Smith Mountain Lake State Park Beach
Huddleston, VA
Smith Mountain Lake State Park's beach sits on Virginia's second largest lake, forty miles of water and five hundred miles of shoreline between Roanoke and Lynchburg. The beach itself is a small, calm corner of a lake mostly known for waterskiing, wakeboarding, and a small armada of powerboats on any warm weekend.
A huge, scenic lake with real amenities, but the sheer volume of powerboats on a summer weekend makes the beach itself feel more like a rest stop than a destination.
How we score beachesCome on a weekday if a quiet swim matters more than the lake's boating scene. Weekends bring the full spectrum of powerboats, jet skis, and parasailing that made this lake famous in the first place.
A day use fee applies at the gate. The lot fills by midday on summer weekends and holidays.
A short, level path leads from the lot to the beach, with a universally accessible fishing pier nearby.
Guarded swimming runs Memorial Day through Labor Day, busiest on holiday weekends when boat traffic on the lake peaks.
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