It was with some fear and trepidation that I pushed the “Enter” button on my computer to reserve the campsite that night. I was planning out the route for our recent journey out east, an attempt to “bag” as many of the eastern state highpoints as we could manage during our 10 days on the road. My hesitation is caused by the location of this particular campground; while it is in a perfect location for us to be able the climb three peaks in close proximity the day following our arrival, it is situated in Accident, Maryland.
While I am not overly suspicious by any means, I also do not believe in tempting fate. Nonetheless, I booked our site for the night of July 18th at the BumbleBee Campground and RV Park in Accident. Looking back, I see that I even made a note on our itinerary “I feel we may be pressing our luck here…”
It turned out to be a great decision; no accidents involved. We headed out from our home near Green Bay, Wisconsin at our usual 4 am departure time. After a slight problem with our camper braking indicator, which we ultimately decided to ignore and have checked out when we arrived at our destination if it was still causing problems, our trip was blessedly uneventful.
Around 8 pm we were nearing the campground but realized that, even though we had tried to follow the directions provided on the website, we were lost. I made a call to the BumbleBee and a very friendly voice, Tim, gladly gave us directions and assured us we were almost there. Even with his directions, however, the campground was a bit tricky to find. Our efforts were rewarded upon arrival however.
Our site was tree-lined, spacious and right across from the restrooms! Glancing around the campground, we noticed all sites were large, trees plentiful and the feeling was peaceful and relaxing. The sites have full hookups, as well as a large fire ring and a nice picnic table. A welcome change from our 16 hours on the road! Even the puppies who accompanied us, at no extra charge I might add, were thrilled to get out of the car!
BumbleBee Restrooms
We met Tim and learned that he is the owner of the BumbleBee. He gave us a map of the area and helped out with directions and suggested activities and places to eat. As it was one of our first trips with our camper, and being the friendly guy he was, Tim also helped us back up the camper to get it close to the hookups—always a good thing!
We quickly set up and I set a pot of our Tuscan stew on to simmer as by now we were all quite famished. I then stepped over into the large, clean restrooms and took the best hot shower I have ever had! It was delicious.
We came back and enjoyed our dinner in a very pleasant setting before finally turning in around 11:30 pm., in anticipation of our highpoint hikes to come the following day. While we were not out of town yet, I was beginning to believe that a name is just a name and that Accident is not a prediction. I am still curious as to how the town was named however…
For more campgrounds in the area of Accident, browse Woodall’s listings of Maryland Campgrounds.
Diane Berry
Hi Al–Just pulled out my journal to make sure, but while we were at Bumblebee, we first headed south to “bag” West Virginia, which was only a short drive away, then while on the way back, we summited Maryland, then headed a bit north and east of the campground to do Pennsylvania. After that we packed up and headed further east to do Connecticut on the following day. Not sure how far west you are heading, but two of our favorites out west were Wheeler Peak in New Mexico and Mt. Elbert in Colorado. Enjoy your travels and Keep Klimbin’!
Al
Hi Diane,
What highpoints were you bagging while at the Bumblebee?
I to am a “Highpointer” and will be heading west to continue my quest.
Sounds like a nice place to set up camp.
Diane Berry
Hello Oliver and Catherine–Thank you for the comments. Oliver, you need to be concerned. I would follow Catherine’s advice re: roads. We have a small 18′ trailer and had to re-route our trip from the road upon finding we could not fit under an overpass on a road MapQuest had sent us down. Don’t remember exactly which road it was but it was a momentary crisis. But don’t let that dissuade you. We were on the road about 2 weeks and all family members agree that was our best trip ever! Happy travels!
Catherine Mikkola
Oliver we used to live in MA. You will do better traveling up there if you take Rt 81 all the way to Rt 84. You don’t want the traffic and tolls on Rt 95. It’s longer, but the traffic jams on Rt 95 can make it take just as long to go that way even though it looks shorter on paper.
Do NOT try to camp in state campgrounds in New England. They aren’t laid out for big rigs. Go with KOA or Good Sam.
Have fun there. There really is a lot of great history to be found in New England.
Oliver
We are purchasing a 40 foot driving RV in March.
Live in Georgia , would love to go Northeast but am
concerned about traffic with a big rig.
Should I be concerned ?
Thanks for response.
Janet
Patti,
Harper’s Ferry KOA is right at the entrance to the Harper’s Ferry National Park in West Virginia. I highl;y recommend the KOA and its great location. There are also some great RV parks near the Gettsburg PA battle fields. Summers are a bit humind in these parts but SPring and Fall also give you the opportunity to see the leaves changing!
Diane Berry
One more thing, Patti. For several nights we stayed at the Minuteman campground about 40 minutes north of Boston and had a wonderful time. Have fun!
Diane Berry
Hi Patti–We headed east over a two week period, hitting Accident, MD, then West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, then Delaware, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont, then back to Wisconsin. We were trying to “bag” as many high points as possible on the trip and managed to complete 8–all but Massachusetts. We camped more than hiked, but planned our trip around the peaks we wanted to climb. Did take a foray into Boston and walked the Freedom Trail with 3 dogs! We all had a wonderful time! Enjoy your trip! Thanks for the comment! Diane
Patti Faustini
Hi Diane! I’m glad “Accident” was poorly named! May I ask where ‘back East” you went? Was your goal to hike or see sites? We ‘d love to do the Civil and Revolutionary Wars sites and basically, a tour of our nation’s beginnings, PA and EAstern seaboard type thing. Do you know of cool RV sites for that kind of gigantic trip? Patti