Best Tent Camping near Williamsburg, VA

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.

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

Camped on a Friday night, had site 106. It was a really nice site: set back a bit from the road, fairly wooded, not a long walk to the bathhouse water/electric hook-ups, and a long back-in driveway. Nice fire ring with grill (that had been cleaned), lantern/trash pole, picnic table. Pea gravel tent pad. Honor pay wood.

After a neighboring camper left we noticed they were disinfecting the campsites very well. Picnic tables, electric/water areas, fire pit areas, poles, etc. were all getting sprayed down between campers.

Walked around the trails on Saturday. The trail around Beaver Lake was a really nice 2.5 mile loop. Gorgeous in November. Like most weekends, a bit busy on a Saturday. Everything’s open right now, and masks are required in common areas, bath houses, etc.

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

PROS 

Perfect campground to explore the Historical Triangle 

Campground along Virginia Capital Bike Trail, which was an excellent riding trail 

Site#335 level side-to-side 

Sandy gravel site 

Moveable plastic wood picnic table 

Metal fire pit with cooking grate 

Shady site 

Wood and ice for sale at Guest Services 

Slight river view from Site#335 

Toilet/shower building clean 

Pool 

CONS 

Overused James City County Park…definitely needs some TLC applied 

Check-in clerk very curt and extremely non-customer service oriented 

Never saw a camp host site or the actual camp host 

Weirdly laid out full hook up campground. Some sites are 20 ft long 

Sites are extremely close to each other 

Had to park tow vehicle next to trailer due to short length of site 335

Tight roadway thru full hook up campground 

Dirt roadways = dusty 

Empty campsites were heavily littered

No privacy from neighbor sites 

Extremely low water pressure even when campground is not fully occupied 

No gate or controlled access to campground so lots of gawking drive thrus 

Lots of speed bumps throughout park 

Site#335 fire ring filled with ash upon arrival 

Toilet/shower building lit up like a Christmas tree all night long

Street lights throughout campground 

Road noise from VA5 

No WiFi 

1 bar Verizon

Awesome things to see here! It’s been a working farm since 1619 with beautiful gardens and livestock. The mansion and outbuildings are pretty cool as well.

Restrooms were not very clean. Each time I went to the ladies room, the door was propped wide open, and when I went to brush my teeth in the morning the counters were covered in moths and bugs and gnats. Yuck. The showers were ok.

Ice is $3 and you can grab that from the camp host if it’s after 4pm which is when the store closes. It’s cash only, exactly change. Wood is $6 and there’s a metal box - pay on your honor.

The beaches were very nice. You’re on the Cobham Bay vs. right on the river and in the dead of the summer, the water is sooo unpleasantly warm. You can wade out at the very least 100 yards and still be less than knee-deep, water still hot. The access to the little beaches are short but moderately steep, especially with lots of beach gear or strollers. It also seems to get washed out so watch your steps.

The little visitor center near the water access has cold drinks, souvenirs, ice cream, etc. They obv. accept credit cards. You can bring your dog into this area. There’s also a little wildlife info center and restrooms in the same buildings. There are also areas for day use and a good sized parking lot near the water access.

Straight across the river is Jamestown and Williamsburg, which is cool. I think I was told it’s about four miles across. That being said... those are your closest grocery stores and you have to take the Jamestown Ferry to get there. There is a Dollar General near the park, for odds and ends. Just make sure to stop in advance for what you need because you won’t find much in Surry.

Stopped at the Surry Seafood Co. for lunch and it was ok. Food and service was mediocre, but there was a nice water view from the deck. Was looking forward to stopping for some shrimp to cook that night from Colonial Seafood market but after walking in, I walked right back out. It was so unclean and didn’t smell fresh at all.

We took a beautiful drive around the plantation. The cabins look great and we’ll definitely try those out next time. There were corn fields and soybeans for miles. Such a great park due to its history.

Campsites themselves were pretty nice; not too close together. Our site had the tent pad down away from the picnic table and fire ring which was kind of nice. It was really shady, too. Room for hammocks.

Each site has a picnic table, fire pit, tent pad, lantern pole. Verizon service was great.

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.

We arrived on opening day (March 19, 2021) for the season. They had unfortunately been a victim of the rain and the main road to the campground had washed out. Alternative routes were set up to enter and exit. I understand from reading other reviews that they can routinely have problems when it rains . We were placed in a small site in front of the check in location. We were pre assigned a site and not given a choice. The mud and puddles were so bad we couldn’t locate the sewer connection. But the next day they came over and found it for us and leveled out some gravel piles that had been dumped on the site. The site was level and gravel. A picnic table and fire ring was available. The roads are a bit narrow and there are lots of trees. Plenty of nice area to walk our dog. We didn’t use or even go in the bathhouses so can’t comment on those. All in all it was okay... as long as it doesn’t rain. It appeared there were some full time cabin residents and camper residents as well. Location was great and we loved going into Colonial Williamsburg from here.

We were very pleased with our camping experience at First Landing State Park.  The campground is well maintained and has a knowledgable and friendly staff.

The drive thru campsite we chose was clean, level, and came equipped with a fantastic fire ring and picnic table.  There was lots of room on the site, and we could have set up a couple of tents toward the back if needed.

Access to the beach and surrounding hiking/biking trails was the real strength of this location!  It is certainly not wilderness camping, but with water and electric hook ups, we set up a successful basecamp for exploring the region.

The weather was great for late October, and the crowds were minimal.  We will likely make this an annual trip.