Claytor Lake State Park runs the only sand swimming beach on Claytor Lake, a 4,500-acre reservoir that stretches 21 miles up the New River behind Claytor Dam in Pulaski County. Appalachian Power finished the dam in 1939 and the river was fully impounded by the spring of 1940, so the water here is a slowed-down New River rather than a natural lake. The park covers 472 acres with about four miles of shoreline, and the beach sits on a sheltered arm of it at 6592 Ben H. Bolen Drive in Dublin.

Guarded swimming runs from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. That window is real but not guaranteed at both ends. The park warns that a lifeguard shortage before mid-June and after mid-August can leave the beach unguarded, and thunderstorms clear the water on short notice. Call 540-643-2500 ahead if a guarded day matters to you. When no guard is on duty the beach stays open, people swim in the marked area at their own risk, and no swim fee is charged. Swimming anywhere else in the park is discouraged.

Swim fees apply only on guarded days. Weekdays are $4 for ages 13 and up and $3 for ages 3 to 12. Weekends are $5 and $4. Children 2 and under swim free. Groups of ten or more pay $3 and $2 on weekdays, $4 and $3 on weekends. A season swimming permit costs $30 for age 13 and up and $20 for ages 3 to 12, and it does not cover parking. Overnight guests in the campgrounds, cabins, lodges and yurts get one day of guarded swimming per night of their stay during prime season.

Parking is billed separately and charged year round at $7 per passenger vehicle, the same rate weekdays and weekends. Vans carrying 9 to 15 people pay $15 and buses pay $35. Pay at the contact station when it is staffed, or use a self-pay envelope or the QR code payment page posted there. Skipping it can earn a $25 ticket. The park gate is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The beach complex has an accessible bathhouse with restrooms and changing space, a snack bar and a gift shop, all a short walk up from the sand, with concrete paths down from the parking lot. A wooden swim platform with a ladder and a low diving board sits offshore inside the buoy line, and lifeguard stands are set right at the waterline. Pets are not allowed on the beach at any time.

Two things about this shoreline are worth knowing. Claytor is an open motorboat lake, and the park marina, boat ramp and fuel dock share the same water, so wake reaches the buoys on busy summer afternoons and swimming outside the marked area puts you in boat traffic. Second, the bottom shelves off past the swim platform, and New River water keeps the lake cooler than the air well into June. The Virginia Department of Health posts a statewide harmful algal bloom dashboard that is worth checking before a midsummer trip.

From I-81 take Exit 101 and follow State Park Road, Route 660, to the entrance. The rest of the day-use area is close by: the Howe House exhibits, picnic shelters, an accessible fishing pier, the 0.68-mile Shady Ridge interpretive loop and the Lakeview Trail along the water. Seasonal kayak and paddleboard rentals operate near the marina.