Longwood Park is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recreation area on John H. Kerr Reservoir, the 50,000-acre impoundment of the Roanoke River that Virginians usually call Buggs Island Lake. The park sits on the Grassy Creek arm of the lake in Mecklenburg County, just west of US 15 and roughly ten minutes south of downtown Clarksville. The Corps runs it as part of the John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir project, with a 66-site campground on the wooded points, a day use area with a picnic shelter and playground, and a designated swimming beach in a sheltered cove at the south end of the park.

The posted address is 13500 US Highway 15, Clarksville, VA 23927. Heading south from Clarksville on US 15, watch for the brown Longwood Park sign on the right. All traffic passes the gatehouse, where the road splits toward the campground loops and the day use area. Parking near the beach is first come, first served, even for shelter renters. A separate Longwood boat ramp with its own lot sits across the cove to the south, also off US 15.

The swim area is a short, sandy beach facing a narrow, protected cove, marked off from boat traffic by a line of buoys. The sand runs down into the lake, and like most Piedmont reservoirs the water is tinted and not very clear, so you will not see the bottom once you are past wading depth. The cove is tucked away from the open lake and gets little wave action, and by midsummer the shallow water is warm enough for long swims. The Corps keeps a life jacket loaner station at the beach where you can borrow a jacket and return it when you leave. No lifeguard service is listed for this beach, so plan on swimming at your own risk and watching children closely.

Entry is not free. Every vehicle entering the day use area pays a $7 day use fee, including groups that have reserved the picnic shelter. You can pay at the fee machine or at the gatehouse, or buy a pass ahead of time through the Kerr Visitor Assistance Center at (434) 738-6143. Registered campers do not pay the day use fee, and holders of the America the Beautiful Senior or Access pass, the older Golden Age or Golden Access passports, or the Corps Annual Pass get into the day use area free. The gatehouse is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and the park has been staffed from April through October. Call (434) 374-2711 in season to confirm current hours.

Kerr is a flood control reservoir, so its level moves a lot. After heavy rain upstream the water can rise over much of the sand, and in dry spells the beach gets wider and you have to wade farther out to reach swimming depth. Check with the gatehouse if the lake has been high. Dogs are allowed in the park on a leash no longer than 6 feet but are banned from the designated swimming area. Alcohol, golf carts and other off-road vehicles are prohibited throughout the park. Stay inside the buoy line, since powerboats and anglers use the main Grassy Creek channel just outside the cove.

Beyond the beach, the day use area has a lakeside picnic shelter (no electricity), grills, picnic tables, a playground and vault toilets. The campground has hookups, hot showers and waterfront sites, and the quiet coves around the park are easy paddling for canoes and kayaks.