I talked to a fellow the other night who said he has been a member of Thousand Trails for several years but has never been to any other TT campground aside from this one: Chesapeake Bay. I think that if he’s going to settle for just one that he’s made a pretty good choice. This is a nice place that has a lot to offer.

Without a doubt, the biggest draw here is the Piankatank River which borders the campground to the north. This is a big river, probably a mile wide at the campground as it nears the Chesapeake. The park’s marina is especially busy on weekends as people try their luck fishing or go for rides on speedboats or even go for a swim.

If river swimming isn’t for you, there are two nice pools plus a big sauna. There’s also a challenging mini-golf course. The tennis courts have been pretty much taken over by “Pickleball” players. We’ve seen this game being played elsewhere, but so far this feels the most like “pickleball central.” I won’t try to describe the game aside from saying it’s a cross between ping-pong and tennis and is way more active and challenging than you might think.

There are a lot of campsites here with both 50 and 30 amp sites available. I think all sites except maybe the tent only area provide sewer hookups. The sites are pretty level and provide a reasonable amount of space. If you want to have a view of the river during the busy summer season you’ll have to arrive mid-week. Also, there are a lot of seasonal residents here, but they seem to like E-loop which is across the lake from the rest of the campground.

We have been here through two weekends, including Labor Day weekend and the park has been quite busy with lots going on. The place is packed out for the holiday. In fact, there have been very few empty campsites through our entire stay.

There’s an active church group here. I think they are locals like the fellow I met the other day. They operate almost as an organized church – they even provided Vacation Bible School for the campground earlier this summer!

As you can tell, I like this campground that has so much going for it. A minor negative is that we’re a long way out in the country. The nearest Walmart is 15 miles to the south and the biggest local draw, Colonial Williamsburg, is around 40 miles distant. Then again, for most people, this is the destination rather than a place to stay while visiting the area.

When you come to Chesapeake Bay Thousand Trails be sure to visit the camp store and get an ice cream. Warning…you only want one “scoop.” The serving is huge and two of you might just want to split a single scoop!

If you are a member of Thousand Trails and looking for a place to camp in the Tidewater Region, look no farther: this is it!