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Belle Isle State Park is located in Lancaster County on the Rappahannock River. From Warsaw, take State Route 3 East to SR 354. Turn right and follow for three miles. Turn right onto SR 683 near Litwalton to the park entrance. From Kilmarnock, take Route 3 West to Lively, then left on SR 201 for three miles, then right on SR 354 for three miles and left onto 683 to the park entrance.
I made a day-trip out here and completed all but one trail in a day. The trails are well-kept and take you through beautiful areas in the park. Even on a cloudy day it is great to be here.
It's a wonderful place but more so for folks with water craft.
There are a number of trails but several of them require you to get in the car to access them or walk down the trail.
The boat ramp is first class.
This is a lovely state park. The campsites are fantastic--plenty of space on each site AND good separation between them all, though some sites are set up to work as buddy sites if you want. The sites are all level or very close to it. Bathrooms and shower rooms at the bathhouse are in great shape. There are plenty of good hiking trails and a lovely boardwalk by the water with docks that go out into the water. There is an ADA accessible kayak launch and accessible seating at the ampitheater. The Visitor's Center is new and has a fun waterman dress-up activity for kids.
Why not five stars? The mosquitos are TERRIBLE. Come prepared with plenty of bug spray. When we went it was 55 degrees and pouring rain and I got eaten alive with mosquito bites on my hands and fingers, which is nuts. Other than that I highly recommend this park!
The park was small and quiet, which was pretty amazing. The bathhouse was clean and no bugs. We had a spot right across from the bathhouse. Everything was spaced out pretty far so I'm glad we had our electric bikes to get around. Would definitely recommend bikes if you plan on visiting. There are corn fields everywhere! The visitor center was really nice and the gift shop was also. They do have a really cool bike station to fix your bikes if needed too!
• We visited on a Friday morning in late December 2023 (after Christmas).
• There was no one at the front booth so payment is the honor system here. We have a VA State Park annual pass so we were not concerned.
• We did like that park sign was decorated for winter.
• We drove straight to the visitor center where we found one park ranger working inside. It’s a fairly large visitor center and it’s weird that you have to go in the side door instead of the front door. The bathrooms are located outside on the side of the building.
• The visitor center was pretty huge for a VA State park. There was a bunch of exhibits and interactive ones as well. Could stayed 30-60 mins in here just checking everything out. There is a decent sized store with merch also available adjacent to the main desk. We liked the park logoed merch with the butterfly on it. Picked up some hiking medallions, pin and a patch.
• We did the trail that was just outside the visitor center. It goes around back by the water and loops around to an adjacent parking lot. We hiked about 90% of it until the water ended. We didn’t feel a need to continue to the other parking lot. The path is mostly grass and dirt and it had just rained. Even with the multiple days of rain it wasn’t as bad as we had thought. Maybe one or two spots we had to walk on the edge of the trail. You could also see several unsanctioned trails which looks like people went out to climb on the rocks in the water.
• We only encountered 1 other family the whole time we were there. Remember to bring binoculars. There are also blinds out in the water with active hunters in. Unfortunately, the park doesn’t own the water area, so those hunters are allowed to be there. The ranger warned us if we heard loud gunshot sounds while we were out there. We did not experience any.
• It was also suggested to us to do the boardwalk trail at the other end of the park so we drove other there. We passed by the camp store and campgrounds on the way but they were closed for the season. The parking lot for the boardwalk trail head was quite large. It’s also where the kayak /canoe launch is. There are picnic tables and a bathroom and trash cans.
• We hiked the trail clockwise and it was nice and shaded. Very nice in the afternoon and when it’s warmer out. We were surprised to see a boat tied off to the boardwalk at one point. It was a good size boat with what looked like new line but the boat not so much. Also noticed it had expired registration tags. Not sure if the park staff knew it was there or not. Also it was definitely stranded on a sandbar so it wouldn’t really be moveable anyways. There are couple of docks you can walk out on over the water and it was nice short hike to get more scenic views of the park. You end the trail at the kayak launch. It would be fun to come back and kayak the waterways for sure.
• We ended up having a small picnic lunch here out of the van. The picnic tables were in the grass and it was still a little wet and muddy in some areas.
• We would definitely visit again if we were in the area and probably try out those kayaks/canoes.
• This was VA park number 17 for us on our VA State Park Trail Quest.
