Lake of the Woods is a census-designated place in Locust Grove, Orange County, Virginia, United States. It is a gated subdivision covering approximately 2,600 acres with 4,260 lots (850 with lake frontage) distributed among 16 sections (many named after well-known southern names and landmarks). It includes more than 41 miles of paved private roads.
Founded as a resort community built around a man-made lake, it now includes two lakes: the Main Lake and Keaton's Lake. The Main Lake covers 500 acres and is fed by Flat Run and numerous springs. Veterans Memorial Dam, spanning 1,450 feet along the northwest edge of the Main Lake, was built in 1968. The Main Lake ranges in depth from two feet at the upper southwest end, where Flat Run feeds the lake, to 45 feet at the upper end near the dam. It has two marinas, seven lake access areas, and eight sand beaches. Keaton's Lake is a 35-acre impoundment about 7 feet deep, at the northeast corner of the community close to Route 3; its dam spans 450 feet.
Lake of the Woods has its own Volunteer Fire and Rescue company.[2]
Lake of the Woods was created in 1967 by Virginia Wildlife Clubs, a subsidiary of U.S. Land, Inc., and subsequently bought and developed into single family owner occupied housing by Boise Cascade Corporation. The Lake of the Woods Association, Inc. assumed ownership of the common areas and control in 1972.[3]
Lake of the Woods, just outside of Spotsylvania County/Fredericksburg is in the northern neck of Orange County where the cross-commuting interchange with the Washington Metropolitan Area is high enough to merit inclusion in the Metropolitan Area,[4] although more farther south parts of Orange County are more rural and still cause the overall county-wide commuter interchange to fall below the threshold for inclusion in the Washington Metropolitan Area which is calculated by the county level. In 2020, Lake of the Woods began being listed on US Census data as part of Combined Statistical Area within Washington,DC-Baltimore,MD-Arlington,VA.
