Smith Mountain Lake is a 20,000+-acre lake created by the Smith Mountain Dam and located southeast of Roanoke, VA. During our time exploring the area, we saw Smith Mountain Dam’s visitor center, ate breakfast at an unlikely restaurant, found a dog-friendly swimming spot, and sspotted some unexpected wildlife.
Where We Stayed
Smith Mountain Campgroud
About the Campground
Smith Mountain Campground is a small, family-owned campground in Penhook, VA. The campground has 59 campsites. The roads and site parking pads are gravel, but there’s a lot of grass and trees.
In the center of the campground, there’s a small playground and an adorable pavilion of sorts. It looks like it’s set up for showing outdoor movies, though we didn’t see that offered while we were there. There’s also some open space that would be perfect for playing catch, tag, etc.
The campground also has a fishing pond, a bathhouse, and laundry facilities.
The short walking trail through the woods was a nice surprise. One end is at the back of the campground, past the well house at the bottom of the hill. The other end by the fishing pond.
This is the only campground we’ve ever been to that didn’t give us any papers when we checked in. No map, no campground rules. Instead, Jesse got a text and an email with information, including the code to the bathhouse, the campground wifi password, our site number, a link to the map, checkout time, and the price for firewood.
| Campground Name | Smith Mountain Campground |
| Location | Penhook, VA |
| Dates | June 5-7, 2026 |
| Site Number | Site 10 |
| Site Surface | mostly grass with a small gravel spot |
| Hook-ups | Full hookups |
| Cost | $65 per night (including taxes and fees) |
| Water Pressure | ~60 psi |
| Voltage | 110-120 V |
| Verizon Speed Test | 9 Mbps down; 6 Mbps up |
| T-Mobile Speed Test | 33 Mbps down; 3 Mbps up |
| Campground Wifi | Basically unusable (strugged to do speed test) |
Our Campsite
We might be biased, but we think our campsite had the best location. We had a neighbor on the business side, but no one on the fun side of the RV. Technically, the dump station was the first thing on that side, but it was so far away and down a hill from our site that it really wasn’t an issue.
Sadly, we didn’t get any morning shade near the RV, and the awning didn’t help. There was a small tree that may or may not have been part of our site. I moved a camping chair into its shade and sat there. The only trouble with that is the slope. While the parking pad is level, the grassy area beyond it starts sloping downward almost immediately, so finding a good spot for the chair wasn’t easy.
By 4:00 PM, that site is completely shaded. Not long after that, the grassy section in the middle of the main campground loop is too, so the afternoons/evenings are quite nice.
What We Did
Smith Mountain Lake Community Park
Smith Mountain Lake Community Park is just under 40 minutes from the campground. There’s a 1.7-mile trail, a playground, a lifeguarded beach area (with nearby restrooms), a picnic area, and a fishing pier. The park is free, but there is a fee for using the beach area.
We had originally planned to walk the trail around the edge of the lake but decided it was too hot. Instead, we went straight to the dog-friendly water access. Along the path to the pier, about halfway between the parking lot and the pier, is another path off to the right. At the end, the trees open up to a section of lake outside of the designated swim beach.
We switched Aiken to his long leash so he could get further into the water. He had a fabulous time chasing waves and fetching sticks.
Smith Mountain Dam
Smith Mountain Dam was built in the 1960s on the Roanoke River, creating Smith Mountain Lake. The dam is a 16-minute drive from the campground.
Before you get your first view of the dam, you’ll arrive at a little picnic area. There’s a paved path along a small pond, multiple concrete picnic tables, some charcoal grills, and trash cans. There are restrooms (in the form of pit toilets) at the front.
The area is showing its age, but it’s easy to imagine how nice a spot it was when it was built. Even now, kids could ride bikes and scooters on the path or play catch in the grass while parents sit at the picnic tables and talk.
There’s also a piece of an old turbine by the parking lot. When you can get so close, you get a much better sense of size than you do from looking at the whole dam.
The dam itself is quite impressive. Start at the visitor center and take the path up to the overlook area for the best view.
The visitor center is free. I was actually pretty impressed with the exhibits, given it’s in a fairly small town.
This scale model terrain map of the area was interesting. The panel at the front has about a dozen buttons. Each button lights up a bulb at the corresponding landmark on the map.
Where We Ate
Napoli by the Lake
Because you have to drive around the lake, it’s a 26-mile drive from the campground to Napoli by the Lake, but it’s only 5 miles away as the crow flies. However, it’s only a 7-mile drive from the park to the restaurant, so it might be worth the effort if you can make that work.
This place definitely gets busy. We went early, so we got lucky, but we’ll make a reservation if we ever come back. It wasn’t a super fancy place, so there wasn’t technically a dress code. However, people it seemed like people dressed up a little. I would have been happier if I’d worn something a little nicer than my usual camping attire of jeans and a t-shirt. The entrance to the restaurant isn’t on the same level as the parking lot. We approached what we thought was the front entrance only to discover we needed to go down the stairs to the right.
We got 2 burgers with fries and 2 sodas. Our bill was $35 before tax and tip. Overall, everything tasted good and we would consider coming back iff we’re in the area again.
Carl’s Place
At 1.4 miles away, Carl’s Place is practically walking distance from the campground. They’re open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Carl’s is part diner, part convenience store. They even have a gas pump out front; however, it was the best breakfast I’ve had in a while. The food is simple, but cooked well.
The eggs and bacon were cooked just as I requested; the biscuit was warm, fresh, and flaky; and the French toast was just what I needed. Jesse ordered eggs, toast, a pancake, and a soda. I got water, eggs, bacon, a biscuit, and a slice of French toast. Our total was $25 before tip.
I never thought I’d eat at a gas station and really enjoy it. We will definitely come back if we’re in the area again.
Southlake Scoops
Visiting Southlake Scoops was an awkward experience. First of all, there’s no sign by the road. We never would have found them if we hadn’t been looking on Google for ice cream. Also, their online presence suggests a better experience than we had in person.
On Google Maps, it appears that Southlake Scoops shares a parking lot with a Mexican restaurant. From the road, you can see a sign for Mexico Viejo. When you pull into the parking lot, at first it doesn’t look like there’s anything else there, except maybe a garage off to the right (if you’re facing Mexico Viejo). If you look closely, you’ll see the Southlake Scoops logo on a white part of the building.
There’s a walk-up window, but there wasn’t anyone at it when we got there. A staff member who was outside watering the plants saw us, went inside, and turned up at order window. It took a while, but we did eventually get our ice cream.
The next odd thing about the experience is that after ordering and receiving our ice cream at the window, one of us had to go inside to pay. For whatever reason, they’re not set up to take payments there. That seems to defeat the purpose of the walk-up window, but oh well. They do have free pup cups (just a bit of whipped cream in a cup), which the dogs thoroughly enjoyed. I believe that was the highlight of the adventure.
Wildlife
Ok, I know this is a terrible photo. It was getting dark, and the bug never stopped moving. I was folding up our camping chairs when I noticed a bug I’d never seen before. I snapped a quick picture, thinking I would look him up later, and forgot all about it. After we got home a day or two later, I finally remembered to look into it.
Turns out he was a spotted lanternfly nymph. If you haven’t heard of the spotted lanternfly, they’re an invasive species that was discoveredin the United States in 2014. I highly recommend reading more about them at this link.
I’ve seen adult lanternflies, but I’ve never seen the nymph stage, so I couldn’t identify it. I like all sorts of critters, but if I’d known this was a spotted lanternfly at the time, I would have squashed him. I looked it up on the VA Department of Agriculture website, and they did want sightings reported for the county where the campground is located (and where I saw the nymph), so I made a report using their Invasive Species Reporting Tool.
As RV travelers, it’s important to remember to do what you can to limit the critters you bring with you when you travel from one place to the next. The story of the spotted lanternfly really illustrates that.
We saw so many deer on this trip! We saw one deer at a time maybe a dozen times. We saw them in the road, in open fields, at the park, and on lawns. We also saw a doe and her fawn. Of course I didn’t manage to get a picture of them.
On our way back from Carl’s, we passed something in the road. It was only after we had passed that our brains registered that something wasn’t right. We had passed something, but whatever we saw, it wasn’t a deer or a dog. It wasn’t a fox. Jesse quickly put the truck in reverse.
We saw something amble into the woods. It was dark in color, mostly black and gray. After zooming in on the photo and thinking about the way it moved, we realized it was a bear. However, this bear wasn’t all black. It looked like he was missing a good bit of fur, I assumed he had mange.
I looked it up, and apparently the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources is tracking bears with mange. I sent them our photos and the location of the sighting.
We also saw a great blue heron at Smith Mountain Dam. He was very far away, so this blurry photo is the best my phone could do.
More Photos
Happy travels!
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