Tailrace Park
This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 9 of the next 15 nights read 15:27 UTC
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Tailrace Park is located just below 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. Virginia 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 Tailrace Park will enjoy the riverside view. There is a picnic shelter as well as flush toilets during peak season that make the park ideal for families.
Natural Features
Tailrace park is a semi-wooded location with many fishing and birding opprotunities. There is a kayak launch avaliable for access into the Roanoke River. There is also a small peir that can be used for birding as bald eagles are often seen here. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (434) 738-6143.
Nearby Attractions
Tailrace Park is located approximately 20 minutes from South Hill, Virginia. Shopping, gas, and groceries are available.
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
If you are using a third-party organization to bring in any equipment (Large tents, port-a-potties, etc.) please call our office two weeks in advance to coordinate with our special event coordinator.
If you have reserved the shelter and it is already occupied the day of your reservation, please call the Powerhouse at 434.738.6633. Keep in mind that you are reserving the shelter only.
Vehicle parking 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.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Shelter does not have electricity.
Vehicles should remain on paved roads only.
Alcoholic beverages, camping and hunting are prohibited in the park.
Off-road vehicles and golf carts are prohibited.
Dogs are allowed but must stay on a maximum 6-foot leash.
For a full list of rules and regualtions please visit Title 36.
Please read through the fees and cancelation policy for Recreation.gov.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Vault Toilets · Pit Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS (SEASONAL) on 1 of 1 campsite records / VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records / PIT TOILETS on 1 of 1 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- WATER SPIGOT on 1 of 1 campsite records
Around the campground
- On the water
- Reservoir, Lake, River, Beach
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Paddling
- Picnicking
Something open on 9 of the next 9 bookable nightsread 15:27 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
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.
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 · 11
What you actually pay
“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 15:27 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 records · the site map
All 1 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 1 of the 1 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
| Tailrace Park Picnic Shelter | day use | 142 ft | 233 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.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
North Bend Park1.7 mi
Palmer Point Park2.6 mi
Grassy Creek Park6.7 mi
Ivy Hill Park7.7 mi
Rudds Creek Rec. Area8.6 mi
Island Creek Park10 miThe physical address for Tailrace Park is 5458 Buggs Island Road Boydton, Virginia 23917. Tailrace Park is approximately 17 miles south of South Hill, Virginia.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Baskerville, VA
Typical weather
Typical October night 49°F, day 74°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°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
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Tailrace 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 →
Who can change it · 3
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.
- The member who votes the moneyJohn J. McGuire IIIU.S. Representative · Virginia’s 5th 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
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Tailrace Park has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear John J. McGuire III, I’m a constituent in Virginia’s 5th district. Tailrace 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 Tailrace Park (Virginia) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Tailrace Park has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Mark R. Warner, I’m a constituent in Virginia. Tailrace 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 Tailrace Park (Virginia) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Tailrace Park has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Tim Kaine, I’m a constituent in Virginia. Tailrace 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 Tailrace Park (Virginia) via campanac.com