First Landing State Park is the rare reunion venue where the history lesson and the beach day are the same outing. The park sits on Cape Henry inside the city limits of Virginia Beach, on the very ground where the Jamestown colonists first came ashore in April 1607 before sailing on up the Chesapeake. Today it is the most-visited state park in Virginia: 2,888 acres of maritime forest, bald-cypress lagoons draped in Spanish moss, and a mile and a quarter of calm Chesapeake Bay beach where the water is warm, the waves are gentle, and container ships slide past the horizon on their way into Hampton Roads.
For a family reunion, the layout is close to ideal. The bay side of the park holds the beach, a campground with more than 200 sites, and a row of cabins tucked into the dunes and pines - all reservable through ReserveVA up to 11 months ahead. The trail side across Shore Drive holds 20 miles of paths through a swamp forest so unusual it was designated a National Natural Landmark, including the flat, stroller-friendly Cape Henry Trail and the boardwalk-laced Bald Cypress Trail that feels like the Deep South transplanted to Virginia. Grandparents can walk boardwalks in the shade while the teenagers rent kayaks on Broad Bay and the little kids dig on a beach with no pounding surf to worry about.
Then there is everything around it. First Landing's front gate is fifteen minutes from the Virginia Beach oceanfront boardwalk, the Virginia Aquarium, and enough restaurants to feed any family without a single repeat. The Cape Henry Lighthouse - the first federal construction project the young United States ever authorized - stands just outside the park, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel launches from the shoreline a few minutes west, putting the Eastern Shore within a day-trip. Norfolk International Airport is under half an hour away, so far-flung relatives fly in as easily as the locals drive. The classic First Landing reunion pattern: cabins and campsites inside the park for the core crew, hotel or rental overflow at the north end of the oceanfront, a reserved picnic shelter for the cookout, and a bay-beach sunset for the group photo. Big-city convenience, state-park prices, and a founding-of-America backdrop - few reunion venues stack up that much in one place.
Where it is
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Things to do (with the family)
Hand-curated. Every entry links to its official source so you can plan without guessing.
Swim the Chesapeake Bay beach
A mile and a quarter of sandy bay beach with calm, kid-gentle water - no ocean surf, warm by early summer, and ship-watching on the horizon. Beach access is included with the daily parking fee; note the park beach is unguarded, so assign adult swim-watchers.
Official source ↗Walk the Bald Cypress Trail boardwalks
A 1.5-mile loop over blackwater lagoons where bald cypress trees rise from the swamp hung with Spanish moss - the scenery that earned the park its National Natural Landmark designation. Flat, shaded, and photogenic in every season.
Official source ↗Bike the Cape Henry Trail
The park's flagship trail runs about six flat miles from the trail center to 64th Street through maritime forest - wide, crushed-stone, and perfect for a multigenerational group ride. Connects to Virginia Beach's wider bike network.
Official source ↗Kayak or paddleboard Broad Bay
The Narrows area at the park's 64th Street entrance opens onto Broad Bay - protected flat water ideal for first-time paddlers. Seasonal outfitters rent kayaks and SUPs, and dolphin sightings in the bay are a regular summer bonus.
Official source ↗Visit the Cape Henry Lighthouse
The 1792 lighthouse just outside the park gate was the first federal construction project authorized by the new United States government. Climb it for a panorama of the bay mouth where the Atlantic meets the Chesapeake.
Official source ↗Stand at the First Landing Cross
The Cape Henry Memorial near the lighthouse marks where the Jamestown colonists first touched Virginia soil on April 26, 1607 - thirteen years before Plymouth Rock. A five-minute stop that gives the reunion its story.
Official source ↗Explore the Chesapeake Bay Center
The park's visitor center near the beach entrance has aquariums, touch tanks, and exhibits on the 1607 landing and the bay ecosystem - a free-with-parking add-on and a handy heat-of-the-day escape for little kids.
Official source ↗Hit the Virginia Beach oceanfront boardwalk
Fifteen minutes from the park gate, the three-mile oceanfront boardwalk delivers the classic beach-town evening - bike surreys, ice cream, live music in summer, and the King Neptune statue photo op.
Official source ↗Spend a rainy morning at the Virginia Aquarium
The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center - sea turtles, sharks, otters, and a working boat dock for dolphin-watching cruises - is about 20 minutes away and comfortably absorbs a whole family for half a day.
Official source ↗Fish the Narrows and the bay shore
Anglers work the Narrows at 64th Street for flounder and puppy drum and surf-cast the bay beach at dawn. A Virginia saltwater fishing license is required; the boat ramp at the Narrows launches the family fishing boat.
Official source ↗Drive the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
The 17.6-mile bridge-tunnel across the mouth of the bay starts minutes from the park - one of the engineering wonders of the East Coast and the gateway to an Eastern Shore day trip (pair it with Cape Charles for lunch).
Official source ↗Watch the ships from the dunes
The park beach faces the shipping channel into Hampton Roads - aircraft carriers, container ships, and sailboats parade past all day. Bring binoculars and let the grandfathers narrate; it is the best free show in Virginia Beach.
Official source ↗Hike the Long Creek Trail marshes
The five-mile Long Creek Trail traces salt marsh and dune ridges along Broad Bay with osprey, herons, and fiddler crabs for company - the quiet, wilder counterpoint to the busy beachfront, and the best sunset hike in the park.
Official source ↗Join a ranger program at the amphitheater
Summer brings ranger-led night hikes, swamp ecology walks, and campfire programs at the park amphitheater - free with admission and an easy built-in activity block for the kids while the adults set up dinner.
Official source ↗Find more things to do for your First Landing State Park, Virginia reunion
The picks above are general. Inside the Reunly app, Rosi tailors local activities, meals, and printables to your actual dates, group size, ages, and budget - and saves them straight to your reunion plan.
Where to hold your reunion near First Landing State Park, Virginia
Outdoor pavilions, county parks, fairgrounds, and event grounds within driving distance - places where your group can actually gather, not just visit.
First Landing State Park - Cabins + Campground
🏞 State ParkThe in-park lodging cluster near the bay beach - climate-controlled cabins plus one of Virginia's biggest state-park campgrounds. Book through ReserveVA up to 11 months out; adjacent cabins for the whole crew is the premium reunion move.
Reserve / info ↗First Landing State Park - Reservable Picnic Shelters
🏞 State ParkShelters with tables and grills near the beach access - the anchor venue for the reunion cookout, with the bay beach a short walk away. Reserved through ReserveVA; summer Saturdays book out well ahead.
Reserve / info ↗Chesapeake Bay Center
🏛 Event CenterThe park's visitor center offers meeting and event space with bay exhibits on hand - the weatherproof option that keeps an indoor gathering inside the park experience.
Reserve / info ↗Virginia Beach North-End Oceanfront Hotels
🏛 Event CenterThe quieter north end of the resort strip pairs room blocks with banquet space for a hosted dinner night - the full-service complement to park beach days for larger family gatherings.
Reserve / info ↗Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center - Group Events
📍 VenueThe aquarium books group visits and private event spaces among the shark tanks and sea turtles - a memorable indoor banquet or rainy-day buyout for a reunion that skews heavy on grandkids.
Reserve / info ↗Kiptopeke State Park - Eastern Shore Lodges
🏞 State ParkAcross the mouth of the bay, Kiptopeke's big bay-view lodges and campground make a quieter sister venue - some families split the week between the two parks, one urban-adjacent and one Eastern Shore slow.
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Good for
- Beach reunions with calm, kid-safe bay water
- History-minded families - the 1607 first landing site is on-site
- Groups mixing park cabins and camping with oceanfront hotels
- Multigenerational crews needing flat trails and boardwalks
- DC, Richmond, and Carolina families within a 3.5-hour drive
- Reunions that want big-city restaurants next to a state-park beach
Practical logistics
- Closest Airports
- Norfolk International (ORF) is about 25 minutes away with nonstops from most East Coast hubs; Newport News (PHF) is 45 minutes; Richmond (RIC) about 1.75 hours for cheaper fares; Raleigh-Durham (RDU) about 3.5 hours.
- Drive Times
- Virginia Beach oceanfront 15 min · Norfolk 30 min · Richmond 1.75 hr · Outer Banks 1.5-2 hr · Washington DC 3.5 hr · Raleigh 3.5 hr. I-64 delivers nearly everyone; summer Friday backups at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel are real - plan arrivals accordingly.
- Group Lodging
- Inside the park: 20 climate-controlled cabins near the bay beach plus a 200+ site campground - all via ReserveVA up to 11 months out. Outside: the north-end oceanfront hotels (quieter than the central strip) and Shore Drive condos put overflow relatives 5-15 minutes from the gate.
- Rental Companies
- Vrbo and Airbnb list beach houses and condos thick along Shore Drive, Chic's Beach (Chesapeake Beach), and the north oceanfront - big groups can cluster 2-3 houses within walking distance of each other and 10 minutes of the park.
- House Size
- Park cabins run roughly $120-250/night and sleep 4-8 depending on size. Off-park, 3-4 BR beach houses run $250-500/night in summer; large oceanfront or Chic's Beach houses sleeping 12+ run $500-1,000/night in July, dropping steeply after Labor Day.
- Peak Season
- Mid-June through mid-August: bay water in the low 80s°F, all rentals and outfitters running, Virginia Beach in full summer swing. The park absorbs weekday crowds well, but summer Saturday parking lots can fill by late morning - arrive early on beach days.
- Shoulder Season
- May and September are the sweet spot - warm water into late September, thinner crowds, and cabin rates below peak. October brings golden light in the cypress swamps; spring wildflowers and songbird migration make April a favorite for the birders in the family.
- Restaurants
- None inside the park beyond camp-store basics - but Shore Drive is lined with locally loved seafood spots five minutes from the gate, and the oceanfront adds hundreds more. Grocery stores (Kroger, Harris Teeter, Aldi) sit within 10 minutes for cabin cooking.
- Kid Friendly
- Excellent - calm bay swimming with no rip-current worries, boardwalk swamp trails that feel like an adventure, a touch-tank visitor center, flat bike paths, and the boardwalk amusements 15 minutes away. Note the park beach has no lifeguards; the guarded resort beach is a short drive.
- Accessibility
- The Chesapeake Bay Center, bathhouses, and several cabins are accessible; beach wheelchairs are available to borrow, and the Cape Henry Trail's flat crushed-stone surface works for wheelchairs and strollers. Boardwalk sections of the Bald Cypress Trail are step-free.
- Weather Window
- Late May through early October for swimming - the shallow bay warms faster than the ocean and stays swimmable into fall. July-August run 85-90°F with humidity; June and September deliver the same beach with kinder temperatures. Hurricane-season awareness applies late August-September.
- Park Fee
- Virginia state parks charge a modest daily parking fee - at First Landing roughly $7-10 per vehicle depending on season and day of week, waived for guests staying in park cabins or the campground. An annual Naturally Yours pass pays for itself quickly for local branches of the family.
- Official Site
- https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/first-landing
When to go
June through early September is prime bay-beach season - the shallow Chesapeake warms into the low 80s and every outfitter is running. For a reunion, late June or the last two weeks of August thread the needle between water temperature and crowd levels, and September is the insider pick: still-warm water, empty trails, and cabin availability that July can only dream about. Book cabins the day the 11-month ReserveVA window opens for summer weekends - First Landing is the most-visited park in Virginia and its cabins go first.
Best for your group size
Small group · 10–25
Groups of 10-25 fit entirely inside the park - two or three adjacent cabins or a loop of campsites, plus a reserved picnic shelter for the main meal. Book all of it in one ReserveVA session 11 months out.
Medium group · 25–60
Groups of 25-60 work best split: park cabins and campsites for the core, a Shore Drive hotel block or two big beach houses for the rest. Reserve the largest picnic shelter as the daily anchor and run beach mornings in shifts.
Large group · 60+
Groups of 60+ should treat the park as the daytime venue and lodge at the oceanfront, where hotels handle room blocks and banquet dinners. Reserve multiple shelters for the cookout day and consider a catered evening at a north-end hotel to close the weekend.
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Sample 3-day First Landing Chesapeake Bay family reunion
A starter agenda you can copy into Reunly's Schedule and customize for your group.
Day 1 - Arrival + bay sunset
- Afternoon check-in: cabins and campsites in the park, hotel crew on Shore Drive
- 4:00 PM grocery run - Kroger on Shore Drive for cooler and cabin supplies
- 6:00 PM easy welcome dinner at the cabins - pizza delivery works to the cabin loop
- 7:45 PM first walk to the bay beach for sunset and ship-watching
Day 2 - Beach day + cookout (main event)
- 8:30 AM early crew claims the beach spot; coffee at the Chesapeake Bay Center
- 10:00 AM bay swimming and sandcastle contest - calm water, all ages in
- 12:30 PM cookout at the reserved picnic shelter - the anchor meal
- 2:30 PM split up: kayak Broad Bay, bike the Cape Henry Trail, or nap in the shade
- 5:00 PM Cape Henry Lighthouse climb + First Landing Cross group photo
- 8:00 PM campfire and s'mores at the campground loop
Day 3 - Swamp boardwalks + farewell
- 9:00 AM Bald Cypress Trail boardwalk walk - Spanish moss photo hour
- 11:00 AM optional: Virginia Aquarium for the kids or oceanfront stroll
- 12:30 PM farewell lunch at a Shore Drive seafood spot
- 2:00 PM head home - DC and Richmond crews back by dinner
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Reunion organizer tips
Book park cabins and campsites through ReserveVA the morning the 11-month window opens - First Landing is Virginia's most-visited state park and summer-weekend cabins vanish within days. The cabins cluster near the bay beach, which keeps the core crew steps from the water.
Reserve a picnic shelter near the beach entrance for the anchor cookout - shelters come with tables and grills, and a reserved shelter turns a crowded summer Saturday from a scramble into a home base.
Split lodging deliberately: cabins and campsites inside the park for the outdoorsy branch, Shore Drive or north-oceanfront hotels for the branch that needs air conditioning and elevators. Everyone is within 15 minutes of the same beach.
Plan beach mornings, trail evenings - the bay beach is calmest and least crowded before noon, and the Long Creek and Bald Cypress trails are at their best in late-day light when the swamp goes golden.
Assign the Chesapeake Bay Center as the rally point on arrival day - parking, restrooms, touch tanks for restless kids, and rangers who will hand you a trail map and honest advice about the day's crowds.
The park beach has no lifeguards - set a family swim-buddy system and keep the littlest kids at the shallow sandbar zone. For a guarded-beach day, the resort beach at the oceanfront is 15 minutes away.
Book the Cape Henry Lighthouse climb and the First Landing Cross for one combined history hour - it is the story that makes this reunion different, and the photo of four generations where America started lands every time.
Send the teens to the oceanfront boardwalk for an evening with a fixed pickup time - surrey bikes, arcades, and funnel cake buy the adults a quiet sunset on the bay side.
Summer Friday arrivals should route around the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel backup - check traffic before committing, or aim to arrive before 2 PM. Nothing dents reunion morale like two bonus hours in I-64 traffic.
Stock groceries before entering the park - the camp store covers ice and s'mores, not brisket. Kroger and Harris Teeter on Shore Drive are under 10 minutes from the gate.
Build one Eastern Shore day trip for the adventurous half of the group: across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Cape Charles for lunch and beach time, back by dinner. It is the most memorable $20-ish toll in Virginia.
Keep the cabin assignments, shelter reservation, beach-day schedule, and who-brings-what list in Reunly - share one link with the family and the "which cabin are we in?" texts answer themselves.
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Smart guest list
Drop in any spreadsheet - Rosi (our AI) reads multi-sheet, color-coded family groups, even handwritten exports. RSVP, dietary, T-shirt, paid status all in one row.
Open in Reunly →Public RSVP link
Share one link with the whole family. They RSVP per event (Friday BBQ, Saturday dinner) without making an account. You see live counts.
Open in Reunly →Budget that adds up
Track estimated vs. actual, who paid, who still owes. Auto-creates per-guest fee rows from your registration cost.
Open in Reunly →Day-by-day schedule
Friday welcome BBQ, Saturday photo, Sunday brunch - with location, meal flag, and per-event RSVPs.
Open in Reunly →Name tags + printables
Avery 5160 sheets color-coded by family, programs, welcome packets, packing lists - auto-filled from your data.
Open in Reunly →Rosi the AI helper
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Open in Reunly →Plan your First Landing State Park, Virginia reunion with Reunly
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Frequently asked
Does First Landing State Park charge an entrance fee?
Virginia state parks charge a daily parking fee rather than a per-person entrance fee - at First Landing it runs roughly $7-10 per vehicle depending on season and day of week. The fee is waived for guests staying in park cabins or the campground, and an annual pass covers frequent visits. Compared to oceanfront parking rates in Virginia Beach, it is a bargain.
Can you swim at First Landing State Park?
Yes - the park has about 1.25 miles of sandy Chesapeake Bay beach with calm, shallow, kid-friendly water that warms into the low 80s by midsummer. There are no lifeguards on the park beach, so families should set their own swim-watch rotation. The guarded resort beach at the Virginia Beach oceanfront is 15 minutes away.
Does First Landing State Park have cabins?
Yes - 20 climate-controlled cabins sit near the bay side of the park, sleeping roughly 4-8 people each, plus a campground with more than 200 sites. Everything books through the ReserveVA system up to 11 months in advance, and summer-weekend cabins at Virginia's most-visited state park go fast - reserve the day your window opens.
Why is it called First Landing State Park?
The park occupies Cape Henry, where the Jamestown colonists first came ashore on April 26, 1607, before continuing up the Chesapeake to found Jamestown - thirteen years before the Mayflower reached Plymouth. The park opened in 1936 as Seashore State Park and was later renamed to honor the landing; the Cape Henry Memorial marks the spot beside the 1792 Cape Henry Lighthouse.
How far is First Landing from the Virginia Beach oceanfront?
About 15 minutes by car - the park sits at the north end of Virginia Beach where Shore Drive meets Atlantic Avenue. That makes it easy to combine a quiet state-park base with boardwalk evenings, aquarium visits, and oceanfront restaurants, without paying oceanfront prices for lodging.
Is First Landing State Park good for kids?
Very - the bay beach has gentle water with no ocean rip currents, the Bald Cypress Trail boardwalks turn a nature walk into an adventure, the Chesapeake Bay Center has touch tanks, and flat crushed-stone bike trails suit training wheels. Add the boardwalk amusements and aquarium 15-20 minutes away and the kid itinerary fills itself.
Can you reserve a picnic shelter at First Landing for a group event?
Yes - the park has reservable picnic shelters with tables and grills near the beach access, booked through ReserveVA. Summer Saturdays go early, so reserve as soon as your reunion date is set. A reserved shelter plus the adjacent beach is the standard First Landing reunion formula.
What airport do you fly into for First Landing State Park?
Norfolk International (ORF) is the clear choice at about 25 minutes from the park, with nonstop service from most eastern hubs. Newport News (PHF) is about 45 minutes, and Richmond (RIC) - about 1.75 hours away - sometimes wins on fare for families flying in from further off.
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