Chickahominy Riverfront Park Campground

This is a county campground
Location: 12 miles from downtown Williamsburg
Facilities: W&E, Full hook up, 30 & 50amp
Reservations: Yes
Price Paid: $35.52 for W&E non resident rate
Date of visit: May 2016
Large sites – wide and long, grassy sites with gravel pad. Our site backed onto a field, so we had lots of space around us.
Not busy, we didn't book and there were plenty of sites available on a Friday night
Some sites have trees for shade.
The campground is on the river but we didn’t have a river view.
Lots of fishermen here, our neighbours got up at 5am.
There is a pool and beach volleyball court
You can pay with credit card

We've lived in Virginia 22 years and have traveled across country several times, but we are still absolutely shocked that we haven't seen every amazing corner of the state we live in. Virginia is dripping with beauty from the coast to the mountains. This park is on the Chickahominy River, which empties into the James where it is wide, close to Jamestown. The "Chick" and its creeks are very well protected with beautiful marshland and huge bald cypresses. While kayaking not very far upriver from the park, we saw 4 bald eagles at one time, squawking and chattering at us as they ate their catches.The next day we went to the other end of the park and rode our bikes on the brand new Capital Bike Trail, a 50-mile paved and mostly flat bike path that stretches from Jamestown to Richmond. If you love history, Jamestown is just 8 miles away (you could ride your bike on the trail) and Williamsburg only 18. Busch Gardens is close, Virginia Beach is not far, and it is only one hour from Richmond and all it's great restaurants, art museum, parks and botanical garden. The only weaknesses are the condition of the showers and bathrooms (all the full-hookups were taken so we were just water and electric), the RV spots are close (but you will be so busy, who cares?), and it is a little close to a busy road. Also, if you fish, pay heed to the PCB contamination warnings on the signs. There are pretty nice tent sites on the creek and river. This is the kind of campground you need to reserve a month or 2 in advance. Make sure you check to see if an event is going on at the same time at the park. There was a fishing tournament when we went and so we were awakened before sunrise every morning from all the trucks hauling boats at the boat ramp right next to the rv section. We don't mind waking up that early and we were fascinated by the souped up fishing speedboats, but others may be pretty peeved. You are also close to very nice grocery stores and other civilized amenities with full cell phone service, and plenty to do on a rainy day. There are even outlet stores for shoppers. Also, they aren't kidding when they advertise that the stars are amazing from the park. Plenty of open area for star gazing.

Biked from Richmond, VA to the Chickahominy Campground on 2 June 17. For those of you who may not know, it is on the Trans Am Bike Route, a 4,300 mile trek from Yorktown, VA to Astoria, OR!! So... you might think it should be biker friendly. A little pricey for no frills camping- no hookups will cost you about $30 for a site. But hot showers do not cost ya! The real problem is the noise at night. This is the second time I have biked from Richmond to the Chickahominy Campground in as many months. Both times, same problem. Very loud and very inconsiderate campers!! Quiet time is supposed to be after 10 PM. First time camping there things didn't quiet down until after midnight. This last time, it lasted until almost 2 AM. Mentioned to staff. Nothing they can do as no one is on site. If it gets too bad, suggested I call police. Yeah, right!!! And then spend the night next to people after doing that??? Had to get up early in the morning each time and drag my butt back to Richmond on a bike with 35+ pounds of gear after little sleep. Not fun! So... if you want to party until late in the night, might be a great place to camp. But if you want/need to sleep, look elsewhere!!

Most recent stay was July 2nd thru July 15th 2017 - I'm "late" in posting my review ~ We camp in a Little Rig "Tear Drop” style RV only 15' long w/o toilet or shower ~ plus we like to eat outdoors using the picnic table and set up our dining canopy for sun and weather protection and thus rely on condition of campgrounds facilities and being nearby our site ~ so our critique is focused in that area.

Yes we did get close to the restroom/shower building an older/dated facility showing its age, needing a little updating. Shower stall area had communal changing/drying off area with a long bench, plus hooks and cubby hole shelves for your stuff; all nice conveniences. Shower stalls were separated with a shower curtain, but a convenience item would be to add rubber floor mats to keep feet off wet floor during dry off time. Communal sink area was messy and also needed paper towels that could be used to wipe down area after each use, also needed hooks for hand towels and small shelves for toiletries

This is a government operated park and over all the grounds was well groomed. Interior roadways were asphalt and sites were grass mixed with gravel. However, they were in need of maintenance like new asphalt to fill pot holes in roadway and gravel to cover dirt in sites. It rained during our stay and site was muddy and the roadway potholes filled with water [see my photos] All this resulted in unpleasant stay – questioned camp staff and was told work orders were submitted long ago but have been waiting for public officials to authorize funding and assign job to contractor.

This campground was very easy to find with nice staff. We stayed in the site right across from the boat launch which had pros and cons. During the day it was incredibly busy with people launching their motorboats, but at night it was very peaceful and we had a beautiful sunset view. The staff was very friendly and let us have a package delivered to the campground and the staff delivered it to our site which we were not expecting at all! If you love kayaking or other watersports then I would highly recommend this campground to you. It's also in a great location with a short trip to Williamsburg and other historic places.

We called the park the day we decided to show up here - and they kindly booked us a site to arrive to that evening.

50A/Sewer/Water available - mostly back-ins, with a few pull throughs. Sites are either dirt/gravel or grass.

A bit tight getting our 40' butt into our spot - but definetely doable.

Sites are pretty close together - and some are angled interestingly. Sites are decently level - they are workable, but we needed to play around for a bit to get to a point where we felt comfortable turning on our fridge.

Bathrooms were fine - clean enough ad water was hot.

Tons of potholes on the campground roads when we arrived. Staff was working to correct them when we left.

Nice access to the Capitol Bike Path, which provides road side paved trail for ~50miles.

Stayed 5 nights during a bass fishing tournament. Boats & trailers get going pretty early but did not bother us at all. Campground was pretty quiet. A little road noise but not too bad. People were quiet after dark. Good pool. Bathrooms were clean and not heavily used. Shade was more than adequate except the spots between the road and field. We were there when temps hovered around 100F and no issues with power even though nearly everyone was running AC. Some sites required a little creative maneuvering to access and close to the neighbors. Would definitely return.

Nice site overlooking the River with good hook ups. Site was level & easy to access. The restroom was not real close but clean enough. We will go back with our bikes & kayaks as access to both is right there.

Overall a pretty good experience. Reservation process was painless. Campstore was sparse but seemed to have bare essentials. Relatively quit. Beautiful views of the river and gorgeous sunset. Clean bathroom. Hot shower. Only downside is site had some trash which we picked up, but that speaks to the lack of manners of previous inhabitants rather than the grounds itself.

PROS
Perfect campground to explore the Historical Triangle
Campground along Virginia Capital Bike Trail, which was an excellent riding trail
Able to make phone reservations 365 days prior to arriving
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 campsites…some sites are 20 ft long
Had to park tow vehicle next to trailer due to short length of site 335.
Sites are extremely close to each other…no privacy from neighbor sites
Tight roadway thru full hook up campground
Lots of speed bumps throughout park
Dirt roadways = dusty
Not dark sky friendly…toilet/shower building lit up like a Christmas tree all night long and there are street lights throughout campgroundEmpty campsites were heavily littered
Extremely low water pressure even when campground is not fully occupied
No gate or controlled access to campground so lots of gawking drive thrus
Site #335 fire ring filled with ash upon arrival
Road noise from VA5
No WiFi
1 bar Verizon