The best time to visit Lake Anna, season by season

Ask five locals the best time to visit Lake Anna and you will get five answers, all of them a little smug. The truth is that the lake runs four different seasons and each one is the right answer to a different question. Here is what you are choosing between.

Summer: June through August

This is the lake at full volume. The State Park beach is in full swing, the marinas run their whole fleet, the dock-up restaurants hum, and the Fourth of July brings a boat parade and fireworks over the water. If your trip is built around kids and swimming, this is your season, no debate.

The tradeoffs are the ones you would guess. Houses book months ahead, boat rentals sell out before the good weekends, and rates sit at their annual peak. Book early and take the mid-week days if you can; the lake on a Tuesday in July is a different, better place than the same lake on Saturday.

Fall: September through October

The quiet-season case starts here, and it is strong. The water holds its warmth well past Labor Day, the crowds leave anyway, the hardwoods turn through late October, and the stripers school on the surface while the gulls give away their position. Rates across the lake ease 20 to 30 percent off summer. For couples, small groups, and anyone who does not need a lifeguard, this is the lake's best month, and the locals will privately agree.

Spring: April and May

Spring is for the eager. The fishing is as good as it gets, the trails at the State Park are cool and green, and the lake feels like it belongs to whoever bothered to show up. The water is still cold for swimming, which is the only honest knock. Shoulder rates apply, and the good weekends book faster than people expect once the first warm Saturday hits the forecast.

Winter: November through March

Winter is a different trip entirely, and the people who take it tend to repeat it. The lake goes to glass, the rates hit their annual floor, and the vacation moves indoors: fires, long dinners, books, a soaking tub, maybe a remote work week where the commute is a staircase. Choose the house carefully in winter, because the house is the trip.

So when should you come?

Kids and swimming: mid-June through August, booked early. Couples and small groups: September and October, and thank us later. Anglers: April or October. Value hunters and remote workers: November through March. The wrong answer does not exist; there is only the wrong house.

On that note: Lakewood works all four seasons on purpose, with a private dock and kayaks for the warm months and two gas fireplaces, a bar, a gaming room, and a soaking tub for the cold ones. Check availability here.