Staunton River State Park, about nine miles southeast of here, opened on 15 June 1936. One of Virginia's six original state parks, it was planned by the Virginia Commission on Conservation and Development in consultation with the National Park Service. Members of the federal Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal program created to employ young men during the Great Depression, arrived in 1933 and built roadways, trails, cabins, picnic areas, and other facilities before leaving in 1938. The park, located at the confluence of the Dan and Staunton (Roanoke) Rivers, was reduced by about 300 acres with the completion of Bugs Island Lake in 1953.