James River State Park

James River State Park was absolutely perfect! The sites in Red Oak campground are big, level and private. The hosts do an amazing job to prepare the site by raking the gravel, cleaning out the fire pit and blowing off the picnic table and area with a leaf blower. The rangers are friendly and helpful, and the trails are well-maintained and fun to hike! The bathhouses were impeccably clean, and the showers had a wonderful rain shower head with lots of hot water and great pressure! The James River is peaceful and serene, and the rolling green hills are gorgeous! We loved our stay and hope to return soon!

I have a marvelous group of friends with whom I enjoy camping & we decided to camp in a cabin at James River State Park when all of us could go. It was a wonderful experience! I can't wait to go back! The cabin is absolutely perfect, beautifully maintained, clean, & well stocked. This is a Dark Sky park & I brought a telescope for viewing the stars & planets. This was such a peaceful & relaxing trip, but a lot of fun, as well!! The kitchen had so many things that we used while preparing our meals; it's a full sized kitchen, too - no mini fridge here! There's shower & hand soap in the bathroom. The queen bed was comfortable & the other room had bunks for four. The living area has plenty of seating & a fireplace, very nice! Lots of closets & storage to tuck everything out of the way. The Visitor Center is educational & has a gift shop, as well & all of the Park employees were as pleasant as they could be! There are so many different things to do & programs going on, there really is something for everyone. I spent a morning on the porch in a rocking chair, just relaxing & enjoying the beautiful view. So whether or not you want to chill or you want to hike, or you want to explore, or you just want to spend some time with Nature, this Park has it all for you! We're definitely going back & I honestly can't recommend this facility highly enough, it's just wonderful!!

Beautiful, quiet, remote, well maintained grounds, lots of trails to explore. Dark sky viewing area is a large, open grassy area. Avoid full moon nights to see most stars. A popular park for horse riders. The cabins are located on a hill and have great views. Red Oak Campground bathrooms have the most luxurious shower heads we've seen in a state park! Great water pressure and hot water. Water pump did stop working for a day while we were there but was fixed by the next morning. Could not flush the toilets for a bit. People talk about how remote this park is but few mention the roads. The roads inside the park are rough in some places. But the problem is the two state roads that lead to this park. One is by the river and one is not. Neither is paved with asphalt or has dividing lane lines. Both are narrow. We drove on both. The one by the water is in better condition and will take you to major roads faster. Unless your goal is to drive through some really remote but pretty central Virginia country. Not so pleasant if hauling a trailer.

I love James River State Park. We were back for our second visit within 6 months to explore the entirety of the River Trail plus some more spaces. This is definitely dog friendly with plenty of beautiful views, especially of the James River. All facilities appear to be top notch including the visitor center, boat ramps, and parking area. Definitely put this park on your visit list!

A wonderful spot for all kinds of wilderness adventures—trail walks, hiking, fishing, camping, and cabin stays. There are multiple trails with varying levels of difficulty. The roads are well-paved, and the availability of washrooms near all trail zones is a big plus. As of now, there are 18 cabins available. The views from the overlooks are breathtaking! Parking options are free and most of the trails have nearby parking.

Great state park! Little museum in welcome center was cool. Staff was very friendly. Facilities were great see a return trip in the future. Trails were great .

Couple of days here. lots of trails. Very nice park. Friendly staff. bring a pole, kayak tubes, lots of river access,

Great experience, with plenty of family-friendly options. Depending on the river whether you can float or not. We checked out the Tye River Overlook. Very nice trail.

Beautiful hiking trails with lots of wildlife. Campsites are spaced nicely, bath houses clean and functional.

big large river location in mountains surrounding the river bottom and valley area. Space to do canoeing and kayaking.

This park have slowly gone down a long hill over the years. However it's pretty clear to me and my family...we won't be taking our summer vacation to that James River State park,next year.

Amazing place to stay. We stayed in lodge number 16 and were so impressed with the accommodation, the river, trails, staff...everything. Wonderful, wonderful getaway. The lodge was clean and had a gas log fireplace. So open and cozy. Rocking chairs and picnic table on the back porch overlooking the forest. A trail right out our back door that connected with other very well marked trails. The river was so cool. Wide and shallow. Would love to come back in the summer and tube it with the kids. The kitchen was well stocked. Everything was wonderful.

Beautiful place for camping, outdoors activity . RV campground it's nice and clean.Nice trails for biking, hiking. At night beautiful sky with the stars. Really nice place for vacation.

So much to do here from renting a kayak or tube to float the James River, bike, hike or horseback ride. Cabins are very modern with covered porches and well equipped! Lots of scheduled activities with park rangers too. I'll be back.

My friend and I recently camped here with her teenage son and his friend. The park is sprawling and beautiful, very well kept. There's a very nice fishing pond that was actually handicapped accessible - you don't find that too often! The boys enjoyed the easy to follow trails. The river was high and fast but it was amazing to sit and watch it. Can't wait to come back in nicer weather and kayak. One of the park employees in the visitor center/gift shop, Joyce Bailey, went out of her way to find me some river maps that I had been searching for - she was so nice and helpful, as were all the employees we encountered. We can't wait to come back to this treasure of a 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!

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.

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!