First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach, Virginia

We travelled to Virginia Beach on Saturday, May 10, 2025 and arrived around 4:30pm.  This stop was for several days (that got extended due to weather conditions).  We camped in 2 different sites in this park – both were very nice, shaded and had lots of low hanging oak trees.

On the weekends this is a very busy place – it’s one place that a lot of the locals come to enjoy the beach.  We noticed pretty quickly that it was the weekend just based on the amount of people and campers.  I went into the park office to get the details on where we were staying and find out the layout of the campground.  Nice and helpful park rangers 😊

Park details

First Landing State Park is located at US-60, Virginia Beach, VA 23459.

Phone Number: (800) 933-7275

This park is in the ‘heart’ of Virginia Beach – I almost wondered as we were driving how much wilderness there could really be as it seemed that there was so many buildings close by – but we were in for a surprise. NOTES: First, the sign for the park is on a main, 4 lane highway making it difficult to capture a good photo. 

Second, the area of the campground that we were in (near Kendall bath house) is very close to the 4 lane highway – so you do hear some road noise which seems to quiet down by 10pm.

This park is also near a military base/training facility – you will see and hear air traffic.  They also give you a brochure/notice about this when you check in - kinda interesting...

Campground details

Water/Electric (has dump station)

30 and 50 amp electric

Picnic table, Fire ring

Back in sites

Shade/sand sites – some sites were not shaded, but a good number are

Playground

Bathrooms/showers

Checkin is 3pm

Checkout is before 1pm

Quiet hours are 10pm till 6am

Laundry facilities by park ranger/gift store

** Leashed dogs are allowed on the beach until Memorial day (if I recall correctly, dogs are NOT allowed on the beach from Memorial day thru Labor day)

Campsite details

We stayed in two different campsites – this is because we initially planned to stay for 2 nights.  However, once we got there and found out the weather for the next several days – we decided to stay for an additional 3 nights (for a total of 5 nights).  We had to move to a different site for the second 3 nights. 

Campsite #14 is in close quarters with a couple of other campsites but they were on the opposite side from our camper door.  This site was shaded and level – very nice – 30 foot site.

Campsite #19 was not as close to other campsites as #14, however it was not level - we backed out little camper down into the sloped area and levelled it out.  Very shaded and lovely trees providing a nice shade canopy away from the sun.  The overall campsite was covered in brown (dead) leaves.  It was beautiful and at this particular time of year we weren't dealing with bugs here.

I’ll include a photograph of the water hookup at this campground – this is the first time we have ever encountered anything like this.  Jim was hooking up the water and I heard him say “Is this a joke?” but thankfully after we figured it out, it works pretty much like any other water hookup.

First look – walk with the dogs (to explore)

It seems since I don’t do all the driving, that the dogs and I are usually the ones to find out the initial lay of the land near our campsite.  This time, we found the best path through the trees to the bath house and found the pathway to the beach.

Kendall bath house is different than the others I have seen in the past.  The shower area in this bath house is in a ‘shared area’ where 4 showers are available (with locks) and can be used by anyone (male, female).  The restrooms are separate from the shower areas.  One thing I did wonder….I saw up above the screen areas to let air come in/out – but what happens when its cold outside??? (I don’t think I want to find out)

The dogs and I also found the way to the beach – it’s real close and very nice to take a walk out to the beach, but that didn’t happen until the next day – but we knew where to go. The sandy way to walk to the beach which is over near the parking lot for those that are coming into the park for day use.

Or the boardwalk that is over near the Kendall bath house which extends over a nice area of sand dunes and then opens up to the beach.

Kendall Bath house

Sunday, May 11, 2025 – Mother’s Day

The Beach on Chesapeake Bay

Early on Mother’s day (I forgot it was Mother’s day until later in the morning), the dogs and I decided to show Jim the way to the bath house through the trees and then on to the beach.   As it turns out, our dogs love to run in the sand – and they actually enjoyed walking a little in the water.  It turned out to be a bit of play time while we were hanging onto the end of 6 foot leashes!  Jim made a new friend and while they talked about the 'state of affairs' and other stuff - the dogs and I hung out around the deck to the beach for some shade.

If you click on the link below where I indicate we have more photographs you'll see a few quick videos of the dogs having fun.

The Trails

If you want to go hiking on any of the trails within the park, you must head out of the area where the campground/beach is and go across the 4 lane highway I mentioned to the ‘other side’.  Here is where all the trails are – we drove.  I guess if you had a bicycle, it wouldn’t be a bad ride – but we were on foot and with 3 dogs – let’s take the easy route.

So across the road we went – and we went to the end where the trail center is located.  There is a parking lot there as well.  Trail map in hand, now where do we want to go?  We went around to the back of the trail center and started off on the Bald Cypress Trail.  Wow, who knew that a swamp could be so close to the beach?

Wildlife encountered on the trail:

• Butterfly
• Dragonfly
• Turtle(s)
• Birds including a few ducks
• Frog
• Snakes – All the snakes were in the water/swamp – not on the trail itself.  NOTE: Of the 34 species/sub-species in Virginia, only 3 are venomous.  2 of those are in First Landing State Park.  Eastern Cottonmouths (Water Moccasins) and Northern Copperheads.  The water moccasins are a semi-aquatic snake that prefers wet habitats marshes or swamps.  This photograph is the water moccasin (cottonmouth).  The Copperheads prefer forests, fields and high ground in swamps/marshes and rocky areas.

This photograph is the water moccasin (cottonmouth). Poisonous snake - he was photographed with a Nikkor 24-200 mm lens at the 200mm setting and then the photograph is cropped.  We were not that close to this snake - we were walking along the boardwalk, it was sunning on a log out in the swamp.

 Edgar Cayce A.R.E.

We took a drive out to the east end, down to Atlantic Avenue. Along the way we found the Edgar Cayce A.R.E. Association for Research and Enlightenment located at 215 67th Street at, 6798 Atlantic Ave #6700, Virginia Beach, VA 23451.  They are open 10am – 5pm every day – so we stopped and Jim went inside.  The dogs and I explored the outside and found the mediation garden – it was very pretty!  We didn’t find it until just after 4pm, so Jim was limited on how long he was able to stay.

Meditation Garden

Monday, May 12, 2025

I woke up about 5:45am and could hear it raining outside.  We had decided to stay at Virginia Beach for an additional 3 days because rainy weather was coming in.  Originally we were going to travel to James River State Park to view the night skies - but it's remote, no cell service and with the forecast we weren't going to see any stars.  So we changed our plans and stayed.

With the rainy morning, we stayed at the campground in the morning – we had to move to campsite #19 before we could really get going on our day.  Lucky that we were able to move early and we had everything packed up and moved by around 12 noon.

When I took the dogs for a walk – the first thing I noticed is the number of people that were checking out of the campground on this date – a lot of them (about ½).  Also, the parking lots by the park office, beach areas – were empty.  What a difference!

We decided to find a dog friendly restaurant and go have some food – we ate at The Back Deck, dog friendly (lotta dogs here!) located on the water at 3323 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451. https://thebackdeckvb.com/

This place also has a nice seafood market inside if you want to purchase fresh seafood to cook yourself.

After eating at the Back Deck, Jim found a place called the “Brock Environmental Center”.  A great place to let the dogs get out and stretch their legs.  We walked a trail that lead to the water’s edge on the bay – and there was a sandy beach – just us – the dogs wanted to play so we took their leashes off and let the dogs have a little fun.

Brock Environmental Center

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

This was going to be our first ‘rainout day’ where we spent a good amount of time in the camper.  A test – it was successful – we didn’t clobber each other (or the dogs!).  It started raining around 3am – we expected that it would rain all day.  We got a pleasant surprise when it appeared to stop raining around 3pm (yes, 12 hours later).  I did manage to find a couple of brief times it wasn’t pouring to get the dogs out quickly to do their business. However, we did notice this little glitch so we weren't able to go around the campground loop....thankfully our campsite didn't have this issue.  This flooding was over by campsites 1, 2, and 3.

After being on the road now for a week, I think we were all pretty much happen to catch a few more winks of sleep.

We spent a good portion of the day in the camper, we were ready to get out for a bit.  Jim reached out to some life long friends that used to live in Virginia Beach – and we drove over to snap a photo of their house from when they lived here, the old high school and sent them the photos.

Tidewater Arboretum

Then we drove over to the “Tidewater Arboretum associated with Virginia Tech”.  It’s a nice garden area that is dog friendly and with only 1 other person and her dog there it was a chance for our dogs to get out and stretch their legs.

On the way back to the campground, Jim wanted to stop at “The Back Deck” to grab some more crab dip.  Then we cooked dinner and chilled for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Since this was a ‘bonus’ day at this location, I didn’t really have any ideas on what we might want to do.  We started out hiking over on the High Dune Trail, reaching that by starting on the Bald Cypress Trail.  While walking on these trails this morning a birder pointed out this beautiful (small) yellow bird hiding in the trees in the swamp area (thank you birder).

The Trails

After process of elimination, I was able to figure out that this turtle that was just hanging there and not really moving is a snapping turtle.

Sometimes, those sunning logs get a little full - this turtle tried several times to get up on the log before it gave up and swam off to another area.

And what are the little dogs doing while we hang out and enjoy nature?

After lunch we decided to go find the other entrance to the park trails and see if we could find the ‘water’.  There is another entrance to the park off Atlantic Avenue and 64th street.  We decided to go check it out and then did some hiking along the Osprey Trail.  This trail boarders "Broad Bay" which the dogs very much enjoyed playing on the sandy shore.

One lone great blue heron looking for a meal.

Night heron up in the pine tree

Abby loving playing free in the water - ears flopping!

All three dogs (Abby, Ollie - in the air, Rue)

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Other little items about the campground.

Laundry room is very well kept and has a couple of rocking chairs if you're interested in hanging out.  Cost $1.50 for wash, $1.50 for dry (3.00 per load). 

I choose to do laundry one evening when there was a beautiful sunset - managed to catch the end of it.

If it's this beautiful when the sun has already gone down, it must have been wonderful.

Maps
 

To view more photographs and the videos from this stop on our trip, please click here. https://www.vpshoots.com/FirstLandingStatePark

It’s time to pack up and head to our next stop – Hyco Lake Campground near Roxboro, North Carolina.