Smith Mountain Lake State Park
Virginia State Park; The Principal Public Access Point On Smith Mountain Lake, Impounded From The Roanoke River In 1966 · Huddleston, Virginia
Twelve hundred acres of wooded peninsula on Smith Mountain Lake, which at about twenty thousand acres is the second largest body of fresh water in Virginia and, more to the point, one of the least publicly accessible. Appalachian Power dammed the Roanoke River in 1966 and the five hundred miles of shoreline that resulted were bought up and built on almost immediately; the lake today is ringed by private docks, gated communities and marinas that charge for everything. This park is the exception - the one place where anyone can walk down to that water, swim off a proper sand beach, launch a boat at a public ramp and fish the shoreline without belonging to anything. It is also a serious striped bass fishery, which is what brings the boats. Behind the beach there are cabins, a campground, a visitor centre with a small aquarium of lake species, and thirteen miles of trail through the hardwood that see a fraction of the traffic the water does.
1235 State Park Road, Huddleston, Virginia, 24104, United States
Park open daily, generally 8 AM to dusk with shorter winter gate hours. Swimming beach, bath house, kayak rental and camp store are SEASONAL, mainly June to August. Visitor centre keeps shorter hours and is reduced in winter. Cabins and camping by reservation. Parking fee per vehicle, separate launch fee per boat and a separate seasonal beach charge.
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