Best Equestrian Camping near Richmond, VA

We stayed here in March and it was very cold for tent camping, I think it got into the 20's at night! There were no other campers staying there while we were there in the canoe-in campground so it was very peaceful and quiet. This campground is primitive so there is no electricity or water. The sites include a picnic table and fire ring. Our tent pad was pretty level and pretty big! You could probably fit two small tents on there. There is a short .2 mile hike from a parking lot so we packed light and backpacked in. We stayed in site 4, which is towards the back of the loop. Not much privacy in the winter because there are no leaves on the trees. This campground has a pit toilet at the front of the campground and fire wood available for purchase near the canoe launch. 

We loved this park! The trails are fun and love all the beautiful views. We saw some incredible sunsets over the James River. There are all sorts of fun, gnarly trees for the kids to play on at the campsite! They had so much fun!

There are some great breweries nearby and only a short drive from Richmond and Charlottesville!

Just 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!

Largest State Park in Virginia - nearly 8,000 acres. We stayed two nights and paddled around Swift Creek Lake on Sunday. The staff was amazing. Camp store has ice, drinks, snacks, souvenirs, and wood is $5 a bucket (honor system). Bathhouses (showers separate of restrooms) were very clean. The first campground you come to definitely has more shade than the second loop so if you're looking to hammock camp, pick the first campground. In both campgrounds, some sites are a bit close together and/or close to the road. Tons of trails, some for mixed use and other for mountain bikers, some for horses, and some for hiking only. Great location! Will definitely be back!

Powhatan State Park is a relatively new addition to the VA State Parks system; the park itself has only been open since 2003. The primitive, canoe-in campground opened with the park, and the loop with electric and water hookups opened in 2016.

**Canoe-In Campground: **

When we stayed, we stayed in the canoe-in campground, although we hiked in the approximate 1/4 mile from the parking lot, rather than coming in by boat. This is a quiet, beautiful loop, with 8 sites, each with a picnic table and fire ring. There are composting toilets here and no potable water, so you will need to bring enough water for your trip or purification methods. Proper food storage is also essential back here; while this section of Virginia does not have the bear activity you’d find in the mountains, there are still raccoons and other wildlife who should not have access to human food. There are no bear boxes, so treat food storage as you would in the backcountry. 

-Sites 7 and 8 are closes to the toilets, and back up to the woods leading towards the Turkey Trail; hikers are visible from site 8 and audible from site 7.  

-Sites 4 and 5 back up to a very wooded area, and are further back from the gravel loop. Site 4 is closest to the boat ramp and is visible; site 5 is probably the most private in the loop. 

-Sites 1,2, and 6 are in the center loop, but have more space between them than inner-loop sites usually have. Sites 1 and 2 are right against the River Trail however, so will have hikers walking directly past during the day. 

The canoe-in loop sits against the James River; there is a rack to stow your canoe/kayak overnight, and a pay by honor-system pile of firewood. Due to the thick foliage there is no actual river-view during the warmer months, but it’s easily accessbile. When we stayed in early spring there were a lot of vines that served as “natural playground” for our kids; they used them as swings, monkey bars, and enjoyed getting their feet wet at the base of the canoe ramp, so much that they declined hiking or driving to the park’s man-made playground. This loop makes a great “trial run” site for anyone considering a future backcountry trip; the walk to the parking lot is short enough to make multiple trips if you need to, and you still have access to the park amenities if you don’t mind a walk/drive to get there.

River Bend Loop

The River Bend Loop has 29 sites with water and electric hook-ups, though very little privacy between sites. The surrounding trees give all but the first three sites decent shade and a wooded atmosphere, and this is a great loop for RVs or tent campers who enjoy being close to other sites. If you are looking for a feeling of isolation however, you would be better off minimizing your gear and walking to the primitive sites, or going to a different park altogether. The bathrooms here have electricity, flush toilets, and showers with hot water. Sites 1-14 are available for advance reservation, and sites 15-29 are first-come first-served. Site 25 offers the most privacy for tent campers, and it’s very large, but if the campground is at full occupancy all sites are going to have a crowded feel.

There are several hiking trails at this park ranging from very easy to moderate, and a couple of them are horse-friendly; our kids enjoy seeing horses on the trail with them, but be mindful if you have kids/dogs who may be afraid of the horses. The park also has a playground, picnic shelters, and ranger activities on the weekends, and there are three yurts available to book.

This is a very open, well-maintained park, and the camping options should appeal to a wide spectrum of campers, and my only reason for giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the lack of privacy in the drive-up campsites. It feels a lot like a hidden gem; the hookup campground fills up during warmer weather, but all of our visits here have been very quiet and peaceful. If you are looking for camping options near Richmond, I highly recommend this park!

Pocahontas State Park is a pretty nice place. My family always used to go here whenever we needed to stay near Richmond, because its only about a 20 minute drive.

The campground has a lot of amenities, including a few lakes where you can fish, a nice pool with water slides, lots of trails, picnic tables, and some nice camp sites. There's also cabins available to rent out if you don't feel like roughing it.

Richmond is an awesome place to explore too. If you've never been, I definitely recommend it. For those of you who are rock climbers, Manchester Wall is an awesome place to check out. It's an old train bridge support wall that has been converted into a bunch of cool climbing routes. Great for beginner climbers too. There's also the river right nearby, which is great for floating and mountain biking trails too.

Cool campground in a great area!

We 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!