Best Equestrian Camping near Chesapeake, VA

We camped at Kiptopeke State Park in a Super C Dynamax DX3. We enjoyed this park a lot because we had a great site. The majority of the sites in the Kiptopeke State park are on the open space. All sites are spacious, clean and green, but there is nowhere to hide from the sun. There are very few shaded ones and we were lucky to get one of those. Kiptopeke State park has two unguarded beaches on the Chesapeake Bay. Kiptopekes northern swim beach is nearly half a mile long. The south beach, which is even longer is open to swimming, fishing, boating and dogs are allowed on leash. And its absolutely beautiful! We have a video about this park in our YouTube channel- Summertime RV Rovers- RV Campgrounds in Maryland and Virginia: Kiptopeke State Park and Outstanding Dreams Alpaca Farm. Please check for yourself.

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.

We stayed at this State Park campground for 1 night. The tent sites are decent, shaded by pine trees and on a sandy terrain. There’s a water spigot but no electricity. The RV sites (where my friends stayed) are not very nice, the RVs are parked very close to each other and there’s no trees for shade or to hang an hammock. The bathouse is ok. It was warm when we went so they had the AC running. I've seen cleaner bathouses but it was overall fine. The park offers hiking and biking trails, but the main attraction is the beautiful beach on the Chesapeake Bay. You can rent a kayak or fish from the pier.

Several full hook up sites, reservable sites and some walk up. Nice wide sites, fairly open, but still a good amount of trees. 50/30 amp available. Was able to pick up a few tv stations on our antenna. Camp is full on weekends, empties out during the week. Some sites are shaded several in full sun. Nice swimming beach on the Chesapeake Bay (North Beach), just a short walk, either down the road or by lovely boardwalk through the woods. Wearing water shoes is advisable or the blue crabs might mistake your toes for lunch. No one likes their pinky toe pinched! The South Beach is just on the other side of the pay fishing pier and boat ramp. This beach is not great for swimming, the tide is different and has drop offs, not to mention, several folks fishing and crabbing here. Dogs are allowed on the south beach, not the North. Tho, this beach is where the shells are! Kids can splash on the waters edge, but going in too far is not advised for the littles. Boat ramp also has side area for launching kayaks and canoes. There's no licence needed on the pier, it's included with the fee. Great views of the concrete WWII ships that have been placed as breakwater. There are several well kept trails and boardwalks, 5 miles in total. Great play ground across the road from the campground, which isn't ideal. There's also a falcon observation deck near the playground, we didn't use either. Bathrooms were clean, didn't observe or use the showers, we had full hook up. There's also several coin-op washers and dryers available. Camp hosts are friendly and very visible, obviously to thank for the well kept grounds and facilities. It was windy here, not sure if that's the norm, so we kept our awning in. A little pricey for a state park, other commercial campgrounds near by were not much more. However, we do appreciate a quieter, non-commercial campground with full hook ups. You do have to haul your trash down to the entrance of the park, we asked why they were so far, host said they were in the campground, but the smell was awful, so many people fish and crab, so it was decided to move it farther away, good idea. Lovely campground.

We've stayed here pretty often as it's only a few hours from home and near everything in Williamsburg, Virginia. The park is against the James river and theres easy access to the riverside. There's also a large pool during the season with a camp store, snacks. The staff are always great, the sites are level and not too close together, with plenty of shade. The bathrooms and showers are kept clean and the showers are huge! There's plenty to do on the grounds, hiking, biking, touring the plantation, geocaching, and yes, even Pokemon Go! About 5 miles away is the ferry to Williamsburg...its free and usually a highlight of the trip for the kids! You can follow history or ride plenty of roller coasters at Busch Gardens.

Chippokes State Park is located on the grounds of an old historic plantation, actually one if the original plantations in the area dating back to the 1600’s. The land grant was huge, and as a state park now it provides a rich opportunity to learn about the James River, the natural and indigenous history of the region, the settlement history and role of this plantation in Virginia History, and more. Visiting here provides hiking opportunities to learn about fossils along the river shore, the temperate forest in the woods, and history around the old plantation. Taking the ferry across the river from Jamestown to get here was part of the adventure too. There is a nature center and visitor center that provides lots of info and programs near the river , a network of easy park roads for biking, and the plantation itself, set back further away from the river, provides a wealth of learning, including about the history of crops and trade in this area, and about the lives of the slaves who worked the plantation. The grounds right around the plantation are, in fact, a memorial to the hundreds of souls who lived and worked the land here. It was an amazing learning experience to come to the park, and the options to stay over in the park include standard campsites in a wooded campground, or cabins. The campground has all the usual state park amenities, and was very quiet when we were there in November—so late fall is a great time to come, as the fall weather was amazing

We camped at the tent only loop(F3). The site was great. The walk to the beach was longer than I thought. The most northern access was closed.

I was a bit disappointed with the bathroom situation and the trash situation. The one shower/bathroom serviced 3 different loops. And they closed it for cleaning in the morning for about 30 min. Frustrating.
There was no trash can in the loops. It was located at the entrance to the park forcing us to either drive it up daily or keep on site till the end.

Otherwise I loved the fishing and crabbing. The north beach was beautiful and water warm. Although they don’t allow dogs on the north beach.

Overall I would still go again.