Best Equestrian Camping near Cheriton, VA

I have spent my childhood here and I am excited to share it with my kids. We hike here when visiting grandparents. Chesapeake Public Park’s does a great job with events and education at NWRP! Equestrian trails available, which is always a plus.

We come every year because it's on our top list of yearly visits. The beach and staff there are nice. Crabbing and fishing there's very popular. Very pet friendly and they also made a beach side for pets to swim at. Wild animals usually pass by often later in the evening, horses, deer, rabbits etc; sites are nice and big. Some sunny some shady. Park usually fills up when I'm there

Our RV Garmin GPS and Waze brought us in on the back roads at Accomac versus keeping us on US-13. If the Temperanceville address doesn’t work, replace Temperanceville with Sanford, VA, per their website. Roads were OK but a little narrow. US-13 to Saxis Rd/695 is a much easier and direct route to the CG. Once we arrived, check-in was easy. We had requested site 50, back-in with FHUs but were told since the park was fairly empty, we could take a golf cart and go choose a site. We declined as 50 was in the pines, but still had water view. The seasonal weekenders had gone home, and we preferred the larger, more private area behind the site to walk our dogs. We were guided to Site 50, which was an easy back-in with the utilities nicely placed. Tall Pines is a large campground with a lot of nice amenities. One of the really nice points about this CG is that they cater to short termers as well as seasonal. There are a wide variety of sites to choose from and other than some of the seasonal sites, they are not stacked on top of each other. Our site was back by the cabins, which were all in excellent shape. Tall Pines hosts activities for the northern part of the Eastern Shore plus there are 3 pools and a horse riding area. Satellite could be iffy for sites near 50 plus other areas due to the trees. There are very nice water view sites and some of the premium sites have cable. We got two bars on both AT&T and Verizon. Their free WiFi worked about average for this sized CG. You have to drive 10 or so minutes to find amenities. Along with a very friendly and helpful staff, the CG also had propane and a nice stack of firewood for$5. The laundry room was very clean and fairly priced. Tall Pines has a first-rate onsite store. The store has t-shirts, bread, milk, etc. but also a wide selection of RV accessories to include faucets& water pumps at fairly reasonable prices. This is a great place to stay and check out Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, without having to stay in the higher priced tourist area.

Very nice, as all Virginia State Parks are, but crowded, noisy, and lit up like an amusement park. Not a place to “get back to nature” but a place to camp, meet new people, and a place to stay for the great activities the park has to offer and visit Cape Charles.

Virginia has some wonderful state parks and this is one of my favorites. Its got a nice beach, boat launch and a couple miles of hiking trails. The lovely town of Cape Charles  with an even better public beach and restaurants is close by. I use the park as a base for exploring the barrier island on the ocean side by kayak.

Only campground in the Virginia State Park system that offers sewer hook-up's. As for the campsites, I was not really impressed so only gave it 4 stars. If you like open field camping and absolutely no shade, this is the place for you! Other than the lack of tree's, I think this is a great campground, a great location, and a ton of things to do...

Have you ever wanted to go to a beach where the water is calm, clear, warm and shallow? With hardly any people there? Kiptopeake is the beach for you! Located on the bay there aren't huge waves to worry about or big beach crowds. Kiptopeake is my favorite Virginia State Park campground, hands down. 

Camping:

If you are a primitive tent camper like us, you'll want to get the site-specific sites. They are more secluded, bigger, and walkable to the beach. The sites in the site-specific loop are conveniently located to the bathrooms which have nice hot showers! Each site has a pretty standard picnic table and fire ring with enough room for two tents. Our site didn't have tons of room for two cars though, we had to squeeze in to our space awkwardly. We've been here in pretty much all months of the spring, summer and fall and have never had a problem with mosquitoes or biting flies.

To Do:

The beach at Kiptopeake is so beautiful! Most of the time we post up and spend all day there. I highly recommend watching the sunset from the beach. Check out the concrete fleet on a kayak. There's some great hiking, butterfly garden, bird watching. Virginia State Parks has some great programs for the kids as well! The town of Cape Charles nearby is very charming and worth a visit for cute shops and restaurants. 

Highly recommend this park! It is a really special place you'll want to keep coming back to!

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.

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.

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!

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

Love camping and fishing

Plenty of space at the site and plenty to do. Really enjoyed the beach!

My friends and I love to come and chill here every year. Love falling asleep to the sounds of waves and watching the stars. Great place for fishing too.

This campground had beautiful beach access but the tent campsites are too close to other campers which I found awkward. Usually when I think of camping I think of some peaceful time in the woods but I felt like I was in a crowded restaurant. One thing I did appreciate was that the beach and campground were dog friendly and the bathrooms/showers were clean.

Great little beach area with separate dog beach Tight camping Great fishing Few full hook ups Short walk to beach Decent hiking trails Bring bug spray Very hot in camp ground

This is a “Diamond in the rough” location. We stayed is site A08 which was a little uneven, but we enjoyed the shade from the trees as a lot of the middle sites did not have any trees. The beach is within walking distance and the water was a dream! The waves ebbed and flowed instead of breaking in your face thanks to the concrete ships causing a barrier. Kayaking out the the concrete ships was not available when we visited, but they were opening up tours July 15,2021. All in all, we had a great weekend here.

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.

This is a great campground on the Eastern Shore of VA. As with most VA state parks, it's popular with RV's and campers, but it was great for tent camping as well. There are numerous trails and water/beach access points throughout the park. The sites are spacious, and even though it has a lot of sites, they are spread out throughout different loops so it doesn't feel crowded. As with most campgrounds near sea level, it is prone to flooding if there's a lot of rain. 

There's also a nice little store where you can purchase camping essentials and souvenirs.

Overall experience was excellent. Only negative was the bathroom was a mess no matter what time of day. I didn’t expect perfection however I did expect better.

Great little trails to the beach. The RV areas had zero privacy. The tent camping area had a lot more privacy but the bathrooms in that area were not as clean.

Always good to set my tent at Kiptopeke good place to kayak and the concrete ship add some good adventure

Hey I love the beach and all but sometimes you want something calm well here you get both

Great beach and fishing pier! Camp sites are spaced well, about 30 feet for each. They have a mix of pick your own spot and reserved spots. Full hookup for the pick your own site.

We love this campground and have been all months of the summer, but this was the first time camping here after Labor Day and I think it might be my most favorite time of all!

Kiptopeake is a very popular park for good reason and therefore the campground and beaches are usually pretty crowded. We came here the last weekend of September and it was awesome! There was a much chiller vibe, the beaches were not crowded at all! We watched a beautiful sunset on the beach with maybe 6 other people there.

We chose to reserve a non-specific tent site and when we got there late on a Friday night had most of the site in loop D to pick from, so we got a great one! Site D-13 was close to the bathrooms and amenities. Nighttime was nice and quiet!

The slightly cooler and less humid weather made tent camping much better than mid-summer sweatfest, but the water is still warm enough to swim. Highly recommend coming here in the Fall!

First time camping at this state park. Tent site was spacious and very shaded. We camped on the F loop which is tucked away. Site was a quick walk to the swimming beach and bathhouse. If you don't have bikes/don't ride a bike, location is pretty far from camp store and trail heads. 

Loved that we could take our dogs on the south beach and enjoy a beach day with our dogs & toddler. Beautiful sunsets on the bay. 

Bathhouse is outdated, and did not experience any hot water from the showers. Toddler rolling around in sand meant multiple showers, all chilly.

Pine forests, wild beaches and nice bathrooms