Kiptopeke State Park - Cape Charles, VA

I have been camping at Kiptopeke State Park for over ten years, several times a year. This is a magical place. It is quiet, the spaces are large, and grounds are well-kept. Hiking is easy and tranquil, and the views of the concrete ships are spectacular. The Rangers have always been helpful and kind and the Camp Hosts friendly. There has never been any stress while camping, easy-peasy.

However, I found myself incredibly disappointed when I showed up for my fifth trip there this year to “new check-in rules”. Unnecessary and truly just ridiculous check in rules. Check out time is 1pm and check in is 4pm but in all my years I have never had to wait until 4pm, or at all for that matter. If the site was open, I pulled up and enjoyed my time. It has never been an issue, and I always arrive around noon. If they are cutting grass or doing any type of maintenance, I would wait but truly I don’t recall ever having to wait. So, when I was told that I was not allowed on the empty site that I had booked, that was not occupied the night before, until the Camp Host deemed it ready, which could be 4pm, I was surprised. I was told the Camp Host would text me when it was ready and to just line up with the other campers outside or go explore the park while I wait. I parked behind two other campers and took a walk to find that my spot was indeed open, no maintenance was taking place, and the Camp Host was driving around in their golf cart not appearing to be completing any tasks.

A line of us waited for two hours and all of our sites were open, we talked. When the Camp Host finally came, no text was ever received, she wanted to escort each of us to our site individually. I don’t need an escort and didn’t appreciate her obvious need to have some type of authority and control.

Kiptopeke, why ruin a good thing? Why start enforcing rules that don’t need to be enforced? Why have Camp Hosts be anything other than kind people, there to sell you firewood and answer questions. To say I was dissatisfied and disappointed is an understatement. Please bring the ease and peace back to Kiptopeke camping.

I have been camping at Kiptopeke State Park for over ten years, several times a year. This is a magical place. It is quiet, the spaces are large, and grounds are well-kept. Hiking is easy and tranquil, and the views of the concrete ships are spectacular. The Rangers have always been helpful and kind and the Camp Hosts friendly. There has never been any stress while camping, easy-peasy.

However, I found myself incredibly disappointed when I showed up for my fifth trip there this year to “new check-in rules”. Unnecessary and truly just ridiculous check in rules. Check out time is 1pm and check in is 4pm but in all my years I have never had to wait until 4pm, or at all for that matter. If the site was open, I pulled up and enjoyed my time. It has never been an issue, and I always arrive around noon. If they are cutting grass or doing any type of maintenance, I would wait but truly I don’t recall ever having to wait. So, when I was told that I was not allowed on the empty site that I had booked, that was not occupied the night before, until the Camp Host deemed it ready, which could be 4pm, I was surprised. I was told the Camp Host would text me when it was ready and to just line up with the other campers outside or go explore the park while I wait. I parked behind two other campers and took a walk to find that my spot was indeed open, no maintenance was taking place, and the Camp Host was driving around in their golf cart not appearing to be completing any tasks.

A line of us waited for two hours and all of our sites were open, we talked. When the Camp Host finally came, no text was ever received, she wanted to escort each of us to our site individually. I don’t need an escort and didn’t appreciate her obvious need to have some type of authority and control.

Kiptopeke, why ruin a good thing? Why start enforcing rules that don’t need to be enforced? Why have Camp Hosts be anything other than kind people, there to sell you firewood and answer questions. To say I was dissatisfied and disappointed is an understatement. Please bring the ease and peace back to Kiptopeke camping.

I have been camping at Kiptopeke State Park for over ten years, several times a year. This is a magical place. It is quiet, the spaces are large, and grounds are well-kept. Hiking is easy and tranquil, and the views of the concrete ships are spectacular. The Rangers have always been helpful and kind and the Camp Hosts friendly. There has never been any stress while camping, easy-peasy.

However, I found myself incredibly disappointed when I showed up for my fifth trip there this year to “new check-in rules”. Unnecessary and truly just ridiculous check in rules. Check out time is 1pm and check in is 4pm but in all my years I have never had to wait until 4pm, or at all for that matter. If the site was open, I pulled up and enjoyed my time. It has never been an issue, and I always arrive around noon. If they are cutting grass or doing any type of maintenance, I would wait but truly I don’t recall ever having to wait. So, when I was told that I was not allowed on the empty site that I had booked, that was not occupied the night before, until the Camp Host deemed it ready, which could be 4pm, I was surprised. I was told the Camp Host would text me when it was ready and to just line up with the other campers outside or go explore the park while I wait. I parked behind two other campers and took a walk to find that my spot was indeed open, no maintenance was taking place, and the Camp Host was driving around in their golf cart not appearing to be completing any tasks.

A line of us waited for two hours and all of our sites were open, we talked. When the Camp Host finally came, no text was ever received, she wanted to escort each of us to our site individually. I don’t need an escort and didn’t appreciate her obvious need to have some type of authority and control.

Kiptopeke, why ruin a good thing? Why start enforcing rules that don’t need to be enforced? Why have Camp Hosts be anything other than kind people, there to sell you firewood and answer questions. To say I was dissatisfied and disappointed is an understatement. Please bring the ease and peace back to Kiptopeke camping.

A beautiful park on the Chesapeake Bay. We loved the campground’s tent only area. The sites are specious, among pine trees and cicadas singing all day. There is also a separate beach for pets if you come qith one. You can kayak to the old ships that are at some distance from the shore. A lovely, peaceful place.

A beautiful park on the Chesapeake Bay. We loved the campground’s tent only area. The sites are specious, among pine trees and cicadas singing all day. There is also a separate beach for pets if you come qith one. You can kayak to the old ships that are at some distance from the shore. A lovely, peaceful place.

My family has been coming here every summer since 1994 since I was a little kid. Everything was new when we started coming here but upkeep and service is non existent. If something breaks like the urinals or showers it’s just left like that or boarded up. Most boardwalk boards have huge nails sticking out of them and many hazards here for families with kids. The park rangers are very cool people but they say they are being forced by higher up authority to hound the guests for everything. There is a ranger on the beach at sunset that yells for everyone to leave the beach , another ranger wrote tickets to people beaching a boat saying the buoy says “no boats” all though it just says “no” and the lower part is faded and worn out completely. All though we are a law enforcement family ourselves and have the highest respect for the rangers…hearing of some non existing rules that are clearly made up and seeing the rangers lie to people about giving them multiple warnings and in reality writing tickets without warning is just a horrible thing to see and to have to explain to the kids that the ranger was having a bad day or decided to not tell the truth that day is not exactly the best way to relax on vacation. The big rental lodges have had reports of cockroaches and are overall cleaned horribly between guests so if you rent one get ready to be scrubbing for two hours at check in and bring a lot of cleaning supplies. Camp sites with sewer are down to a small handful with them refusing to maintain and repair anything. Office staff gets very annoyed when you mention any problems with your stay. Some guests left chairs and umbrellas at the beach overnight since there is no signs saying you can’t do that…they were told to pick up their stuff at the office and all the umbrellas were disposed of so all they got was their chairs. Parts of the boardwalks that are broken are just barricaded and closed off for many years. What was once a beautiful place for families has been abandoned by Virginia state to the point where they will probably close it before they fix anything.

My family has been coming here every summer since 1994 since I was a little kid. Everything was new when we started coming here but upkeep and service is non existent. If something breaks like the urinals or showers it’s just left like that or boarded up. Most boardwalk boards have huge nails sticking out of them and many hazards here for families with kids. The park rangers are very cool people but they say they are being forced by higher up authority to hound the guests for everything. There is a ranger on the beach at sunset that yells for everyone to leave the beach , another ranger wrote tickets to people beaching a boat saying the buoy says “no boats” all though it just says “no” and the lower part is faded and worn out completely. All though we are a law enforcement family ourselves and have the highest respect for the rangers…hearing of some non existing rules that are clearly made up and seeing the rangers lie to people about giving them multiple warnings and in reality writing tickets without warning is just a horrible thing to see and to have to explain to the kids that the ranger was having a bad day or decided to not tell the truth that day is not exactly the best way to relax on vacation. The big rental lodges have had reports of cockroaches and are overall cleaned horribly between guests so if you rent one get ready to be scrubbing for two hours at check in and bring a lot of cleaning supplies. Camp sites with sewer are down to a small handful with them refusing to maintain and repair anything. Office staff gets very annoyed when you mention any problems with your stay. Some guests left chairs and umbrellas at the beach overnight since there is no signs saying you can’t do that…they were told to pick up their stuff at the office and all the umbrellas were disposed of so all they got was their chairs. Parts of the boardwalks that are broken are just barricaded and closed off for many years. What was once a beautiful place for families has been abandoned by Virginia state to the point where they will probably close it before they fix anything.

My family has been coming here every summer since 1994 since I was a little kid. Everything was new when we started coming here but upkeep and service is non existent. If something breaks like the urinals or showers it’s just left like that or boarded up. Most boardwalk boards have huge nails sticking out of them and many hazards here for families with kids. The park rangers are very cool people but they say they are being forced by higher up authority to hound the guests for everything. There is a ranger on the beach at sunset that yells for everyone to leave the beach , another ranger wrote tickets to people beaching a boat saying the buoy says “no boats” all though it just says “no” and the lower part is faded and worn out completely. All though we are a law enforcement family ourselves and have the highest respect for the rangers…hearing of some non existing rules that are clearly made up and seeing the rangers lie to people about giving them multiple warnings and in reality writing tickets without warning is just a horrible thing to see and to have to explain to the kids that the ranger was having a bad day or decided to not tell the truth that day is not exactly the best way to relax on vacation. The big rental lodges have had reports of cockroaches and are overall cleaned horribly between guests so if you rent one get ready to be scrubbing for two hours at check in and bring a lot of cleaning supplies. Camp sites with sewer are down to a small handful with them refusing to maintain and repair anything. Office staff gets very annoyed when you mention any problems with your stay. Some guests left chairs and umbrellas at the beach overnight since there is no signs saying you can’t do that…they were told to pick up their stuff at the office and all the umbrellas were disposed of so all they got was their chairs. Parts of the boardwalks that are broken are just barricaded and closed off for many years. What was once a beautiful place for families has been abandoned by Virginia state to the point where they will probably close it before they fix anything.

A wonderful place to relax and enjoy nature! We had an amazing time at the camp, especially crab fishing — it was such a fun experience. There’s also a dog-friendly beach, which was a huge plus for us. The nature is absolutely stunning — fresh air, the scent of pine trees, and peaceful surroundings.

There are beautiful trails for walking, and you can also go kayaking or paddleboarding. Fishing is great here, and it’s even allowed at night, which is a big bonus.

I was especially happy to find showers, clean restrooms, and laundry machines — it made the stay very comfortable and convenient. We’ll definitely be coming back!

A wonderful place to relax and enjoy nature! We had an amazing time at the camp, especially crab fishing — it was such a fun experience. There’s also a dog-friendly beach, which was a huge plus for us. The nature is absolutely stunning — fresh air, the scent of pine trees, and peaceful surroundings.

There are beautiful trails for walking, and you can also go kayaking or paddleboarding. Fishing is great here, and it’s even allowed at night, which is a big bonus.

I was especially happy to find showers, clean restrooms, and laundry machines — it made the stay very comfortable and convenient. We’ll definitely be coming back!