Cherry Hill Park – 9800 Cherry Hill Road, College Park MD
Link To RV Park: Cherry Hill Park
Link to MAP: Directions
Full Hook-Up Average – $101
Camping in a large metro area always seems like a crape shoot. You are either in a small cramped space with very little green space or the entire park is concrete or blacktop. Typically the rates are high for this precious space. We were not sure what to expect when we arrived at this RV Park. The rates were high, running a little over $105 a night for a premium pull-through. We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled into this location.
Check-In
The check-in process was seamless and totally touch-free. This was due to the extensive online work you will need to do prior to arriving. I would imagine if you are overnighting and not advance booking this might not be the case. A complete package is waiting for you with clear instructions as to how to get to your site.
With the package in hand, we headed to the security gate. This was nice to see and expected in a metro area. It was maned and they did check your credentials. As we moved toward our site we found the park to be clean, roadways well maintained, and plenty of green space.
A) Site Quality: ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️ / 5
We choose Premium Pull Through site #729 online. Looking at the property map sites 725,27,29,&31 appeared to be some of the largest sites in this park area. Traveling with a trail vehicle this time I wanted a site we could park our truck and trail vehicle. I was not disappointed in this choice. The site was a good 70+ feet in length.
Insights
- Site #729 was gravel with a fire ring, concrete porch pad, picnic table, and table with three chairs. It had two power stands and two sewer connections one front and the other back. We did need to use the Andersons on the driver side of the rig to initially level her out.
- After touring the park, I would highly recommend staying on the southeast side if possible. You will find all of the special amenities such as pools, golf, bus depot, playground, etc on the southeast side. The Southwest side of the park offers more shade, but due to covid the shuttles were not running and it was a bit of a hike to the primary amenities.
- Upon arrival, the staff was cheerful and happy to see you, and check-in was very easy. There is no escort to your site, but that did not pose a problem as the directions were obvious. This is a gated park with personnel at that gate during business hours. You will be given a gate key to enter the property.
- They have a limited number of pull-through sites. Most of these sites are large with plenty of green space between rigs. I can recommend the following pull-through sites, 411,409,407, 725,727,729. There you will have green space and some shade. The six hundred are fine with very little shade, and the 1700s are ample but a bit far from the main amenities. Utilities in these sights were properly located for large rigs, both back, and forward mid-ship.
- The rest of the property consists of back-in sites. Most if not all have good green space between them. There is ample space to jack your rig into the spaces. I liked 408,406,404,402. They are at the front of the property large and well shaded. If you want to be close to the pool sites 818,820,822 are very nice.
- I would highly recommend if you are unfamiliar with the park call for your reservation. Many of the back-in sights are meant for shorty rigs. If you have anything over 35′ you may have a truck parking issue.
B) Facilities: ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️/5
First-rate in all areas. The roads throughout the park are paved and in very good condition. The power pedestals are well maintained with ample voltage. You have great water pressure and very good cable. Most of the pull-through sites will allow you a shot at the southern sky for satellite, but you may have a few issues with back in due to tree cover. All of the sites are gravel, raked, and in good condition. The tables and chairs on the premium sites were in very good condition.
C) Amenities: ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️/5
If you want it they have it. This park is packed with amenities for both younger and older campers. This might be the perfect location to bring the entire family. The Splash Park, Mini Golf, 3 Playgrounds, Game Room, and solar-heated pools to name a few should keep the kids happy all day. Thrown in an Outdoor Fitness Area, Exercise Room, Golf cart rental, hot tub/sauna, sightseeing sessions, fishing pond what more do you need. Well, they have plenty more. For the complete list of amenities just click here. It’s hard to find anything missing from their list. The bus service to downtown DC is a bargain and leaves right from the park. We have friends that swear by the dog walking service. This might be my only hit on the place, we did not have the same luck. We set up the service and the women did not show up as scheduled. Seems she had a number of emergencies that delayed her arrival.
D) Location: ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️/5
You are minutes away from Interstate 495/95. In some regards way too close, as the road noise can get a bit loud during rush hour on the outskirts of the park. You are in a major metropolitan area with several restaurants, grocery stores, and attractions very close. If you are looking to head downtown to the National Mall, Smithsonian, Capitol Hill, or any number of attractions you can’t pick a better location.
E) Paw – Friendliness – 🐾🐾🐾🐾/5
I had to take away one paw based on Zoey’s recommendation. She missed a good fenced-in area in the RV park. Yes, there is a dog park and walk but it’s located very close to the highway and the other side of the tidal basin leaving a rather muddy or difficult walk. The park offers several large grassed areas to relieve your dog. You will find garbage cans near the bathhouses to dispose of your waste. Getting a good walk-in during the morning hours is important to me and Zoey. The park offers wide streets to make that work. We could easily get in 1.5 to 2 miles walking the outskirts of the property. In general, I would say they are a pet-friendly location, just missing 5 stars.
Wanderers Overall Rating: ⛺️⛺️⛺️⛺️.8/5
Wanderers Take
This was our first stay at this park. With the family now in the area, we will be back for several more stays. We plan to explore Cherry Hill and the surrounding area and will update our take when we can bring more to the table. We have visited downtown DC and the National Mall and would highly recommend you do the same.
Previous Tips & Upgrades
Tire Pressure Monitor
We have heard hundreds of stories from RVers relating to tire failure. Some of the tire failure issues an RVer may encounter can be a minor nuisance and some failures can be catastrophic.
Truck Lane Fueling
You have finally decided that the RV and Car fill up lanes are not for you when it comes to filling your RV fuel tanks. Highway driving takes you past numerous Travel Centers and you have seen your fellow RVer’s in the Truck Fuel Lanes. Why not give it a go, can’t be that much different from what we are doing now. They say it’s much faster to fuel that way and there is DEF at the pumps.
Magne Shade
The patented Magne Shade™ system uses small but very powerful Rare Earth magnets that are mounted on the outside of the window with a hi temperature 3M peel and stick tape. Our shades are designed to fit your coach glass tight, we incorporate a simple and effective fabric adjustment system in our design so your shades won’t stretch out of shape and sag over time, as a snap-type system can.
Vortex Fan
Great little fan. Sucks so much air it creates a vacumm on our bathroom door. Looks good, overall good quality, fit as easy as claimed, and took all of 40 minutes to install seamlessly. My guess is i could have cut this down with another set of hands.
Bring In The Crane
We use our truck on and off through the year to haul, yard debris, landscaping, mulch and such. The hitch is a 175 lb problem when you want a clean bed to work with. Ginny and I thought we could easily handle the hitch once we took it apart. Not so as we found out,...
Mr. Beam
Interior lighting at night on the RV has always been an issue for us. We struggled with solutions, from flashlights to battery operated led lights. Each had their draw backs, fumbling with switches in the dead of night the main one.
Propane Monitor
Propane management is certainly very important particularly durning cold weather. Yes you can spend $80.00 to install a monitoring system that you can read on your levels on a smart phone.
Microwave Safe
One of our early discoveries while we were on our maiden trip was the glass rotating tray in the microwave presented a problem. As we traveled the tray would take a beating bouncing around as we moved down the road.