Best Tent Camping near Smithfield, VA

Spent a hot & humid week here tent camping. Tent sites are packed in close among live oaks- lending towards a mystical experience, weather depending. RV/camper sites a tight as well. Beach is within walking distance and located near the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Definitely recommend taking a short drive over to The Narrows, also part of First Landing State Park, for a change of scenery.

We tent camped here over Labor Day weekend as our first family camping trip, and we all had such a good time! Our boys (8, 6, & 4) had so much fun on the big playground and paddle boating. Ask for Bill! He’s awesome and treats everyone like they’re special :)

The tent sites are clean, closely grouped, and the lights from the bathroom shine on them all night (so bring a sleep mask). But for $10/night with full bathrooms, sink to wash dishes in, and laundry? Worth the lights! Will definitely stay here again.

North Landing has had quite the facelift since our first visit in 2015. Tons of cottages have replaced the coveted waterfront tent sites. Several configurations are offered including studio, one and two-bedroom. RV sites range include water, electric, pull-through and full amenities. There is a large outdoor entertaining pavilion as well as a smaller, indoor event space with full kitchen. There Is a very nice workout room and a bIllIards room adjacent. A decent-sized pool with outdoor shower, a newly-constructed hot tub, miniature golf, basketball, horseshoes, pickle ball, and playground round off the outdoor fun. Unfortunately, as of this writing, they have decided to eliminate tent camping, which will deter quite a few campers.

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!

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.

Always love camping here. Try to get as close to the beach as possible, even tent camping. Bath houses are nice, they now have a shuttle that will take you to the strip in Virginia Beach, very inexpensively, great interpretive programs, and of course, the beach!

Lovely small campground located inside a National Park land. Full hookup sites are named after the original 13 colonies. Nicely situated between Williamsburg, Hampton, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Tent sites, group accommodations, store, firewood, pavilion for rent and typical rv resort activities including corn hole, pickle ball......

I went tent camping and fishing in the sound they have much to offer. Enjoyed a nice night with a buddy. Polite people and not loud.

The area is beautiful & the bathroom is good. But if you're tent camping, be aware that it is extremely windy here and there is nothing to block the wind so your tent will howl and keep you awake all night.

Its nothing fancy. Good place for a natture hike, campfire amd one night tent camping. Plan on bringing your own water as there isn’t always running water (not sure why).

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.

Clean facilities, close to beach and fishing pier. Only gripe is tent sites and interwoven with RV sites with little privacy.

Went to VA Beach on a whim with no lodging reserved, and saw the sign for this campground on our way out to Sandbridge Beach. We were able to get a campsite here, at a good price, very last minute on a Friday night in June. Check in was quick, friendly, and we were escorted to our site (how nice!). The tent sites are along a waterway to a boat ramp so in the morning boats will go by, otherwise very peaceful and quiet all night. There's a cool little pavilion close to the tent sites with picnic tables. All in all a very good experience!

Great campground. Very quiet and each tent site is very far from one another. You could have music or a generator going and not disturb your neighbor

The campsites were ok. easy to get to. I wouldn’t recommend tent camping in the middle of summer - my husband and i both got sick. The beach was nice and quiet, and the water wasn’t too cold. overall, decent for the price.

Electric sites are very open and close together - thus my rating. Restrooms are fine, old but serviceable. Clean campground.

Tent sites are shaded and very inviting!

Enjoyed that they have ranger programs.

Nice park. 1st two rows of sites have almost ZERO tree cover. 1st row not very level sites. Not quite as spacious/spread out sites as other state parks, but it's on the bay! Tent sites are wooded, no rvs allowed.

For the price this is a great location - not too far from the beach and the many other attractions in the area. It’s nice for families with really little kids as it’s on the Bay-side, with calmer water, or it’s only minutes from the ocean side. They also have some really pretty campsites, even for tent camping.