Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Burkeville, VA

Water Water everywhere. Paddle boards....canoes if you have them this is a great place to go. Campgrounds are right next to the water for easy access. Pet friendly which is a must. Great place to go during the summer.

The sites were very generous in size - not cramped at all! Sites were partially shaded and backed up to woods. Lots of beautiful hiking/biking/equestrian trails to explore. Bathrooms were very clean and nice. Bundles of firewood sold $7 each. Nice fire ring at each site. Pet friendly. Will definitely return!!

Kimball Point is the BEST. Huge fresh water lake, large camping spots, large sandy beach, playground for kids, very well groomed, moor your boat in the water at your camp site, big boat ramp, pet friendly, great walking areas, tent & RV spaces, NC State run park. Only negative it's hard to book a space. You need to book it EXACTLY 6 months out, call at 08:00 in morning.

This was our first time camping at state park with our dogs and it has been great. We were able to score a campsite with a view of the lake and easy access to the Channel Cat Loop trail. Our tent pad was covered in rubber pieces which made for a comfortable base for our tent, and the separate area with fire pit, picnic table and pattern hooks was awesome. Another couple joined us and there was plenty of room for all four people and three dogs to spread out. Fell even more in love when majority of campsites left on Sunday, leaving peace and quiet all around. Bonus is having the dog only section at the swimming beach, which made for a fun afternoon with our pups.

Site 16 Left (non-electric) September 18-21, 2020 Average Daily Temp: 76 Average Night Temp: 51 Arrived on a beautiful early Fall Friday afternoon. Host was extremely friendly and welcoming. He offered great advice and information for this first time visit. Firewood is not available on site. You have to travel back to a self service trailer about 4 miles near the local CVS on Route 58. In my humble opinion, Site 16 was the best view of the Lake and has easy accessibility (see photos). Because of the low evening temps, most of the non-electric sites were empty. We basically had run of the area. Pet friendly and very well kept areas. Rock pad for parking and tent set up. Bring a pad if you plan on sleeping on the ground. Two tables, fire pit, and lantern post on sites. Boat parking available close to this site. Swimming was fantastic. Fishing was even better. Will be back.

After visiting the park many times, we finally camped there in July 2019.  Most of the sites were huge and level, and we were able to choose a mostly-shaded site with water and electric near the bathhouse.

Everyone we met (rangers, people in the visitor's center, etc.) was very helpful and friendly.  

We hoped to go tubing, but since the river was running high and fast, they weren't renting tubes, and we asked too late about renting a canoe or kayak.  (They do drop offs and pick ups at certain times and reservations are recommended.)

Cell service is extremely limited, but there's wi-fi available at the visitors center and we used that to check in with our pet sitter.

It was SO HOT when we were there and we really wished there was a designated "beach" area on the river (or in a perfect world, a pool).  Swimming is not advised due to rocks and drop-offs, but people were in the river, anyhow.

We'll definitely go again!

More pictures and information about our experience is on my blog:

http://www.art-rageous.net/artrageousblog/?p=4374

My partner and I were traveling to Richmond, we needed a quick place to stop and rest. We reached out the day of and the owners of the property were so kind, accommodating, and understanding. They set us up with firewood, and all the necessary equipment to have a wonderful night under the stars. The icing on the cake was waking up and spending some time with their horses and goats and this really sweet orange cat. The property was gorgeous and the experience was wonderful.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t know places could be this awesome. We are beginning campers and this was beyond our expectation. The views are incredible. (Be sure to watch the sunset. We went in the fall and I’ve never seen colors so bright.) Most sites are waterfront with the possibility of a beach or at least a bulkhead with water views. Picnic tables and great fire pits at each site. Showers/bathrooms are not the closest to sites but if you don’t mind a walk they are not a problem. There are port o johns in one location also. So many water access points for fishing or entering the water for swimming or kayaking. Boat ramp on location at Kimball Point. Beautiful walking areas but no hiking or long trails. Pavilion area and open lake sitting areas were available. Our site had 50/30/20 amp and I’m assuming most do as well. The website didn’t say that and I see this app has 30 only. Pets were permitted. Park ranger drove around often. The most amazing Dollar General ever was about 10 minutes away if you need a quick trip. Everything from tents to giant fifth wheels were there so it’s a great place no matter what you have.

I have stayed here extensively, and usually come here 5-6 times per year. Though all the camping loops are great, I always stay in Loop-c as I think it is the best of the 4 loops. Huge amount of waterfront campsites, both primitive no hook-up and water & electric sites. Brand new bath house and it's kept extremely clean. One the best things about the bath house, it has the usual mens & ladies room, but also has six private uni-sex bath rooms with toilet, sink & shower in each, There are designated swimming beaches at each of the loops, but swimming is permitted from most of the campsites, most have a sandy shore line. You can even beach your boat there and tie it out over night. There are 3 boat launches throughout the campground. Kerr Reservoir (or Buggs Island Lake at is mostly referred as) has the best Bass fishing this side of the Mississippi, and they hold Bass tournaments here on a regular basis. The lake is also one of the best place for Cat Fish in the state as well.

The trails at this park are very well maintained. They are designated as hiking, biking, and/or horseback riding, so you'll know which trails are best for your activity.

This park has some of the best bike trails in the state - over 25 miles. Several new mountain-bike-only trails opened just this year. The difficulties are clearly marked as Novice through Expert. They even installed maintenance equipment at the entrance of each new trail so you can make minor adjustments without carrying your own equipment.

A number of the hiking trails through this park are wide fire roads. Smaller paths wind throughout the park connecting the larger trails together. Be sure to get a park map before you start your adventure. This is the largest state park in Virginia and it's easy to get turned around.

If you're into Geocaching, or want to learn how, you can pick up a hand-held GPS from the park office along with a list of the geocaches located in the park. The geocaches are rotated on a fairly frequent basis, so there will always be new caches for you to find.

Pocahontas State Park has a great Nature Center where you can pet or hold some of the smaller snakes, and watch the box turtles wander around. Here you can learn about the local plants and wildlife so you know what to look for out on the trail. There are even craft activities for the little ones. Just check with the park office or the Nature Center for a schedule of events.

For water lovers there is a large swimming pool that is open during the summer months. If you're camping for the night, your entrance to the pool is included in your stay. Or, if you prefer kayaks and canoes, you can put in at Swift Creek Lake for a flatwater paddle. The park has rental equipment if need to borrow gear.

The southern end of the park has been designed for the horse lovers. There is ample parking for trailers and miles of wide trails so you don't have to ride single file. The park includes new facilities for your horses including two exercise rings. There are no overnight facilities for horses at this park.

The camping sites are nothing special. Tent and RV camping are in the same area. They do provide plenty of room for your tent, and include a picnic table and fire ring. Many of the sites are in almost full sun, so you may want to bring a shade of some type with you.

Beware that there is a huge tick population in this park. Be sure to wear bug spray if you'll be out in the woods at any point.

All-in-all, this is a fantastic park for families. There is a little bit of everything for everyone in your family.

Great place to hike, ride bikes, walk dogs.!water park looks awesome but didn’t go because I couldn’t leave my dog.

Tent sites are a bit confusing as some share the same car access but split into two lower.

Some of the lots are marked as tent OR RV which I guess they are but we would probably not boondock here again as it isn't flat but the RV sites look amazing.

Bathrooms: 5/5 clean & air-conditioning in all of them.

Sites: 3/5 just average/fine

Pools: 0/5 no pool

Beach: 3/5 private beach but not upkept. Loads of rock/Carolina clay/trash sea grass

Waterfrontness: 5/5 weird water but pretty to look at

Closeness to other sites: 1/5 you are up each other's buttcracks

Dog rating: 4/5 no problem but also SO dog friendly we had to be very mindful of others not having their dogs on leash.

We spent one night with our dogs at the walk-in campground at James Lake. It is a wonderful piece of nature. The campsites are far away from each other. Everything was very clean and taken care of. Our tents were very close to the lake so the dogs had fun and enjoyed swimming. Hiking trails are near by as well. It's quit a walk to the campsites but they provide wheelbarrows to bring your stuff in. We would definitely recommend this campground.

Quiet, beautiful and Dog Friendly! There are beautiful trails for hiking and a ton of fishing spots! It had been over 25 years since my last trip and it hasn’t lost it’s charm one bit. It’s the perfect relaxing getaway! Phone service is in and out but we didn’t mind, it was nice to escape the world for a while.

The James River WMA is primarily used by hunters and fishermen throughout the year. However, one of the benefits of this place is that it is also open to dispersed campers! You simply need to purchase either a daily or annual access pass from the DWR website and then report which days you will be staying at the WMA--it's currently $23 for the annual pass.

After turning onto Midway Mills Lane from the northern end (route 626), there is a gravel access road about .5 miles down the road that is well-maintained. It almost immediately opens up into an open field where large rigs of any size can fit. There is another site further down the road, but it is smaller and primarily used for truck campers and tents.

This is where we stay any time I need to work in-office down in Lynchburg, VA. It is 20 minutes from the closest grocery store (Food Lion), liquor store, gas station, and propane supplier (Foster Fuels).

I had great T-Mobile service, but no ATT service--even with a powerful LTE antenna. I do not have Verizon so I cannot comment on their service.

This isn't a campsite for the best "scenery" or anything (though it is pretty in the morning), but it is quiet (you might sometimes hear dogs or gunshots from hunters who are near the water-fowl impoundment at the very end of the road by the river), secluded, and convenient. If you need a place in central Virginia to camp for (almost) free, this is it.

This was my first-ever camping trip and I’m glad that it was here. We stayed at site 11 in location 2 on the Lake James campgrounds; it’s a paddle-in-only location. Getting there required canoeing in, which was easy for us to do on the lake’s dock. (We rented canoes from CBS a ways away.) The trip is beautiful, especially at sunset.

Our campsite was clean and came with a picnic table, a fire and a bear box. We were able to fit 2 tents and 6 camp chairs in the space; a little snug with 6 people and 3 dogs but totally doable. We bought firewood locally, but someone came by on a bike the first night offering to sell us some, too. A few other campers walked past with dogs but mostly it felt very private.

We canoed to the beach at Lake James on Saturday. The water isn’t the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, but it’s perfectly fine for adults to take a dip in. They allow floaties, which is great, but sadly no dogs on the main beach. We also got ice cream and iceees from the concession stand. Also, no alcohol allowed, but that was actually kinda nice because there weren’t loud drunk people anywhere. Lots of families were BBQing and picnicking at the beach.

The bathroom at camp was somewhat primitive—just a toilet with a hole in the ground. It didn’t smell terrible but it gets very hot inside. No sink, but there is toilet paper and Purell. Definitely bring lots of your own hand sanitizer and wipes, if you need to feel super clean. Our campsite was private enough that I felt OK peeing in the woods.

The bugs (mosquitoes)were not too bad with bug spray on. There were spiders and centipedes around and a no poisonous black rat snake. No bears, but lots of loud frogs at night. 🐸

I camped at Kerr Lake a few weeks ago with a friend and the dogs. The campsite was very close to the water. That really helped to beat the heat. The campsites are very close together. We were there from Friday to Saturday and it was just us and another couple in the whole loop. I think I would not go in peak season at a weekend. It would be way too crowded for me. Otherwise it was a very nice campground.

We’ve been here twice. Once for our anniversary and we stayed in one of the cabins with our dog, and once tent camping. The cabin was reasonably priced and comfortable. They are all grouped together and could be fun for a family reunion or some larger gathering with friends. The tent camping experience was with our kids, and it was a little hard to keep them entertained. The hiking trails were a short distraction, but not long or difficult enough to wear them out.

We stayed at Bear Creek Lake 11/26 & 11/27.  We wanted to stay at a park that had a nice trail system attached to walk about during the day.  It was SO NICE walking along trails that were not crowded (we're from Northern VA, it's crowded).  My dog thoroughly enjoyed getting out and getting new sniffs!  The staff and camp hosts were very friendly and helpful while respecting and maintaining social distancing (COVID-times, amirite?).  Sites and facilities were well-maintained.  The only negative is that the sites are pretty close together, but that's more of a personal preference!

well I have a cot so I was good on the gravel area that they want you to put your tent on but the person I was camping with did not and they asked her to move to gravel. who tents on gravel when you have to sleep on the ground? not cool. showers also had no lip so water just got everywhere. views were ok but no place to jump in the beautiful lake for refreshment. went to go to splash park and no dogs aloud so no place for me and pup to cool off.

Nice well kept park and campgrounds. Most of the sites looked pretty level. Sites in B are small and mostly have deep drop offs beyond the railroad ties. Sites are a little more spread out in C but still pretty small. But plenty of oversite parking. Both campgrounds very wooded. Beware there are LOTS of squirrels and not too afraid of humans. If you have dogs like we do that hate squirrels they drove them nuts- squirrels running around in our campsite and up trees in our campsite. And while walking around. They also climbed on a small table right next to the rv door and shredded my paper towels! Lots of areas to walk. Campground C had only two clean bath houses with only two toilets and two showers. Which I imagine with the many no hookup sites could get pretty busy.

Paddys Creek Drive-in Tent Camping 

I know you can't control the weather but the night we tried to stay here, it POURED! I'll get to why it is an issue in a bit. The park and campground are one of the newest in North Carolina. The facilities are nice, new and clean. The campsites are big but on a hill with parking below the sites. The camp pad is surrounded by a wood frame. That is the catch - the wood frame! When it started to rain, the water pooled up in the camp pad area since it had no where to drain. In a matter of minutes, our tent was floating in 6 inches of water. We could have toughed it out but at this point it was early enough in the night to just pack up, mud, wet tent, wet dog and all. I would try again but I hope it doesn't rain.

I gave this campground a 3 out of 5, mostly because it wasn't very memorable. I had a good time there with my family, but there wasn't anything that really stood out to me.

Also, I really love to hike and get out into nature when I camp. Powhatan, Virginia isn't the best place for that compared to all of the amazing wilderness you can find in other parts of Virginia.

The sites were a little close together for my liking, but they were still very nice.

The staff was very helpful and friendly.