All the Surprises you can Find at Lake Hope

Lake Hope State Park is full of unexpected delights. It beauty, hiking, and history surround the park is completely overwhelming. It takes days to see it all properly.

The lake is 120 acres with a host of bluegill, catfish, largemouth bass, and crappie just waiting for a fisherman to come catch for a lovely dinner over a nice campfire.

The Keeton Cemetery which was started in 1851 by George Washington Keeton. The cemetery includes soldiers from the Spanish American War, the Civil War, WWI, War of 1812, WWII, and other with many being Keeton’s.

The spill over is a bit close to the beach for me but I am guessing that no one has had in issue with it.

The beach is a bit slim but very long which give everyone a place to play.

They also have a great picnic area under a roof to hide from the sun or a bit of rain.

Plus a great changing area for before and after the beach. Plus a good look at the spill over shows that it would be more of a bad waterslide if you did go over!

I parked on the other side of the beach so that I could walk across the dam. It was a nice walk.

Just park near the boat launch across the way from the beach to get to the Dam or to launch your boat. If you need to rent one, then the boat rental is next to the beach.

Below the Dam is a great field to play in or have a nice picnic area.

Hope Furnace is also in the park. It was active from 1854 to 1874. It was one of 69 charcoal iron furnace which produced iron for the Union in the Civil War.

Brief History

Hope lake now stand on the town of Hope which is under the swimming area. One building left standing as is in the park. The building was original the one room Hope School. It has been renovated for the community meeting place.

The town of Hope was built up to over 300 people. Most of those worked at Hope Furnace. The furnace still has slag laying around which has been taken over by the forest. During the Civil War, the furnace was worked 24 hours a day producing 15 tons of cast iron.