Lake Arrowhead

The weekend after the Fourth, we made plans to try out a local man-made beach in Luray that I found out about recently called Lake Arrowhead. Last year, we drove all the way to Lake Anna, having no idea this little place existed, so we were pretty pleased to hear we could enjoy the sand and the water without the 2+ hr. trip.

Lake Arrowhead was quite a bit smaller, but it was also significantly less crowded, especially since we went on a Friday. It may not have been quite as scenic and upscale as the Lake Anna setup, but it had its own charm too.

About half way there, I realized we'd forgotten the kids' puddle jumpers. We debated making a Walmart run for some water wings but didn't want to waste any time since we hoped to get in as much swimming as we could before the kids' nap time. Thankfully, it all worked out though. Available for rent were life jackets - $1 each. Amazingly, I found three that fit the kids' perfectly, and off my little fishies went, swimming to their hearts' content.

Lake Arrowhead had one feature that we definitely appreciated - wooden docks for jumping. We stuck with the one in the shallow end, and Reid was especially fond of this part of the adventure, showing no fear and jumping right in without any prompting needed. Hadley jumped a few times too, but Caleb was more interested in just floating around or playing in the sand.

All the kids played in the sand some, but most of our time was spent in the water. This may in part be due to the fact that we forgot to pack any sand toys, but also the sand there was more clay-like and compressed than we're used to so it didn't run through your fingers quite as well. Compared to Lake Anna or Lake Holiday, the beach could actually probably use a few more loads of sand, but it wasn't terrible either and worked fine for us.

Now that we know we have such a nice place to go so close to us, we can add Lake Arrowhead to our annual summertime outings. Definitely a recommended spot for any of our friends who live locally. :)