Buffalo Park

Buffalo Park is a small day use and campground park located on John H. Kerr Reservoir. The campground is open May 1 through September 30; the day use park is open year-round. Kerr, also known as Buggs Island Lake, is a 50,000-acre lake that extends 39 miles up the wooded, cove-studded shoreline of the Roanoke River in Virginia and North Carolina. Created with the construction of the John H. Kerr Dam in 1952, its 800 miles of wooded shoreline stretch across six counties in two states. 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, and resident waterfowl include wood duck, black duck, mallard and Canadian geese. The Army Corps of Engineers manages 26 Wildlife Management Areas around the lake that provide year-round opportunities for hiking, wildlife viewing, birding and more. Kerr Lake is widely known for fishing, with large-mouth bass, striped bass, crappie and catfish caught. Fishing and hunting are regulated by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries on the Virginia side of the lake. Visitors to Buffalo Park will enjoy the lakeside views and the quaint park. The campground has 21 sites: 11 shady electric sites (1 is a double) and 10 primitive sites in an open field, which are small and have limited shade. Two of the electric sites are paved and are accessible. Amenities include "family-style" individual restrooms with hot showers, sink and flush toilets, along with a small dump station, a swim beach, picnic shelter and boat ramp. The picnic shelter has a spectacular view of the lake, where the Roanoke (Staunton) River meets the Dan. Kerr Reservoir has approximately 48,000 acres of hardwood and pine forest and 50,000 acres of water. Buffalo Springs Park, on the Virginia State and National Historic Sites, is located approximately 7 miles from Buffalo Park; once a world-renowned source of bottled lithia waters, the little park now offers a picnic pavilion and solitude, and people still get their water from the fountain there. Gas and groceries are available in Clarksville, Virginia, about 15 minutes away, which holds the distinction of being the only town on Kerr (Buggs Island) Lake.