Ice House Campground

I made reservations here a week prior to our trip because I was looking for a warmer place to camp. I previously had reservations at Pinecrest, but it was going to be in the 50s during the day and 30s at night. Which isn’t ideal since I have a 7 month old and a 3 year old. But it ended up getting pretty chilly here as well - high 50s, low 40s. I do not recommended campsite 3, where we camped. It is a double site and is spacious enough for two families. But the campground had 3 bears that were visiting every night. One huge black bear, and a mama black bear with her cub. It was disappointing to learn this by getting a visit by the black bear who comes down from behind our campsite (which is why I do not recommend campsite 3). Luckily, our kids were asleep when the black bear came around 9pm. The camp host never came by to check us in, even though we were right next to their site. They did not inform us of the three bears that would be coming by. Obviously we are in bear country, so precautions were taken. But it would have been nice to know, since we have little ones exploring the area behind us (where one of the bears was coming down). When my husband informed the camp host of the bear that came by she wasn’t surprised at all and said “oh there’s three that come every night. One big black bear who is about 4.5ft tall on all fours - he’s a big guy! And a mama bear with her cub.” This was very strange to me that she didn’t come by and tell us this, nor did she tell the other campers around us. We went and informed the two sites by us so that they were aware of this. Aside from that, the campground is beautiful. You can chop your own wood, since there was a couple of dead trees around. The walk to the reservoir is short and sweet. The water isn’t freezing either, our dog enjoyed her daily swim. I recommend this campground for its beauty but be prepared for a bear visit.

We've used other campgrounds since, but we always wind up coming back to Ice House. It's far enough away without being a all day drive, and it's right on the water.

The boat ramp is right in the middle and you can get anything from walk in tent sites to family sites big enough for an RV and a large group. There's a resort a few miles down the road so you can get ice and supplies.

Most of of camp sites have pretty good shade, and with a little strategic placement you can make sure your tent isn't baking in the evening.

They've been installing bear boxes, so if you're a motorcycle camper you don't have to worry about where you're going to store your food overnight. Water spigots are rarely more than a short walk from any camp site.

Really, all that's missing is RV hookups, so people tend to run their generators. The 10:00 noise cut off is usually well enforced, so the nights are very peaceful. I've even seen a few black bears roaming through my camp sites over the years.

All in all, Ice House is a great, well maintained and peaceful campground that keeps me coming back.

Ice House Reservoir is a great camping spot for those wanting to kayak, canoe, SUP, or fish. There isn’t a lot of great hiking in the area. There are a few out and back trails, but nothing that compares to some of the spectacular hikes a short driving distance in just about every direction from Ice House. The one exception to this rule that I am aware of is the hike to Big Hill Lookout. This hike is about 7.6 miles round trip with a total elevation gain of about 1,250 feet.

I do believe there are a number of OHV trails in the area, but don’t know about the accessibility of those trails from Ice House or your ability to store trailers at Ice House.

Ice House Reservoir is great for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, or stand up paddle boarding. The reservoir gives you plenty of places to explore on the water and plenty of great spots for fishing.

The campground itself is pretty developed and sites are relatively close together, but not too bad. Lots of nice tall trees, but not a lot of low growth making the campground feel pretty open.