Best Equestrian Camping near Chincoteague, VA

I spent 5 days 4 nights on the shore of Assateague. As an equestrian this was a once in a lifetime adventure. Feral chincoteague ponies everywhere you look! Both towns of chincoteague and assatesgue lean into the horse craze, they have equestrian stores, riding barns, and horse museums just about everywhere you look. During the summer there is an annual “pony swim” where the wild ponies are rounded up and swam from one island to another so they can be sold. I cannot speak from experience but from what I learned from locals this event brings in over 50,000 people. You will need to plan around this if you wish to avoid crowds, although this location seems to be heavily populated all year round, don’t let that discourage you.

Side note- the crabbing is amazing among the local marshes!

Beautiful scenery, love the wild horses. Just be careful opening the door, I've been greeted by a few horses!

Campground Review

How first impressions don't always hold true...

My first impressions of this campground were less than stellar. We arrived from VT, after driving 14 hours in traffic, at 9:30 pm. We arrived in the tent camping area, and were dismayed to find that the campground was PACKED. Not only was it packed, but there was zero privacy from other campers, as only a split rail fence separated each "site".  To make things worse, it turned out the campground staff had directed us to the wrong site....and shortly after we began setting up, another group came in and told us it was there site (it was). However, the office staff was VERY helpful and kind, even though it was late, and they were obviously very busy. It was the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, which apparently is one of their busiest weekends.

Finally we got sorted out which site to set up it. At this point, it is 10 pm, and our 5 children our bouncing off the walls, full of excitement. The campground is loud, as everyone else arrived that night as well. My husband and I brace for a terrible night of sleep, stoically putting earplug in and hoping for the best. The campground quiet hours were supposed to start at 11 pm, however, there was noise later than that. People driving around in golf carts cheering, people playing board games at the campsite next door...sleep was difficult.

The next day, we did the normal campground stuff--the kids took off on their bikes with their new radios from Midland Radio. Eventually, we motivated our sleep deprived selves to go off on the planned adventures at Assateague Island. Assateague is a magical place for those of us who like their beaches wild--there is zero development on the island. Most people drive to the regular, car access beach where there is parking for many car, rinse off showers, and primitive bathrooms. Tom's Cove Visitor's Center is also at the beach, and has a great touch tank with horseshoe crabs, whelks, and clams for folks to investigate.

Inside Tip if you like QUIET beaches:

Assateague Island also has TWO bike/hike access beaches, and those are our favorite. You can drive to Assateague from Chincoteague with your bikes, and then park. One bike beach is off of the Wildlife Loop, and is on pavement the whole way. It is less than a 2 mile bike ride to get there, and there are far less people.  The other hike/bike beach is a bit further off of the Wildlife Loop, and requires biking down the gravel Forest Service Road. However, this beach is framed by magnificent sand dunes, and has even less people than the first bike beach. We loved it there. It also has more shells, if beach combing is your thing. Get a map from the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center (free) and ask one of the rangers there to mark the beach locations.

So, back to the campground sleep saga. The second night was better---the campground was quiet by 10:30 pm, and we all slept fine. Well, we did get woken up by terrible thunderstorms, but that is not the campground's fault.  By Sunday night, many campers had left to go home, and we spread out into the empty sites around us.  By Monday night, we nearly had the tent camping area to ourselves. 

The tent camping area is in a beautiful grove of well trimmed Loblolly Pines. The trees were great for hanging hammocks, and also provided the perfect amount of partial shade. Our site was very close to the bathroom/shower houses, and across from the pool as well. The tent camping area also has some of the closest sites to the waterfront/boat launch, and crabbing piers. We loved be able to walk right over to the pier early in the morning and enjoy the sunrise.

Inside Tip:

The campground staff told me that the tent camping area is nearly always quiet during the week. The campground is filled to max capacity on only the holiday weekends and Pony Penning. This campground has quality amenities, and its location is fantastic enough that we would stay there again--just not on a holiday weekend.

Summary:

Restrooms were cleaned at least twice a day, but the high volume of campers meant they got dirty relatively quickly. The showers were not as clean as the restrooms, and were dark, and the water tended to pool at your feet, which was unpleasant. 

The campsites themselves were grassy, and mostly level. We were able to set up both of our tents, including the 17 foot long one. Each site has its own picnic table, but they do not have fire pits, although you are allowed to dig/build your own.

As I mentioned previously, the sites are very close to eachother, but on a less busy week, this is less of a problem as the camping area isn't full.

The campground is large--it caters to tenters and RVers, including seasonal RV renters. There is a laundromat (prices are reasonable); well-stocked camp store with wood, ice, and many essentials; a club house with small arcade, pool, and air hockey; additionally, there is a spot to rent bikes, scooters, and golf carts within the campground.  There is also a play ground that my kids enjoyed biking to. The pool is fairly large (bigger than most hotel pools, but smaller than a competition swimming pool). The employees of the campground are friendly and helpful.

Inside tip: If you like kayaking, this is a great campground to stay at. My husband and son kayaked from the campground over to a lovely sand bar  off of Assateague Island. They got within very close range of a herd of ponies grazing at low tide, hung out, and enjoyed their private slice of nature.  It is great that this campground has water access so close to Assateague.

Cons:

1. Late quiet hours on busy weekends.  

2. Shower houses were not particularly sanitary. 

3. Sea gulls like to start screaming at 6 am. 

4. Lack of campsite privacy. 

5. Loud neighbors.

Pros:

1. Access to water from campground. 

2. Beautiful views. 

3. Crabbing pier. 

4. Pool. 

5. Safe place for kids to bike.

6.  Level campsites. 

7. Chincoteague location. 

8. Helpful staff.

9. Well-drained campsites (didn't flood during severe thunderstorms!)

Midland Radio Review:

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, I am periodically given products to test out.  This trip, I was thrilled to receive products from Midland Radio. We tested out the X-Talker T7-1VP3

and the X-Talker T20X4 Walkie-Talkie Four-Pack.  We had been talking about getting radios for a while for camping. We have 5 kids, and 4 of them are all on bikes now, and love to bike around the campgrounds exploring. Radios are nice because they allow us to find out where they are, without having to hunt them down or holler to find them.  Additionally, we are a hiking, biking, active family, so having a decent radio for my husband and I helps with family management when out in the wild. 

The Walkie-Talkie four pack was awesome for the kids. 

1. Each one was a different color, which helped with the kids knowing whose was whose. 
2. They clipped them on to their bikes, after making sure everyone was on the same channel. 
3. The Walkie-Talkie four-pack was cheap enough that if they HAPPENED to lose it, or destroy it, it wouldn't be a massive loss.    
4. We liked that they worked with our radios, and that they could be set to a private station so that we could use them as a family without interference. 
5. The radios take AAA batteries, so make sure you stock up. 

Minor cons:

1. Being that they are cheaper radios, the build quality isn't super robust.

2.  Their range is less than half a mile in normal settings, however, for kids' use in a campground or hike, they were perfect.

3. No charger

The X-Talker T7-1VP3 2-Radio set was perfect for the parents to use.  I took the radio on a hike, and it was great to touch base with my husband who was still at the beach, in addition to keeping track of the kids on bike rides in the Refuge and at the campground.

1. Their buttons and switches were easy to figure out.   
2. We found their range to be excellent. My husband kayaked at least a mile away, and I was still able to communicate with him without interference or fuzziness. 
3. We like that it has Weather band alerts, as camping relies on knowledge of weather.
4.  The radio charging base has a wall plug, and a USB charging plug which is great on trips. 
5. The battery life seemed decent--a few times the radios were left on overnight, which I think killed the batteries sooner than they should have been. 
6.  Build quality seemed sturdy--one of the radios got left out in a surprise thunderstorm and did not seem worse for wear. 
7.  We liked that the radios can be set up with a password channel for privacy We also really appreciated that the radios work great with the Walkie-Talkies that we had for the kids. It promoted peace of mind for all of us whether biking, hiking, or boating on this trip. 

Minor Cons:

1. To improve the radios, I would add some weather-sealing, and perhaps slightly more tough plastic as the shells on these seem like they could crack if dropped hard on pavement.

Great being able to take your horse and ride the beach. Great camping, riding, fishing or just walking the beach and there is wildlife of all kind. The wild horses are all over the island and have on occasion come into the campsite. Weather can be really really cold or really nice in November. (personal horses only allowed to camp on the island from Oct to April 14.) Great place to visit.

Great spot for a secluded and quiet experience. I have seen horses everytime I have camped here. We always go during the winter or early spring months to avoid the bugs as they are awful during the spring and summer. Do not feed or pet the horses!

It was a 5/5 star experience. When I got onto the beach, I thought it was pretty but as I looked around, I saw the most majestic creatures ever, the wild horses roaming the sandy beach. It was an experience I would never forget. I would recommend it to horse lovers.

The island is beautiful and the horses are cool to see. It's a bit sad how the horses aren't really wild and more come to humans for food. The wind was the only issue, we couldn't leave the tent without it blowing away in the wind. Definitely would return and maybe make a trip out of it.

Horses will roam right into campsite.

Camping on the beach with wild horses

This campsite is like no other I’ve ever been to. If you don’t mind wild horses joining you for dinner and trekking around your campsite at night, then this is your place!! The beach is absolutely gorgeous and so is the scenery. If a crowded beach is not your thing, it gets less crowded as you walk away from the boardwalk. Please be kind to the horses and if you see an injured one, let the Park Rangers know immediately.

No hookups but wow the views! And if course the wild horses are amazing.

The beach was beautiful, and you can camp roughly 100 yards from it. Many campsites available, and you can actually see the horses

Chemical toilets, no electricity. Wild horses are everywhere. Put food and toiletries in car. Beautiful beach on both bayside and Oceanside. Awesome kayak rentals.

Beautiful national seashore.. beautiful beach. Biting flies, biting gnats, biting mosquitos. You will get eaten alive! Watch for the horses. May is mating season.

Crazy mosquitoes in the summer. As the deal with any national seashore in the summer. Sand in the toes, wild horses on the beach. Amazing!

We camped in the walk-in sites toward the end (south side) of the ocean side sites. You park along side the road and walk on a boardwalk to your site. Depending on site, you will have to walk on sand to get there as well. Bring a beach wagon!

Toilets are vault and showers are cold water beach showers (not full closure- open on the bottom) which would be fine in the summer but were a bit chilly when we went on a cool few days in April.

No dish washing station- to be expected- but we witnessed a few pple washing dishes under the water source and dumping there - making for a large puddle of gross water- not cool.

Some sites are on the beach, and you can position your tent to be on the dune looking at the water- some are inland a bit more but still a very short walk to the beach. Some you camp on sand (obviously) some of the inland sites have intermittent grass. I’ve heard bugs are bad in warmer months (naturally)- no mosquitos when we were there in April.

We drove through the bay side camp sites and these looked great too- the calm-watered bay side looked nice for wading & playing for small kids. There is some shade here vs none in ocean side. It’s a short walk or drive to the ocean.

BRING STAKES FOR SAND AND GUY YOUR TENT. I witnessed many collapsed tents while I was there. One sun shade that flew away.

Wild horses = piles of horse poop everywhere. Wasn’t a problem, just walk around them. Keep snacks in a locked cooler. The horses came for my 3 yo who was eating snacks while loading up the car. They aren’t messing around!

We saw many horses on ocean side & bay side. Watch out for a brown pony named Chip. The rangers & volunteers were very friendly & great at keeping tabs on the horses.

The beach shack store across from the ranger station near the entrance offered a surprisingly large selection of items.

There are two sides. Bay and Ocean I reserved a drive in ocean front site just over the dunes. No showers, just toilets. The horses do run through the camp and on the beach so be sure to lock up your coolers. Some people in the site across from me had some uninvited guests while grilling. The horse fly bites are painful. Mosquitoes as usual-annoying. Invest in good repellents. Windy. Had to use guy lines on tent to keep from blowing over. I went in June and it was hot even with the ocean breeze. Dogs are allowed on the beach and in campsites but not on the trails. Don’t forget fly repellent for them!

This place is beautiful plus there are the most amazing wild horses and sand dunes. We love to camp here but it gets very windy at times. Will keep going over and over!

For hardcore campers!! I accidentally booked the bayside campsite vs the seaside campsite and we had a very tough time. We have been camping here on and off for the past 10 years on the Seaside and it is one of my favorite beach camp sites but stay away from the bayside campsite on the bayside.

The biggest problem for us was there was absolutely no breeze or wind on the bayside, The camping spots are in a wooded area so you do get plenty of shade but the trees block any wind blowing in from the ocean. No breeze or wind means dealing with tons of flying biting insects...constantly. And I mean lots and lots of horse flies.

And for some reason I think the wild horses are more active and more aggressive on the bayside vs when camping on the beach, just my personal experience. Our camp was raided every every night and day, even when we had horse proofed all our food and our campsite. I ended up storing all our food in our tents inside lockable bins.

Most of the people I saw camping on the bayside had RV, which is the only way I would come back to the bayside.

Read my other review for seaside assategue camping for some helpful tips.

Many people do not realize there is a wide array of wildlife on Assateague because everyone is so obsessed with the horses. Specifically the birding on Assateague is phenomenal. Oceanside camping is very neat, but it fills up fast. The sites are close to bathrooms (I believe the national side has pit latrines). There are also showers, albeit cold. The sites are a decent size but be advised, they are completely sandy. You WILL get sand everywhere and it is unavoidable. Expect it so it does not put a dent in how wonderful the trip will be. The Oceanside sites are a dune away from the beach. Use the walkways to gain access to the beach as the dunes are protected and you will get fined for taking a shortcut. As many of the reviews advise, there are mosquitos. A lot of them. There are also biting horse flies. However catch the island on a breezy day and the breeze takes care of them. One of the best parts about Assateague is all of the activities you can do. There are bike paths, kayak rentals on the bayside, bay fishing, ocean fishing, crabbing, etc. The worst part about Assateague are all of the tourists who stop in the middle of the road to view the horses, blocking traffic and causing back ups.

This place is such a cool park. The beach is great, although definitely be wary of the mosquitoes. Especially at night.

The wild horses are really what people come for, and they are definitely worth the visit!

I was really looking forward to this trip. We stayed on the Bayside of the campground. Our site was close to the bathhouse, which was modest with cold water and vault toilets. Fresh water pump was nearby, as well.

Based on the reviews, I was expecting a beach camp out with the ambience of wild horses running along the shore. Sand between our toes. Fire cooked meals. Idyllic... Sadly, that’s not at all what we got.

We arrived late to meet some friends before setting up camp. We were supposed to have dinner with the them. But dinner was delayed — VERY delayed — because of horses. A small herd of them (around 8) decided to hangout in our campsite waiting for their meal. This meant we couldn’t get ours. As soon as any food would come into ‘nose-shot,’ they would start advancing on us. We waited over an hour for them to lose interest and move on to the next site. We went through this for every meal. It became a real hassle.

It’s obvious other campers have not been so responsible with their food in this area. The standard is to hide all food as soon as you see the horses. This mean storing anything with a scent in your closed vehicle or in the “horse box” under the picnic table. With the way they would wait for us to pull food out, it was very apparent other campers allowed them to have a free-for-all previously. And no amount of noise shooed them off. If anything, it made them more aggressive and we had to watch them closely.

A little while later, we finally settled in and set up camp after having our “dinner” in the confines of our car. Dinner was snacks since we couldn’t cook anything. Placing anything on the fire or stove was like a beacon to the horses.

The next problem we encountered was the mosquitoes — they were everywhere and in hoards. No matter how hard you tried, there’s no keeping them out of the tent. We left a day later covered in bumps, most from throughout the night.

One good thing was the cooler temps meant no horseflies. On a previous beach trip, we were swarmed and covered in bites within minutes of exiting our car. Be prepared because bug spray does very little.

Let’s also not forget the “stickers” — little burr-like plant pods that are all on the ground and stuck to anything and everything, especially skin. These stung bad.

Once settled in for the night, we dealt with the wind flapping the tent pretty wildly at times, horses neighing almost constantly and coming awfully close, and two raccoons fighting on the edge of our tent. A restful night was not in the cards there.

The only good thing was the location. We were a short walk away from the beach. The kids and I at least enjoyed that part.

I was beyond disappointed and cancelled my upcoming trip for the following month as soon as I got home. I don’t know if the experience was different Oceanside, but i will never be staying Bayside again.

Love staying here. beautiful sunsets you can see right from your tent and walking on the beach at night is amazing. Clean facilities. Horses can get in your stuff so make sure to put it away in your car

As other reviewers have mentioned, this campground has more vegetation than its Seaside counterpart. This does lend itself to less of a breeze and more flying insects than you might find on the beach, which makes it a perfect spot in the colder fall and winter months. We stayed here when the low was around 17 degrees so we appreciated the natural protection.

We did have several interactions with one wild horse who did not seem to be bothered by us or our dog. The dog on the other hand was certainly bothered! Between the horse and the sand spurs in his feet he would probably rate this spot a lot lower.

While I wouldn't recommend staying here in the warmer and buggier months, it is a nice alternative in the should seasons when more protection may be warranted.