Overview
Leesville Lake is a roughly 3,270-acre reservoir on the Roanoke River in Pittsylvania, Bedford, and Campbell counties, southeast of Roanoke. It is the lower lake of Appalachian Power's Smith Mountain pumped-storage project, completed in the mid-1960s with sister reservoir Smith Mountain Lake. The Smith Mountain Project generates peaking power and returns water upstream by pumping.
About 17 miles long with roughly 110 miles of shoreline and a maximum depth near 75 feet, Leesville is narrower and less developed than Smith Mountain. Cold, fluctuating discharges from Smith Mountain Dam shape the upper lake, while broader reaches toward Leesville Dam offer more typical reservoir habitat.
Anglers pursue largemouth bass, striped bass, walleye, and other warmwater species, with fisheries managed by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Public access is more limited than on Smith Mountain, centered on DWR ramps, a marina, and day-use areas near the dams.
Water levels on Leesville Lake are managed by Appalachian Power between about 600 and 613 feet above mean sea level as generation and pump-back move water between the two reservoirs. Daily swings of several feet are common, so monitoring current lake levels is especially important for boating, fishing, and shoreline access.
Leesville Lake Right Now
Leesville Lake is currently 11.97 feet below full pool and has stayed about the same over the past week. Watershed conditions are in severe drought. Today's forecast calls for patchy fog then partly sunny with a high around 82°F.
About This Lake
Learn how this lake is managed, what affects its water level, and where Lake Insights gets its data.
Leesville Lake is a 3,270-acre reservoir on the Roanoke River (from Smith Mountain Lake) managed by Appalachian Power.