Spring VAR 2019
CAMPING & CABINS
General Info:
1) Camping. Unlike most of our historic VAR facilities, you will NOT be able to park your vehicle next to your tent. You can get close ( <200'?) to load and unload your gear, but will have to return your car to the approved parking area. This is Camp Powhatan policy. All accommodations will be mostly first come, first serve. As such, if you want to keep your group or grotto together, someone send us an email to [email protected] with the grotto name, how many folks, how many tents you typically have, and any big tarps as well and we will work on layouts to keep you together as best we can.
2) Food: The camp is several miles back a road so we are in the "wilderness". There are bears around so we cannot keep food open with no one in attendance in open areas. The camp has bear containers in the tent areas. Otherwise, please keep your food in your car.
3) Phone and internet: Some carriers work and some don't. USCellular, Sprint, and Verizon are OK per the ranger, Boost had voice with no data, and T-Mobile was spotty, can't vouch for others. Wifi is available via password provided at check-in. Active in most common areas near the "heart" of Camp Powhatan, probably not so much in the camping areas.
4) Restroom and Showers: There will be nice modern restroom and shower facilities available, with plenty of hot water, located adjacent to or in the camping and lodging areas! This may be the first VAR that you actually shower before the Saturday Night Dinner, but it is not required!!!
5) No additional cost for tents and RV's: Camp in your tent, or bring your RV and setup in the RV parking area near the registration office. No hookups, but RV areas are flat and no chance of getting stuck! For tent camping, we have huge tent camping areas, and there are platforms for you to use if you want to, to keep your tent off the ground. See descriptions below!
6) Quiet Zone: We will designate one camping area as a "Quiet Zone". This tent camping area will be for folks that want a little more solitude and will be located well away from the concentration of VAR campers and the center of events. The small price for this solitude will be that you will be camping a little farther from the parking area, and it may be a longer walk to an open restroom/shower facility, but you should be able to get a good night's sleep! (You will be able to drive up close to drop off and pick up gear, but you'll have to return your vehicle to the designated parking area.) When you check in at VAR, tell us you want to stay in the Quiet Zone, and we will hook you up!
1) Camping. Unlike most of our historic VAR facilities, you will NOT be able to park your vehicle next to your tent. You can get close ( <200'?) to load and unload your gear, but will have to return your car to the approved parking area. This is Camp Powhatan policy. All accommodations will be mostly first come, first serve. As such, if you want to keep your group or grotto together, someone send us an email to [email protected] with the grotto name, how many folks, how many tents you typically have, and any big tarps as well and we will work on layouts to keep you together as best we can.
2) Food: The camp is several miles back a road so we are in the "wilderness". There are bears around so we cannot keep food open with no one in attendance in open areas. The camp has bear containers in the tent areas. Otherwise, please keep your food in your car.
3) Phone and internet: Some carriers work and some don't. USCellular, Sprint, and Verizon are OK per the ranger, Boost had voice with no data, and T-Mobile was spotty, can't vouch for others. Wifi is available via password provided at check-in. Active in most common areas near the "heart" of Camp Powhatan, probably not so much in the camping areas.
4) Restroom and Showers: There will be nice modern restroom and shower facilities available, with plenty of hot water, located adjacent to or in the camping and lodging areas! This may be the first VAR that you actually shower before the Saturday Night Dinner, but it is not required!!!
5) No additional cost for tents and RV's: Camp in your tent, or bring your RV and setup in the RV parking area near the registration office. No hookups, but RV areas are flat and no chance of getting stuck! For tent camping, we have huge tent camping areas, and there are platforms for you to use if you want to, to keep your tent off the ground. See descriptions below!
6) Quiet Zone: We will designate one camping area as a "Quiet Zone". This tent camping area will be for folks that want a little more solitude and will be located well away from the concentration of VAR campers and the center of events. The small price for this solitude will be that you will be camping a little farther from the parking area, and it may be a longer walk to an open restroom/shower facility, but you should be able to get a good night's sleep! (You will be able to drive up close to drop off and pick up gear, but you'll have to return your vehicle to the designated parking area.) When you check in at VAR, tell us you want to stay in the Quiet Zone, and we will hook you up!
Lodging
While an abundance of awesome tent camping space is available, Camp Powhatan offers some unique opportunities for a VAR, in that there are more than enough affordable shelters and cabins to accommodate all VAR attendees off the ground and under roof, if we all wanted to. Now we know that most of us cavers are used to roughing it in our tents and taking our chances with the weather for these events, but why not forgo setting up that tent and take advantage of the many lodging accommodations that Camp Powhatan has to offer?
The available shelters come in a couple of varieties, including “Adirondacks”, which are three sided shelters with 8 bunks inside, and multi-room cabins which have private 2-person bunk rooms and 8-person bunk rooms. Detailed descriptions of these luxurious accommodations are provided below.
Lodging Price Summary* Current Availability
- Adirondack (Individual) - $10 per person (includes 1 bunk in an Adirondack) More than 10 Available
- Adirondack (Group) - $60 (Full shelter, sleeps up to 8) More than 10 Available
- 2-Bunk Cabin - $40 per Room (sleeps up to 2) More than 10 Available
- 8-Bunk Cabin (Individual)- $10 per person (includes 1 bunk in a cabin) UNAVAILABLE
- 8-Bunk Cabin (Group) - $70 per Cabin (Sleeps up to 8) 1 Remaining
* All lodging reservations are a flat rate, good for up to 3 nights stay. Check-in time is any time after 3 PM Thursday, Check-out time is Sunday by Noon! Arrive at any time, your accommodations will be waiting! Specific locations are on a first come, first served basis.
* A limited number of each lodging type is available, especially for the cabins. We will do our best to keep the posted remaining availability up to date, but cannot guarantee that your selection is available until registrations are reconciled against the actual inventory. If we accidentally register you for a sold-out accommodation, we will inform you via email, and will either refund your lodging purchase or allow you to select from another lodging type. We sincerely regret any inconvenience.
Tent Camping
Camp Powhatan has some very nice tent camping areas for VAR attendees to enjoy. There are 8’ x 8’ tent platforms for your use, which will keep your tent up off the ground. There are common fire ring areas and large pavilions available. All tent camping sites are “walk in”, but parking is nearby, except perhaps for the "Quiet Zone". The camping areas that we will be using are located near the entrance to Camp Powhatan, near the VAR Registration office, and adjacent to the parking lot. There are also some very excellent bathroom and shower facilities nearby!
Camp Powhatan also has several other campgrounds available deeper into the park. But their rules are that no parking is allowed in the camping areas. We encourage you to use the designated campgrounds near the entrance, but if you want a more secluded campsite in the "Quiet Zone", keep in mind that you won’t be able to keep your car parked there. You can, however, drive in to drop off and pick up your gear.
Lodging Descriptions
All bunks in adirondacks and cabins will come complete with a foam mattress, despite what may be depicted in the "off-season" pictures shown. All you need is your sleeping bag and pillow!!! Adirondacks The Adirondacks are very nice shelters for a night’s stay. They are three-sided lean-to type buildings with 8 bunks inside. Most of them have a wall and door on the front side, but are open-air above the front wall. There are electricity outlets and lights in each shelter. No problem recharging that cellphone, but you may want to bring an extension cord so that many devices can be connected. The “dacks” that we will be filling up first are in the Tipi camping area, next to the VAR registration office and the parking lot. These are "primo" shelters, and great bath house facilities are a stone’s throw away. These shelters are on a first come first served basis. Once these are filled up, we will be using the New River Adventure shelters up on the hill to the left of the dining hall. Parking is limited there, and the terrain is somewhat “difficult”. |
Cabins
VAR attendees also have the chance to rent a room in one of Camp Powhatans luxurious Staff Cabins. Each cabin has a covered front porch. Once inside the cabin, the hallway leads to several private rooms inside. Most of the cabins are laid out with three separate rooms, having a 2-bunk room off the left and right of the hallway, and an 8-bunk room at the back of the hallway. A couple of the cabins are laid out with only an arrangement of several private 2-bunk rooms. All cabin rooms have electricity and lights. The cabins are located in Staff Village, which is located to the right and across the creek from the dining hall. You can drive there and park outside your cabin, but make sure not to block any of the narrow roads. We must maintain access for emergency vehicles and such. If your grotto or group are renting multiple cabin rooms, we can make a best effort to keep you folks together... Just shoot us an email at Spring2019VARinfo.com and let us know which reservations you want to combine into one building, and we can most likely make that happen.
VAR attendees also have the chance to rent a room in one of Camp Powhatans luxurious Staff Cabins. Each cabin has a covered front porch. Once inside the cabin, the hallway leads to several private rooms inside. Most of the cabins are laid out with three separate rooms, having a 2-bunk room off the left and right of the hallway, and an 8-bunk room at the back of the hallway. A couple of the cabins are laid out with only an arrangement of several private 2-bunk rooms. All cabin rooms have electricity and lights. The cabins are located in Staff Village, which is located to the right and across the creek from the dining hall. You can drive there and park outside your cabin, but make sure not to block any of the narrow roads. We must maintain access for emergency vehicles and such. If your grotto or group are renting multiple cabin rooms, we can make a best effort to keep you folks together... Just shoot us an email at Spring2019VARinfo.com and let us know which reservations you want to combine into one building, and we can most likely make that happen.
The 2-bunk rooms are very spacious. There are 2 bunk beds on one end of the room, and a nice storage area on the other end of the room. There is a sizable common area in the middle of the private room. These private cabin rooms can be reserved for $40 for the duration of VAR, that’s only $20 per person, based on double occupancy, for 3 nights lodging!
8-Bunk Cabin Rooms
The 8-bunk rooms are laid out with 4 bunks on either side of the room, with a large common area in-between. There is a front door leading to the cabin hallway, while there is a back door to the room which leads directly outside. The bunks in these group rooms can be reserved individually for $10, or an entire room for your group can be reserved for $70. What a great way to ensure that you and your caver friends are together, and high-and dry!
For what it's worth, the cabin rooms can be secured with a padlock if you desire, just bring your own lock. But truthfully, aren't cavers some of the most decent people you have ever encountered?
The 8-bunk rooms are laid out with 4 bunks on either side of the room, with a large common area in-between. There is a front door leading to the cabin hallway, while there is a back door to the room which leads directly outside. The bunks in these group rooms can be reserved individually for $10, or an entire room for your group can be reserved for $70. What a great way to ensure that you and your caver friends are together, and high-and dry!
For what it's worth, the cabin rooms can be secured with a padlock if you desire, just bring your own lock. But truthfully, aren't cavers some of the most decent people you have ever encountered?