Campgrounds and RV parks near Blue Ridge Shores, VA

Water recreation drives most trips. Lake Anna State Park features a seasonally guarded swimming beach, boat launch, gold mining exhibits, an accessible fishing pond and multi-use trails, with more than 15 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. The lake itself is a hub for boating, fishing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding. Family-oriented resorts add on-site activities. Small Country Campground offers a private lake with sandy beaches, mini-golf, a pool and playgrounds. Christopher Run Campground has a mini-golf course and a variety of planned activities for both children and adults, plus six boat ramps and fishing piers, a range of hookups from none to full, restrooms with hot showers, a laundromat, and a small marina with 50 slips. Shenandoah Crossing has a large recreation area with pools, hot tubs and stables offering trail rides. Off-site, Charlottesville, Monticello and central Virginia wineries are within an hour, and Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive lies to the west.

The core RV season runs spring through fall. Many campgrounds in the Lake Anna area operate seasonally, with Christopher Run Campground typically open April through October. At Lake Anna State Park, the yurt rental season begins on the first Friday in March and ends on the first Sunday in December. More broadly, full-service campgrounds with bathhouses at Virginia State Parks are open from the first Friday in March through the first Monday in December, with the exception of Douthat, Hungry Mother, Pocahontas and Shenandoah River state parks, which have full-service campgrounds open year-round. Lake Anna is not on that year-round list. Summer weekends are peak. Reservations are recommended, especially for holiday weekends when all sites typically fill, and the park frequently reaches capacity on weekends and holidays, so reservations are strongly recommended. Expect heat, humidity and afternoon thunderstorms in July and August. Shoulder seasons trade warmth for space. Spring brings mild temperatures and higher rainfall, while fall offers cooler nights, thinner crowds and foliage color in October.

Sites vary widely. Lake Anna State Park's established campground provides both tent and RV camping along Virginia's forested shoreline, with sites accommodating larger RVs and offering electric and water hookups, and sites include centrally located restrooms with hot showers, fire-rings, picnic tables and lantern holders. Lake access from the campground requires a walk down the Campground Walkway Trail, which includes a steep climb on the return trip. Private resorts tend to run larger and more amenity-heavy. Christopher Run offers a mix of full-hookup, water-and-electric and no-hookup sites plus cabins and lodges on Lake Anna. Cedar Mountain Campground is smaller and more basic, better suited to self-contained rigs than families expecting on-site activities. Generators are not permitted in the state park campground, quiet hours run from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and firewood should not be brought from outside the park to prevent the spread of invasive pests.