While visiting the Campground in mid March doing some preparatory work for an upcoming MAPCE Camp out at this park, I was provided a pass and allowed to drive through and take a few pictures. It's early spring in Virginia, and the tree's are just starting to bud, and at this moment the tree's are still pretty bare looking.

However, a month from now, this place will be as green as one could expect, the weather will be pleasantly warm, and relatively insect free! Newport News Park is one of my favorite campgrounds in the local area, as it provides plenty of tree's, shady sites, and they are mostly large, roomy sites that are fairly well spread out.

This is listed as one of the largest Municipal Parks east of the Mississippi, and at 8,000 acres is hard to dispute. It's also a historical landmark, as it is in part, the site of a major civil war battle field. That battle was known as 'The Battle of Dam No. 1' and took place over a period of 30 days, starting April 16th, 1862. It was a clash between advancing Union army under Maj Gen George B. McClennan, and the retreating Confederate army under Maj Gen John B. Magruder. While Magruder successfully held the Union forces at bay for 30 days while Confederate troops fortified the Confederate capitol of Richmond. Though it did little towards the outcome of the war, it was a major battle and minor victory for the Confederate Army. By the way, Dam No. 1 is now located underneath the Newport News reservoir, as is much of the battlefield.

This park boast some 30 miles of hiking trails, a 5 mile "mountain" bike trail (sorry, there are no mountains in South East Virginia), a golf course, archery range, radio controlled air craft flying field, stables and riding area, picnic shelters, Arboretum and more.

Additionally, the location of the park puts it squarely in the middle of the Historic Triangle (Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown), and is only minutes away from the Colonial Parkway (a non-commercial roadway that connects the three historic area's). Jamestown has a replica of a couple of the sailing vessels that took the early colonist to the New World, and a replica of the Jamestown Fort and Colony.

Located in the center of the triangle is Colonial Williamsburg, our nations first Capitol city. Here are restored period homes and shops, complete with costumed actors depicting life in those early years. This is an entire section of the original village.

At the northern end of the triangle, lies Yorktown, much of which is preserved as a National Battlefield Park. Located here is the Yorktown Victory Center, an interpretive museum with artifacts from the American Revolution including Gen George Washington's personal tent, a walk-aboard sectionalized sailing ship, and much more. Outside the Victory Center, the original ramparts that made up the British and Colonial Army battlefields still exist, and dotted through out the battlefield are cannon and mortar displays with signage explaining what each are and how they worked.

Also in the immediate area, is the theme park Busch Gardens and right down the road from that is Water Country USA, both hugely popular area's only minutes from the campground.

There are two drawbacks to this campground. One is the proximity to I-64. If you wind up in loops A or B, you'll be too close to the entrance, and hiway noise will sure to be heard. Deeper into the campground will find things a little quieter, though site's on/near the waterfront may still pick up road noise from the interstate.

The other drawback is lack of swimming area. While it's a waterfront campground, there is no swimming in the reservoir, and the campground has not installed a swimming pool.