Coastals

Im looking for ideas on a holiday weekend 3 day 2 night canoe and camping trip. I would like to camp on the river, either at a campground, or on public land, but I don't like the idea of stealth camping if I can avoid it.

If any of you have done trips like this I would appreciate the info. I'm willing to travel, but I do have to keep it in VA. Close to Richmond or DC would be wonderful.

James River- Wingina to Bremo, or you can shorten the distance and do Scottsville to Bremo.

Thanks! I'll look into it.

Last spring we went from horseshoe bend to snowden on the james. It was a pretty nice trip but you'll want to paddle vs. float. You might also want to watch the weather. We put on at a beefy 5.5' and it was over 8' when we got to balcony 2 days later.

In the Wingina to Bremo area mentioned above there are tons of camping oportunities.

Midway mills(2-3 miles from Wingina): James river wildlife management area.
Buford Island( approx 5 miles from midway mills): Private island that is somewhat maintained. They allow free "day use" and ask that you pay something like $5.00 a night to camp. There is a drop box on the island.
Howardsville (aqpprox 7 miles from Midway): Private campground run by James River Runners.
Hatton's ferry(9 miles from Howardsville):Private campground run by James River Runners.
Hardware wildlife management area (approx 10 miles from Howardsville): at the confluence of the James and Hardware.
There are also tons of islands in this area that people camp on all the time.

If you wanted to extend the trip on the upper end, you could put in at Bent creek or there is another putin above that (forget the name right now). Then, James river state park would be a camping option. Most of this section of river has some current, but there will be some flat water, and a head wind can make an 8-10 mile float seem like an eternity.