Sherando Lake Recreation Area

Important - there is NO cell service!

One side of the lake is for fishing, the other has lots of picnic tables, a bath house and a sandy beach area. Perfect for family picnics.
I personally love the off season to enjoy the views in peace and quiet.
It is absolutely beautiful. Perfect backdrop for photography-

The good, the bad, and the, well, not so good.
It is just one of those luck of the draw, or, lack of it.
The day before we are to leave to camp at Sherando Lake campground I get an email saying they were having water leak issues and there would be no water available at the beach bath house, nor, in the campgrounds.
No water...as in, none, zero, zilch.
Bathrooms and showers would be closed. No water spigots would be cut on. Pit toilets would be provided. Well, great timing. Awesome weather forecasted after enduring a heatwave with 102-104 heat indexes.
Putting on the positive face: only two night stay, can bring bottled water, can make do with pit toilet, and, bring wipes/wash with a bottle of water. Not the best, but, trade off for great forecast.
The tent site was lovely. Close to the pit toilet, but, far enough away to not be found by an odor trail, close enough to get to quickly, and, out of sight behind the bath house which was closed. Not as visually appealing as a flush toilet, but, it got the job done.
No potable water. Bottled water and the cooler sufficed.
No shower. Probably, the hardest to wink at. Though having hiked the AT, a wipe bath was not foreign and, again, got the job done. We did pack up on day two in the evening and after hiking the upper lake trail, left. We opted to forego night two since we had enjoyed the campsite, hiked both the lower and upper lake trails, enjoyed the beach and walked in the water to the island. I, also, had walked the campground we stayed in.
We basically had finished what we came to do and once home a shower was very welcoming.
The weather was pleasant; it actually was a tad cool when wet and the sun was behind the clouds.
We arrived on Sunday and it reminded me of when I first came up out of the Subway onto the streets of New York: there was a buzz of people. The parking lots were full; the picnic area, beach, lake, and shaded area in front of the beach pavilion was humming with people. There was still places to put an umbrella, or, sit in the shade; but, it was a hum of activity as people were in the water, on the beach, in the shade, and in the picnic area.
We hiked the lower lake trail which for one mile was a good way to start our stay.
The lake nestled in the mountains makes for picturesque views.
We headed back to our campsite to burn our Mighty Tote log (so, quick and easy to get a fire going), roast hotdogs, and eat watermelon.
Day two was spent at the lake. What a difference a day can make. If Sunday was New York, Monday was small town America.
Thunder rumbled close by in the later afternoon, so, we packed up our stuff at the lake and headed to the campground.
I think the threat of packing up the next morning wet if a storm came, coupled with the feeling we had finished for the day, motivated the decision to pack up and leave.
It took a while to get an unanimous vote, but, we packed up.
On the way out, we went to the Upper Sherando Lake. The sun was fully out and it was obvious with a more unobstructed view of the sky that the storm threat had passed away from the campground.
The views and atmosphere at the upper lake were awesome. We hiked the Upper Sherando Lake trail.
We then headed home.
All in all, the trip was memorable and enjoyable: less the porta potties, unavailable water, and, unavailable showers.
The luck of the draw is not always in your favor for all things.

6 imp information to know ⬇ (updated after a rainy day)
I encourage everyone to visit this little heaven! Super peaceful, beautiful, clean, organised area. We camp there one night, and went to the lake spent all the day between swimming and lounging in picnic area. I used the shower, was amazing.
Loop trail all around the lake is wonderful (moderate).
And those are important information to know:
1- NO credit accepted to pay the day fee ($8), and they don’t accept national park card. Just cash or check.
2- Camp bathroom has free shower too (no coins system), clean and roomy.
3- NO phone signal in all the recreation area, I read a review for site C04 it has signal = internet in case you need it.
4- No shop to buy anything, so be equipped for everything, just a gift shop it has souvenirs, and expensive. We bought 2 cups for $33 just because we forgot to bring ours with us. And the nearest gas station is not always open. (6 miles from the park ).
5- Online booking only, you can’t book on spot.
6- No sheltered picnic are (if you thinking of grilling at a rainy day)

We enjoyed our day trip. We swam and picnic lunched. A very large beach area for a park (in my experience). Clear, lovely water. Lots of shaded grassy seating within good view of the beach. And a pretty island you can swim to. Big bathrooms, no soap but apparently that's due to vandalism. The staff also very friendly. Would love to return to try out the hikes.

Great campground with a friendly, personable camp host. The shower house in loop C was very clean and functional. There is no cellular coverage with Verizon and Starlink was suspect at best.

Awesome place to go camping, fishing, picnicking, swimming, kayaking (no motored water craft), walking/ hiking and....chilling during a mandatory work fun-day!! Absolutely loved it. $8 per person if for a day. There are restrooms and showers depending on the location. There is a small beach that they have boomed off for swimming. There is a dam at the end of the lake that catches all the breeze off the lake. The trails on either side do not connect, from what I saw, due to a small channel at the dam (restroom and parking lot there). For me, no cell phone connectivity for Tmobile or Verizon, unless you're lucky. Enjoy!!

Had a birthday party at Sherando Lake for my 5 year old grandson. We were able to swim and play ball along with having the party itself, in wide open beautiful space.

All I can say is “wow!”. Sherando Lake is a beautiful and well-kept campground with friendly and helpful volunteers.

The campsites are a good size and very clean. They’re relatively well spaced, maybe 100 or so feet in between. You can hear other campers pretty well through the forest but most people there do a good job at keeping noise down after quiet hours start. I was in a party of 7 with a total of 4 tents and a canopy and we spread out over two adjacent campsites. The camp itself is so clean, which I cannot understate. They clean the bathrooms daily and they really are astonishingly clean for bathrooms in the woods! There are a lot of spigots with fresh potable water around the campsite. Each campsite has large metal bear boxes that can fit a lot of provisions. I can’t say anything about the camp store or the amphitheater because I didn’t use them, but from what my friends said the store was relatively sparsely stocked. Once again, not a huge issue if you come well prepared.

I went fishing in the upper lake but did not catch anything, but I’m not too concerned about that as I’m a pretty bad angler and I only spent about 2 hours. There’s good shoreline access all around the upper lake, and several little piers with a bench around it. It’s not a really big lake, maybe 2-3 acres. I’m also not sure if there are any slop sinks or areas where you can clean any fish you catch, nor do I know if you’re allowed to keep the trout you catch as this was pretty unclear on their signage and website.

There’s a lot of trailheads that converge on the campground as well. Me and my friend went on the White Rocks Gap and White Rocks Falls trails which ended up being about a 10 mile round trip, and it was very doable.

All in all, this was such a phenomenal experience and I cannot wait to go back again in the future!

Great Place to enjoy the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are two Man made lakes to explore. One to Swim and Boat. The other to fish and boat. The Campground is well maintained. There is a small gift house in the bath house building.

Lovely recreational area. Constant stream of fresh water filtering in. A roped off area for novice and young swimmers. The sand 'beach' area is clean and keeps little ones entertained.

There is so much to do and going on, fishing, camping, grilling out,swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding,hiking it really beautiful,fun place to visit.
The outdoor area to spray off and was not operating and the bathhouses are always busy and very wet (as expected)...the showers are ice cold.
The welcome station "gift shop" (as my kids call it) was closed... they could truly make some money if they were open and sold drinks/ice cream (they use to)/ice and rented inner tubes, kayaks and so on.

The price is very reasonable at $8 a car load.
Truly a great destination for families and nature lovers.

Gorgeous location. We went to enjoy lake and fish. The lake is stocked with trout with no hook requirements. Admission for the day was 8 dollars. There is also a beach and swimming area, boating, picnic area, hiking, and campgrounds. Gift shop is on grounds, however was not open when we went

Sherando Lake is SO pretty and serene in the fall when the leaves are changing. It's also a lot of fun for kids in the summer, too. I used to love swimming out to the little island with my friends as a kid. There's a hiking loop around the lake if that's your thing. Plenty of parking spaces available in the parking lot.

Beautiful lake for kayaking. Quiet during the fall on week days.

Sherando lake offers year-round respite from the daily grind. Close enough for a morning or afternoon trip from as far away as Charlottesville it's the balm you need after a long week. Kid friendly and better still it's full of potential friends for your little, medium and large tykes. In the summer the swimming is ideal and the water stays cool year round as the summer heat spikes in Central Virginia. When the swimming is off the hiking, cycling or fishing are all still great. Good for small family picnics or great big reunions.

If you are coming here to watch TV, talk on the phone or surf the internet, don't come! If you want to hike, swim and fish .... this is the place! We spent 3 nights here and did not miss all of those modern conveniences! We hiked, talked and met new friends! There are miles of trails and beautiful waters! The sites are level and vary from sunny to all shade!

Stumbled upon this national park and loved it!
Beautiful lake where you can swim, kayak or paddle board. We mostly hung out there but there are hiking trails and a picnic area as well. Next time we’re in the area we’ll spend the whole day there

Great experience for first-time tent camping. Meet so many friendly people. Camp host, Ron and Ali, extremely helpful and are very caring people. There are several camp host all volenteers that are so friendly and are willing to go out of their way for you. Kellie is great once you get to know him. He has been very helpful and will make ya want to come back. All the volunteers we meet just can't say enough about them. Sherando Lake is so far number one with me.

Our favorite camping/hiking spots but they REALLY need to update the official Govt site to let people know NO VEHICLES are being allowed in the park other than those who have reserved camping spots because of Covid restrictions. We drove 2 hrs to find out we had to park outside the Park across the street then walk the 2 1/2 miles in just to start hiking (which can be done free of charge). Alot of cars just decided to turn back for home instead. Some of which had kayaks and canoes that couldn't be used due to the lake/beach closure. Don't miss hiking across the rock slide or skipping stones at the upper lake. Posted Oct 2020

Beautiful quiet area. You can swim and fish the lake. Easy loop trail.

Was the most beautiful place in virginia I've visited so far, peaceful, fall colors, friendly volunteer staff at the entrance. Must have reserved campsites to enter with vehicle but park at the gate and walk to the lake is open to all. 70 degree weather, the whole place to yourself...