Claytor Lake State Park

I camped here in June 2015. In this park, all the facilities are high-​quality and well maintained. This is a great place to visit. The lake is very large and scenic. There is a marina with boat rentals and a swimming beach with lifeguards. The woods and forest are beautiful. All the campers were considerate and quiet. The place seems well-​planned and well-​organized. Highly recommended.

Park and campground is really well maintained, great facilities and amazing hosts.
The downside is that on the quite hours, 10pm-​6am, the rangers do not enforce it on incoming vehicles going towards the park marina instead of using the public launch ramp outside the park. This makes it camping on the edge of B and A loops hell as most of those vehicles are huge and noisy Trucks who are using the engine to slow down while towing the boats. After 10pm they should restrict the vehicular transit to people already in the campground only.
On the other hand, if you forget to quite down a little on your site, they rain on you with violations and even drag you out of the park.
Quite time is for everyone.
I will camp there again, but on the other side of the campground.

I agree with Cat on this park. In fact, I’m beginning to prefer state parks over their more popular National counterparts (Shenandoah National Park, I’m talkin’ to you). Andy Guest State Park near Front Royal is the perfect summer retreat for those with less time to play. But if you can grab a few days off, head down to the Radford area and drop anchor at Claytor Lake. This is a smaller lake than more famous Smith Mountain Lake, but I prefer Claytor (which is actually a dammed lake created by the New River). No 100 MPH motorboats crammed with NASCAR fans damaging the ecosystems, as is the case on Smith Mountain Lake. No ugly high rise resorts destroying the view, as is the case with Smith Mountain Lake.
Claytor Lake State Park juts out in the peninsula on the lake, and even though the park does not surround the lake, for some reason the influence of the park seems to rule supreme. The motorboats are not loud and fast. Very few houses along the lake; the ones that are there are spaced nicely apart. It reminded me in a way of one of the smaller Finger Lakes; long and skinny, with a sloping shore all the way around. The park itself is well manicured with plenty of picnic areas, pavilions, grills and cabins to rent (we didn’t rent a cabin but stayed at a motel about 5 minutes down the road).
Entrance fee is $ 5. Good work Virginia! Keep it up!

What an incredible place! I spent a weekend at Claytor Lake for a friend’s wedding and was impressed by the quality of this park. A dozen of my friends and I rented one of their cabins and the wedding was held on the park grounds with the reception at the Water’s Edge Meeting Facility.
All of the buildings look brand-​new and are thoughtfully designed around the gorgeous lake and forest with tons of natural light and decks. The cabins have bedrooms, a full kitchen, living and dining rooms, and porches overlooking the water. Our cabin was immaculately clean and comfortable and fully appointed with bedding, toiletries, cooking utensils, a grill and fire pit, rocking chairs, and anything else you’d need to enjoy yourself. It was far less rustic than any of us had imagined! All of the buildings also seem to be wheelchair-​accessible.
The park has a beach area by the lake, hiking trails, a volleyball area, and boating/​fishing. Everything was perfectly maintained.
This is a great spot to hold a wedding or organizational retreat. I’m so happy to see the state of Virgina spend their tax dollars well.