Lake Arrowhead Recreation Park

We stumbled upon this pleasant little park when we were driving around looking for somewhere to have a picnic. What a nice surprise! We were there Labor Day weekend and had just gotten away from the crowds and lines at Luray Caverns. This park was not crowded! It appeared to be mostly locals. Lots of families and couples. Quiet and peaceful, even on a holiday.
We picnicked at a table overlooking the lake with the mountains in the background. We didn’t wander over to the «beach», but it looked like a nice enough place to swim. All the kids were swimming out to a dock where they could dive off into the lake. They also rent canoes and we saw some people fishing.
This was a nice find for tourists like us who want some local atmosphere (without all those other tourists!).

You will have fun here as long as you don’t have huge expectations. It was basically a small, crowded patch of sand on a man-​made lake. And we were surprised that there were only one canoe and two paddleboats to rent. However, the water was warm, the backdrop was beautiful, the facilities were clean and well-​maintained, and the drive there was a treat.

This is a fantastic park, complete with numerous areas to camp, shelters, bathrooms and some showers. It’s just a couple hours from Washington, DC and has a beautiful albeit small man made lake, Lake Arrowhead.
We visited for the Luray Triathlon and were really impressed by, well, everything! The park, the weather, the lake which is great for swimming, the surrounding countryside. This is a fantastic place to camp and ride bikes, swim, and run. It’s also a great place to bring kids, have a day trip, etc. I know we will be back!

A beautiful place to visit.

Pretty lake in the middle of Shenandoah. My husband and some friends managed to catch 2 sunfish using worms in the middle of the day. Which sounds lame but it still exceeded my expectation since they went in the afternoon. I look forward to coming back for night catfishing on our next visit. The park was also free when we went on Memorial Day weekend. There is also a baseball diamond and plenty of picnic areas.

In what is becoming an annual tradition, I made the trek out to Lake Arrowhead park again this summer for the Luray Triathlon. The lake itself is gorgeous, especially set against the picturesque mountains in the distance. And for a race site, the lake is more than I could have hoped for when I arrived for my first tri here in 2009, and has come as a comfort every year since. Open water swims can be scary, but at least the water in Lake Arrowhead is pretty clean and clear, which helps for seeing underwater (at least when the sun is shining). I was definitely glad this was my introduction to open water swims.
Rest of the park: There are a bunch of shelters with tables set up beneath, great for a picnic if you are up there for the day. There is a playground area for the kids. The bathroom area is small, but is reasonably clean, and there are a couple shower stalls around back as well.
All in all, Lake Arrowhead is a great escape if you are looking to get away from the city. And if you’re coming from DC, as a bonus, you can take a drive along Skyline Drive, part of Shenandoah National Park, on your way back in

In a word: Idyllic.
This is the kind of place that poets write about in odes and sonnets. Particularly on a beautiful, clear day lit by golden sunshine blasting down from a cloudless azure sky.
Lake Arrowhead itself is a glittering blue placid mirror, reflecting the distant tree-​crowned mountains.
Lightly wooded areas make up the bulk of the park, with a number of covered pavilions offering shade from the heat of the sun. Even under the trees, the dappled light is far cooler than out in the beating sun.
Also, small, but reasonably well-​maintained restrooms offer running water, and out behind the bathrooms are two fenced-​in showers (which came in ultra handy after running in the Luray Triathlon).
Spaces like this remind me that there’s time to breathe, to hold out my arms, tilt up my head, and just smile.