Smith Mountain Lake 11/29/13-11/30/13

We planned the last camper trip of the year for the weekend after Thanksgiving. We’d used the camper as extra quarters while the in-laws visited, so we needed to dump the tanks—at least, that was the reason I used to suggest to Dave that we should work in one last camping trip. The truth was that I really love fall camping and was wanting to get away.

I don't mess around.

Smith Mountain Lake is lovely, and the lake is, of course, HUGE. The campground was fairly empty except for a couple of other rigs and one group of extremely hardy tent campers. Turned out they were from Alaska and it was a good thing, too. It was REALLY cold that weekend. We built a fire and sat out for a little while but didn’t make it very long. The camper hose froze overnight. Fortunately our propane heat is, as always, excellent.

 

We went on a short hike which took us past an old fallen down cabin, along the lake and out to Turtle Island, which was pretty. Other than that it was fairly non-descript and looked like most of the other state parks we’ve hiked—hills, trees, more trees, and then some trees. Oh, and an occasional glimpse of a lake. It was nice but I probably wouldn’t go back for the hiking. And I probably wouldn’t for the kayaking, either, since the lake is big enough for waves and allows gas powered boats.

All in all it was a nice, short trip. We were slated to stay two nights but packed it in the afternoon of the second day.

Hiking  5

Bathhouses 9 (modern, but the heat could use some help)

Riding ? I think there is some but didn’t see the amenities

Camping 5 (ok, but a little tricky getting up and down the hills to the pull through spots)

Water 5 Huge lake, too big for my liking

Other ? there is a visitor center but it was closed for the season