Salthouse Branch
October 2026
About
Overview
Salthouse Branch Campground is nestled on the shores of Philpott Lake in the rugged foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. The park is located in a rural and sparsely populated part of Franklin County near the small community of Henry.
Philpott Lake's clear water and natural shoreline make it a unique place for visitors to enjoy boating, fishing, hiking, picnicking and camping.
Click here for the Philpott Lake Virtual Tour: https://corpslakes.erdc.dren.mil/visitors/virtual/philpott/tour.html
Recreation
The lake provides visitors with great boating and swimming opportunities. Anglers enjoy fishing for large and smallmouth bass, walleye, bluegill, crappie and catfish.
There are two hiking trails accessible from the park. The Dogwood Glen trail is a 4.5 mile out-and-back, multi-use trail open to hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians. The trail is moderate to strenuous in difficulty and connects Salthouse Branch Park to the Philpott Dam Tailrace. The Laurel Ridge trail is 2.25 miles out-and-back trail open to hikers and mountain bikers. It is moderate in difficulty and connects Salthouse Branch Park to Twin Ridge Park.
Facilities
The park offers both camping and day-use facilities, including 44 family sites with electric and water hookups and one group picnic shelter with electric and water. Also available are 46 primitive sites without utilities.
Amenities include flush toilets, showers, drinking water and a dump station. A beach, boat ramp, dock, playground, and amphitheater are also on-site.
Natural Features
Philpott Lake covers 2,900 acres and has 100 miles of shoreline. The lake's steep, rocky banks meet beautiful mixed forests of oak, maple, hickory, pine and cedar.
Wildlife is abundant throughout the area. Deer, turkeys, squirrels, raccoons, and a variety of songbirds and waterfowl are commonly viewed.
Nearby Attractions
The lake is adjacent to Fairystone State Park and Fairystone Farms Wildlife Management Area, which includes 5,300 acres of public recreational lands.
Amenities
Phone: (540) 365-7005
Is SALTHOUSE BRANCH fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches SALTHOUSE BRANCH in Henry, VA for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching SALTHOUSE BRANCH for cancellations is the paid part.