Best Glamping near Knotts Island, NC

This was our first time staying in a yurt at Kiptopeake State Park. We love staying in the yurts at Virginia State Parks because they are always an affordable, easy way to camping without having to set up a tent or spend the extra money for a cabin. The ones at here are $75/night. This one was awesome! It is hidden down a long walkway from the parking area and is very secluded. The one we stayed in, Yurt 4, only has neighbors on one side. It comes with two picnic tables, a water spigot, fire pit, grill, a big deck around the yurt with rocking chairs, and a refreshing breeze coming off the bay. Unfortunately, the way the yurt is situated, none of that breeze gets inside the yurt and it was very hot inside. Especially if staying here in the summer, I would suggest bringing some fans or a portable a/c for a more comfortable nights sleep. The bathrooms are farther away than I would like with little kids. You have to walk through to the tent campground loop to get to them. Even with a couple negative things about it, I think this is the way to stay here at Kiptopeake and I am already planning our next yurt trip here for next year!

Love this park so much! The beach is amazing. This time we discovered the dog-friendly beach, which was less crowded than the main one. I always like to go out and watch the sunset over the bay, it is magical!

Honestly, I forgot to put the pics on my other review. Here’s picture of the yurt. Only complaint was the the yurt windows were not facing the bay breeze, so we had to make a wind tunnel

We really enjoyed camping in a yurt. Great dog beach as well!

Stayed in the yurt and also stayed in a cabin. Great location. You feel the wilderness bit are only one mile from grocery stores and restaurants.

One of my favorites. Nice and close to beach, restaurants (hot tuna) (shore break). 7 eleven close by for ice and late night ice cream. Negatives, they need electric and ac in the yurts. Overall good.

Beautiful wild beach covered with crabs, access to kayaks and paddle boards and fishing within walking distance. rangers are very considerate and keep it family friendly. they have yurts for rent as well as tent sites, bathrooms are posh with hot water. convenient water spigots throughout park.

First Landing was great. There are several campsites that range from basic to rv. They even have yurts and cabins to stay in. Easy access to bathrooms, fresh water, and the boardwalk down to the Chesapeake bay. There are so many options for water activities, but since I went during October and it rained, I stuck to hiking the trails and walking the beach. The staff was very accommodating and knowledgeable. The campsite was great too even if a bit close to the main road.

Kiptopeke is absolutely beautiful. Situated along the Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern Shore, campers can participate in tons of water fun. There is a boat launch (with tons of parking), a swimming beach, a huge (24-hour) lighted fishing pier, kayak, paddle board and bicycle rentals, a camp store stocked with a little bit of everything, designated campsites for RVs and tents, clean bathhouses with laundry facilities, and miles of beautifully-maintained (easy-to-walk) hiking trails. In addition to campsites, they have one yurt (with electric), four brand new cabins, and several six-bedroom lodges. The concrete ships are an interesting piece of history, and if you look closely along the road leading to the boat launch, you might even see the old motel marquis that used to welcome weary ferry travelers to one of the only motels along their journey.

This family friendly state park and campsite is nestled between the southern shore of the Chesapeake Bay and Shore Drive. Campsites accommodate a range of options from yurts, tents, and RVs. You’ll find locals coming here during the day to access the long sandy Bay side beach, which has gentle waves (perfect for little kids), paddle boarding, etc.

Campers park for free. Sites come in a wide range of shapes, shade, etc. If you are coming to tent camp, you want to choose sites as close to the Bay as possible. Shore Drive runs literally along the south side of this campsite. The road is very active all day and night as a military base is next door to the park.

There are no waterfront sites, but you won’t walk far from your site to the beach or bath houses. We had a two minute walk to the beach from site #14 and a 90-second walk to the bath house- just to give you perspective.

The campsite map on their site isn’t drawn to scale, so keep that in mind. There are tons of hiking/biking trails within the park, plenty of beach access, and a quick 15 minute drive to the Virginia Beach beaches. The Park Store wasn’t open during our stay but ice and firewood can be purchased in the store or office under normal circumstances.

Overall this is a fantastic park to camp in with lots of local options for stores, food, attractions, etc. This is not a quiet or isolated campground, so if you’re looking for that bring your earplugs :)

First landing State Park is a 2,888 acre park located on 1.8 miles of the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay. We camped here in early May in our 34 ft Class A Rv. If you are familiar with us, you will know we love campgrounds where we park our RV and we can spend the next 10-14 days hiking 🥾, biking 🚴‍♀️ and paddling 🛶.

🛶You can easily launch your kayak from the campground area but realize you will be trudging through sand for about 200 yards. When the bay was rough, it was a challenging paddle... and worth the views.

🎣I paid for an out of state fishing license for 5 days and it was pretty expensive. I already keep GA and FL yearly fishing licenses...so I may have to rethink my fishing addiction as we travel more outside those states. There is a boat 🚤ramp near the Narrows beach which is either free or costs $4 for people staying at the Park. (We didn’t use it and the wording was contradictory in my research) so check with park on that item if you tow a motorized boat.

🥾20 miles of Trails!! Lots of trails to hike and mountain/hybrid bike. We were surprised at the quality and the number of trails available. We were never bored. Here is a link to the hikes

https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/document/data/trail-guide-firstlanding.pdf

🚴It was also fun to road bike the 10 miles from the state park to the Virginia Beach Boardwalk but we advise you take cautions on the first 2 miles outside the park. We were NOT there “in season” but during certain times of year there is a trolley 🚃 that goes to the boardwalk, gift shop and lots of park activities during the season.

🚍⛺️This campground delivered! The 184 Campsites with variations of 20/30/50amp electric and water (some sites may be seasonal March-December) sites are mostly hard sand/grass based and not all are level. Due to foilage/branches —>many of the larger sites near the waterfront are narrowed (Our camping neighbor had branch clippers he let us borrow) Also, note is that there is a $5 per pet per night additional fee at the campsite

🏡they have lots of cabins. pets are allowed for a $10 fee per pet & per night in the 20 cabins but not in the 4 available yurts. (I know that seems high but many parks in other states do not allow pets at all in their cabins) Here is a link to a pdf about the park

https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/document/data/facility-guide-firstlandingnorth.pdf

We are excited to come to this park this upcoming April.

Happy Camping! Pamela and Keith

It was getting late so I was worried I wouldn’t find a place to stay for the night. Luckily, the camp store was open until 8 so I had plenty of time to get a place to stay for the night. It was a great view of the sunset and the whole area was pretty quiet. Staff at the store were friendly and were pretty lenient to letting me use the fire pits since there was no one else at my site. Will definitely stay again if I’m ever passing through the area.

I went tent camping and fishing in the sound they have much to offer. Enjoyed a nice night with a buddy. Polite people and not loud.

First site we’ve stayed at since getting our travel trailer. Good experience; we didn’t use the facilities aside from a stop in the market and playground for the kiddo, but it’s apparent it’s all well maintained and plenty to keep kids of all ages busy. The beach is larger than expected, and hours of the market and restaurant are great. We were pleased that even with a lot of kids and some larger groups, overall it stayed pretty quiet. We did notice for some of the sites the hook ups for one site are essentially in the outdoor living/camping area for the next site. Though we lucked out being on an end site, we intentionally did not hook up our sewer until ready to dump before leaving so it wasn’t run in our neighbor’s site.