Best Tent Camping near Virginia Beach, VA

Tent Camping Reviews near Virginia Beach, VA

563 Reviews of 8 Virginia Beach Campgrounds

• 

  liz J.

  Scout

  Aug. 21, 2023

  Sandy Bottom Nature Park

  A great place to hike and camp if you can't get out of the area

  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.

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• M

  Michelle A.

  Guide

  May. 6, 2017

  First Landing State Park Campground

  Wonderful hideaway in Virginina Beach!

  We went here on our honeymoon and had the best time! The tent sites are mostly succluded with woods around you. The campground is right down the shore from Virginia beach. And you have beach access right in the campground so you don't have to worry about fighting the crowds at the beach, because it's mostly people swimming there from the campground. The facilities are very clean. The park rangers close the bathrooms and showers once a day to clean them! Cleanest camp ground I've been to so far. The staff and Rangers are very friendly. They also have a general store on site incase you need ice or any other necessities. Across the street is a learning center and a bunch of hiking trails. We hiked some and the trails were great. Some of the trails leaded you over marsh and through woods great activity while you are camping there! I love this place and can't wait to go back!

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• N

  N I.

  Legend

  Jan. 1, 2022

  Sandy Bottom Nature Park

  Nature in the County

  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

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• 

  Chip G.

  Guide

  Apr. 12, 2017

  Family Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

  These February days are why we live in the south...

  The 12 trips in 12 months’ progress well. February’s outing was Merchants Mill Pond. What a great place. It probably helps that the bath house had just been redone with fresh paint. But that wasn’t the only thing. The park staff was friendly and the camp sites are nice and spaced well apart. Each site had a fire pit, tent site and picnic table. I am not sure that all the tent spaces were leveled, but if you pay attention when you set your tent up you should be fine.

  I happened to be a glorious weekend in February and the temperatures were good enough for a hike in shorts and tee shirts. The trails were well maintained and it was a day well spent on the Lassiter Trail. The park also rents kayaks and there are marked water trails as well. Next trip will include a boat ride and a search for alligators (from a safe distance).

  Good hikes, good campground and evenings by the campfire. Definitely on the places to return to list.

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• 

  Myron C.

  Legend

  May. 30, 2019

  Family Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

  Campground with a Different Ecosystem--Woods and Swamp

  Merchants Millpond is a great state park if you want to explore a different kind of ecosystem.  The heart of the park lies in its swamps filled with cypress trees and cypress stumps.  There are several camping areas of different kinds.  You can canoe in to one of their primitive campsites, which is on an island in the swamp.  There are other hike-in primitive sites, group camping sites, and there are also the family camping sites.   I stayed at the family camping site and decided to set up my hammock instead of a tent.  If you stay at Merchants Millpond, make sure you take and use insect repellent and lots of it.  I had the biggest problem with mosquitoes and ticks.  If you stay in a hammock, make sure it has mosquito netting.  The family camping sites have tent pads, lantern poles, and fire rings.  The bath house is centrally located within a short walking distance of all of the campsites.  The showers have hot water, but the bath house itself looks outdated.  The canoe-in site that I explored only has a pit toilet, but it did have fire rings and picnic tables.  You can hike to the island by way of a wooden bridge across the swamp, but it is mainly for those who want to canoe in.  If you can go off trail, you can see lots of wildlife.  I had the opportunity to do so since I was invited to participate in a search and rescue exercise.  I only saw one snake, which is unusual not to see more, but I also saw a deer and couple of turtles.  There is a bicycle trail, but the one I hiked on the most was the Lassiter Trail, which has a few wooden bridges and opportunities to experience the eastern woodlands and great views of the swampy millpond.  Fortunately, I did not run into any bears or alligators, which are common in this area.  The visitors center is large and modern, and there is a meeting facility.  The person that I talked to at the visitors center was pleasant and was able to answer my questions.  The staff is great to work with, and I know this because I volunteered to teach camping skills to 4H kids a couple of years ago at this state park.  Overall, it’s a great state park, but it lacks the amenities of modern RV parks.

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• 

  Janet R.

  Legend

  May. 25, 2025

  Kings Creek

  Kings Creek Tent sites at Cheatham Annex

  There may be a bit of confusion about camping opportunities at Cheatham Annex Bass. It used to be that there was only one campground for the whole base, with a combo of RV sites and tent sites. The options have expanded and changed: a brand new RV park was built several miles away on the northside of the base, and it has its own brand new Rec Center and bath facilities etc. The Kings Creek Campground is on the south side where the old RV park used to be, but is now for tent camping only. There are still the remnant water and electric hookups available, and each site has plenty of grass for setting up tents, or you can set up on the cement pad. Each site has a picnic table, only some have fire rings. Sites 11 through 18 are in a loop around a nice kids playground, with trees surrounding the sites and glimmers of Kings Creek in the background. Sites 1-10 in the adjacent loop are right on the water where Kings Creek enters the York River, and the sites circle round a nice picnic area. Sites 6-7 are currently not being rented out as it has been discovered that the gravesite of a Revolutionary War soldier is located right there. Both tent loops have close access to a nice clean bathhouse, and there is good proximity to the base golf course and a really nice outdoor swimming pool. A great fishing pier nearby extends out into the York River. The MWR office rents kayaks and other equipment and has a coffee shop if you want hot breakfast

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• 

  Sarah C.

  Legend

  Jul. 16, 2017

  Family Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

  Cool & Unique Paddling

  What a rare and beautiful eco-system the cypress swamp is! The state park offers several camping options: drive in, hike in and canoe in.

  Each drive in site has a picnic table, fire ring/grill and tent pad. There are showers, spigots and restrooms for campers staying here. There are three canoe-in sites, two of them have pit toilets and the third requires you to pack out all waste. If you want to enjoy the amenities of the drive-in sites but want to spend time canoeing the pond (which I highly recommend) then that's certainly an option, too.

  There aren't many eco-systems like this left so it's absolutely worth checking out.

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• 

  Janet P.

  Traveler

  Jun. 16, 2018

  First Landing State Park Campground

  Our favorite State Park

  FLSP is a real Gem in the midst of a very busy Virginia Beach. The campsites range from tenting with no hookups to 20, 30, and 50 foot sites with water and electric. There are also about 20 cabins on the Trail side. The only sewer hookups are for the three Camp Host sites located throughout the Park. There are nice clean showers located around the campground. There are beaches with boardwalk access over preserved dunes. There are no lifeguards. Across the road from the campground are fabulous hiking trails, a bike trail, and another beach area on a tidal lake. The variety of activities within the Park, including Ranger led activities, along with easy access to the Virginia Beach boardwalk via the local bus system, biking, or personal vehicle, make this State Park the only place we stay in VaBeach. We love this Park so much we have volunteered as Camp Hosts for eleven years❤️

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• C

  Ch. A.

  Guide

  Aug. 10, 2019

  First Landing State Park Campground

  Beautiful but noisy (updated)

  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.

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