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Location
Smith Mountain Lake is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, between Roanoke and Lynchburg.
Most visitors drive to the Lake. Approximate driving times can be found in the table below. Virginia law enforcement has a push on "aggressive driving" right now so watch your speed! You might want to check The Virginia Department of Transportation web site to check on road conditions before you leave.
City | Distance | City | Distance |
Atlanta, GA | 445 miles | Baltimore, MD | 272 miles |
Charleston, WV | 225 miles | Charlotte, NC | 190 miles |
Chicago, IL | 700 miles | Cincinnati,OH | 460 miles |
Cleveland, OH | 460 miles | Columbus, OH | 375 miles |
Knoxville, TN | 290 miles | Lexington, KY | 385 miles |
Nashville, TN | 465 miles | New York City, NY | 505 miles |
Norfolk, VA | 225 miles | Pittsburgh, PA | 365 miles |
Raleigh, NC | 175 miles | Richmond, VA | 150 miles |
Roanoke, VA | 30 miles | Washington, DC | 220 miles |
Smith Mountain Lake does have its own 3,900 foot runway airport for private planes in Huddleston (eastern side of the Lake in Bedford County). The Global Air listing can be found here . The airport phone number is (540) 297-4500. There is a wonderful bed and breakfast at the airport called Bedford Landings . We are also served by the regional airports in Lynchburg (804) 847-1632 and in Roanoke (540) 362-1999. Both the regional airports have commercial flights.
There are two main maps available of the Lake area. One is available at the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce office in Bridgewater Plaza at the Hales Ford Bridge (540) 721-1203. This map is "all on one side" which can be easier to use if you are driving around the Lake.
The other map is from GMCO Maps (888) 420-6277 and available in many shops around the Lake. It is a two sided map of the Lake itself and has more detail if you are navigating by water. Both of the maps are available in paper and in laminated form.
Although not complete in its mapping of the Lake, an interesting perspective can be found at
Terraserver which will let you search for both aerial photographs and the topographic maps for the Lake area.
A professor at George Mason University in Northern Virginia has put together quite a resource on the geography of Virginia and updates it each semester. Click HERE to view.
Weather and Climate
Smith Mountain Lake has four distinct seasons but it doesn't get too hot in summer (average July high temperature is 86.6 degrees, average low is 62.8 degrees) or too cold in winter (average temperature in January is 47.9 degrees, average low is 25.9 degrees). The growing season is about 180 days long and average frost free dates are April 20th to October 16th. For you gardeners out there, we are mainly considered Zone 7. We have an average of 44 inches of rain and 14 inches of snow per year.
Our official weather forecasts come out of the Blacksburg office of the National Weather Service.
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