Colonial Williamsburg's taverns and trade shops and the coasters of Busch Gardens share one corner of Virginia east of Richmond, close enough to work from a single campground all week. One day goes to Busch Gardens, the next to Colonial Williamsburg, and somewhere in the middle comes an afternoon on the slides at Water Country USA. Every evening ends back at the campground, with the kids in the pool and the adults on a swing by the fire pit.
That campground is usually Anvil, where the pool is heated to 85 degrees and a paved nature trail runs 4.5 miles out to a lake, which is the plan for the morning nobody wants another ticket. Busch Gardens is 8.1 miles from the campground and Water Country USA 8.4, so park days start without a long haul.
The motorhome can stay plugged in from arrival to checkout. Anvil bills itself as big rig friendly with utility hook-ups, and its premium patio sites are the largest on the property, on concrete pads, so the air keeps running through a humid afternoon while everyone is out at the parks. Unhooking every morning for the park runs gets old fast, which is why a towed car or the family's own car following along earns its place on this trip.
The Williamsburg KOA and American Heritage are the other private parks families book around town when Anvil is full. Jamestown and Yorktown complete the Historic Triangle, and the Hampton RV page runs those from Newport News Park. The Richmond campervan page covers the same Williamsburg sights from a night at Chippokes State Park.
If the rig is collected late on the first day, Chickahominy Riverfront Park, a James City County park on the river between Richmond and Williamsburg, breaks up the drive. Families with coaster-mad kids can also point the other way, north to Kings Dominion, which keeps a campground of its own.
James River State Park and Red Oak Campground
West of Richmond the nights get properly dark at James River State Park, named an International Dark Sky Park in 2019. The park holds night-sky observation sessions twice a month from Memorial Day to Labor Day and monthly after that, as of October 2026, and the days in between run slow after a week of ticketed parks.
Red Oak is the one of the park's five campgrounds to aim a motorhome at, with 30 sites carrying water and electric, open from the first Friday in March to the first Monday in December. Reservations are for a specific site, so pick the pad and hold it before you book the RV. The park is off US-60.
Bear Creek Lake in Cumberland State Forest
Closer in, Cumberland State Forest wraps a 40-acre lake with a swimming beach and campsites that look out over the water. Bear Creek Lake suits a family that wants a beach day without the coast traffic, a swim in the morning and a fire by dark.
Only 11 sites at Bear Creek Lake take RVs, and Virginia State Parks limits them to 35 feet with the tow vehicle and trailer measured together, a number a trailer and the truck pulling it can pass quickly. Lock one of those sites, then choose the rig to fit it. For two people, or anyone who would rather skip the measuring, the Richmond campervan page takes a smaller rig to Pocahontas and Powhatan State Parks.