Douthat State Park Beach
Millboro, VA
Douthat State Park's beach sits on a 50 acre lake dammed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, the stonework from that original crew still visible in the dam and lodge nearby. The park has carried National Historic Landmark status for its CCC era design since it opened as one of Virginia's original six state parks in 1936.
A historic, well built mountain lake beach that's earned its national landmark status, though it's a fair drive from anywhere and gets busy the moment school lets out.
How we score beachesCome outside of trout season if a swim, not a fish, is the goal. The lake gets stocked with rainbow, brown, and brook trout twice a week during the cooler months, which brings a different crowd than summer swimmers.
A day use fee applies at the gate, and the lot near the beach and bathhouse fills by midday on a summer weekend, this being one of the more visited mountain parks in the system.
The bathhouse and beach sit a short walk from the main lot, flat and easy, right below the dam that the CCC built.
Guarded swimming runs the standard Memorial Day through Labor Day season, and the lake's trout stocking pauses for summer once the surface water gets too warm to hold fish.
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