Belle Isle State Park — Hotel in Kilmarnock

• 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...

An absolute nightmare, only in broad daylight. The 'park' is buried in a cornfield. Fairly bleak surroundings. I kept expecting a crop duster to swoop down on me a la North By Northwest. The main visitor center was inexplicably closed as was the trail that led from it. Undeterred, I walked down the road in the blistering heat until I finally found something that was labeled a trail. Really just a dirt road likely made by the farmer with the cornfields. I got about 15 minutes into the trail when I was besieged by swarms of biting flies on a scale that could rival the Biblical plagues of Egypt. At one point -- not exaggerating -- I was waving away (or swatting) at 5 flies on one arm while as many or more were attacking every other exposed piece of flesh. This, by the way, is with the aid of insect repellent. They've mutated and like the stuff now. At wits end, I went back to the car and sped as quickly as possible from this hellscape, vowing never...

Beautiful park. We visited on a Saturday and was not crowded at all. There is a very nice small sandy beach. The water is shallow so it's great for kids. There are plenty of picnic tables throughout the park and was surprised to find there were some handicap accessible tables. At one end of the park we took a short walk to the fishing pier and overlook. The path was made entirely made of wood so it was handicap and stroller friendly. The park staff was friendly and helpful. They got us pointed in the right direction when we asked how to get to the beach. Also had fun watching my grandson play with some of the colonial toys that the staff was teaching the kids how to use. The only negative (and this is not the parks fault) is that at the beach there was some biting flies. So if you are going to sit on the beach bring some insect repellent. This was our first visit to this beautiful park and are...