Sherando Lake Group Camp
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights read 16:26 UTC
- Sites
- 5All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Sherando Lake Group Camp is a part of the Sherando Lake Recreation Area and is popular with family groups, Boy and Girl Scouts, church groups and other local organizations. The recreation area is situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains and is known locally as the jewel of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where visitors enjoy hiking, fishing, swimming and relaxing. Keep reading
Recreation
The 25 acre Lower Lake offers opportunities for swimming in a designated area with a sand beach, accessible ramp to the water's edge, and a beach bathhouse with changing and shower facilities. Fishing and boating are also available outside the designated swimming area in the lake. Fishing is in stocked waters during the spring and fall seasons. Visitors will need to have the appropriate Virginia fishing license, National Forest stamp and trout stamp. Boats with gasoline motors are not permitted on the lower lake - electric troll motors, canoes, kayaks, or similar boats only. A hand-carry ramp is available for access to the lake adjacent to the parking area. Fishing only is available at the 7 acre Upper Lake. This lake is also stocked during the spring and fall seasons and the appropriate licenses are required. Boats are allowed, but there is no launch access - hand carry only. Parking is available at a small area below the group camp area and a walking trail will lead you to the lake. Swimming is not allowed in the upper lake. Hiking trails surround the area offering everything from a short walk around the lake on the Lakeside and Cliff Trails to a day hike up the mountain on the White Rock Gap Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. For the more adventurous hiker, more challenging day hikes and backpacking trips are available by heading up the Blue Loop Trail to the Torry Ridge Trail to Bald Mountain and beyond.
Facilities
The five tent-only group campsites are located around the outside of the looping road. Each site can accommodate a maximum of 15 guests, or a large group can reserve all 5 sites to fit no more than 75 guests. Each site is delineated with fencing and is equipped with picnic tables, a grill, lantern posts, and a serving table. A bathhouse with flush toilets and showers is located at the upper end of the loop and a vault toilet is located at the lower end of the loop. The bathhouse was replaced during the 2019 season. Drinking water is available at each site. Food storage lockers are currently not available, but all food must be secured in a locked vehicle. Violators are subject to a fine.
Natural Features
The group camp is located at the upper end of the Sherando Lake Recreation Area near the 7 acre upper lake. The group campsites are located around the outer portion of the loop with a large grass field on the interior of the loop for activities and games. The open grassy field provides an excellent opportunity for night time star gazing.
Nearby Attractions
There are opportunities for gas, groceries, and firewood at convenience stores and local vendors along the state road to Sherando Lake. Ice can be purchased at the Sherando Lake Visitor Center during operating hours, which vary seasonally. Additional supplies can be obtained in Stuarts Draft, about a 15 minute drive away. The Blue Ridge Parkway with its scenic overlooks and ridgetop views is a short 3 mile drive up State Route 664 from the Sherando Lake entrance. The Wintergreen Resort offers a golf course and ski area within 10 miles of Sherando Lake.
What the agency tells you
Tent camping only. There are no pads available for pop-up trailers or RV's.
All food must be secured in a locked vehicle or food storage locker. Violators are subject to fine.
No boat ramp available for either the Upper Lake or Lower Lake.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Boaters must wear approved life jackets.
Only electric trolling motors, kayaks, canoes or similar boats are allowed on either lake, no gasoline engines.
No electric, water or sewer hookups available.
Pets must be leashed and under the control of the owner at all times. Pet owners are responsible for cleaning up after the pet.
Cell phone coverage is unreliable.
Interagency Senior or Access Pass discounts are not applicable for the group camp.
Generators must not run more than two consecutive hours and not before 8 am or after 10 pm.
No lifeguards are on duty at the swimming area. Visitors swim at their own risk.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Click here for more information on George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 5 · 5 tent-only, 5 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Vault Toilets
- “…and a serving table. A bathhouse with flush toilets and showers is located at the upper end of the loop… / …at the upper end of the loop and a vault toilet is located at the lower end of the loop. The…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “Recreation The 25 acre Lower Lake offers opportunities for swimming in a designated area with a sand beach, accessible ramp to the water's edge, and a beach bathhouse with changing and shower facilities.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…was replaced during the 2019 season. Drinking water is available at each site. Food storage lockers are…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Bear boxes
- Yes
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
- Accessible Swimming
- Backpacking
- Birding
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Stargazing
- Swimming
Full this Saturdayread 16:26 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 5 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 5 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 16:26 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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.
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 make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
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 16:26 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
5 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 5 mapped sitesAll 5 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 5 of the 5 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 5 of the 5 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Sherando Lake Group Camp | G1 | group tent only area nonelectric | 103 ft | 895 ftUpper Sherando Lake | 39 ft | $50 |
| Sherando Lake Group Camp | G2 | group tent only area nonelectric | 226 ft | 936 ftUpper Sherando Lake | 270 ft | $50 |
| Sherando Lake Group Camp | G3 | group tent only area nonelectric | 94 ft | 992 ftUpper Sherando Lake | 73 ft | $50 |
| Sherando Lake Group Camp | G4 | group tent only area nonelectric | 94 ft | 1,055 ftUpper Sherando Lake | 151 ft | $50 |
| Sherando Lake Group Camp | G5 | group tent only area nonelectric | 191 ft | 1,148 ftUpper Sherando Lake | 320 ft | $50 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Sherando Lake Recreation Area Family CampingGeorge Washington National Forest · 1.8 mi
Loft Mountain CampgroundShenandoah National Park · 28 miNorth River CampgroundGeorge Washington National Forest · 31 mi
Otter Creek CampgroundBlue Ridge Parkway · 31 miTodd Lake Recreation AreaGeorge Washington National Forest · 33 miTodd Lake CampgroundGeorge Washington National Forest · 33 miFrom I-64, take Exit 96 just east of Stuarts Draft. Go south on State Route 624, which becomes State Route 664 at Lyndhurst. Continue south on State Route 664 approximately 8 miles to the entrance for Sherando Lake Recreation Area on the right. The gatehouse is approximately 0.5 miles ahead. If the gatehouse is closed, continue through the recreation area to the group camping area at the end of the road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Wintergreen, VA
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 68°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 23°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Sherando Lake Group Camp is in Virginia’s 6th congressional district. Its representative, Ben Cline (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyBen ClineU.S. Representative · Virginia’s 6th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMark R. WarnerU.S. Senator · Virginia
- Your senator, on the same appropriationTim KaineU.S. Senator · Virginia
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Sherando Lake Group Camp, George Washington National Forest, Virginia
Dear Ben Cline, I’m a constituent in Virginia’s 6th district. I tried to camp at Sherando Lake Group Camp, George Washington National Forest, Virginia, and couldn’t. All 5 sites at Sherando Lake Group Camp are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 5 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Sherando Lake Group Camp keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sherando Lake Group Camp. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Sherando Lake Group Camp (George Washington National Forest, Virginia) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Sherando Lake Group Camp, George Washington National Forest, Virginia
Dear Mark R. Warner, I’m a constituent in Virginia. I tried to camp at Sherando Lake Group Camp, George Washington National Forest, Virginia, and couldn’t. All 5 sites at Sherando Lake Group Camp are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 5 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Sherando Lake Group Camp keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sherando Lake Group Camp. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Sherando Lake Group Camp (George Washington National Forest, Virginia) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Sherando Lake Group Camp, George Washington National Forest, Virginia
Dear Tim Kaine, I’m a constituent in Virginia. I tried to camp at Sherando Lake Group Camp, George Washington National Forest, Virginia, and couldn’t. All 5 sites at Sherando Lake Group Camp are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 5 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Sherando Lake Group Camp keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sherando Lake Group Camp. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Sherando Lake Group Camp (George Washington National Forest, Virginia) via campanac.com