Payne Lake East Side

We had a great time visiting Payne Lake this weekend! We stayed at a primitive campsite with a beautiful view of the lake. 

My biggest advice is to bring. your. own. firewood. As far as we could tell, there was nowhere at the campground to purchase bundles of firewood, and even the local grocery stores/gas stations weren't stocked with any either. We spent quite a bit of time using a hatchet to cut up down trees to fuel our firepit. 

The campground is organized well and we were able to have our pick of campsites (mainly due to the fact that it was 30 degrees the whole weekend). The primitive campsites all had picnic tables and fire pits. Our group also uses hammocks and there were plenty of trees near enough together for hammock hanging. 

When we got to the campground, the check in area is quite simple. There is a box with envelopes/forms to fill out that ask for your payment (in cash!), car information, and site number. Once you fill out your information, you simply drive and park at your campsite. As far as we could tell, each site had ample room for parking 2 cars within 15 feet or so. We paid $6 a night for the site, as well as an extra $3 fee/day because of a third car. 

The area is quiet and peaceful, and the lake is a beautiful spot to catch the sunrise. On the East Side of the lake, we got a large amount of late afternoon sun, but minimal sunshine until later in the morning. The West Side saw a lot of sun early in the morning. 

We got the chance to meet the Camp Host, who was very gracious and also introduced us to his dog, Reecie. He even offered to take our trash out for us!

We took a walk around the entire campground, and it is clear that the West Side of the lake sees more visitors and is generally kept up with more. The blue hiking trail on the East side required quite a bit of bushwhacking and didn't seem to have much upkeep at all. On our hike, we ended up walking the roads of the campsite and seeing the whole grounds.

It was beautiful, quiet, and the lake was perfect. Would definitely go back!

Primitive campsite by the lake. Quiet (except for occasional jets), private, perfect frog lullabies after dark, many species of wildflowers (due to a good burn regimen), nice breeze most of the time.

Stayed 14 days and loved the quiet, beauty and birds. The pit toilet seems new and there is firewood everywhere. What else do you need? Oh, the showers on the West side are clean and hot!

Payne Lake East is primitive camping that costs $6 dollars a night.  From here you can access the amenities on the west shore.  We are here in mid February and all but one of the full hook up sites on the west side are occupied.  However, on the east side there is only one other camper. The lake is very pretty and has an area for swimming and a boat launch.  On the east side the water is shut off this time of year, but it is available at the dump station.   The east side offers a pit toilet, picnic tables and lantern post at each site.  Apparently there are alligators here, but they are seldom seen this time of year per the campground host. Two to Three bars of Verizon 4G LTE