Monongahela National Forest · West Virginia

Summit Lake Campground — how to get a site when it's sold out

Overview A 33-unit semi-primitive, wooded campground with paved access roads and parking spurs, located approximately 10 miles from Richwood, WV, adjacent to a popular 43-acre cold water fishing lake. Although the campground closes in winter, the lake is accessible year-round. Summit Lake was constructed in 956 as a reservoir for the town of Richwood, WV.

🏕️ 34 sites 🚐 Standard, Group, Shelter

Booking Summit Lake Campground

Sites at Summit Lake Campground are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.

Site facts

Total sites34
Site typesStandard, Group, Shelter
LocationRichwood, WV
Book throughRecreation.gov
Official listingRecreation.gov

The cancellation play at Summit Lake Campground

Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.

ItOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Summit Lake Campground around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.

Other campgrounds in Monongahela National Forest

Lake SherwoodCancellation alerts available
Seneca ShadowsCancellation alerts available
Bishop KnobCancellation alerts available
Stuart Recreation AreaCancellation alerts available
Big Bend (Wv)Cancellation alerts available
Spruce Knob LakeCancellation alerts available
Blue MeadowCancellation alerts available
Williams River CampsitesCancellation alerts available
Cranberry CampgroundCancellation alerts available
Tea Creek CampgroundCancellation alerts available
Blue Bend Rec AreaCancellation alerts available
Horseshoe Recreation AreaCancellation alerts available
Cranberry River CampsitesCancellation alerts available
Day Run CampgroundCancellation alerts available
Pocahontas CampgroundCancellation alerts available
Big RockCancellation alerts available
Jess JudyCancellation alerts available
Cranberry Mountain Nature Center Group Picnic ShelterCancellation alerts available
Gatewood GroupCancellation alerts available
Hopkins Mountain Fireman's CabinCancellation alerts available
Middle Mountain CabinsCancellation alerts available
Red Oak Fire LookoutCancellation alerts available

Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Summit Lake Campground; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.