James River State Park

This state park on the James River is truly beautiful. If you plan to camp or stay in a cabin, be sure to bring plenty of food and supplies, as the park is quite far from any grocery stores. There are numerous opportunities for hiking and paddling. I highly recommend hiking, horseback riding, or biking to the Tye River overlook. I definitely plan to return to camp in the spring and hope to do some paddling on the James River as well.

Another jewel in the state park crown! We stayed in a 2BR cabin -- familiar from staying at Bear Creek Lake cabins before. Nothing fancy -- just cozy and functional. Perfect for an "unplug weekend". We watched fall's full color spectrum from our rocking chairs on the back porch ending with a glorious sunset. We took the Tye River Overlook walking tour with Gabi -- learned lots about the history of this area. The visitor's center is quite nice and has odds and ends you might have need -- like a warm pullover! Watched the stars from the Amphitheatre field -- designated Dark Sky Place. And enjoyed sitting by the fireplace, curled up with a good book, sipping and snacking as needed. The cabin's aren't "on" the river but there are many walking trails that will get you to the waterfront if you like. Be aware: 1) cell service is spotty and there is no wifi in the cabins (or TV); 2) you're at least 20 minutes from civilization so bring whatever food / drink you'll need; 3) bring your own matches, linens/towels, and at least one warm thing to wear at night. We will definitely be back!

We stayed in the cabins, which are on a hill and all in a loop. I was really surprised by how modern, clean and nice they were. Each has a big porch with rocking chairs, fireplace inside and fire pit outside. It is extremely peaceful and the stars are just beautiful at night. There is no beach for swimming in the James but if you want to do tubing, kayaking, canoeing, etc. its perfect. The staff are very friendly as well. It's a great spot.

Great, quiet state park in Virginia. Campground was small and quiet with nice sites and nice bathroom facility. Many trails for hiking. Access to the river for launching kayaks and canoes and for fishing.

This is one of our favorite places to get away for a weekend. The cabins here are extremely nice. Beds, couches, full kitchen with refrigerator, stove, microwave, toaster. Very kid friendly, with some really nice hiking trails to see some nature. We've been here several times, and it never disappoints.

A place of refuge in the bleak winter. So quiet, that is calming. The sky is filled with so many stars! This is my 2nd winter visit, staying in a cabin. It's well appointed and very clean.

First and foremost, it’s VERY remote and any restaurants, stores, gas, or other commercial activities are at least 30 min away. The state park is designated as an “International Dark Sky Park”. We had no idea what that meant until we stopped at the Ranger Welcome Center and they explained and let us know the best locations to see the stars and they were spot on. I’ve never seen so many stars in Virginia until that night. We attended a “night sky” event where there were multiple high end telescopes to view stars and planets. There was also a few guest speakers to talk about stars, discuss and pass around meteorite fragments, and upcoming outer space anomalies. Pretty informative with 30-40 campers in attendance. We explored the various camp sites; both primitive and RV, and cabin sites. Primitive sites are really awesome and if you’re lucky enough, you could be right alongside the river bank. RV spots, like many state parks provide enough space for a little privacy unlike commercial parks. The RV campers were all respectful, friendly, and quiet during quiet time. In fact, this was the only campground that the campers turned off all their LED outside lights later at night. We explored some breweries, restaurants, and a distillery while in the area. We didn’t go tubing/canoeing/kayaking due to a back injury but will visit again in the future to enjoy that activity.

I had a great time. There are so many places and trails to explore. The park rangers are friendly and personable. Tye River Overlook is a short hike from the visitor's center or a longer hike from one of the connected trails. I stayed in cabin 18. No view. Really clean, Truely relaxing. Next time I will stay at canoe landing campground. Tent camping and right on the James River.

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!