Best Equestrian Camping near Virginia Beach, VA

I have spent my childhood here and I am excited to share it with my kids. We hike here when visiting grandparents. Chesapeake Public Park’s does a great job with events and education at NWRP! Equestrian trails available, which is always a plus.

We come every year because it's on our top list of yearly visits. The beach and staff there are nice. Crabbing and fishing there's very popular. Very pet friendly and they also made a beach side for pets to swim at. Wild animals usually pass by often later in the evening, horses, deer, rabbits etc; sites are nice and big. Some sunny some shady. Park usually fills up when I'm there

Very nice, as all Virginia State Parks are, but crowded, noisy, and lit up like an amusement park. Not a place to “get back to nature” but a place to camp, meet new people, and a place to stay for the great activities the park has to offer and visit Cape Charles.

Virginia has some wonderful state parks and this is one of my favorites. Its got a nice beach, boat launch and a couple miles of hiking trails. The lovely town of Cape Charles  with an even better public beach and restaurants is close by. I use the park as a base for exploring the barrier island on the ocean side by kayak.

Only campground in the Virginia State Park system that offers sewer hook-up's. As for the campsites, I was not really impressed so only gave it 4 stars. If you like open field camping and absolutely no shade, this is the place for you! Other than the lack of tree's, I think this is a great campground, a great location, and a ton of things to do...

Have you ever wanted to go to a beach where the water is calm, clear, warm and shallow? With hardly any people there? Kiptopeake is the beach for you! Located on the bay there aren't huge waves to worry about or big beach crowds. Kiptopeake is my favorite Virginia State Park campground, hands down. 

Camping:

If you are a primitive tent camper like us, you'll want to get the site-specific sites. They are more secluded, bigger, and walkable to the beach. The sites in the site-specific loop are conveniently located to the bathrooms which have nice hot showers! Each site has a pretty standard picnic table and fire ring with enough room for two tents. Our site didn't have tons of room for two cars though, we had to squeeze in to our space awkwardly. We've been here in pretty much all months of the spring, summer and fall and have never had a problem with mosquitoes or biting flies.

To Do:

The beach at Kiptopeake is so beautiful! Most of the time we post up and spend all day there. I highly recommend watching the sunset from the beach. Check out the concrete fleet on a kayak. There's some great hiking, butterfly garden, bird watching. Virginia State Parks has some great programs for the kids as well! The town of Cape Charles nearby is very charming and worth a visit for cute shops and restaurants. 

Highly recommend this park! It is a really special place you'll want to keep coming back to!

Blackwater Birds and Bees offers many treasures. Without giving too much away, setting up camp, I noticed a sweet bouquet of freshly picked wildflowers and a small tasting jar of honey from their apiary on the picnic table! There is a pond on the property, with several canoes and kayaks to graciously borrow. I took to the Blackwater River that runs along the property, which I highly recommend for a peaceful and scenic paddle. The goats and chickens are all smiles behind the blueberry patch and a fresh bog. See if you can spy the carnivorous plants! If you venture past the southern Virginia peanut plantations you’re heading in the right direction, to a beautiful property with amazing camping!

We camped at Kiptopeke State Park in a Super C Dynamax DX3. We enjoyed this park a lot because we had a great site. The majority of the sites in the Kiptopeke State park are on the open space. All sites are spacious, clean and green, but there is nowhere to hide from the sun. There are very few shaded ones and we were lucky to get one of those. Kiptopeke State park has two unguarded beaches on the Chesapeake Bay. Kiptopekes northern swim beach is nearly half a mile long. The south beach, which is even longer is open to swimming, fishing, boating and dogs are allowed on leash. And its absolutely beautiful! We have a video about this park in our YouTube channel- Summertime RV Rovers- RV Campgrounds in Maryland and Virginia: Kiptopeke State Park and Outstanding Dreams Alpaca Farm. Please check for yourself.

We've stayed here pretty often as it's only a few hours from home and near everything in Williamsburg, Virginia. The park is against the James river and theres easy access to the riverside. There's also a large pool during the season with a camp store, snacks. The staff are always great, the sites are level and not too close together, with plenty of shade. The bathrooms and showers are kept clean and the showers are huge! There's plenty to do on the grounds, hiking, biking, touring the plantation, geocaching, and yes, even Pokemon Go! About 5 miles away is the ferry to Williamsburg...its free and usually a highlight of the trip for the kids! You can follow history or ride plenty of roller coasters at Busch Gardens.

This was our first time staying in a yurt at Kiptopeake State Park. We love staying in the yurts at Virginia State Parks because they are always an affordable, easy way to camping without having to set up a tent or spend the extra money for a cabin. The ones at here are $75/night. This one was awesome! It is hidden down a long walkway from the parking area and is very secluded. The one we stayed in, Yurt 4, only has neighbors on one side. It comes with two picnic tables, a water spigot, fire pit, grill, a big deck around the yurt with rocking chairs, and a refreshing breeze coming off the bay. Unfortunately, the way the yurt is situated, none of that breeze gets inside the yurt and it was very hot inside. Especially if staying here in the summer, I would suggest bringing some fans or a portable a/c for a more comfortable nights sleep. The bathrooms are farther away than I would like with little kids. You have to walk through to the tent campground loop to get to them. Even with a couple negative things about it, I think this is the way to stay here at Kiptopeake and I am already planning our next yurt trip here for next year!

Love this park so much! The beach is amazing. This time we discovered the dog-friendly beach, which was less crowded than the main one. I always like to go out and watch the sunset over the bay, it is magical!

Chippokes State Park is located on the grounds of an old historic plantation, actually one if the original plantations in the area dating back to the 1600’s. The land grant was huge, and as a state park now it provides a rich opportunity to learn about the James River, the natural and indigenous history of the region, the settlement history and role of this plantation in Virginia History, and more. Visiting here provides hiking opportunities to learn about fossils along the river shore, the temperate forest in the woods, and history around the old plantation. Taking the ferry across the river from Jamestown to get here was part of the adventure too. There is a nature center and visitor center that provides lots of info and programs near the river , a network of easy park roads for biking, and the plantation itself, set back further away from the river, provides a wealth of learning, including about the history of crops and trade in this area, and about the lives of the slaves who worked the plantation. The grounds right around the plantation are, in fact, a memorial to the hundreds of souls who lived and worked the land here. It was an amazing learning experience to come to the park, and the options to stay over in the park include standard campsites in a wooded campground, or cabins. The campground has all the usual state park amenities, and was very quiet when we were there in November—so late fall is a great time to come, as the fall weather was amazing

Great staff. Very helpful and keep the park clean. They have firewood at $6.00 a bundle. We went on a sellout weekend but was still pretty quiet

Plenty of room..showers/bathrooms huge..water NOT at all sites but easy to fill tanks. Some sites close to main road but not a lot of traffic.

Love this camp ground. Just love how clean it is. Bathrooms, showers are a big plus. Nice trails and fishing. Will be visiting again.

I have camped here many times throughout my childhood and adulthood. Miles of trails and so much to do. Always with clean sites and attentive staff

Overall amazed at the cleanliness of the campground. The staff is very friendly. The park was very quiet going into the night.

sites are small but the park does not fill up during the week. There are a few hikes leading back to the river. Canoes and paddle boats are available to rent for use in black water.

Arrived shortly after 8 pm after a long day's drive. The sun was going down but it wasn't dark yet. The campground office was locked and deserted. No posted instructions about after hours registration, no pay box. Ran into a park ranger who informed me the campground was closed for the evening; as in, would not take my money. Seriously? The campground is behind a gate with a keypad, so no chance of driving in and talking to the camp host. The ranger was kind and apologetic at least.

Drove a little further south and found a nice site at Bells Island Campground. The host there was happy to take my money.

Bath houses were clean & the trails were awesome!

A great nights sleep. Lovely setting, shady and quiet. Bathrooms were brand new, showers were clean & HOT. Coin laundry available. They are in the process of adding another bathroom/shower building so only running at half capacity when we visited. Lots of fun activities for families!

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).

Plenty of things to do for the active camper. Put put golf, kayak, hiking and much more.

It was a rainy Labor Day weekend, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves at the campgrounds. Because this area is near wetlands some of the campsites were flooded throughout the weekend. If rain a lot of rain is forecasted you may want to talk to one of the rangers about your particular site.

Rangers were nice and very attentive during there checks of the campgrounds. The facilities were very nice and clean. Campgrounds were very dog friendly, which made camping with the dog enjoyable.

My only issue was the parks reservation system. I reserved the campsite using the online, Reserve America system. About a week before our trip I had to change plans and only stay 2 days instead of 3. Tried to change the reservation but the park said I had to do it with Reserve America. When I called Reserve America I kept being told we don't handle that park you have to call this number. After being given 4 different numbers and talking to 6 different people I gave up trying to change the reservation. From now on if I camp here, I will make the reservations directly with the park and not online.

The campground at Northwest River Park is small and pretty basic. For a tent camper that is used to wooded, private sites these leave much to be desired. There is not much privacy. The campground was full the night we stayed there and very busy and noisy through the night. We stayed on a Memorial Day weekend though so maybe it is not typically like that. All night our young children were woken up by the noise from the nearby RV's AC units. 

What this park lacks in it's campground, it makes up for in it's recreational activities! There is a putt-putt course! Canoeing! Tons of hiking trails! Multiple playgrounds! Lots of wide open space for kids to run and play! Fishing! This is an excellent park for kids and families to come for the day! 

Overall not a horrible experience but this is the closest campground to our house and we have not felt the need to come back and stay overnight. Maybe would be better for camping mid-week when it's not so busy.