The beat place for star gazing! Just ask for a telescope (free at the store) and stare up at the sky for hours!

We loved this spot!

The store was awesome.

The gift shop was amazing & the park rangers were very helpful.

My 4 yr old spent hours playing with all the little animals the ranger station had.

The pool was PACKED in July and it got SUPER HOT!

Would have been better to bring a trailer or RV at that time of year.

The sites were awesome & the bath house was very clean

Great park, kayaking, hiking. Nice facilities

We’ve been here twice. Once for our anniversary and we stayed in one of the cabins with our dog, and once tent camping. The cabin was reasonably priced and comfortable. They are all grouped together and could be fun for a family reunion or some larger gathering with friends. The tent camping experience was with our kids, and it was a little hard to keep them entertained. The hiking trails were a short distraction, but not long or difficult enough to wear them out.

Camping along the river at the Canoe Landing Campground is great in the slower seasons. The sites are pretty close together so I’m sure it would be much more cramped when it’s busy but it’s a beautiful place. And you can fish right off the bank less than 50yards from your tent.

Camping along the river is great in the slower seasons. The sites are pretty close together so I’m sure it would be much more cramped when it’s busy but it’s a beautiful place. And you can fish right off the bank less than 50yards from your tent.

I love state parks for their amenities and well-maintained sites and this one was no different! The drive is really pretty too (some of the photos are the dirt road coming into the park). I imagine the drive to the park would be very slow for RVs or someone pulling a trailer with boats etc.

We rented a cabin with fantastic sunset views.  This park has great walking and equine trails, a fantastic visitor center, and a wonderful outdoor park/adventure zone for the kiddos.

The Red Oak sites were gravel and fairly level and the bathhouse was nice. There is an equestrian camping area (and stalls) for people with horses.  The cabins and lodges have 2, 3, and 6 bedrooms and look beautiful. There is even a canoe-in campground.  Activities that can be done include tubing on the river, canoeing and kayaking, fishing, hiking, biking, horseback riding trails, wagon ride, and lots of park events.

This is a wonderful spot for viewing the stars because of the lack of light pollution. James River State Park has been named an International Dark Sky Park.

After visiting the park many times, we finally camped there in July 2019.  Most of the sites were huge and level, and we were able to choose a mostly-shaded site with water and electric near the bathhouse.

Everyone we met (rangers, people in the visitor's center, etc.) was very helpful and friendly.  

We hoped to go tubing, but since the river was running high and fast, they weren't renting tubes, and we asked too late about renting a canoe or kayak.  (They do drop offs and pick ups at certain times and reservations are recommended.)

Cell service is extremely limited, but there's wi-fi available at the visitors center and we used that to check in with our pet sitter.

It was SO HOT when we were there and we really wished there was a designated "beach" area on the river (or in a perfect world, a pool).  Swimming is not advised due to rocks and drop-offs, but people were in the river, anyhow.

We'll definitely go again!

More pictures and information about our experience is on my blog:

http://www.art-rageous.net/artrageousblog/?p=4374

What a beautiful campground this was . it was wonderful to walk around and they have a fully stocked store. The campsites are clean and well kept and the people are friendly. We will go back to James River sometime