders, and it shows by how junky the place looks. The grass was not mowed during the entire two week period we were they and the area resembled a pasture. Many of the homesteaders have resorted to purchasing their own lawn mowers to keep their sites mowed. Especially given the tall grass, ticks were rampant throughout the RV park. The "F" camping area is beautiful with large spaces. Only 30 amp service is available in the "F" area, however. WiFi can be purchased at a daily or monthly rate, but it is mediocre at best (slow and intermittent). It is evident that this Navy Recreation Center was really nice at one time, and the potential is there for it to be really nice again. Major renovations and a change in management appears necessary for this to happen, however. It is a shame that this potential gem is so mismanaged.

Although very nicely located, this place needs some serious attention. I was not able to get a full 30-amps (usually less than 20-amps) from the power supply! Over Memorial Day weekend, the place was a zoo with campers stacked like firewood! Trash was in the provided barbeque upon our arrival. One of the kids playgrounds had human excrement smeared on the slides. Alcohol was being consumed all over the place even though it's forbidden in the campground rules! The rules aren't enforced very well and they need to limit the number of campers! Won't be going back anytime soon.

Had a great time over the Memorial Day Weekend. I rated the location 5 stars because it was only 15min from our house in California, MD. The trip consisted of myself, hubby, and 12yr son - there was something everyone. We tent camped and the sites were spacious, clean, and had many shady trees. Single family sites are primitive so no water or electric hook-ups. We did just fine. They have port-a-potties and a comfort station that includes showers/bathrooms and a laundry room. The amenities are everything you can ask for: pools, beach, pier, marina, adventure zone for kids, sport equipment and facilities, rentals, different lodging opportunities, and convenient located around food stores. We had a blast! If I had to complain I would say the comfort station can stand to be renovated (No shower curtain between stall and changing area for example) and cleaned a little more often. But keep in mind it was a busy weekend. But that is really it. The camp ground itself was clean and maintained. Btw, you don't have to camp or stay the night to enjoy this area. Our family usually does KOA and other resorts but have to say the Recreation Center exceeded my expectations by far! We will come back again and again.

Pay no attention to the May 2013 review. I think he reviewed the wrong park. We and three other families with kids of all ages & multiple pets have just had a wonderful Memorial weekend. No tree issues that we found & a couple of us have some big rigs. No water pressure problems. Pool and beach open. Great rec center that had all kinds of activities for families each day that you could join in. Several large play grounds, hiking paths, large fishing pier. Saturday night they even had a free concert that wrapped up by 10:00 so no one was inconvenienced. Bath houses maintained fairly well for such a busy weekend. Yes this is an older camp ground so some structures have seen some wear but we feel that just adds character. So I am not sure how you could be more kid friendly. We will be back!!!