We did it. A group of ladies who like to kayak proved that we can get our kayaks to the water and have ourselves a day of fun. It 100% helped that one of the ladies has a truck but it still counts.
It all started (for me) when a friend texted me the following:
It might help to mention that Henry County Virginia has excellent activity programs. There is a group called the 50+ Club that walks the trails, bicycles, and kayaks in addition to bowling, eating out, and getting special screenings of first run movies. They even have CrossFit trainings twice a week. Call and talk to Wanda. She can send you a catalog.
It didn’t take long until our group blossomed from two to four. Our instigator came and picked us up and we threw the kayaks in the back of her truck like we knew what we were doing. Our group became five once we arrived and found that another of our friends had also signed up without mentioning it.
There were two men from the County who were there to help us get the kayaks out of the truck and put them back in but we still feel like we had proven that we could do it.
We could get on the water.
Fairy Stone Park is best known around here for a well-maintained sandy beach with a lifeguard and a concession stand. The park is inside of a fee area but the launch, if you bring your own kayak, is on the other side of the lake directly across from the beach. Take Union Bridge Road. There is no fee.
If you would like to rent a kayak, a stand-up paddleboard, or a paddle boat, there is a place on the beach side to do this. You can barely make it out on the left in the photo above so here’s a blown up version.
Fairy Stone Park Lake is its own little body of water, distinct from Philpott but often kind of lumped in together. Now that I’ve been on it, I understand.
It is fed on one side by a creek and it ends at a spillway where any excess water runs over to Philpott Lake. The lake itself is fairly small. You can paddle all the way from one end to the other in a few minutes.
The spillway is oddly beautiful. The stonework looks like Depression Era CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) work.
It’s a good sized spillway.
There’s something about just watching water flow.
The spillway ends short of Philpott Lake below it and the water crashes through rock formations to get there.
Tips on Fairy Stone Park Lake:
The water is flat and easy. I packed my $40 E-Bay camera out of concern for damaging my main camera but that wasn’t necessary. I wouldn’t give that a second thought in the future.
The area by the creek is teeming with turtles, birds and other wildlife. It is also very shallow. I bet you could catch it with steam rising off of it with just a small temperature change.
Someone brings their dog out to the launch and leaves poo all over around the benches. Be forewarned.
The next trip is scheduled for August 26th so put in for your day off now and give Wanda a call to get registered.
Life In & Around Martinsville-Henry County 
Beautiful place, and women who rock!
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Thanks! I am hoping that we’ll have a really good turn out for this month’s outing. Philpott Lake is a lot bigger and I think that there is a lot that you can only see from the water. I remember seeing some videos years ago and thinking that I wanted to go find those places. I’m going to have to re-find those videos first!
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