Best Tent Camping near Poquoson, VA

The park is centrally located with easy highway access.  Plentiful parking, lots of trails to choose from.  The staff was top notch and super kind and helpful.  They were very insistent about the "no alcohol" rule.    

Sites are first come, first served.  Must reserve in person.  Visitor's center is open 9-6.  

The sites were located about 1/4 mile from the parking lot down a trail.  They were spaced nicely apart and had nice sand tent platforms with a picnic table and a fire ring with a grate.  Trash cans were very close by, which was super nice.  The bathrooms were flush toilets and running water faucets and located behind the parking lot, so a bit of a hike in the dark if you need to go.  Other than that, expect no amenities.  Bugs weren't terrible but were present.  Definitely bring bug spray.  

The biggest negative was that no matter where you were in the park, there was significant noise from the highway.  Horns honking, sirens blaring, the general rush of cars going by.  There is no sound barrier between 64 and the park so every noise just filters right through the trees.  Not anyone's fault, but definitely a downside.  

Overall when you consider the dirt cheap price of 10.60 per night, this campground delivers as advertised.

Sites: 11 primitive tent sites 2 of which are group sites 

4 tent cabins that sit right on the edge of the lake

 The individual campsites are FCFS and you must park and hike in. It is a short hike along the lake and placed a short distance from the trail so hikers will not be hiking through the sites. You have a sand bottom tent site, picnic table, fire ring/grill and trash. This is a beautiful 456 acre education and wildlife facility. Born from garbage dumps and it is great example of what can be achieved. This really is a great site.  There is an amazing nature center that overlooks Sandy Bottom Lake. Hiking, and biking trails, fishing, boating with boat rentals or bring your own, birding and wildlife viewing. 757-825-4657 

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PROS 

Perfect campground to explore the Historical Triangle 

Campground along Virginia Capital Bike Trail, which was an excellent riding trail 

Site#335 level side-to-side 

Sandy gravel site 

Moveable plastic wood picnic table 

Metal fire pit with cooking grate 

Shady site 

Wood and ice for sale at Guest Services 

Slight river view from Site#335 

Toilet/shower building clean 

Pool 

CONS 

Overused James City County Park…definitely needs some TLC applied 

Check-in clerk very curt and extremely non-customer service oriented 

Never saw a camp host site or the actual camp host 

Weirdly laid out full hook up campground. Some sites are 20 ft long 

Sites are extremely close to each other 

Had to park tow vehicle next to trailer due to short length of site 335

Tight roadway thru full hook up campground 

Dirt roadways = dusty 

Empty campsites were heavily littered

No privacy from neighbor sites 

Extremely low water pressure even when campground is not fully occupied 

No gate or controlled access to campground so lots of gawking drive thrus 

Lots of speed bumps throughout park 

Site#335 fire ring filled with ash upon arrival 

Toilet/shower building lit up like a Christmas tree all night long

Street lights throughout campground 

Road noise from VA5 

No WiFi 

1 bar Verizon

Updated after a second trip (August 2020) This campground is generally really lovely, lots of trees, good Chesapeake beach access, but not very well designed for tent camping. Some of the sites are as I observed on our first trip, but all are not created equal. A lot of them are small and close to the camp road and run right into each other (no privacy) and lack sufficient flat space to pitch two tents. So many of the camper/RV sites have lots of flat private space behind where the RV would be parked, which would be great for pitching tents. The map is not to scale; sites 130, 132, and 133 back on to site 84, for example. Site 83 backs on to site 93, which in turn is open to 94. These three would be nice for a large group camping together. The sites on the east side of the campground back right on to the boundary fence of the neighboring military base (barbed wire fence). Restroom capacity (in COVID times) is supposedly limited to the safe number of 10, but 10 would be way too many. Four stalls and three sinks do not work out to 360+ square feet of space.

Initial review (August 2019) The tent sites at this campground were gorgeous. Deep and private-feeling and well shaded. But so close to the road. I saw the map that clearly indicates Shore Drive running alongside the campground and I thought, “It can’t be that close!” But it is. Four lanes of 55mph traffic running within 25 yards of all the tent sites on the south side of the campground.

We had such a fun time, despite the noise and lack of sleep, that we will almost certainly go back, but will definitely book one of the interior loop sites or maybe even one of the 20’ camper sites instead. Additional points: multiple daily nature programs for all ages in summer, really helpful staff, but the “camp store” doesn’t sell many camp supplies or groceries except ice and firewood.

Awesome things to see here! It’s been a working farm since 1619 with beautiful gardens and livestock. The mansion and outbuildings are pretty cool as well.

Restrooms were not very clean. Each time I went to the ladies room, the door was propped wide open, and when I went to brush my teeth in the morning the counters were covered in moths and bugs and gnats. Yuck. The showers were ok.

Ice is $3 and you can grab that from the camp host if it’s after 4pm which is when the store closes. It’s cash only, exactly change. Wood is $6 and there’s a metal box - pay on your honor.

The beaches were very nice. You’re on the Cobham Bay vs. right on the river and in the dead of the summer, the water is sooo unpleasantly warm. You can wade out at the very least 100 yards and still be less than knee-deep, water still hot. The access to the little beaches are short but moderately steep, especially with lots of beach gear or strollers. It also seems to get washed out so watch your steps.

The little visitor center near the water access has cold drinks, souvenirs, ice cream, etc. They obv. accept credit cards. You can bring your dog into this area. There’s also a little wildlife info center and restrooms in the same buildings. There are also areas for day use and a good sized parking lot near the water access.

Straight across the river is Jamestown and Williamsburg, which is cool. I think I was told it’s about four miles across. That being said... those are your closest grocery stores and you have to take the Jamestown Ferry to get there. There is a Dollar General near the park, for odds and ends. Just make sure to stop in advance for what you need because you won’t find much in Surry.

Stopped at the Surry Seafood Co. for lunch and it was ok. Food and service was mediocre, but there was a nice water view from the deck. Was looking forward to stopping for some shrimp to cook that night from Colonial Seafood market but after walking in, I walked right back out. It was so unclean and didn’t smell fresh at all.

We took a beautiful drive around the plantation. The cabins look great and we’ll definitely try those out next time. There were corn fields and soybeans for miles. Such a great park due to its history.

Campsites themselves were pretty nice; not too close together. Our site had the tent pad down away from the picnic table and fire ring which was kind of nice. It was really shady, too. Room for hammocks.

Each site has a picnic table, fire pit, tent pad, lantern pole. Verizon service was great.

We were very pleased with our camping experience at First Landing State Park.  The campground is well maintained and has a knowledgable and friendly staff.

The drive thru campsite we chose was clean, level, and came equipped with a fantastic fire ring and picnic table.  There was lots of room on the site, and we could have set up a couple of tents toward the back if needed.

Access to the beach and surrounding hiking/biking trails was the real strength of this location!  It is certainly not wilderness camping, but with water and electric hook ups, we set up a successful basecamp for exploring the region.

The weather was great for late October, and the crowds were minimal.  We will likely make this an annual trip.

My family of six stayed at Cherrystone this past weekend. It was our first family camping trip so a lot of extra care went into selecting a campground. I read a ton of reviews both on here and other places. They didn’t quite answer all of my questions so here comes the review that I wish I had found.

First, how you will feel about Cherrystone is going to depend on what type of camp experience you are looking for. My wife and I prefer quiet places with a lot of relaxation. My kids (ages 4 to 11) prefer lots of activities. My kids got more of what they wanted than my wife and I did. The activities and amenities were absolutely fantastic for my kids. They loved the pools, mini gold, jumping pillows, paddle boats and every other activity that they did. The campground has a safe feeling to it so we didn’t worry about giving the older ones more freedom to explore. They made friends and did whatever they wanted. They loved it. My wife and I had a good time as well but Cherrystone is a little noisier than would be ideal for us. Quiet hours don’t start until 11pm and quiet time isn’t really enforced by the employees. It wasn’t terrible but we would have preferred a little less noise. Some parts of the campground were louder than others. We were on a no hook-up tent site that seemed to be in the quieter part of the campground. Some of the RV sections had a lot of music playing and more of a party vibe.

The employees that we met were all very friendly and helpful. The bathhouses were well kept. This was a big concern for my wife and she was happy. if you knew my wife you would understand how huge that it. The tent sites were of a decent size. We had tow large tents, an EZ Up and the picnic table and didn’t feel cramped. You will be very close to your neighbors so don’t expect any seclusion. The prices in the camp store, snack shack and cafe were mostly fair and the quality of the food items was good. Pretty much every review mentions the sunsets and they are amazing. The natural beauty of Cherrystone is amazing.

Cherrystone offers a lot of value and if you are ok with a little noise and close neighbors you will not be disappointed. If you want more privacy you may want to look elsewhere. I’m pretty sure we will be back someday.

We’ve lived so close to this park for so long and I regret not coming sooner. This park is 5+ miles from the Little Island Park Parking lot, where you have to park if you’re staying overnight. So, you have to hike, bike or boat into the primitive campground because its access is blocked by Back Bay Wildlife Refuge. But because of this, the Park is a serene oasis away from traffic, no RV’s, not a lot of people. A great place to get away from it all! We hiked in on the East Dike trail through Back Bay, about 5.4 miles, with everything for the weekend on our backs. The trail is a rock/gravel road, probably more suited to bikes as it was pretty hard on our feet. But beautiful views of Back Bay on the way to the Park. Once we made it to the park, we stopped in the Visitors Center, which sells cold drinks, is air conditioned, has clean full-service bathrooms and friendly attendants who answered all our questions we had about the camping. From the Visitors Center, it’s about another .5 or so of a soft sandy hike to the Oceanside Barbour Hill campground, where we stayed. Our campsite was #12 and the attendant told us it was one of the new sites this year. It was close to the pit toilet bathrooms, drinking water faucet, and outdoor shower. The campsite was very secluded, you can’t see it from the main road, it’s tucked back in the live oaks. Site #13 is close by, would make a great buddy site. The campsite has a picnic table and a hook to hang your food and trash at night. Fires are not allowed but small camping stoves are, so we brought a little pocket rocket butane stove to cook on. What we didn’t know when we made reservations here is that you actually have two sites to choose from at this campground. There is the #12 in the live oaks site and then is you walk a short distance to the Beach, you have a designated #12 spot on the beach that you can choose to camp at as well! It was awesome! We ended up doing most of the cooking and eating at the live oaks site and sleeping and hanging out at the beach since there is no picnic table or anything at the beach site. Such an amazing experience to wake up to the sun rising over the Atlantic ocean and sleeping under the stars. There were only two other tents camped out on the beach with us when we were there so it was still pretty isolated. If you want to be on the beach by yourself, just walk less than a mile down either way and there is not a soul. There’s tons of hiking, interesting things to see, beautiful nature. We saw dolphins playing in the ocean! The beach alive with crabs! Osprey catching fish! We saw an old graveyard and church steeple at Wash Woods, that’s definitely worth the hike. We walked to the North Carolina border. There’s a Loveworks and a buoy that marks the southernmost Virginia State Park. We hiked over 30 miles over the weekend, there so much to do, we are exhausted! We came in mid-June and the weather was gorgeous - 80s during the day and 60s at night. There were some biting flies and mosquitos but nothing a little bug spray couldn’t take care of. We did not see any snakes. At the end of our trip, we opted to hike back to Little Island on the beach through Back Bay. It was slightly shorter, 5.1 miles, but a tougher hike because of the sand. We came home exhausted, sunburnt, blisters, but just in awe of this amazing park. It’s definitely worth the hike!

We arrived on opening day (March 19, 2021) for the season. They had unfortunately been a victim of the rain and the main road to the campground had washed out. Alternative routes were set up to enter and exit. I understand from reading other reviews that they can routinely have problems when it rains . We were placed in a small site in front of the check in location. We were pre assigned a site and not given a choice. The mud and puddles were so bad we couldn’t locate the sewer connection. But the next day they came over and found it for us and leveled out some gravel piles that had been dumped on the site. The site was level and gravel. A picnic table and fire ring was available. The roads are a bit narrow and there are lots of trees. Plenty of nice area to walk our dog. We didn’t use or even go in the bathhouses so can’t comment on those. All in all it was okay... as long as it doesn’t rain. It appeared there were some full time cabin residents and camper residents as well. Location was great and we loved going into Colonial Williamsburg from here.