Looking for an adventure where you can explore Townsend and then fall asleep in your tent? With The Dyrt, it's easy to find Townsend campgrounds for you and your tent. Each tent campsite offers quick access to one or more of Townsend's most popular destinations.
$11 - $42 / night
Primitive camping year-round. No cabins. The park does not offer same-day reservations. For information on the availability of overnight accommodations and particular amenities or to make a reservation, call (800) 933-PARK.
All campers must receive their confirmation letter and information packet before camping at this park. Carefully and thoroughly read the information you receive. False Cape is unusual and can be unpleasant for those who are unprepared. The packet is generally sent via email, but if you need it sent by postal mail, be sure to allow enough time to receive it. No exceptions. All overnight guests must bring two copies of their confirmation letter. One must be placed on the dashboard of their vehicle; the other clipped to the site marker.
Because False Cape is very primitive and has unusually restrictive access, reservations are not available online. For safety's sake, please take the time to carefully read and follow the information below.
Parking is never available at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge for overnight guests. Campers must instead park at the Little Island City Park, leave a copy of their confirmation letter on the dashboard, and walk from five to nine miles through Back Bay Refuge to the park’s campsites. Pets are not allowed access to the park through the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. See below for more information. Beach camping is subject to tides. During significant high tide events, the park may close the campsites. All park guests are subject to Back Bay Refuge and Little Island City Park's rules and regulations. Campers must be out of the refuge before sunset when arriving and departing False Cape State Park. Be prepared for biting insects during summer. They are very common. Little Island City Park in Virginia Beach - the place from which most visitors depart to False Cape - is closed on New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, at noon the day prior to Thanksgiving Day, on Thanksgiving Day, at noon on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. On days when the lot is closed, False Cape staff will meet incoming and outgoing campers at 1 p.m. sharp to let current campers depart and incoming campers enter with enough time to hike, bike and set up camp before nightfall (about 5 p.m.)
$20 / night
Private secluded site only 1 mile from 2 separate remote beaches. This privative site is nestled in a grove of wisteria covered trees. Plenty of room for larger groups with access to close to 20 acres to walk.
$35 - $50 / night
$30 - $100 / night
Guide
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.
Traveler
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.
Guide
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.
Legend
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!
GuideUpdated 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.
GuideAlways 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!
Ranger
would love to stay here but I tent camp and there is no place for tents!! very sad
Guide
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......
Guide
HTP is the closest commrcial campground to the Virginia Beach oceanfront & boardwalk as you can get. This place is huge, has Super Sites, FHU sites, tent sites. They also host an array of musical events through out the summer, 4 swimming pools, game room etc…
Guide
Our actual tent site was nice, but crowded with rowdy RV folks.
Traveler
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.
RangerGreat 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.
GuideClean facilities, close to beach and fishing pier. Only gripe is tent sites and interwoven with RV sites with little privacy.
ScoutThe 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.
Scout
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).
Scout
Motorcycle tent camped. Great owners who made sure we had everything we needed. Beautiful views of sunset and sunrise. Great beach with Adirondack chairs . Bathhouse very clean. Water view from campsite. Loved it!
Guide
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!
GuideCherrystone is located right on the Chesapeake Bay, which provides campers with lots of water activities (swimming, clamming, crabbing, kayaking, fishing, boating, etc). During the summer, this place is packed. They offer tent sites, partial amenity sites, pull-through, and full hookup in addition to rustic cabins and fully-equipped cottages. There are five pools (including one for adults-only), miniature golf, hayrides, playgrounds, golf cart rentals, a snack bar, a game room and an entertainment pavilion. Cons: bathrooms get a LOT of use, are pretty far from tent sites, and seem to be difficult to keep clean. Flooding is also an issue during/after a healthy rain. These cons can be forgiven after viewing one fabulous sunset, however.
TravelerThe 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.
GuideElectric 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.
Legend
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
LNT
Travel safe
GuideNice 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.
Traveler
There were a lot of child friendly activities to do here. It’s about 40 mins from the beach. We tent camped and had a blast. The showers were nice and the bathrooms were very clean. The camp store is great. It has ice cream, which my kids loved. Would definitely go again
GuideCatherine and Rebecca are the best. They were flexible with our dates for tent camping. They provided kayaks, canoes, sailboats, beach chairs, bikes and so much more. The bath houses were clean but the whole town uses well water, so that was special. Overall, a wonderful place to camp and explore the rappahannock river.
TravelerFor 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.
TravelerBeautiful wild beach covered with crabs, access to kayaks and paddle boards and fishing within walking distance. rangers are very considerate and keep it family friendly. they have yurts for rent as well as tent sites, bathrooms are posh with hot water. convenient water spigots throughout park.
TravelerThis is an excellent campground with large tent sites that you feel almost as if your the only one camping even when the campground is full. There are multiple points of entry to a beautiful well cared for beach. The park offers a trolley ride for 4.50 a day to the main beach front in Virginia Beach. Camp store is well stocked and is run by an outstanding staff. FT Story is very close so you will hear the Star Spangled Banner at 8am every morning and occasionally you will here helicopters doing night exercises.
Nestled in the heart of Virginia, Townsend offers a variety of tent camping options that cater to outdoor enthusiasts looking for a serene escape. From private hideaways to public parks, there's something for everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Townsend, VA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Townsend, VA is Sandy Bottom Nature Park with a 4.8-star rating from 5 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Townsend, VA?
TheDyrt.com has all 5 tent camping locations near Townsend, VA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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