I was so excited to stay here based on this being voted as one of the best state parks in this region. The reviews were spot on about the hiking and other amenities. This park is charming right down to its CCC roots. During my stay the new park visitor’s center was being built and it looks to be a lovely addition. 

What I was surprised to discover was my disappointing campground experience. I picked my campsite early and carefully and was hoping to have a quieter experience since I decided to avoid the swankier lakeside full hook up sites. I was wrong. Unfortunately, the park allowed a group of tent campers to camp in sites that were not in the group campground. There were 4 tents per site, some of which were camped on the ground right near the restrooms. 2 campers per tent x 4 per site x at least 6 sites. Well I’ll spare you the math, but Campground D literally turned into a church camp complete with air horns blasting to alert the camper kiddos that it was time to eat, shower, wake up etc.  Nothing against church camps. Just saying Campground D is not a group campsite! Thankfully, I spent most of my time hiking and biking. So I was away from the campground a majority of my stay. 

Site 98 was located adjacent to public property and backed up to the gravel road that serviced the neighborhood. There was a street light that illuminated the road and this didn’t add to the ambiance. All said, the campground didn’t really afford the experience I was hoping for. However, the hiking trails did not disappoint! As many previous reviewers have mentioned, hiking here is awesome. I definitely recommend the Bear Cave trail and the Cedar Falls trail.

Grabbing a bite at the Lodge is recommended too. The food was good and the view was outstanding! 

I’d go back, but I would choose Campground A, pay more and stay right on the lake. The sites are nicely spaced and I think the cost of full hook ups might deter a large group of tent campers from overtaking the campground. Again, nothing against tent campers or church camps. I just thought this is why parks have group campgrounds. I’d prefer not to repeat the group tent camping situation and air horns I ran into on my visit to campground D.