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  • Sugar Hollow City Park

    Bristol, VA

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    Sugar Hollow Park is a large city park owned and operated by the city of Bristol, VA. Among its offerings are miles of hike and bike trails, baseball and soccer fields, picnic areas with large pavilions and a 75-site campground. The park is very handy for I-81 travelers, being only 2-3 miles from the highway. I would not call it a big-rig friendly location, although there are two sites that are designated as big-rig sites.

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    We had called the day before our arrival just be sure the campground was open for the season. It was, and we told there would be no problem getting a site when we arrived (reservations are not accepted). Sure enough, there was only one other camper here when we arrived at noon. After some looking about, we selected site 36, one of the more level sites. It was also one of only two sites with electrical breakers - on all the other hookup sites one has to plug in "hot", something I don't like to do.

    Date of visit: April 2014

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    There are two areas of sites, with about half of them up along a ridge while the rest are down in a hollow, including these - sites 44-60. These all have 30 amp-only outets, no 20 amp. So if you're a tenter and want some electricity, you had better have a 30-to-20 amp adapter in your bag of tricks.

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    Site 43 is one of the more private sites down in the hollow.

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    Levelness is a problem at many of the sites. In some cases, such as here on site 61, an effort has been made to dig out the hillside a bit to level the site.

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    There are 5 sites with no hookups, numbers 64-68. This is site 66 with 65 beyond it.

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    With this view of sites 7 and 8 you can see how some sites slant down toward the rear.

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    Site 5 is a large site which appears to have been renovated for this season.

    Sites 1-8 and 69-75 do have hookups with 20 and 30 amp outlets.

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    Sites 3 and 2 really slant down to the rear - it would quite a challenge to level a motorhome.

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    Sites 75 and 74.

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    Some more quite uneven sites - numbers 10, 12-15.

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    There are several double sites which would be nice for large families or small groups of friends. These are 16 and 17.

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    Another double site is number 26. It is also designated as one of the two big-rig sites.

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    Sites 40 and 41.

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    There are two small bathhouses, one at each end of the campground. Although they are not heated, they offer free hot showers and were quite clean. They had just been re-painted inside, for the smell of paint was still evident.

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    There are several miles of trails suitable for hiking or mountain biking that wind all through the park.

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    Some of the shorter paths are paved or covered with gravel. I noted a small cross here with flowers, but no sign of whom was being commemorated.

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    One of the trails goes through a wetland on a wooden walkway.

    Amenities

    75 campsites: 70 with E(30A)/CATV hookups, 5 with no hookups - all $16

    44 RV/tent sites, 31 Tent sites

    Dump station, showers, free wi-fi

    Excellent VZW 3G coverage

    Coordinates: 36.646112 North, 82.110513 West

    Elevation: 1953'

     

    sugar hollow map