Forest Service Rd 343

Stayed here 4/17-18. The first day I was visited by an older man on a dirt bike who was just out riding. The next morning an older man on a horse stopped to talk and a couple in a Cherokee stopped to chat. Seems it's a popular road for other people looking for an off-the-beaten-path place. The site is right on the lake an doesn't get any curious cars just driving by. The road in is rough, but a 2wd truck could make it in dry weather.

Dispersed camping is a $10 fee. If you have the National Park pass you can go to a self check in campground for $5

Follow the road to the picture on the Forest Rd site. Rutted roads to the north, where these coordinates take you, but beautiful solitude once you get to the right spot. There's a ring for a fire, but basically this is a turnaround circle in the forest. Wet and rainy today, but I'll come back.

There is a hand full of dispersed camp sites on this road. Unfortunately the best one on the water was taken when we showed up but we set up in a different site and had a wonderful night. The road is gravel and bumpy so you might not want to take a smaller car on it but just fine for any awd, truck, van, etc. unfortunately there was some trash at our site when we arrived. We did our best to pick it all up before we left. Would recommend swimming in the water nearby and would recommend seeing the buffalo on the way in or out.

This is down a very rickety, rutty, gravel to a campsite that is just ruts and there’s no place for a tent

You don’t very often find free spots in national parks. There is dispersed and standard. The standard has a fee but the dispersed is free