Lake Anna weekends start on the swimming beach, with a break at the visitor center for the Goodwin Gold Mine when the sun is high. The boat launch keeps the rest of the day on the water. You sleep at the state park campground and go back to the beach in the morning. Give it two nights if you can, because one night is just a swim and a launch.
The campground mixes water-and-electric sites with loops that skip the hookups, both rated for RVs up to 60 feet, with camping early March through early December. Match the listing to the site type you reserved. If you need more sleeping space than a campervan, look at RV rentals in Fredericksburg.
Book the site before the van. Virginia State Parks open overnight reservations up to 11 months ahead, and summer lake weekends fill first. The park is 25 miles southwest of Fredericksburg off I-95, so it works as the first night without burning the day on the drive.
Westmoreland State Park on the Potomac
At Westmoreland you walk Horse Head Cliffs over the Potomac, then look for shark teeth on the beach at the waterline. You came for those teeth. Camp is back from that shore, close enough to walk down in the morning and again before dinner.
Campgrounds A and B have water and electric, Campground C does not, and the loops take RVs up to 40 feet. Check the listing length before you bring a longer vehicle to those loops. The cabins are closed for renovation into next year as of September 2026, so the overnight is a campsite.
On the Rappahannock, Belle Isle State Park has a marsh boardwalk along the shoreline. It also keeps a vehicle-accessible campground and a separate hike-in shore at Brewers Point.
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania battlefields
The fields at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House are open ground with cannon on the lines. You park the van and walk the fields, and a full day is not too much. The visitor centers at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville are the places to start, and the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House are the other two fields in the same park.
Late day is quieter, after the lots have thinned. Admission is free and no entrance pass is required. The park does not allow camping, so the overnight stays at Lake Anna or Westmoreland.
Kings Dominion is a day that belongs to Richmond. Alexandria is the night when you are headed toward the District. Richmond is the city overnight to the south.
Caledon State Park
Summer at Caledon puts bald eagles over old-growth along the Potomac, with Jones Pond under the canopy. Overnight sites are hike-in, bike-in, or paddle-in tent sites with no vehicle access, so the van stays in the parking area while you walk or paddle in.