James River State Park

The cabins are SO NICE– air conditioned, clean, modern bathroom. No TV and poor wifi but a great place to unwind and disconnect! Beautiful views from the deck! Tubing and kayaking down the James River was relaxing and fun! I would love to come back in the Fall to see the color change on the dense forest. I imagine that’s quite a sight!

Tent camped here last weekend — reserved a spot at branch pond in advance (only about 7 or so spots there). though Branch pond is not on the water (couple min drive to river) the spots are very shady, private and out of the way, which is what we prefer! It was a couple minute drive on a small dirt road in the woods just to get to the branch pond camping area, and though removed we still felt very safe. A policeman stopped by to say hi in the evening — firs the apologized that our fire ring wasn’t cleaned out (hadn’t noticed!) and then he reminded us that you’re only supposed to drink alcohol in your tent or camper (we were reading the newspaper by the fire, each with a beer in hand) but told us it is usually only an issue when people get out of control. We did not know of this rule, despite camping at multiple state parks, so that was good to know. He was very knowledgable about the area and friendly, and made us feel safe being so removed from the rest of the park. The site had a tent pad, fire ring, picnic table, and lantern hanger (website did not specify these things). The tent pad must have been on a massive red ant colony, as they were crawling all over our tent within hours of putting it up, but luckily our tent was air tight so this wasn’t an issue. Also, there is an equestrian trail that shares part of the branch pond road, so it was cool to see the horses go by our camp site. The «primitive» bathrooms at branch pound do not have running water, but we’re immaculately clean, just as were all the facilities we used throughout the park. I’ve never seen quite such clean facilities anywhere, so I was very impressed! Every park staff member we met was very friendly and willing to help. Since liked branch pond for the privacy, the first day we drove to canoe landing and parked at one of the many «picnic» area sites right on the river, pulled out some chairs, and fished off the bank. It was gorgeous! The next day, we rented a couple kayaks at Canoe Landing and did the short trip to the last landing on the park (Dixon landing) where they picked us up when we were finished. The campsites on the river looked very nice, though shaded they were a little too close together for our liking, but you can’t best being right on the river. We cannot wait to return and do a longer kayak trip– it was a ton of fun and so beautiful. Highly recommend!

Wonderful facilities and friendly park staff. Many miles of well-​marked and –maintained trails. The Ty River overlook is beautiful, and only a short hike from the visitors center. Cabins are terrific. Plenty of space, wrap-​around decks, well-​stocked kitchens, and good HVAC. The beds are very firm and it’s best to bring your own pillows. Overall, another amazing VA state park.