Five family-friendly spots to explore the James River

The James River is one of the major draws of our city, but if you aren’t familiar with RVA, the parking, the crowds, and the overall experience leaves so much unknown, so I am sharing FIVE spots where you can safely have a river play day with young children, stress-free!

Image: James River Park System. Source: VA_Richmond_JamesRiverParkSystem_JenniferLivingston_2013 (tclf.org)

1. Great Shiplock Park & Chapel Island

If you visit on a weekday, you will probably be able to find a spot in the FREE parking lot. If not, there are paid lots available or park around the area. You can fish, play in the sand, and hike in this area. Although, I have seen kids swimming in the river here, when we’ve visited it just didn’t look as clean as other spots, so use your best judgement on whether this is a swimming option for your family.

2. Robious Landing Park

This is another non-swimming way to enjoy the James, and just a beautiful Chesterfield park. There are plenty of picnic tables/benches for you to have a picnic and take in the riverviews. Fishing, kayaking, and canoeing are other water activities. We also love the creeks, trails and playground here!

photo credit: James River News Hub

3. Pony Pasture

My family loves this one – a large parking lot, real bathrooms, sand/boulder play, trainspotting! While it is SO fun to walk across those boulders but you will want to stick close by your littles. We typically walk to “Moon Beach” for sand play, and walk across the boulders from there. *I always like an extra set of eyes out here. Even with my kids 5 & 9, I am still uneasy to come without another grownup.

View of the bridge that leads to Belle Isle. Photo credit: Lindsay Garrison

4. Belle Isle

You simply can’t live in Richmond without walking across the Belle Isle suspension bridge! From here, you can play in the river, sand, or hike. This isn’t a spot for full-on swimming, but splashing and wading are okay. There is a small parking lot, and street parking, or paid parking in a parking deck. If you have family visiting for the holidays, this is the perfect place to showcase RVA.

5. Reedy Creek

There are two access points: behind Patrick Henry School of Science & Arts (non-school days only), or the “Reedy Creek Parking Lot” (you can just put that into your map app!). Depending on the water level, it’s exciting to walk out across the rocks. If the water is too high, finding a nice spot to have a snack or even do some bird watching along the river is an alternative.

Lindsay Garrison, your RVA on the Cheap editor

Lindsay Garrison loves Richmond and is proud to raise her own family here. As a teacher for 12 years, she learned how to save, budget and stretch every penny. Additionally, she led groups of students to Europe annually, and took great pride in planning affordable, fun-filled trips. She transferred those skills to her daily life and shares them with readers of RVA on the Cheap. Lindsay utilizes RVA on the Cheap to make enriching life experiences accessible to all. Check her instagram: rva.familyfun for more affordable family adventures!

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