Day use, not campingThe agency files 1 record here and marks it day use, not overnight. On its own record there’s nothing here to spend the night in.

This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →

Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Taking bookingsSites offered on 9 of the next 15 nights read 15:23 UTC
370 ftElevation
1,282 ftWater · John H. Kerr Reservoir
5.9 miSE of Clarksville, VA
63%Tree cover
Bortle 4Night sky · 57th darkest of 88 in VA

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices

In the agency’s own words

Ivy Hill Park is located on John H. Kerr Reservoir, a 50,000-acre lake that extends 39 miles up the wooded, cove-studded shoreline of the Roanoke River in Virginia and North Carolina. Kerr Reservoir, also known as Buggs Island Lake, was created with the construction of the John H. Kerr Dam in 1952. Its 800 miles of wooded shoreline stretch across six counties and two states and offer countless recreation opportunities for visitors. Keep reading

Recreation

Public lands around the lake are open to hunting with appropriate state licenses. Game species include whitetail deer, wild turkey, bobwhite quail, mourning dove, gray squirrel, cottontail rabbit, fox and raccoon. Resident waterfowl species include wood duck, black duck, mallard and Canadian geese. There are 26 Wildlife Management Areas around the lake that provide year-round opportunities for hiking, wildlife viewing, birding and more. The lake is widely known for fishing, with large-mouth bass, striped bass, crappie, flathead catfish, channel catfish and blue catfish available. Viriginia Dept of Wildlife Resources regulate hunting and fishing on Kerr Lake on the Virginia side (which is known as Buggs Island Lake) and North Carolina Dept of Wildlife Resources regulate hunting and fishing on Kerr Lake on the North Carolina side.

Facilities

Visitors to Ivy Hill Park will enjoy the lakeside view. A swimming beach with a life jacket tree and picnic shelter make the park ideal for families.

Natural Features

Ivy Hill Park is shaded and semi-wooded location. This location offers great scenic views as well as great photography opprotunites of wildlife and sunsets/sunrises.

Nearby Attractions

Ivy Hill Park is located approximately 20 minutes from Clarksville, Virginia. Shopping, gas, and groceries are available. Clarksville Marina is about 20 minutes away by highway; approximately 15 minutes by water. Oxford, North Carolina is approximately a 30 minute drive from Ivy Hill Park. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (434) 738-6143.

Charges & Cancellations

Changing Reservations: There is no change fee if a visitor extends or shortens a reservation, as long as the change includes dates from the original reservation. Additionally, there is no change fee if the visitor wants to switch sites that are the same price with the same reservation dates in the same facility. If a visitor wants to switch dates that are entirely outside of the original reservation dates, there is a $10 change fee . If a reservation is made that includes dates beyond the maximum booking window, that reservation cannot be changed until 18 days have passed from the original booking date. Once a reservation date has begun, visitors cannot change a reservation using the online system or through the Call Center. Onsite staff will assist with changes or cancellations. Cancellations: Visitors may cancel their reservation prior to arrival both on-line and through the call center. A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. A visitor who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's approved rate including tax and applicable add-on. Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. Visitors who cancel a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days prior to arrival date will pay a $10 service fee AND forfeit the first night’s rate. No-Shows: A no-show visitor is one who does not arrive at a campground and does not cancel the reservation by check-out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date. Staff will hold a campsite until check-out time on the day following the arrival date. No-shows are assessed $20.00 service fee and forfeit the first night's rate, taxes and applicable add-on for a campsite. Early Departures: Visitors are requested to notify staff at the facility if they depart early to allow others to use the site. If the visitor chooses to depart early, they may forfeit the approved rate and applicable tax and applicable add-on for the day of departure. If a visitor departs prior to the scheduled check-out date, they may be eligible for a partial refund. Visitors may notify the Recreation.gov call center to request a refund of remaining unused nights. If a visitor requests a refund for an early departure after the facility check-out time (3 pm) has passed, the visitor will not be refunded for that night and is eligible for a refund on any additional nights that will not be used. Refunds: Visitors may submit a refund request through their Recreation.gov profile within 7 days of the end date of their reservation. Visitors may also initiate a refund request through the call center at any time after their reservation has ended. Refunds for debit or credit card payments will be issued as a credit to the original bank or credit card used to pay. For check or cash purchases, Recreation.gov will mail a Treasury check for refunds of cash, check, or money order payments to the address associated with the reservation. Treasury check refunds may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive. In the event of an emergency closure, the Recreation.gov team or facility manager will refund all fees and will attempt to notify you using the contact information within the Recreation.gov visitor profile.

What the agency tells you

Rule

If you have reserved the shelter and it is already occupied the day of your reservation, please call Longwood Campground at 434.374.2711.

Rule

Vehicle parking is first come first served. Shelter reservation holders are reserving the shelter only and are not guaranteed parking due to the area being open to the public.

Rule

All vehicles entering the day use area are required to pay the $7 day use fee including those who have rented the shelter for the day. You can purchase a day use pass by using the fee machine. If you would like to purchase in advance, please speak to the gatehouse or call the Visitor Assistance Center at 434.738.6143. Please see rules below if you have an America the Beautiful, Golden Age/Access, or Corps Annual Pass.

Everything else this campground posts · 8
Rule

Shelter does not have electricity.

Rule

Off-road vehicles and golf carts are prohibited.

Rule

Alcoholic beverages, camping and hunting are prohibited in the park.

Rule

Dogs are allowed but must stay on a maximum 6-foot leash and are prohibited in the designated swimming area.

Rule

Golden Age/Access, America the Beautiful Interagency Senior and Access Passes and the Corps Annual Pass are accepted at this park and cardholders receive free entrance to the day use area only. Passes must be displayed correctly.

Rule

Vehicles should remain on paved roads only.

Rule

For a full list of rules and regulations please visit Title 36.

Rule

Please read through the fees and cancelation policy for Recreation.gov

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Around the campground

On the water
Reservoir, Lake, River, Beach
Birding
Boating
Canoeing
Fishing
Kayaking
Paddle Boating
Picnicking
Stargazing
Swimming
Tubing
Water access
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Something open on 9 of the next 9 bookable nightsread 15:23 UTC

The agency files 1 record here and marks it day use, not overnight. On its own record there’s nothing here to spend the night in.

OpenBookedNot reservable

Booking windowThrough October 31Bookable now through October 31, 2026, the end of this reservable season, and again for April 1, 2027 through April 16, 2027. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservation; this campground publishes its own terms toorecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Army Corps of EngineersBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Thu, Apr 1 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 11

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
Group area, a night$50
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Apr 1, 2026 to Oct 31, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

“Additionally, there is no change fee if the visitor wants to switch sites that are the same price with the same reservation dates in the same facility. - If a visitor wants to switch dates that are entirely outside of the original reservation dates, there is a $10 change fee. - If a reservation is made that includes…” · this campground’s own no-show terms

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

recreation.gov availability, read 15:23 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 records · the site map

All 1 records

1 of 1 records located
Day use1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
Ivy Hill ParkIvy Hill Day Use Picnic Shelterday use111 ft

The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.

OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate36.57117, -78.43367
The phoneOffice Phone Number: (434) 738-6143
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

The physical address for Ivy Hill Park is 3197 Ivy Hill Road, Clarksville, Virginia 23927. Ivy Hill Park is approximately 15 miles south of Clarksville and approximately 24 miles north of Oxford, North Carolina.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Overnight53°Rain93% rain
Saturday56°Rain96% rain
Saturday Night39°Partly Cloudy2% rain
Sunday59°Sunny

NWS forecast for Clarksville, VA

Typical weather

Typical October night 48°F, day 73°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 28°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

100°32°20°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: CLARKSVILLE, VA (USC00441746), 7 miles away and 40 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it · a letter you can send

Who answers for this land

John McGuire, official portrait

Ivy Hill Park is in Virginia’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, John McGuire (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Who can change it · 3
Ask whether this could be a place to sleep

The agency’s own record files sites here and marks every one of them day use. The draft asks whether any could open to overnight camping, and if not, why.

Read the draft, or change the wording
To John J. McGuire III

Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.

Subject Ivy Hill Park has sites, and nobody may sleep in them

Dear John J. McGuire III,

I’m a constituent in Virginia’s 5th district. Ivy Hill Park, Virginia carries 1 record on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight.

I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not?

Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do.

Sent about Ivy Hill Park (Virginia) via campanac.com
To Mark R. Warner

Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.

Subject Ivy Hill Park has sites, and nobody may sleep in them

Dear Mark R. Warner,

I’m a constituent in Virginia. Ivy Hill Park, Virginia carries 1 record on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight.

I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not?

Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do.

Sent about Ivy Hill Park (Virginia) via campanac.com
To Tim Kaine

Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.

Subject Ivy Hill Park has sites, and nobody may sleep in them

Dear Tim Kaine,

I’m a constituent in Virginia. Ivy Hill Park, Virginia carries 1 record on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight.

I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not?

Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do.

Sent about Ivy Hill Park (Virginia) via campanac.com
How we know this · 4
The figures in these drafts: Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress (CRS Report RS20643) · Updated December 4, 2025 · “The ship’s final procurement cost was $13,316.5 million (i.e., about $13.3 billion) in then-year dollars.”
The figures in these drafts: Salary Table 2026-GS, Incorporating the 1% General Schedule Increase, Effective January 2026 (U.S. Office of Personnel Management) · Effective January 2026 · “Grade 5, Step 1: $34,799 (annual rate, before locality pay).”
The figures in these drafts: Update to Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost Factor, Federal Pay Raise Assumptions, and Inflation Factors used in OMB Circular No. A-76 (OMB Memorandum M-08-13) · March 11, 2008 · “the civilian position full fringe benefit cost factor needs to be adjusted downward, from 36.45 percent to 36.25 percent”

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 9 of the next 15 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.
Cell signal: the Army Corps’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.