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Virginia Outdoor Adventures: Hiking, Camping, Kayaking, Local Travel and more!
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is a mecca for outdoor travel and adventure. Virginia Outdoor Adventures Podcast is your local guide to hiking, camping, kayaking, travel and so much more. Get the information and the inspiration to plan your own adventure, right here in Virginia. Lets Go!
Virginia Outdoor Adventures: Hiking, Camping, Kayaking, Local Travel and more!
Primitive Camping and Backpacking in Virginia State Parks with Ranger Amelia Hulth, Powhatan State Park (Ep 76, Part 1)
If you’ve ever dreamed of backpacking through the wild but felt unsure about jumping straight into the backcountry, primitive camping in Virginia State Parks might be your perfect middle ground.
Ranger Amelia Hulth from Powhatan State Park describes how these minimalist campsites offer just enough amenities to keep things comfortable while giving you a true taste of the wild.
We review each primitive campground, including distance to hike in, terrain, difficulty level, and amenities. From Belle Isle’s easy 1.5-mile hike to scenic riverfront sites to the rugged 8-mile trek to False Cape that rewards you with remote beachside solitude, there’s something for every skill level and sense of adventure.
Whether you’re a beginner looking to build backpacking skills or a seasoned camper craving a quieter connection with nature, Virginia State Parks’ primitive camping experience is your gateway to a wilder Virginia. Let’s Go!
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Announcer, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is a mecca for outdoor travel and adventure. Virginia outdoor adventures Podcast is your local guide for hiking, camping, kayaking, travel and so much more. Get the information and the inspiration to plan your own adventure right here in Virginia, I'm your host, Jessica Bowser, if you've ever dreamed of backpacking through the wild but felt unsure about jumping straight into the backcountry, primitive camping in Virginia State Parks might be your perfect middle ground Ranger. Amelia Hall from Powhatan State Park describes how these minimalist camp sites offer just enough amenities to keep things comfortable while giving you a true taste of the Wild. We review each primitive campground, including distance to hike in terrain, difficulty level and amenities, from Belle Isles easy one and a half mile hike to scenic riverfront sites to the rugged, eight mile trek to falls cape that rewards you with remote, beachside solitude. There's something for every skill level and sense of adventure, whether you're a beginner looking to build backpacking skills or a seasoned camper craving a quieter connection with nature. Virginia State Park's primitive camping experience is your gateway to a wilder Virginia. Let's go. Virginia State Parks is offering visitors of all ages the opportunity to explore the natural and cultural wonders of Virginia. Diverse programming is designed to inspire curiosity, foster environmental stewardship and provide enriching outdoor experiences for families, students and nature enthusiasts alike, join us at Virginia State Parks for exciting, family friendly events and invite you to explore the outdoors for a full schedule of events, including park locations and program details, click on Virginia State Parks events in your show notes. Amelia, welcome to Virginia outdoor adventures. Hey, thanks for having me. What do you love about Virginia's outdoors? I grew up in southwest Virginia
Unknown:and a family that really embraced hiking and camping, so we camped in state parks and national forest campgrounds, primarily tank camping. We did a little bit of like back of the pickup camper style camping as well. And now I'm really lucky. I live in Richmond, and I just think Central Virginia has a little bit of everything outdoors. And if it doesn't have it, it's pretty easy to get across the state in less than half a day to experience the beach or the mountain. It has everything for me. Personally, my favorite outdoor activities are hiking and backpacking.
Jessica Bowser:In this episode, we're going to be talking about backpacking and also primitive camping and the different opportunities to take advantage of both in Virginia state parks. Why don't we start by establishing the difference between primitive camping versus camping at a drive in campground. Primitive
Unknown:camping, I would say, is more you're using a campsite that doesn't have what we would call modern amenities. So in a primitive campsite, you're not going to have a water spigot or an electric hookup. You may not have access to, like a full service restroom, definitely no WiFi, but like camping in a driving campground, whether that be like car camping or RV camping or tent camping, you're going to have access to some of those more modern things. So there's likely going to be an electric up, whether that be 30 amp or 50 amp, a water spigot, some type of restroom facility. Some campsites might even have access to a laundry room, things like that. So it's definitely about the amenities, what you want to have or what you don't want to have.
Jessica Bowser:So without a lot of amenities at a primitive campsite, what's the appeal? Why would people choose to do primitive camping versus a regular campground where those other amenities are available? For
Unknown:me, it's always about a closer connection to nature and more privacy. Often, when a primitive camp, there's not as many people around not having some of those modern amenities, being able to unplug from your phone or unplug from your device just gives you a closer experience to nature that you may not get to see in a more modern style campsite. The
Jessica Bowser:primitive campgrounds in Virginia State Park seem like really great opportunities for newbies who want to start backpacking but are a little bit nervous about going into the back country for the first time. What do you think about primitive campgrounds in state parks being good for newbies?
Unknown:Yeah, I think the primitive campgrounds are a great way to get a first time experience in a primitive camp, camping or back. Backpacking, most of the primitive campsites are going to be closer in distance to get to than some of your more long distance backpacking trips. When you think about like hiking on the Appalachian Trail or hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway, that closer distance makes it a little bit more relaxing, a little bit more comfortable, especially if you're a first timer. I would also say one of the things about primitive camping in a Virginia State Park is that you have the ability to make a reservation so you can see pictures of what your camp site is going to look at. You're going to know where your destination is, and when you get there, you're going to have a designated space where you can set up. So that's more of a convenient aspect of backpack packing or primitive camping in a Virginia State Park. That's
Jessica Bowser:absolutely true. I know you are an experienced at through hiker, and I've done some backpacking as well, and sometimes you may have an idea of where you're going to spend the night, but you don't know for sure, or you show up at a shelter or another popular area, and the sites are full, so I think being able to make a reservation is definitely a plus. Do you have any memorable backpacking stories or experiences?
Unknown:Yeah, I do. You called me a through hiver. I want to correct you, I'm not quite a thru hiker. So okay, so in 2013 my now husband and I hiked a little over 1000 miles on the Appalachian Trail we did from Springer Mountain, Georgia to penmar, Pennsylvania. So we're not exactly through hikers. We're long distance hikers. That was a super memorable experience. We dated for six years, and I always joke with him that that was like our way of doing premarital counseling, because he actually asked me to marry him that summer. So that entire experience is really special. One memory that kind of sticks out to me on the at from that trip is we were on standing Indian mountain in North Carolina, and we started in spring. And, you know, I grew up in the mountains, so I know weather can change as we were hiking, the temperatures were dropping. And that night, the wind chill actually got down to negative 14. And my goodness, and I was hiking with like, a 20 degree sleeping bag, um, so rated to go down to 20 degrees, and my husband was hiking with one, I think, like 30 or 40 degrees, so not as warm as mine. And we actually had to sleep with our water bottles and our water filter that night to keep them from freezing. And the next morning, hiking down off the mountain, there were snow drifts where other hikers had come through, where there were actual the snow was like, waist high. So that was really memorable for me, because, you know, we weren't anticipating hiking in winter conditions. You know, we were as prepared as we could be. And it was really fun. And you think about it, and you look back at the pictures, and then, you know, working in state parks, I worked at Grayson Highlands as an interpretive ranger, and we would do adventure Ranger summer camps. One of those trips was taking about 10 teens overnight on the Appalachian Trail. So you would hike about 10 miles to the Y shelter, and you practice all the skills that you would for a long distance trek. So filtering water, setting up temps, hang in a bear bag, cook it over a jet boil. And then, you know, camping under the stars. And so being able to experience that in a job setting like I'm getting paid to do this, but also seeing the bond between, you know, these adventure Rangers, between each other, and then the bonds they formed with nature and the experience, you don't get to see that very often. And so that was really memorable of seeing this group, like, bond together and have this first time, kind of scary experience. And then, you know, I hope they look back on that as future stewards of you know that was one of their favorite memories growing up.
Jessica Bowser:I am so glad that you brought that up, because that is an aspect of backpacking that I think people who have never experienced it aren't familiar with. There's the connection with nature, but then also there's the connection that you make with the people you go out backpacking with. It's almost like, if you've gone to summer camp as a kid and you can think back to like, you know, the friendships and the relationships that you made like during summer camp, that's the closest thing I can think of to be able to relate it to. It's like those shared experiences that make it so special.
Unknown:I've been reflecting on my Appalachian Trail experience a lot lately. Some of those memories that stick out aren't necessarily about the environment you in or the landscape you're in. It's about the people that you met and how that impacted your journey. So
Jessica Bowser:let's talk about which state parks offer primitive camping? There's six of them. Do you want to review them for us?
Unknown:Belle Isle has a hike in flat terrain, campsite right on the water. It's only one and a half miles to get there from the parking lot. Then also, kind of in the similar region as Caledon. Um, you can hike in or bike in, and there is a little bit of slight elevation change. Getting into that campsite, it's a three mile trek into the camping area, and then moving down further towards the coast, you have false cape. And this primitive campground is a little bit more unique than some of our others, and that you can't have a fire at falls gate, you can hike in or bike in to this campsite as well, and the trek is in between 6.9 and 8.4 miles, so it's a little bit longer, so that might be more of like a moderate backpacking trip. Then there's also Newport trail and Powhatan state parks that have a really short hike in, so they're less than a quarter of a mile to get into those campsites. And then finally, we have sky meadows, which is located on the Appalachian Trail, and you can hike in or bike into that campsite, and it's just over a mile to get into sky Meadows.
Jessica Bowser:And I wanted to point out that these primitive campsites, while most of them are hiking, there's also the bike in or the paddling option too. We could do a whole nother episode on paddling, paddling camping, yeah, so we won't get into the details about paddling or even bike in, but just so that people know that there are paddling options as well. So like Belle Isle is paddling caladine, you mentioned false cape, but, yeah, that's a whole nother experience. And maybe we'll do another episode about that in the future. That would be cool. And they're all so different from each other. You and I recently backpacked together at Belle Isle, and we had a wonderful time. It was the first time that I had ever backpacked at Belle Isle. I've backpacked it a handful of these primitive campgrounds, but not all of them. So after that experience that you and I had, I'm like, Okay, I need to be able to say that I've done all of these. So I now have it on my summer slash fall bucket list to make sure that I get to the last couple that I still need to do. Because every time that I have backpacked at one of these. I've had an amazing experience, and that experience that you and I had was great too. Belle
Unknown:Isle. That was actually my first time going camping at Belle Isle as well. And one of my favorite things about the campsite is we were able to set up this really cute base camp on our campsite, and then, you know, for the remainder of our trip, we could hike out of that to explore different regions of the park, but we knew, you know, our campsite was cozy and secure when we got back there. Yes, that
Jessica Bowser:was a lot of fun too, because once we were set up, then we went and hiked, like you said, to different parts of the park and got to do some exploring, and then come back, and the next day, I did some additional exploring too. So that's another cool thing about this is once you've got your campsite set up, as long as you've got a reservation, you don't need to take it down. You can leave it there and then spend the day doing whatever you want, and then come back in the evening if you choose to. So that's just a more unique way to explore a park, I think, especially for those people doing trail quest, you know, and who are looking for something a little bit different. It's a really cool experience. What amenities can visitors expect at a primitive campground? Yeah,
Unknown:so you can generally expect to have, you know, a tent pad, a lantern post, a fire pit or fire ring, and then some type of privy or pit toilet, depending on the location. Some primitive campgrounds may have firewood for sale, or they may have like a bear proof blocker, where you can store your gear. And then some campsites may not have access to potable water. You would just need to make sure you plan ahead to bring that water in, or have some kind of way of to treat or filter your water if there is water adjacent to your campsite. Another
Jessica Bowser:benefit of getting used to backpacking in a state park is you've at least got some sort of decent setup. You're not having to sit on the ground. You've got at least a privy to use, and you're not having to, like, dig yourself a hole when you have to go to the bathroom. So it is kind of nice to ease into it this way if you enjoy camping, but you just want to be a little more rugged like this is a good between back country backpacking and just regular camping. Adventure seekers will find endless opportunities in Grayson County, where many of Virginia's iconic trails and landmarks excite hikers, cyclists, paddlers and happy campers alike. Imagine this. You're hiking on one of the most scenic sections of the entire Appalachian Trail through the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, summiting mount Rogers or white top mountain, the two highest peaks in Virginia, or strolling through the valley of elk garden, where the now extinct Eastern elk once roamed. Or maybe your perfect day is on the water. Grayson County is home to the New River, one of the oldest and most scenic rivers in the world. Enjoy a leisurely class one float with the family or adrenaline packed class three rapids now. Navigate the waters using the New River float calculator to plan your trip. The app factors flow rate, water levels, weather conditions, vessel type and more to calculate flow times from point A to point B. Prefer two wheels. You won't want to miss the Grayson gravel traverse a 72 mile mixed surface gravel bike route that connects the Virginia Creeper trail and new river trail over well maintained and remote roads featuring a variety of challenging climbs in the foothills of Virginia's highest peaks. This overlooked gem of Virginia presents some of the best gravel cycling in the state, mostly unridden and undiscovered after a day of adventure, there's nothing like gathering around a campfire under a sky filled with stars. Grayson County offers plenty of spots to pitch a tent like the New River campground or cozy up in a rustic cabin at the Bucha wild reserve. Discover why Virginia is for outdoor lovers, start your Grayson County adventure at the historic 1908 courthouse and visitor center, or access the visitors guide online by clicking on visit Grayson County in the show notes of your podcast listening app. Let's get into the planning and preparation for this. People who are planning to camp on a primitive campsite need to know how to prepare. So do you have any advice on how to choose a park or a site based on maybe their fitness level or their experience or even time? Yeah. So choosing
Unknown:a park, all the parks that we've aforementioned are across the state, you know, picking a park if you want to make, you know, several day trip out of it and drive across the state, or if you only have, like, one or two nights, pick one closer to home based on your fitness level. All of these parks that we've mentioned have different distances and different terrains for hiking in. So, you know, Powhatan State Park is right outside of the Greater Richmond area. It's a quarter of a mile to hike into the primitive campground. So, you know, you can backpack your gear in, or you can wagon your gear in, you know, however you want to do it, based on your fitness level. And then, if you're really looking for a true adventure, you know, a park like false Cape camping, beach side after you've done you know, a six plus mile hike in is an excellent way for, you know, a more advanced level of primitive camper, and then your experience. I've done a lot of backpacking and a lot of back wilderness camping, and I would say I'm not an expert backpacker, but I do have a lot of experience, and I still enjoy like just going to a basic, primitive campground. Because again, it goes back to that experience of being more private, connecting with nature, disconnecting from the real world.
Jessica Bowser:Amelia, I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit when you say you're not an expert backpacker. Because when you and I went, I was so impressed. You had all of these things that I never thought to bring, and the way you like, unpacked and packed your pack in record time was impressive, like you knew exactly what you were doing. You had all these funny hacks for different things. And I was like, Yeah, this is somebody who's been on the at like, you knew exactly what you were doing, so you need to give yourself some more credit. And then you know the other thing you were saying about time and choosing a park that's close to home, it made me think of like, how many times I have been in the parking lot at Caledon State Park and it's almost dark and I see somebody pull up and they're like, unloading their backpacking gear, and I can tell that they're about to hike in three miles through the dark to get to the campsite, and then you're gonna have to set up your tent in the dark. I mean, like, that's not something that you would want to do. And I've heard of people doing something similar, false Cape because they didn't realize how long it was going to take for them to get in, especially like, at some point you're off the paved road and you're on sand. And I think a lot of people don't think about how difficult it is to hike across sand or ride a bike across sand, so it just takes extra time, and you want to be able to make sure you have enough time to do all of those things before it's dark and you can't see and you don't have your campsite set up.
Unknown:Yeah, set up your campsite. And then, you know, like, if you want to have a fire, you need to plan to, you know, either collect firewood, if that's allowed on the campground, or, you know, purchase camp firewood. You want to have time to make dinner. You might want to make time to watch the sunset, all those things. It goes back to your safety. But also, like, what you're trying to experience.
Jessica Bowser:Are there any seasonality or weather considerations in Virginia? State
Unknown:of Virginia goes from the mountains to the seashore. We have all different types of weather, and depending on where you are, you could experience a lot of it in the same day. So you know, in your Mountain Parks, like Sky Meadows. You can experience winter conditions realistically from September to May, and then your coastal parks like Belle Isle and false cape, you can have very hot, buggy summer months as well. So you know, planning ahead with both your gear and what you want to experience, it comes into play with the weather and the seasonality. The seasonality also affects when areas can be crowded during, you know, spring break, during holiday weeks, during summer months, you're typically going to have more people that are making reservation, and then some campsites and some amenities might be closed in the in the winter season, more off season hours, checking those weather conditions ahead of time, depending on how long you're going to be out, you may even want to, like, print a copy of weather. You may not have cell phone service where you're going. They make little handheld weather radios that you can keep with you. And then something else with seasonality. I mentioned, summer months can be buggy, also having, like, tick protection during some type during some seasons, something you want to think
Jessica Bowser:about. I believe all of the primitive campgrounds are open year round. Is that correct? Yes, they are open year round. That's good to know. So if somebody wanted to try backpacking in colder weather, that's an option, absolutely. So if you're new to backpacking, and say you just bought some new gear and you want to test it out before you go on a long distance or out in the backcountry, this would be a good way to do that. Like, let's say you bought a sleeping bag that's rated to a certain temperature, and you're not really sure if that's going to keep you warm or be enough. Like, wouldn't this be a great way to try that out. Yeah,
Unknown:it's an excellent way to test out your gear. I would also recommend, if you've never primitive camp before, maybe even book like a modern campsite or a driving campsite, to test out that primitive gear. That way you're more familiar with it before you move into a primitive campground setting.
Jessica Bowser:Hey, adventure seekers, can you believe I traveled 10,043 miles across Virginia last year? Yep, over 10,000 miles in search of the best trails, parks and base camps to help you plan your next adventure. If you've enjoyed discovering these hidden gems and want to hear more, consider supporting the podcast through my buy me a coffee page, your contribution, whether it's a one time tip or a monthly membership, helps cover the cost of creating these episodes and keeps the adventure going. Every bit, helps fuel the journey, plus members get some awesome perks. So head to my buy me a coffee page by clicking on support the show in your show notes, shout out to the newest members of Virginia outdoor adventures. Anne from Fredericksburg, Matt from Roanoke. Barb from Chesterfield, Lori from Norfolk, Raphael from Falls Church, Kevin from Richmond and Allison from Clearbrook. Thanks for helping me share Virginia's wildest, most inspiring places one adventure at a time. All right, how about safety tips? I'm sure people are wondering about wildlife and what they need to bring to be safe. So what are your recommendations? We want
Unknown:to keep the wild and wildlife in all of our parks, so that means your food, your trash, your toiletries, need to be secured off all times. And you know some of our parks are in bear country, and so being bear aware is something you also need to be thoughtful of in planning your trip, whether that be hanging a food bag at the appropriate level of distance, and a tree making lots of noise if you're hiking in bear country, and then securing those items overnight is the best practice. Practicing leave no trace principles is a great way to go into any kind of outdoor experience, not just for the animals and the environment, but for other people that are enjoying the outdoors as well, what's the saying? Take only pictures, leave only footprints. That's exactly how you want to go into primitive camping. Also, as I mentioned before, being prepared for weather and being prepared for your surroundings. You know having a map or a good trail guide with you, so you know your routes in and out is also a good way to plan for your trip. Another safety tip would be to stay on the trail. Don't go off trail when you're visiting a state park, when you're camping in a state park, when it comes to you know more wildlife awareness. Doing good tick checks at the end of the day to protect yourself is something you should always be aware of when you're in the outdoors,
Jessica Bowser:Spoken like a true Ranger. Okay, so what do people need to know about making reservations and any other park regulations before they head out?
Unknown:All of our campsites are site specific. So if you're planning on having more than a one. Night stay in a campground, you need to have a reservation. We generally have, you know, a campsite here or there that are open for walk ins, but I really recommend having a reservation. You can go online to our online reservation website. You can look at each of the campgrounds. You can look at each of the campsites to see you know where you want to be oriented in the campground. All of our park regulations and best practices are posted online as well, so I recommend that you review those regulations in advance of your trip. You also familiarize yourself with the park grounds by downloading a trail map or downloading the Avenza app. And Reservations can be made in advance, up to 11 months before your stay. And if you're planning a trip and you don't see that the key of site you want is available, you could also sign up for our wait list through our reservation system, so if they want to be a cancelation, then you can be notified that your campsites opened up.
Jessica Bowser:Let's move on to what to pack for a backpacking trip. I think this is something that gets a lot of people stressed out, because it can feel overwhelming. So why don't we just start with the essentials? What are the essentials of backpacking gear?
Unknown:A good way to look at it is like survival mode. You need food, water, shelter when you're planning for a trip. So in a backpacking trip, you really want to look at items of clothing that are you're able to layer them, and that the material themselves have some kind of wicking or cooling or warming or quick dry compatibility based on what kind of conditions and the location you're going to be camping. Another thing you will look at is your personal items, mini toiletries or your medicines. You want to pack food your cooking where some way to cook your food if the food you're packing needs to be cooked. So if you're planning to cook over you know the campsite has a fire ring, then you need to have some kind of fuel source to start that fire. Or if you're gonna, if you have a backpacking stove, like a jet oil or a denatured alcohol stove, you want to make sure you have that. You want to have bedding, so a sleeping pad and a sleeping bag are generally recommended. Light source, so a headlamp and a flashlight. I generally like to pack two types of light sources in case one one dies, and then your shelter, so your tent and some kind of TARP should go underneath of it. I really like the bare essentials of what you need for a backpacking trip. There's also creature comforts you can pack along, but yeah, food, water, shelter, are the things that you want to keep in mind you're preparing for backpacking or any kind of camping trip.
Jessica Bowser:Let's talk a little bit about preparing food for backpacking. I read once that there are two main reasons why people who are thinking about backpacking never actually go out and do it. One of them is because they're not really sure how to prepare food for a backpacking trip. And the other one is the bathroom situation. Now at a primitive campground, we already said that there's going to at least be a privy, so that's a non issue in this case. So let's talk a little bit about food and how to prepare so that people don't feel too overwhelmed by that for
Unknown:backpacking and primitive camping and trips, you can pick up pre made backpacking meals that you literally just open up a freeze dried meal and add boiling water and fill it up and it cooks it for you. When I did the at I packed a lot of these to begin with, and we shipped some of our food in advance for longer treks, but I very quickly learned that it was all about the calories I was eating, like honey buns and pepperoni and Pop Tarts hiking on the trail, because I just wanted a lot of calories packed in at once. So you don't have to get bogged down with thinking about it has to be a specific pre made, freeze dried meal. Some other like easy pre packaged meals are, you know, like instant noodles or instant mashed potatoes, um, packs of tuna, pack chicken. Nutrition bars are really easy, and you don't even have to cook anything. You do need to be mindful if you're cooking meals that you need to add water that you're packing that water both for hydration and for your meals. But I don't think preparing food while backpacking is one of the challenging parts of it, because we every day, and if you can put it in your pocket, you can put it in your backpack. I think really, whatever you want to take with you. You, of course, don't want to take things that need to be refrigerated, like meats or dairy products, but yeah, I think pre made meals are an easy way to go, or instant noodles, instant mashed potatoes are a great introduction into your first primitive camping or bad trip.
Jessica Bowser:Tune in next week. As Amelia and I discuss more essential backpacking gear, how to obtain gear for less tips for reserving a campsite and a brand new backpacking course at a state park near you, Virginia Outdoor Adventures is inspired by and supported by listeners like you, which is why your messages and feedback means so much to me. You can text me directly by clicking on Send Jessica a text message in your show notes, I answer questions, respond to comments and share your feedback on the show. Never miss a new episode. Sign up for my email newsletter and receive my listener resource guide with the top podcast episodes a Virginia outdoor bucket list and exclusive brand discounts for my listeners. Click on newsletter, sign up in your show notes or visit virginiaoutdoor adventures.com thanks for listening. Until next time adventure I you.
