Smith Mountain Lake is a large artificial lake east of Roanoke, Virginia. It was built in the early 1960s, by damming the Roanoke River and the Blackwater River to provide power and recreation. The popular lake covers about 20,000 acres and has about 500 miles of shoreline, much of it developed.

The normal level of the lake (also known as "Full Pond") is 795 feet above sea level. The level can be significantly lower during periods of extended drought. Lake levels were about six feet below normal from 2001 to 2003 after five years of below-average rainfall. Conversely, although the upper branches of the rivers can flood, the lake is so large as to be virtually flood-proof.

The dam produces pumped-storage hydroelectricity. Water flows through the dam turbines into Leesville lake. Water is then pumped from Leesville lake back into Smith Mountain Lake. The dam is operated by Appalachian Power, part of American Electric Power.

The Booker T. Washington National Monument is near the west end of the lake, and is one of several tourist sites of interest in the area.

The lake was featured prominently in the 1991 movie comedy What About Bob?, directed by Frank Oz and starring Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss and Julie Hagerty. It served as the stand-in for Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, the latter having a much shorter summer season in which to film. The nearby town of Moneta was used for some early establishing scenes. Some of the filming was done at VISA Yacht Club where the crew overlaid the gravel pathways with pine chips (to abate the noise while characters were walking and talking) and built a "snacks" shed for the background of a scene that stands to this day as an equipment shed for the yacht club. Much of the filming was done at an attractive lakeside house, which... ...in contrast to the climactic scene in the film, was not destroyed by dynamite and still stands, overlooking the lakeshore.

External links

• SML website
• SML Dam website
• Parkway Marina
• SML pond level tracker