James River State Park

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About

One of Virginia's 38 award-winning state parks

Description

James River is one of our 37 Virginia State Parks. Please visit our official page at http://www.facebook.com/virginiastateparks

The park has more than 1,500 acres of rolling farm meadows and three miles of river frontage. Park facilities include cabins and lodges, primitive and water and electric campsites, primitive and water and electric horse campsites, and group camping. Thirteen primitive campsites are by the river and offer opportunities to canoe-in camp. There are 15 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. There's also a wheelchair accessible trail around Green Hill Pond. Three fishing ponds and boating access to 12 miles of the James River make the park ideal for anglers. There are seven picnic areas in the park and six picnic shelters that offer beautiful views of the surrounding hills.

Address: 751 Park Rd, Gladstone, Virginia 24553

Phone: (434) 933-4355

Website

Email: vog.ainigriv.rcd@revirsemaj

State: VA

City: Gladstone

Street Number: 751 Park Rd

Zip Code: 24553

categories: sports & recreation, state park, campground

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Reviews

We stay here every October for our family reunion. Every time we have a blast and the view is picture perfect. Horses trotting around, fishing by the river and crackling firepits. Beautiful sun rise/set and perfect view of the stars at night.

Great place to hang out. If you have two vehicles, park one at Dixon landing and drive back and throw your tubes/kayaks/canoe into Canoe landing. It's a nice long float with a few small beaches or feld trees you can land at for a picnic. The stars are beautiful at night. Milky Way visible. Beware of the skunks. Especially if you bring an animal with you. Makes sure a very memorable experience.

We visited in the afternoon, late May 2023. The plan was to bike with the family. However the weather did not cooperate. It had been raining the 2 days prior and the trails were probably pretty muddy so instead we decided to just take a look around and maybe hike a little bit since it was already built into out itinerary. We explored the visitor center for about 30 mins. There are a number of really cool exhibits and they have live animals in there as well. It was pretty interactive and kept the kids entertained. The park store is also located here in the visitor center. There was a decent amount of stuff to buy including apparel. We wanted our pins and hiking medallions which we actually had to run up to the contact station at the front gate to get as they were sold out at the visitor center. We also asked for the junior ranger program here and there was no way we could complete it as one of the requirements was to attend multiple ranger lead programs which we couldn't do in an hour or so. We took some fun pictures out back the visitor center and were then on our way.  We will definitely have to return with our bikes so we can complete the trails!

We loved our stay here and will be back! First off, the drive in is beautiful! Rv/camper sites are well spaced and have great shade. We loved the sand/gravel material used for the pads, very level and don't puddle when it rains. The bathhouse has an attached laundry room and outdoor sink. Toilets and showers are separated. Dump station is at the entrance and was a good set up. The trails are well maintained and beautiful. The visitor center was very cool. All the park staff were so friendly!

This was our first time at James River State Park, and this was also our first time staying in a cabin at the Virginia State Parks. I must say, both, were a highly enjoyable experience. We have tent camped many times while day/section hiking the Appalachian Trail. And, though, I highly enjoyed hiking the AT, there were times I would have liked to had more time to explore the trails at the campgrounds we camped at. As usual, when planning a camping trip, weather can be hard to precisely pin down. Being in a cabin took the worry out of the weather being a major concern for shelter. Of course, weather was a concern for exploring the trails outside at the park. The weather kept flip flopping; cloudy and overcast, one day high chance of rain, flip flops of rain chance days, both days rain and overcast high chance. I gave up hoping for sunshine and packed rain jackets, rain pants, and our George Foreman electric grill. I downloaded an ebook while traveling to the park. When we arrived at the park it was cloudy and overcast; but, not a gloomy overcast. It was pleasant. The cabin was terrific. The covered porch was very nice. We quickly unloaded and took advantage of the weather being overcast and cloudy, but, not raining. We hiked from the cabin to the River Trail and took various trails to complete our loop back to the cabin. Day one, a victory; we got in and were able to hike some too! Day two. I, so, wanted to hike to Tye River Overlook and have some sunshine. To my surprise, the sun began to peak out. Unbelievable. According to the weather forecast, this should not be happening. We rode down to Dixon Landing, after unknowingly, passing the Tye River Overlook trailhead near the Visitor Center. We walked around at Dixon Landing a bit, before deciding to go back to park at the Tye River Overlook trailhead. But, we stopped at Shelter #6 to check out the trail sign and found out we could hike to the Tye River Overlook from here. So, we hiked to the Tye River Overlook. On the Cabell Trail the sun was out, and I was somewhat wanting the overcast skies! We made it to the overlook and the view was awesome. The one thing that is vivid in my stay at James River State Park is the sound of song birds. The birds were melodious at the overlook also. Having had weather that was not a washout nor a gloomy grey thus far, and having had been able to hike and make it to the overlook, I felt if we had to stay the remaining time inside the cabin, it would not matter. We hiked the Cabell Trail loop back down and missed taking the Dixon Trail to get us back to our vehicle and ended up at Red Oak Campground; which was nice. I wanted to check out the campground. Red Oak Campground is very nice. I look forward to tent camping there one day. With storms predicted to come in the late afternoon, we walked the park road back to our vehicle. Kudos to park maintenance, the grass was mowed several feet off the road giving a safe place to walk with less worry of oncoming vehicles and ticks. We made it back to our vehicle and we then drove to Walnut Grove Campground and Canoe Landing Campground. We then drove to Branch Pond Campground and hiked one side of Branch Pond Loop Trail. The loop could not be hiked due to the dam portion being off limits to hiking. I enjoyed the half portion we did. We decided to head back to the cabin, due to storm predictions. We made it back, and my sons said they actually hoped it would storm so they could enjoy seeing the storm from the covered porch. Being hungry with the threat of an approaching storm, we decided to grill our burgers on the George Foreman electric grill. It would take less than ten minutes to be eating our burgers if we used the George Foreman opposed to getting a charcoal/fire started, waiting 30 minutes or so, only to have a storm roll in. We ate our burgers, and at about 8:30pm the storm rolled in. I witnessed lightening in the distance from the covered porch with thunder rumbling about. I decided to go inside after a bit. We left the next morning, to what else, but, sunshine. We had a great trip.

Another very nice park.  Everyone I met was friendly and helpful.   Park was in great shape.   Ran trails today and they were well marked and easy to navigate.   Thinking about bringing the kayak here soon.

This is the second year that I have had a veterans campout at the park. Having a place where we can get together that's kinda off grid and not being constantly on cell phones is great. The staff is always friendly and the restrooms are very clean. There are plenty of hiking trails to explore and the river offers great fishing. The one thing that you do need to be mindful of is that the closest major store is a good 30 minutes away so be sure to come fully stocked with what you need.

Clean ,clean clean. Nice bathrooms and showers. Very clean park. And a national dark zone.  Restrooms: Very clean.

We spent two nights in one of the cabins and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. The  bed, chairs, and sofa  were very comfortable, and the kitchen had just about everything we needed. The pans were good quality Cuisinart stainless steel, so we used our own non-stick pan for bacon and eggs We hiked  part of the Cabell Trail to the Tye River Overlook spur, part of the River Trail, and the Green Hill Pond Loop. The trails were well taken care of, with evidence that a few trees that had come down very recently had been quickly removed from the path. Daisy and I also enjoyed the short ~1 mile if you're following a hound dog's nose loop that went around the cabin area, where we met some deer. It's not on the trail map, but the markers call it the Monarch Trail. I had really wanted to do some stargazing but of course it was overcast and rainy most of the time. Daisy had to go out at 3:00 the morning we were leaving, and the sky had cleared up. The view was amazing even with the full moon lighting up the sky. Looking forward to going back in clearer weather.  Dog-friendliness: Dogs are welcome in the cabins and on the trails. They need to be on a 6 foot leash when outside.

Stayed at the branch pond campground and was very pleased with the experience!  I would have liked more distance between the campsites but that is more or less the norm at state parks. The park is kept up exceptionally well,  Offers a lot of activities and is beautiful in the fall. I will definitely come back to rent one of their well kept cabins soon!

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