Hanging Rock State Park Lake (listed by the USGS as Hanging Rock Park Lake) is the 12-acre swim lake inside Hanging Rock State Park in Stokes County, a few miles west of Danbury and about 30 miles north of Winston-Salem. The swim beach sits on the east shore of the lake, directly in front of the park's historic stone bathhouse, whose posted address is 2847 Hanging Rock Park Road. From the main entrance on Hanging Rock Park Road, follow the park road past the visitor center to the lake parking lot, which is a short walk from the bathhouse and the sand.

The swimming area is a roped section of the lake off a sandy beach, with a diving platform out in the water and a concession stand next to the bathhouse selling snacks and drinks. The water is dark and cool, and the park itself describes it as chilly, so expect a bracing first plunge even in July. Wooded ridges of the Sauratown Mountains rise around the lake, and there are picnic shelters and tables along the shore. Pets are not allowed on the swim beach.

Swimming is seasonal and supervised. The lake opens on Memorial Day weekend and closes after Labor Day. In 2026 it opened on Saturday, May 23, and the last day of the season was Monday, September 7. The 2026 schedule ran Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., closed Monday through Wednesday except on the Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays. The park warns that lake hours can change with staff availability and that the diving platform may close when lifeguard staffing is short, so it is worth calling the visitor center at 336-593-8480 before a long drive. Outside the season the beach is closed to swimming.

Entry to Hanging Rock State Park is free for day use, but the swim beach charges a state park fee: $6.00 for adults and teens 13 and up, $4.00 for children ages 3 to 12, and free for children under 3. There is a free swim window from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. at the end of each open day. Rental boats are also available from the bathhouse area in season at $10.00 per hour (renters must be at least 16, the last rental goes out at 4:30 p.m., and personal boats are not permitted on the lake).

The lake is one of the park's original features. After the Winston-Salem Foundation and a Stokes County committee donated the first 3,096 acres to the state in 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps built the park's early facilities between 1935 and 1942. The CCC finished the concrete and earthen dam in 1938, creating the lake, and added the sandy beach, a diving tower and the stone bathhouse, completed in 1939 in the rustic style under architect Robert S. Ormand. The bathhouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, and it still anchors the swim beach today.

A swim here pairs well with a hike. The visitor center just north of the lake is the starting point for trails to Hidden Falls, Window Falls, the Upper Cascades and the Hanging Rock summit, and Moore's Knob, the highest point in the Sauratown range at 2,579 feet, is reached by the Moore's Wall Loop. The park's vacation cabins sit along the lake's west side. The family campground is closed for roughly a year for construction of new shower houses and campsite improvements, so check the park website before planning an overnight trip.