Looking for a rustic and comfortable horse camping experience near Doswell? Camping with horses is a beautiful way to experience nature. These scenic and easy-to-reach Virginia campsites are perfect for your horse camping excursion.
Just 20 miles from Richmond, Pocahontas offers boating, picnicking, camping, camping cabins, 90-plus miles of trails, and nature and history programs. The Aquatic Center, which has a toddler pool, fountain wet deck, three-foot and five-foot-deep leisure pools, an activity pool and two tubular water slides, affords seasonal water-based activities for all. Three lakes offer plenty of fishing. Boat rentals are available seasonally by the 225-acre Swift Creek Lake. The Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, dedicated to Depression-era workers who helped build the state park system, is one of a handful in the nation. Two dining halls may be rented for meetings, weddings and special events. Rustic group facilities with primitive overnight cabins (bunkhouses) are available seasonally for larger groups. The park's 2,000-seat amphitheater hosts the Pocahontas Premieres series of concerts and family-friendly entertainment. Pocahontas State Park's location and 90 miles of trails make it particularly popular among bicyclists.
$35 - $40 / night
$19 / night
Located on over 1,000 acres of rolling hillside and lush pasture lands that encompass a scenic 60-acre lake, Shenandoah Crossing Campground and Resort is the perfect place to stay for those who love the outdoors. The resort combines an old country estate and horse farm with acres of wilderness in a pristine area that lies just beyond the Shenandoah Valley. Enjoy the rustic elegance of a 2- or 3-bedroom cabin featuring full kitchens and baths, fireplaces, master bedrooms, balconies and porches, and separate dining and living areas.
For a slightly more exotic, stay try a 1- or 2-bedroom luxury yurt stay. Furnishings include four-poster beds with plush linens, flat-screen TVs, elegant bathrooms and fully-equipped kitchens, all with central heat and air. Stay in an open-plan yurt with one bed and pullout couch or a 2-bedroom unit, plus pullout couch. Outside, you'll also enjoy a large wooden deck area with summer kitchen.
Shenandoah Crossing also features state-of-the-art RV sites with furnished patios and summer kitchens; some even offer personal hot tubs and stainless steel barbecue grills.
$50 / night
Traveler
Truly enjoyed this CG. Staff are very friendly and helpful CG is clean. Bathroom rooms are dated (compared to the ones at Twin Lakes State Park near Farmville, VA). The dump station is two-sided - helps on busy mornings when campers are leaving. Spent time touring the civil war sites around Petersburg. Lots of breweries in Richmond - a much needed place as a cold beer was very needed during the extreme heat occurring during my stay.
Scout
Like most Virginia state parks the River Bend campground is well spaced out and great for RV camping. Verizon service was stable enough to work all week with a Jetpack without the need for a directional cell booster
TravelerOur site was nice and level. Covered by shade the majority of the day. Playground was decent and pretty centrally located on the campground. Firewood for sale by QR code was convenient. The trails were nice and it was a nice walk to the aquatic recreation park. Access to the aquatic park is free for campers. The bathrooms were clean but the one close to my site the outside was falling apart. Don’t know how the camp store is because it is only open Thursday to Sunday and has almost different hours every day. Overall great campground we will be going back
LegendThis state park is amazing, it is close to the Richmond metro but allows an easy and wonderful retreat to nature. I was there in early June, and it wasnt crowded, though I can imagine it might be later in the summer. There are numerous camping options here, ranging from tent camping to RV’s to camper cabins to yurts, to regular full service glamping cabins, all in different sections. There is also an area set aside that could be rented for a group retreat or group summer camp, with groups of cabins around meeting space and dining hall area. The full service cabins are new and very upscale; the camper cabins are older but well maintained. The yurts are lovely too. I car camped in a standard site, all the campsites are wooded, shady, fairly private and well spaced. The park is huge and has lots of recreation, from miles of hiking and riding trails, biking and more. Very family friendly, with playgrounds, an incredible waterpark and pool, and nature programs at the visitor center. There is also a summer series of concerts etc in the park. Highly recommended!
Traveler
This resort is 5 Star in amenities. Indoor pool in the lodge, restaurant, outdoor pool connected to the indoor one. Another outdoor pool area by the general store (wasn't open yet) has a large pool and kids pool. The activities center has things going on every day. They also have a large room with a large screen that you can reserve to watch movies. There is a stable for horse riding. Also, there's miniature golf. They have cabins, yurts,and a tree house for rent. The laundry is free. Our campsite, lowest level, has a table with four chairs, two Adirondack chairs, and a propane grill. The higher level has an outdoor sink. The top level has a jacuzzi. The grounds are well designed for landscaping and kept trimmed. Now, for the cons. Our back- in site isn't level. We were told that is by design so water will flow off. Maybe. Our loop doesn't have any bathhouse, while the one next door has two. We did take a shortcut that went over a clay hill. Probably not safe if it's raining. The shower looks nice. Would stay drier if people would put the curtain inside the barrier. Shelves and benches in the showers are nice. Water pressure is mediocre to good. We're still waiting for hot water. I do say the help keeps it clean. There are sanitizer bottles left in the bathrooms and showers. Overall, it is a nice place to sit and relax.
RangerVery basic campground, nothing particularly exciting to do but has everything you need!
ScoutStayed just one night on our way to Maine. Nice, well-kept park and very friendly staff! Will definitely come back when we can stay longer. Stayed in a pull-through site with lots of space and privacy.
TravelerSuch a clean and well maintained State Park. Sites relatively level, surrounded by beautiful trees and well spaced out. Great hikes and gift shop at office.
ScoutReally quiet and spacious campground with two bath houses. A lot of trails to explore.
TravelerWe absolutely loved it! We stayed in the tent camping area. The bathrooms were the cleanest we’ve experienced at any tent camping site. It’s relatively close to the Shenandoah NP. Would recommend this place. Definitely returning.
Legend
We camped here for a couple of nights in February for my sister’s birthday. Super clean cabin, lots of dishes and pots/pans, and utensils. Our cabin had beautiful water views and access to the trails. Saw an albino squirrel! We loved our trip!
GuideIt was Veteran’s Day a 3 day weekend…and boy was it full, even with the late season tropical storm blowing through later in the day! I guess it was busy because it is free on Veteran’s Day! Water and electric at each rv site, but water and 50 amp only in sites 66-129. (Dual dump station on the way out.) Host sites are #41 & 99 and can answer questions for you. Cabins and yurts also available for rent. Hike or mountain bike down to the lake for some fishing or scenic exercise. Camp store has ice, snacks, ice cream, camping games, and first aid supplies. Friendly store staff too! Separate laundry facility at the camp store.
TravelerThis park has great ranger staff at the gate and roads were well marked. The grounds were very well kept. Our site was fairly level easy to get into and pull through. The facilities for the bathroom were also very clean. I would definitely go back.
GuideWe stayed here for one night on our way to Acadia National park. The park was lovely, sites were pull throughs for our 20 foot pull behind. Although we did not get to explore much we enjoyed our time here. We would definitely come back to explore it further.
GuideI stayed 4 nights in my Coleman 17b a rolling hills campground 20' max. Lake views and surrounded by hardwoods. Very nice gift shop with very nice staff. Cabins are available as is the archery range. Beautiful beach and surroundings make for a quite tranquil week stay.
GuideBig place, easy to find some solitude midweek. Crowded on weekends. Park is nice and clean
LegendThe campsites were private, well maintained, and shady. The facilities were also well maintained. Flush toilets and free hot showers were abundant.
With only 120 sites, the traffic and noise was acceptable. There was cell coverage for our Verizon phones. There was a nice playground for the grandkids, a small campground store, dry firewood, and friendly campground hosts.
The day use area is incredible and less than a mile walk through the woods on a hike/bike/crawl/stroller gravel surface. The day area includes awesome MTB trails, hiking trails, kayaking/fishing spots and a water park.
No doubt we will return to this Virginia State Park in the future!
LegendWe spent three nights here (May 17-19, 2022). This is an awesome State Park CG with wide, level pull through and back-in sites.
There is a small gift shop at the main entrance. The camp store was closed during our stay. We did not make use of the laundry, bathrooms or showers.
Activities include: hiking/walking, mtn biking (three levels of difficulty– wish I brought my mtn bike), boating, fishing, swimming, equestrian, etc. The trails are excellent. The forest and lakes are absolutely amazing. There is so much to see and do.
This is the kind of park that you hate to leave. We would most definitely stay here again (and again). How fun!
RangerJust 20 miles from Richmond Va. Pocahontas offers boating, picnicking, camping, camping cabins, yurts, plus 90 miles of trails, along with nature and history programs. The Aquatic Center, which offers a toddler pool, fountain wet deck, three foot and five foot deep leisure pools, along with activity pool and two tubular water slides. affords seasonal water based activities for all. Three lakes offer plenty of fishing. Boat rentals available seasonally by the 225 acre swift creek Lake. The Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, dedicated to Depression era workers who helped build the state park system, is one of a handful in the nation. Two Dinning halls may be rented for meetings, weddings and special events. Rustic group facilities with primitive overnight cabins (bunkhouses) are available seasonally for larger groups. The park also offers buddy camp sites for 2 sometimes 3 campers in a party.
The park's 2,000 seat amphitheater hosts the Pocahontas Premiers series of concerts and family-friendly entertainment.
Pocahontas State Park's Location and 90 miles of trails make it particularly popular among bicyclists.
The canoe trips around the swift creek lake will leave lasting memories of the fun times in nature as you will see and abundance of it.
Pocahontas has 129 camping sites some of which are site specific while others are reservable, on a first come basis. Most all the sites are somewhat level and lengthy, but if you have a lengthy setup, it's recommended to reserve a lengthy site. The reserve America website will post site overall lengths and be helpful in reserving the proper sites.
This is a rather big and very enjoyable state park with much to do, while being fairly close in to town for lots of other exploring. Should You decide to give it a closer look. I hope You will find it greatly enjoyable as I do.
Due to covid please check ahead to be sure activities you may be interested in are not canceled.
The park does have some slight rolling hills in sections while there are fairly flat hikes as well. Best Wishes and Enjoy!
LegendLovely time in the yurt! Walked around the property and saw the horses and checked out the primitive sites.
GuideThis state park has it all! Nice roomy campsites. Clean bathrooms and showers. Laundry in the park. Many trails to hike or bike. Beautiful area. It is near Richmond, VA where we were visiting family so it worked well. There are also cabins available in the park.
LegendWe rented the buddy site this summer, which was actually three very close together sites that have been grouped together to become a buddy site. Typically group sites have large spaces and lots of room to gather around a fire but with it being three sites, the picnic tables, firepits, and tent pads were all spread out. It wasn’t really what I expected for a group site but we made it work.
Bring fans for summertime camping! Not all sites have good shade.
TravelerWe hit a nice 4.5 miler loop "forest exploration trail" lovely scenes
GuideThis park sets the bar on how a park should be. Attention to detail, well kempt level sites, laundry service, well maintained facilities, friendly helpful staff, plenty of activities and local history.
I am glad I did not pick the early drive though sites as they exchanged convenience for sub par sites. The back in loops further in are well worth it.
ScoutBeautiful sunsets over the stables and horse pastures. We reserved a “pull-through” RV site which ended up being a back-in site that was very uneven and nowhere near level. Also, after staying for two weeks, the bathhouse next to our site was closed because of lack of electricity. Which forced us to drive up to the indoor pool (nice) and use the showers there. Inconvenient, but we made it work.
GuideEven though it was a very crowded weekend, this site felt pretty private since it is set back off the road a bit. It also had a good amount of forest next to it. Lots of room to park and accommodate a large group. Glad we brought canopies for some shade since the entire site isn't shaded.
About .25 miles to the bathroom/shower house which was very clean.
ScoutThe campsites are nice and shaded, not TOO close to neighbors. The lake beach was a great time for our kids, and we rented a paddle boat and tandem kayak and all had a blast. The picnic tables, playground, and snack bar at the "beach" were great amenities as well!
Virginia offers a fantastic experience for horse camping enthusiasts, with several campgrounds providing excellent amenities and activities tailored for both riders and their horses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Doswell, VA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Doswell, VA is Pocahontas State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 78 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Doswell, VA?
TheDyrt.com has all 4 equestrian camping locations near Doswell, VA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
