Best Tent Camping near Chincoteague, VA

BOTTOM LINE: Assateague State Park was a fantastic family tent camping experience. 

BACKGROUND: We camped with our then-3 year old for two nights in early-October 2022 and stayed on the J Loop (walk-in tent camping only). The temp was low-40s to mid-60s, clear skies, slight continuous breeze. 

• Key equipment: Nemo Wagontop 6-person tent, Exped MegaMat (double), ThermaRest single sleeping mat, Eureka! Ignite+ camp stove

DETAILS: Sorry for the random order of things, but here it goes...

Assateague State Park is very well-run and in great shape. Rangers are very friendly, though we interacted with a few rangers/staff who couldn't answer certain questions (but they did try to help or found someone who knew). There are also camp hosts--long-term visitors with additional responsibilities for managing camping areas--who were helpful, knowledgeable, and nice. 

The facilities are really great. Particularly the bathhouses, which were immaculate for park bathrooms/showers. Expect potable water, private shower stalls with warm water, and very clean bathrooms.

Loops A-H were too cramped for our liking.  Spaces are very close together, and it appears >75% of visitors are RV/camp trailers, so tent campers were stuck in between towering, loud vehicles. I Loop was still mostly vehicle campers, but there was a bit more space. I'd consider staying there if J Loop wasn't available.

J Loop (where we stayed) is a no-vehicle, no-generator area. It's technically a "walk-in" site, but the parking lot is about 200 feet from the loop entrance (it took about 2 mins to walk from our truck to the tent). We were able to quickly and easily carry all our gear from car to site, and still manage a toddler running around. J Loop sites are spaced-out far enough that you cannot hear each other--even during the quiet morning period or in the evening as the late-nighters stay up by their fires--but you have the comfort of knowing you're not totally alone and isolated. From J Loop sites, the walk to the beach is about 3-4 mins down a pedestrian (and horse) only sand trail. In October, the beach was effectively empty. We highly recommend J Loop for tent campers.

Tent pads are soft beach sand. Bring tent stakes made for sand! Regular piton stakes will not hold your tent in even the slightest wind. We used some plastic screw-in stakes from Amazon and they worked beautifully. Recommend 10" stakes, but you could get by with 7.5".

Sites include picnic tables (very sturdy and in very good shape), with a built-in food locker underneath the table. Lockers are not raccoon or bear proof -- just horse proof. Being so close to the beach, there's a steady light breeze all the time; and sometimes it a mild wind with slightly stronger gusts. Nothing worrisome--sand and dust were not flying in the air or anything--but for camp stove bring your wind shield, and for tents be sure to use sand stakes.

Sites also include fire rings with adjustable grills. Fire wood is sold at the ranger station, $5 per bundle. It's mostly yellow pine, which burns pretty quickly, so you'll probably go through 1-2 bundles per night, depending on your usage. After hours, firewood payments are on the honor system (cash box), or you can pay by card during business hours. Firewood sold out on our last night, so I recommend stocking up for a couple days worth of wood at a time. Sites do not have much in the way of natural shade, so if it's going to be sunny and/or if you are particularly sensitive to sunlight/burns, then consider bringing your own canopy, sun shade, or umbrella.

Weather-wise, in early October, the temperature was perfect for camping: warm enough during the day to be comfortable in pants or shorts and a long sleeve shirt, but not sweat; but cool enough to keep away all the bugs, and enjoy the warmth of a camp fire in the evening. We were able to enjoy daytime temps on the beach, and we could splash in the surf a little, but the water was way too cold to go swimming. For sleeping, this time of year I recommend a regular 3-season sleeping bag, but bring an extra warming layer if you sleep cold. (Of note, during warmer months the mosquitoes and flies can be overwhelming and oppressive. We were lucky to mitigate this by choosing a cooler time to camp.)

The Nature Center was closed while we were there, but it looked interesting -- a small building on stilts. It wouldn't be enough to fill a day, but maybe an hour or so (pending any programming the rangers might have). There was also a decent little playground, if you have kids -- but who needs a pg when you've got nature and a beach!?

From the state park, it's a short 7-10 min drive out, around, and south to the National Seashore (operated by the National Park Service). Assateague National Seashore has some nice, but short hiking trails/boardwalks, a couple historic sites, and more beach to explore. Being an entirely separate park, you will have to pay to access the Natl Seashore. To access the Chincoteague side of the national seashore, you'll have to drive the 1.5 hours back over the bridge, south to Chincoteague, and re-enter from the south entrance. You cannot get to Chincoteague (Virginia) from Assateague (Maryland).

The ranger station itself is pretty basic. They do sell ice and firewood, but not food/water/provisions, and the selection of knick-knacks was pretty scant. 

In the future, we'll probably bring our bikes so we can quickly move between the state park and national seashore (it's probably quicker and simpler than driving), and we'll definitely bring our own canopy/sun shade.

First time camping in a long time. Oceanside walk in requires a good amount of work. You’re carrying your gear in to your site, setting up in howling wind (potentially), no water at site. Cold showers. Pit toilets. But man oh man. The rewards are high. Wild horses every day. Beach was right over the dune. Campsite is set behind one dune so there’s a little wind protection. We had one wild thunderstorm night. Survived with our good tent and screen house (do not come without some kind of screen house). But the next morning the mosquitoes were wild. Everyone had bites from our morning packing up. It was hot (camped at end of July/beginning of August), but water was a good escape. We escaped into the town of Berlin on some of the hotter hours of the day for ice cream to beat the heat (and charge our electronics in the car). Great spot. I’d come back, but maybe later in the year when it’s not so hot!

I definitely had the best site on the block! Caddy corner from the bath house, but not so close to be disturbing, & it was very clean w/ nice hot water showers & spacious adjacent changing area with bench & lots of hooks to hang towel, clothes, etc. Well kept site with built up flat tent pad, (down side is limit 2 tents & must be on pad when there was plenty of room for several tents without an RV. ). Nice long picnic table with benches, fire ring is a safe distance from tent pad. There is a fish cleaning station w/ hook & all, for any who want to fish in the park lake. Can rent canoes/kayaks & there is a pool that I think has a lifeguard. Friends had a much smaller site next to mine & on the other side of them were our friends with a huge RV w/ pull outs, where we had plenty of room for twenty to cook breakfast & dinner, gather round the fire for s'mores & lounge in camp chairs & still had room for most of the tour bikes in "the driveway". Other friends had sites peppered around the loop and all said they were comfortable. A little spooky Thurs. night for this woman to camp alone before more campers arrived Fri, but all-in-all a nice place to camp in a forest with a lake that is far enough away , but not too far, from Berlin, Assateague Island, & Ocean City, MD. Best to have what you need before you get there because the camp store was closed & stores are not close enough to run out for toothpaste.

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.

Open from April to September (except Waters Edge and Robins Nest loops which are open year round) the tent sites here can be a little close together. Particularly the sites at Waters Edge. The camp sites , which are up to 200 or so are just large enough for a 6 person tent. Larger sites at the Fox Den loop can accommodate larger tents for larger families. Each site has a fire ring and table. Most have a lantern pole.all sites have access to water and all but Waters Edge have shower and bathrooms. ( Waters Edge bathrooms are under the camp store which is next door, but can be a long walk in the middle of the night). Shad landing offers good fishing, boat rental, and in season a well maintained pool. The camp store is not only well stocked, it offers a lunch and dinner menu, which the kids love as they’ll eat pizza whenever. Firewood is available for purchase. What is truly great about Shad Landing is it’s location. Want to go to the beach? Assateague Island is 30 minutes away, Ocean City 40 minutes. Chincoteague just shy of an hour. Wanna try local food? Pokomoke City, Berlin, OC, and several other place can help out. Just outside of Chincoteague is Wallops Island- a NASA launch and testing center. The science center is a huge hit with the kids. Assateague and Chincoteague both offer National Park activities. Chincoteague also has a wildlife area that is astounding to view ( as well as lighthouse tours and another science center. ) We’ve come here regularly for years and have never had what would be considered even a mediocre day.

We had a great experience at Trap Pond. Price was reasonable. D Loop sites were a good size. Comes with a fire ring and picnic table. Site wasn't super level, so just bring enough leveling blocks if you're in a camper. D14 specifically is the last site on the row with an unobstructed view of the pond- we loved it. All sites in D loop had great tree coverage. It was also right near the showers, which were clean & warm, just what was needed. Tent sites are more secluded and are walk-in; our buddies tent camped the same weekend. There was a dock within walking distance of our site. Canoes were available for rent & I highly recommend canoeing water trails through the beautiful Cypress trees. No sewer connects, but there are 2 dump stations and we didn't wait long at the dump station heading out on a Sunday in July. Camp store has all the necessities, yet still simple. Free concerts at the nature center every Saturday in the summer. Nice walking/hiking trails around the grounds also. Dog friendly was a plus!! Lots of dogs were on leads at campsites including ours.

Visited in late October on a last minute weekend trip. Had no issues finding a campsite upon arrival, luckily. The staff was super friendly and helpful in picking a site for us. We decided to stay ocean side and was just over the summer dune from the water. Lot had fire ring and table. Set up our tent in the flattest spot we could find. Neighbors next to us had five tents and seven people. There also were quite a few RVs that ran their generators long into the evening. We brought our dogs, and rangers said they were allowed at any campsites but told us where they were restricted. It was really awesome to be able to camp that close to the ocean. The quiet hours were pretty well followed, which allowed us to hear the Sika dear bugle late in the night. The showers and bathroom had much to be desired, but for being on the coast it was nice to have them. No sink near them but there was two faucets (one was locked off, not sure if the other). It got super windy over night, which caused issues to some of the campers at other sites. The check out time was pretty strictly checked up on. Overall we would love to go back and take our bikes to ride the trail. Neat experience and would completely recommend to others.

Assateague National Seashore on the Maryland side offers an incredible experience. 

Along with soft sand, balmy breezes and coastal views, wild horses wander the park at will.

We chose a campsite that did not require hiking onto the sand to reach. This made setting up camp much easier as no carrying was involved. We were early enough in the seasons that the mosquitoes hadn't kicked in yet, so it was an enjoyable stay. 

The restroom facilities are primitive. with a dump toilet, and exterior showers with warmish water. To turn on the shower water, one has to hold down a line to get it to run.

There was a good mix of tents and a variation of camper trailers on both the oceanside and bayside camp areas. The camper trailers are boondocking as no hookups are offered at this campground.

I find the restrooms on the bayside to be better, but in the warmer months, be prepared for lots of mosquitoes in that area.

The horses do their rounds in the morning for breakfast and in the evenings for dinner. DO NOT FEED THE HORSES  ! They are rather aggressive and persistent. KEEP ALL FOOD LOCKED UP IN YOUR CAR! They are Houdini's and have no trouble opening up any types of coolers with either their mouths or their hooves. There is a storage cubby below the picnic table - use it. 

The best way to shoo them away from your campsite is to bring a metal water bottle with small rocks in it. Shake it at them and they know to move along. It's what the rangers use to get them to move.

To reserve use recreation.gov

Just wow. We made an impromptu visit and camping trip. The walk-in tent sites are BEAUTIFUL!! It’s really great to be able to set up camp and be in nature without the sound of someone charging their phone or blowing up their mattress in the site next to you. All the wall in tent sites on loop E are HUGE!! You can easily fit two tents plus all the glamping extras! The bathrooms are short walk away and are lovely. Clean and big with free showers. The wheelbarrows provided are great for the drop off of equipment. The first night it rained (literal buckets). The site was under 3 inches of water within a half hour!! Once the rain stopped though the puddles were gone just as fast! The hiking is always beautiful and easy to access. The flat trails are wide and loop across to the national park side. The camp store is also a huge plus! They have everything you need for emergency’s and then some! The bikes, ice, and firewood are easy to access. The only complaint is that although there is boating a place to cool off was missed greatly. A pool or splash pad would make a great addition to an almost perfect campground! An added note, during the storm a branch from a tree became loose and we went to the check in to let them know. They gave us expedited care. The checked out the tree and decided for our safety we needed to change sites. They were able to give us a new site right away and even offered to help move us!! Customer camper care is definitely number 1!