This is the final park in my conquest to sleep around, at every Virginia State Park. My wonderful husband, sweet dog and I found Lake Anna State Park in the off-season to be quite delightful, and this park cabin was the icing on the cake.

The cabins at Lake Anna State Park are not on the main channel but lined up (for the most part) along a finger of the lake, and faced my favorite direction to catch the sunrises. Three of the cabins are off waterfront, and quietly tucked away a few hundred feet from the lake. 

View of the water from inside cabin 5 at Lake Anna State Park

Two bedroom cabin 5 has a very private grilling and eating out area that is lake side

About 

Cabin 5 is a two bedroom 1 bathroom cabin, with large eat-in kitchen and is fully equipped to meet your needs for a weekend getaway or a longer week-long stay in season. The cabin loop is not on the main drag so you can freely allow the kids to play outside, ride bikes, skateboard, and run around the area without worrying about road traffic.

There is a wood burning fireplace, and the park will give you the first bundle of firewood with your cabin rate, but I recommend purchasing more at the park office, where you can also choose smaller kindling for easier fire starting. Outside you will find a pedestal charcoal grill and picnic table, but we brought chairs so we could be near the grill and keep an eye on it. There is no light near the grill, so be ready to grill before the sun sets, and as there are trees you may need to start your coals even a bit earlier still, or bring a lantern.

Here is a flickr set of Lake Anna State Park accommodations to check out. They are building a new lodge there at the end of the loop, so if you go before May 2016 I would try to rent a cabin at the start of the loop and away from the construction noises like cabin 4, 5, 6 or 7 specifically.

There is nothing quite as romantic as catching the sunrise with the one you love on the porch of a Virginia State Park cabin

Wake up to this each morning

Sunrise over the water from the dock near our cabin

This is what we saw on the other side of the lake from us at sunrise

The mist danced across the surface of the cove as the sun warmed the day

For sunsets we hopped in the car and went over to the beach and boat launch area to watch the sun as it fell below the horizon. We also hiked the Fisherman's Trail which weaves around the boat launch area (where we parked) and down to the picnic/playground area at the point. The trail was flat and covered with leaves and about .8 of a mile total, and lot of fun.

Highlighted Features

• Waterfront
• Wood burning fireplace
• Privacy
• Shared dock access
• Sunrise

Pros

Cabin 5 was very private, and as we sat outside on the porch watching the sunrise we were in our pj's and had our coffee cups in hand, not worrying about people seeing us.

This is a "newer style" cabin, although not itself very new. The cabin books showed it was well loved and families came back here year after year. We enjoyed an open living room with kitchen and beautiful wood burning fireplace. When we visit Virginia State Parks in the summer months, we do not have a fire, inside or out due to the heat and humidity. It is worth getting away in the late fall or winter months to enjoy the fireplace. We grilled outside, we enjoyed time before the fire inside with our breakfast. It was one of the best experiences we have had at a park cabin.

Cons

The two twin beds were in the bedroom with the water view and the sunrise side, whereas the queen bed was on the non-view side. This is fine for two couples or one couple, but if you have kids they won't really care if they have a water view as long as they can run around outside and race down to the dock itself.

I did notice that next door cabin 6 had a dock right out front, so this is a con for me not being a boat owner, we would have to stare at the dock vs the water and other people's boats, but if you are a boat owner, then you want to see your boat is safely tied up there, then this would be a huge pro for you.

The cabins are not within walking distance to the swimming beach and visitor center and activities area. An obvious con if you didn't bring your bikes with you.

Ladybugs

I decided this needed its own section as it is an issue at Lake Anna State Park with all the agriculture surrounding it. Our cabin had ladybugs, and I am pretty certain all the other cabins did as well. The ladybugs tended to stay at the highest elevation inside the cabin, which fortunately had a vaulted ceiling, but they were there, and if you do not like insects, especially ladybugs (although I do believe these are not regular ladybugs but some invasive type) then you won't enjoy staying in these cabins. I need to make it very clear, you will encounter them more so just after the harvest.

I did however, see ladybug jewelry in the park gift shop, so there are plenty of people who love ladybugs. But I thought I better let you know in advance, you can always call the park ahead (540) 854-5503 of time and get a "ladybug status update" from the staff if you are bothered by them. But you can't cancel your reservation because of this, so be aware of that going in. I didn't mind them at all, they kept to themselves for the most part.

Helpful Hints

We saw the lights at the boat ramp were on a timer, so if you needed to launch before sunrise for that first catch of the day you can, as the ramp is available to anglers one hour before sunrise. There is also a gate that allows you to exit the area after dark, but not enter, so you can leave and head back to the campground or cabins. 

There is an "accessible to children and disabled" fishing pond, we even saw a Blue Heron fishing at this pond. It has a nice little trail that wraps around the pond, and not far from the Visitor Center, or swimming beach.

This is a very popular park for equestrians, unlike other Virginia State Parks with new equestrian campgrounds, this one did not have one of those yet, but they had ample horse trailer parking, and 15 miles of trails to enjoy.

We saw a handful of super cute camping cabins not far from the bath house in the campground, these were so adorable and you don't need to own a tent and all the camping gear to enjoy them. There is a bunkhouse as well, nearer the other bath house. Click here for a map of the park's facilities.

 We enjoyed sharing special couple's time together in front of a roaring fire

Location

Due to its proximity to Washington DC and other large cities, this lake is very popular in the peak season for boating, fishing and all around water-related recreation. In fact it is so popular they actually have to cordon off the beach during the summer months for day use when it fills up, especially when the weather is nice. Lake Anna State Park is the perfect destination for swimming, picnicking and hiking, biking, riding the trails.

Lake Anna State Park is just 25 miles southwest of Fredericksburg and 60 miles northwest of Richmond.

Drive Time: Northern Virginia, one hour; Richmond, one hour; Tidewater/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, three hours; Roanoke, four hours. Click here for a Google map.

Rates

For cabin and camping fees, click here. It can be a little confusing, so I recommend you go straight to the reservations page and enter a date and see what the nightly rate is, and remember it is almost like getting a night free when you reserve 7 nights, for a full week stay in a cabin.

For example, our 2 bedroom waterfront cabin is currently $151per night, and the 2 that are non-waterfront are $138 per night, plus tax. This makes it a very affordable weekend getaway, and let's face it we all need a break over the cold winter months.

How to reserve

To check availability of overnight accommodations or to make a reservation, you can reserve online or call 800-933-PARK (Monday-Friday business hours).

They have a sunset with your name on it at Lake Anna State Park

FIND YOUR PARK

If you are interested in staying overnight at any one of the more than 300 cabins at Virginia State Parks, then click here to see which parks offer cabins, yurts, bunk-houses, lodges and more. Each park with overnight accommodations offers something unique to that park.

Stay tuned for updates on new Virginia State Park cabins and lodges opening in 2016!