Lake Kerr on the Virgina, North Carolina border
 

We recently moved to Cary North Carolina and are looking for a good boating lake. As some of you know we sold our 37' Active Thunder. We are looking seriously at a Formula 40PC. We will no longer be go-fast boaters. Having said that, we really enjoy lake Cumberland in KY and are looking for a similar lake.

Since I know a lot of OSO'ers are from Virginia and North Carolina, I thought you might be able to provide some info on lake Kerr. It is similar in size to Lake Cumberland and does not have home sites on the lake shore.

We have looked at Jordan (way to small) and Norman (way to crowded) and they will just not meet our boating needs. We like a few marinas for mooring the boat, gas and a decent restaurant, and a lot of coves for privacy, swimming and overnighting. We stay on the boat.

Any info. would be appreciated.

Warrior, Kerr lake (aka Buggs Island) is a great place. Growing rapidly. It can get fairly crowded at times, especially Holiday weekends. It is also a watershed for Lake Gaston. The water level in Kerr is fluctuated to keep Gaston at an optimum level.
There are several camp grounds around the lake,also! Most are run by the Corp of engineers.
Go to http://www.kerrlake****** or The North Carolina state web site.

To my knowledge, there are no restaurants on the lake. Plenty of uncrowded coves. A few marinas, but you have to look for them. And there are homesites on the water, but putting in a pier can be tricky due to the variance in water levels (sometimes as much as 35 feet).

We have a group go down every Memorial Day and Labor Day. We stay at North Bend Campground. Jay, are you all going this year?

Hey neighbor, I live in Apex 5 minutes away. Have had many Boats now have 04 Spectre 36'. Lets get together !

Steve, The past two years has been a bad experience during the Memorial weekend. We have decided to wait until the week after July 4th to go to Buggs. Being that the 4th is on Sunday, I think we will do the weekend at the Tidewater Yacht Marina and then go to Buggs sometime during the week. At least that is the tentative plan.

Jay, see you on the 4th.

h20warrior, will you consider trailering up to Hampton Roads? The HRPA would love to show you a good time! :D

Kerr is a pleasant place with plenty of coves and some sandy beaches, provided the water level is in 295-299 range. The only restaurants are in Clarksville Va, on the NW side of the lake but not directly on the water, (short walk to town). Steele Creek Marina has nice slips but a limited number with shore power. Hard to compare any of our local lakes to Cumberland but the positve side is being able to spend the day on the beach, campfire at night, and relax. By the way, we prefer to tell people that Kerr sucks and is dangerous and you don't want to go there. This keeps the crowds down!

Amen brother!:cool:

H2O, welcome to NC! You are just around the corner from me, I'm in Durham. If you have checked out Norman, you might want to give High Rock Lake a shot. Our house is on the southwestern end of the lake, not quite on the main part of the lake. There is a Baja and a Fountain on our end though. The summer lake level doesn't fluctuate a lot but it does start to drain after labor day. However, there were boats out a few weeks ago. If you want to go down and take a look around, let me know.

Kerr Lake is a cool place to go boating. We have lived here for 14 years, and loved every min.
The first time on the lake you will need a map. It is a big lake.