Holliday Lake State Park is located in central Virginia. A quick trip from Richmond and a quick trip from Charlottesville.
I’ve been to Holliday Lake at different times of the year. You can find something enjoyable no matter the season.
The Beach
If you drive to the back of the park you are greeted with a lovely beach. It is an inviting place to relax and play. Pull out a towel and rest on the beach with a good book. Take a refreshing plunge in the water. Or rent a kayak, paddleboard, canoe or more to take your adventure game to a new level.
The beach area also has a concession stand to get snacks and drinks.
Shelters
Holliday Lake has several shelters that you can rent for entertaining. Both shelters are close to the beach so you can still take advantage of all of the water activities. They are also located by a main hiking trail.
Trails
You can choose from hiking, aquatic, bike, or equestrian trails. Check out the trail section of the website to learn how to find the trails for your specific interest.
I spent time on the hiking trails (trail map). They are fairly simple trails for all levels. My parents, their puppy, and my 4-year-old dog all had a great time exploring. A lot of the trails are interconnected so it’s easy to customize your experience based on distance and what you are looking to see. I mixed them up because I wanted to spend time near the water, check out a ranger program that was happening in another area, and walk through the campgrounds. The park is an incredibly manageable size to spend a few hours or the entire day.
Campgrounds
You will find 2 campgrounds at Holliday Lake. They are intimate and welcoming, both with shower facilities. You may need to carry your trash to a dumpster located near the exit, but that’s fairly close by. When I was there it was really quiet for a Sunday morning.
While You’re Here – Worth Combining
Holliday Lake sits just minutes from Appomattox Court House National Historical Park — the site where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Civil War. If you’re making the drive to central Virginia, doing one without the other means leaving half the trip on the table.
The combination works beautifully as a full day: spend the morning at Appomattox walking the grounds and stepping into the McLean House where the surrender happened, then drive the few minutes to Holliday Lake for the afternoon — trails, the beach, and a moment to let history settle. It’s a rare day where you get both depth and decompression.
If you’re making it an overnight, the campgrounds at Holliday Lake are quiet and manageable — a natural base camp for exploring this corner of Virginia.
This park is made for
Families with young kids, people bringing older parents, anyone who wants a genuinely outdoor day without a strenuous hike or a navigation challenge. The park is small enough to feel manageable, accessible enough that nobody gets left behind, and pretty enough that it doesn’t feel like a consolation prize. It’s also one of the better first-camping experiences I can think of — the campgrounds are intimate and the park isn’t so remote that it feels daunting.
If you want something different
Serious hikers looking for distance or elevation won’t find it here — the trails are gentle and short by design. If you’re after backcountry solitude or serious mileage, this isn’t your park. Head to Shenandoah or check out some of Virginia’s longer trail systems.
The thing nobody tells you
The interconnected trail system means you can customize your route on the fly. Don’t plan too rigidly. The park rewards the detour.
Basics
Where: Appomattox, Virginia.
The park: 560 acres, established in 1972, around a 150-acre lake.
What there is to do: swimming, hiking, boating and fishing. Six hiking trails, including a 6.7-mile loop around the lake, plus an aquatic trail.
Entry: Virginia State Parks charge a parking fee, and rates vary by season and day of the week. Beach access and shelter rentals need separate reservations, especially on summer weekends — book ahead at dcr.virginia.gov, because the beach fills up faster than you would expect. A Virginia State Park Pass covers entry to all of them.
How long: half a day at least. With the beach, a trail or two and a wander through the campgrounds it becomes an easy full day if you bring lunch. The park is small enough that you can feel you have actually seen it, which is rarer than you would think.
When to come: it is good in every season, and I have been in several. Late spring, May into early June, is the sweet spot before the summer crowds reach the beach. Fall is underrated — the foliage around the lake is quietly beautiful and the trails feel like yours alone. In summer, aim for a weekday morning.
Parking: at all the key areas — the beach, the shelters and the campgrounds.
Bathrooms: in the campgrounds and at the beach.
On the trails: supportive shoes — there are muddy patches and tree roots — plus bug spray and sunscreen.
Cell service is limited throughout the park. Download your trail map before you arrive, or pick up a paper one at the information centers.
Nearby: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, where Lee surrendered to Grant in 1865.
Pets
Pets are allowed, and Tootsie loved the hiking trail. Check the park website for any updates on where they are permitted.
Traveling with a dog? Where I Would Actually Take My Dog is every park on this site, sorted by whether she can do the activities you came for.
One More Thing – Catch Yourself Smiling Moment
I’ve been to Holliday Lake in different seasons, and there’s something that keeps happening there that I’ve started to notice. I’ll be on a trail — not really thinking about anything in particular — and I’ll realize my cheeks hurt. I’ve been smiling without meaning to. Not at anything dramatic. Just at a dog ahead of me on the path, or the way the light was coming off the lake, or the fact that I stumbled into a ranger program I wasn’t expecting.
That’s what I mean when I talk about catching yourself smiling. It’s not the grand moments. It’s a Tuesday morning at a 560-acre state park in central Virginia that most people drive past on the way somewhere else.
What park does that for you? I’d genuinely love to know. Tag me or drop it in the comments — I’m collecting these.
This is the whole idea behind Catch Yourself Smiling — joy isn’t waiting at the end of the to-do list. Sometimes it’s just a Tuesday and a trail and a dog.