Lake of the Woods Sections & Neighborhoods

The 16-Section Structure

Lake of the Woods was originally developed beginning in 1967 and platted in phases across 16 numbered sections. Many sections were given names referencing historic Virginia plantations — Cornwallis, Mount Pleasant, Harpers Ferry, Edgemont, Pleasant Grove, Ramsay, Skyline — which also correspond to beach names and road names within the community. The naming is largely a historical artifact of the original developer's marketing but remains part of the community's address infrastructure.

The sections vary in their proximity to the Main Lake, Keaton's Lake, the LOWA clubhouse and golf course, the community center, the marinas, and the main gate. There is no single neighborhood hierarchy — each section has a character shaped by its year of development, its waterfront or off-water lots, and its proximity to specific amenities. Buyers targeting specific amenity access or a specific lake orientation should map the sections against their priorities with a LOW-specialist agent.

Main Lake Waterfront Sections

Eight hundred fifty of the 4,260 LOW lots have lake frontage. Main Lake waterfront lots are distributed across multiple sections on the lake perimeter. The character of Main Lake waterfront varies by location. The upper southwest end of the Main Lake, where Flat Run enters and feeds the lake, is the shallowest portion — depths of two feet or less near the inflow. Properties at this end have the shallowest dock conditions and some navigational constraints that main-body sections do not have. Properties on the broader main body — mid-lake and lower-lake sections — have the deepest water (up to 45 feet near Veterans Memorial Dam), the widest water views, and the most consistent boating conditions. These are typically the highest-priced Main Lake waterfront lots.

Cove lots throughout the Main Lake offer protected water access with less exposure to open-water boat traffic — popular for families with young children and for waterfront buyers who prioritize swimming over open-water boating. Cove locations also tend to accumulate more silt than open-water locations, which is why LOWA's three-year dredging cycle focuses on stormwater outfall areas throughout both lakes.

Section 13 — Keaton's Lake

Section 13 is the section that surrounds the 24-acre Keaton's Lake — also called Fishing Lake or Small Lake. Keaton's Lake properties have waterfront access to the quieter, electric-only no-wake lake rather than the main 500-acre boating lake. This is a fundamentally different boating and lifestyle character. Keaton's Lake is for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and electric-motor cruising — not water skiing, PWCs, or powerboating. Section 13 properties typically price below comparable Main Lake waterfront because of this use distinction, but for buyers who primarily fish or want a quieter water setting, the Keaton's Lake location is a feature rather than a compromise.

Keaton's Lake has one boat launch area and Cumberland Beach on Cumberland Circle. The average depth is 7 feet throughout, which supports good fishing structure for largemouth bass, bluegill, and crappie in a more protected and manageable lake environment than the main 500-acre lake.

Off-Water Sections and Community Lake Access

The majority of LOW lots — approximately 3,410 of the 4,260 — are off-water sections without private lake frontage. These properties still have member access to all LOWA amenities: golf, fitness center, equestrian center, pools, pickleball courts, and all 16 community amenities. For lake access, LOWA maintains seven community lake access areas on the Main Lake and eight sand beaches. Off-water properties use shared launch ramps at these access areas and beach access at the named beaches.

Off-water properties at LOW are meaningfully less expensive than waterfront lots while still enjoying full access to the gated community amenity package. For buyers whose primary interest is the community and security character of LOW rather than private dock ownership, off-water sections offer an accessible entry point.