Douthat State Park
Virginia State Park; One Of The Six Original 1936 Parks And A National Historic Landmark District (1986) For Its Intact Civilian Conservation Corps Construction · Millboro, Virginia
Four and a half thousand acres of steep Allegheny mountain wrapped around a fifty-acre lake, and one of the six parks that opened on 15 June 1936 to become the first state park system in Virginia. What makes Douthat different from the other five is how completely the original work survives. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the dam, the cabins, the bath house, the trails and the stonework here between 1933 and 1942, and it is all still standing and still in use, which is why the whole park was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1986 - you are not looking at a plaque about the CCC, you are sleeping in what they built. The lake is stocked with trout and is one of the few places in the state where you can fish a mountain lake in the morning and swim off a sand beach in the afternoon. Above it, more than forty miles of trail climb both sides of the valley to ridge-top overlooks, with enough elevation change to make them a genuine day out rather than a stroll, and some of the best mountain biking in the Virginia park system.
14239 Douthat State Park Road, Millboro, Virginia, 24460, United States
Park open daily, generally 8 AM to dusk with shorter winter gate hours. The swimming beach, restaurant, boat rental and camp store are SEASONAL and mainly run late spring to early autumn. Cabins and camping are by reservation and book out months ahead for summer and autumn weekends. Separate charge for the beach. Mountain access roads can ice in winter.
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