Assateague Island National Seashore - North Beach Campground

Alright, everyone is giving this 5 stars because it's a beautiful and pristine seashore. Fair enough. But let's be real for bit. We camped here for a couple of nights and, yes, it's beautiful. Sunrises, sunsets, and campfires under the Milky Way are all amazing. And fortunately you can expect those experiences with any properly planned camping trip anywhere else, and I highly recommend you do so anywhere else. That's because Assateague campground adds a couple of highly unwanted elements: gross bathrooms and ponies. First, the vault toilets. When you arrive on Friday morning they're nice (for vault toilets), but as there are 2 toilets for 20-25 campsites (or say 50-75 campers), it gets irritating fast. That means waiting on toilets all the time, and by Sunday morning those things smell like...well, you can imagine. Second, the ponies. Let's talk about the ponies. When you first arrive you are smitten with the wild ponies--they are magical, wild, free, and they make for quite the photograph. However, once you start cooking any meal at your site you realize that these are not mystical wild beasts roaming a pristine island. They are massive, aggressive squirrels that walk up to your table and literally eat the food off your plates and stoves while you sit there. Then once they are done with that, they eat everything else you happen to have laying out. We and our fellow campers around us could do nothing but stare as groups of ponies raided us one by one. And they come at all hours of the day, multiple times, through the day and middle of the night. Just as annoying, as the ponies move by your tent, they kick up all your guy lines. It was not fun whatsoever, and I don't know why the rangers have let the ponies become so aggressive. Someone is going to get hurt, and it's 100% the fault of the park for letting it get this bad. I most definitely do not recommend bringing small kids to this campground, because they will lose their minds watching enormous animals eat their food. So, drive through Assateague and take photos. But until the rangers start tamping down on the aggressive ponies, do NOT expect a pleasant experience.

We camp here every year and it is always a wonderful experience. Staff is friendly and informative. Park is clean and well kept. Campsites are spacious, and you can hear the ocean even if you don't have a clear view of it. Waking up to the ocean and wild horses is a dream!!! 10/10 will keep coming back. It is truly my happy place. You should check it out and make it yours, too!!!

We loved camping along the beach with the horses walking through the campsite. Watch out for goathead burrs. Our poor dogs were loaded with them before we realized the burrs were everywhere.

We camped here a couple of nights and very much enjoyed everything. The site was nice and provided a picnic table and fire pit. There were 2 toilets, showers and water pump. The beach is quiet and didn't have tons of people there like at other beaches. It's a nice place to take your family and pets. Just gotta watch out for horses entering the camp site.

I drove by looking for wild horses. It seems like this area is where they hang out. Unfortunately I didn't see any, but I didn't realized people camp in tents here!! Not just in RV. Great idea!! There are very roomy restrooms in each area. Note, the toilets are not flushable. Just a toilet with a huge hole. I'm posting a picture I look by the beach to give you an idea how the toilets look.