If you're planning a visit to Kings Dominion amusement park in Doswell, Virginia and you enjoy camping or staying in a cabin, you'll be excited to learn that the park operates a campground. Kings Dominion KOA is located just outside of the amusement park.
What to Expect
Kings Dominion Camp Wilderness provides a great home base for a visit to its namesake amusement park, with unbeatable convenience. It has a great rustic atmosphere and offers modern amenities and activities to meet every interest. A shuttle is provided to take guests back and forth to the park, so you won't have to pay for parking, or even move your vehicle once you get settled in.
According to Virginia-Beach-Family-Fun.com, this campground is "highly recommended by the locals" and "gets rave reviews for its cleanliness, friendly staff, and convenient shuttle to and from the park." The vast majority of TripAdvisor reviewers describe the campground as excellent. Comments point out that it was updated in 2014 and guests describe it as "excellent" and "a very nice campground," praising its cleanliness and amenities. It also has a 9 (out of 10) Good Sam rating.
Campsites
Each campsite has a fire ring. All but the primitive tent sites also have picnic tables. The campground map provides the best way to get a sense of the layout.
- RV sites: The campground has around 200 RV sites of varying sizes to accommodate different sized rigs. A few pull-though sites are available, but most are back-in sites. Amenities vary by specific site, with options including water, 50 amp electricity, 30 amp electricity, sewer hook-ups and DirecTV. RV sites typically vary from $35 to $80 per night though rates can vary based on season/dates.
- Tent sites: The campground has 40 primitive tent sites. Tent campers can also stay in improved sites, which have water and electricity. There are a few sites dedicated specifically to tents and others that can be allocated to tent guests or those with small pop-up style RVs. Tent site rates typically vary from $30 to $40 per night though rates can vary based on season/dates.
There are positive comments on TripAdvisor about tent and RV sites alike, with recent guests having good things to say about every aspect of the campsites and other campground features.
Cabins
The campground has 39 deluxe cabins designed to sleep up to ten people. They are heated and air conditioned. Two of the cabins are wheelchair accessible. They are located at the back of the facility and are very well appointed. A guest from August 2015 bragged on TripAdvisor that the "cute" cabin "was perfect for our family stay." She loved enjoying the smell of fresh pine in the area surrounding the cabin and found the fire pit to be a wonderful family gathering place.
Each cabin has:
- Private bedroom with queen size bed
- Loft area with two queen size beds
- Living area with two futons
- Flat screen televisions with DirecTV in the bedroom, loft and living room
- Two full bathrooms complete with toiletries
- Small refrigerator (dorm-room size)
- Linens for each bed/futon
- Outdoor patio area
- Charcoal grill
- Fire ring
- Picnic table
Note that dishes, cookware, utensils, and grilling supplies are not included. Cabins are cleaned before and after guest stays, but daily housekeeping service is not provided. Pets are not allowed in the cabins. All cabins are non-smoking.
Pricing varies greatly based on season. Expect to pay between $130 to around $200 per night.
Activities
There are plenty of outdoor games and activities to enjoy during your stay at the campground. Options include:
- Swimming pool (accessible)
- Volleyball
- Basketball
- Tetherball
- Funnel ball
- Horseshoes
Other Amenities
- Free Wi-Fi
- Bathhouse featuring clean, well-maintained restroom and shower facilities
- On-site camp store
- On-site ATM
- Off-leash dog park area
- Washing machines and dryers (fee required)
- Group pavilion (reservation and fee required)
- Shuttle to the campground
Reserving Your Site
To check availability or book your campsite, call 804-876-3006. Reservations are very important, especially during peak amusement park season. If you arrive without a reservation, you just may find that there is no room for you.
When reserving your site, you'll need to specify what type of camping you'll be doing to ensure that you get a site that meets your needs. If you have an RV, you'll need to specify the exact size of your camper, along with needed amenities, to be sure you get a spot that will accommodate your unit while meeting your needs.
- Campground specials: Before reserving, check to see if you qualify for one of the campground specials to save on our stay. The discount is extended to Kings Dominion season ticket holders, military personnel and members of AAA, AARP and Good Sam. If you're reserving online, you'll need to click through the specials page to get the discounted rate.
- Easy pay: Guests can opt to spread the cost of their campground reservation out over four payments (rather than paying for it all at once) using the Easy Pay option. If this is something you'd like to do, use the promotional code "PAYMENT" (without the quote marks) when booking online or tell the reservations agent when booking by phone.
Tips for Your Camp Wilderness Stay
- If you stayed at the park before 2014 and didn't find it to your liking, you may want to check it out again. It went through a major update in 2014 - so major that, according to ParkFans.net, the park temporarily closed for ugrades. There seems to be a big - and positive! - difference in the online reviews posted before that time and after.
- Take advantage of the shuttle instead of trying to walk to the park! According to one Yelp reviewer, it takes about 20 minutes to walk from the campground to the amusement park. There isn't a shortcut through the campground; you'd have to walk along the main road to get there. You'll do enough walking once you're in the park without adding a 20 minute road hike to your day!
- The campsites are not all identical, so it shouldn't be a surprise to learn that some sites are more level than others. One guest who posted on RV Park Reviews mentioned needing several blocks to get his RV level. If you're camping in an RV, be sure to take blocks with you in case you are assigned to a site that needs a bit of help leveling your camper.
- The campground is pet-friendly. Outside of the designated dog park area, though, you'll need to keep your canine companions leashed and you'll need to pick up after them. You also have an alternative to leaving your pets inside your RV all day as there are pet kennels in the amusement park. The amusement park's kennels make it possible for tent campers to travel with their pets yet still visit the park.
Convenient Home Base or Overnight Stop
Kings Dominion Camp Wilderness is a great place to stay any time you are visiting the amusement park or traveling up or down I-95. RVBuddy.com points out that while this campground is designed mostly to serve as a convenience for visitors to the Kings Dominion park, it's also a good stop-over point for I-95 travelers heading from points north toward Florida. Because of that, it's suggested as an overnight pit stop for East Coast snowbirds on SnowBirdRVTrails.com.
For Kings Dominion amusement park visitors, the convenient location and shuttle bus ensures that you're only a few minutes away from the fun and excitement of the park, while the lovely rustic environment provides a great place to relax and recharge at the end of the day. With so much to do on the grounds, everyone in your group is sure to stay entertained, yet you'll be able to enjoy an environment that one Good Sam reviewer described as "very quiet and peaceful."
