Newport News City Park Campground
May 2006
Heavily treed area makes for privacy and a nice tree canopy that gives dappled sunlight and cool shade to most sites.
Activities: fishing, paddle boats, biking, hiking, archery, jogging, scenic areas, horse back riding trails, several playgrounds, tourism area, historical earthworks and battle information, etc. We have also seen people flying small airplanes and playing with motorized boats in the water.
Size: 8,000 acres when combined with the City Park section. You can either drive a little ways down the main road or walk to access this part of the park. For families with small children, we recommend driving.
Our favorite time to camp here: We prefer to camp off season or early/late in the season since there is less traffic and our children can bike easier. If there is a lot of traffic, you can easily bike on trails or on the less populated E and F loops. Peak leaf color season is especially pretty.
Hiking and Biking trails feature natural views and wildlife.
Number of sites: 188 sites. A, B, C, D loops have electricity and water. E and F loops are for tent campers and vary with water and electricity so you should call to verify. There are two large group sites.
Sewage hookups: No full hookups, but there is a dump station free to use by those camping in the park.
Bathrooms: Clean and well maintained with hot water, very good water pressure and large shower stalls with private dressing areas. The one exception we saw was the bath house near the dump station. It was dirty, not maintained and had not been painted in a while. It is not used often, so we think it is last on the list for maintenance.
Showers in a bathhouse are large, clean and feature a private dressing area. There is a hook for clothing and a bench to sit on or set your personal items on. Showers are disinfected and cleaned daily by a crew. We do recommend a hanging shower caddy/bag for your toiletries.
Water/Electricity: Many sites with both, some with water only, some with electricity and community water. A, B, C and D loops are the ones with both.
Drive through sites: We are not aware of any drive through sites.
Campstore: You can find drinks, marshmallows, novelties, camping gear, books and more.
Who are you camping with: mostly locals and a few tourists. Most are in a good mood and easy going, friendly people. We are often stopped on walks by other campers who want to meet our dogs, ask about our children or chit chat. We have seen every race, age, and economic level camping here. Sometimes we meet foreigners who are visiting or relocating to the area. Die hard sleep-on-the-ground campers to "I need a deluxe million dollar motorcoach" find equal enjoyment. We have seen government workers with satellites on their van, a traveling family of musicians, 90 year old men with canes, single women, newly married couples and more. We can not think of anyone who would not feel welcome here.
It is fairly easy to find your own private fishing spot.
Security: In the past, park rangers have driven through every 30 minutes or so at night. We did not notice this time probably because our bedroom in our RV does not have a road facing window.
Appearance: This is a clean, well-maintained, very wooded campground. We were told by a man on one of our stays that this campground has some of the thickest and oldest hickory tree stands left. Campsites are spread enough you feel you have privacy and can not hear everything your neighbor is saying.
Speed Limit: The speed limit is 25 mph. On the access roads, this is not too bad because there are no children and only a few joggers. On the loops, people have been exceeding the speed limit. It would be very easily for a small child to round a vehicle blocking the driver's view and be struck by their vehicle. We'd like to see the speed limit lowered and monitored on the loops. Keep a close eye on your young children.
Civil war earthworks run throughout the campsites.
Our only problem there: We have been camping at NNCPC for over 15 years with no problems until this one trip. We did not feel we could honestly post the review without warning other parents of potential problems.
Brandon (14 this month) and Amanda (11) were shopping in the camp store with money we gave them as a treat. Other witnesses said they were well behaved and orderly. They were not wearing lose baggy clothing or doing any of the behaviors associated with shoplifters. They were told repeatedly by an older clerk to "Buy something or get out." "You need to get out of here." When they told the clerk they were shopping and intended to buy, they were told forcefully to "Get out now!" Brandon said the woman became so angry and intimidating that he would not ask her if she had batteries for the flashlight he wanted.
What it came down to is that our children were discriminated against, based on their age alone, by campstore clerks. There was not a sign posted saying children are not allowed to shop in the campstore and when asked, we were told children are welcome in the store. In fact, they encourage any shopping because it keeps costs down.While we understand the day was very stressful due to computer problems and that they have losses in the past that they assume are due to juveniles, we do not feel the harassment our children received was justified or appropriate. We took the matter to Park Ranger A. Lunsford and Director Christy Barber. Christy apologized to us for the problem. She agreed, with witnesses present, that they were discriminating based on age due to their trouble with shoplifters. She said they would continue their current policy but would instruct her employees to word it so it comes across nicer. She also said she would apologize to Brandon and Amanda, but did not follow through with that courtesy so we are left with mixed feelings about how this matter was resolved.
The
dumpstation is usually clean and is well maintained.
Park Rangers check it throughout the day.
When Amanda went back to the store to see how other clerks responded to her presence, she was treated with courtesy and given a discount. Brandon said he did not want to spend money there again.
While we are saddened that this negative experience had to be shared in our review of what we consider an exceptional campground, we will not let it keep us from returning. However, if your children want to shop, we recommend adult presence in the campstore to keep them from experiencing the same type of situation. We can see where the instructions to employees regarding shopping children could cause more harm than good for this campground through lawsuits or false accusations of shoplifting. Ageism is just as harmful and legally accountable as is any other forms of discrimination.
Road out of camping facilities.
campfire friendly, pet friendly, use leashes at all times and clean up behind your pets
Our favorites sites: We tend to go for sites that are private, off to themselves and face away from the road. Here are sites we could camp at on each loop with water and electric hookups. F, is OUR code, not the campgrounds and means it has fishing access behind it. In other words, if you call them asking for 44F, they won't know what you are talking about..ask for 44.
Any campsite on the outside of the loop will afford some privacy. Campsites on the inside of the loops are viewed easily from the road.
A Loop: 5, 11, 14, 22
B Loop: 33, 35, 36, 37, 42, 44F, 46F, 48F, 51F, 53F, 54, 68
C Loop: 75, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 87, 88, 90, 92
D Loop: 98, 100, 102, 104, 112F, 114F, 116F, 117F, 119, 121
If this review has been helpful to your family, please drop us a line and let us know.