I went to this park for the first time last weekend, and I spent the entire time just saying“wow”. I had never been here before, despite it only being 20 minutes away, because I always prioritize going to state parks. It would never even occur to me to camp somewhere if it was less than an hour away. That is no longer true, as I immediately made reservations for this park when I got home. You might want to as well.

If you simply look at the list of amenities this park has, nature lovers would be quick to turn their nose up at it as an overly-commercialized playground. It has a golf course, a restaurant is on the grounds, there is a stable with horses/ponies that you can take guided trail rides on, a water park(it is called The Beach, which was very confusing for us when we thought we were taking the trail to an actual beach), several playgrounds, archery, an event center, frisbee golf, and yes a campground. I’m probably forgetting something, check out their website for more. Basically, check this place out if you want to get out of the house for some outdoor pandemic family fun.

Despite many of these things not being anything that I have a slight interest in, this somehow works for the park and it feels like a hidden paradise. I was immediately enthralled by the scenery as we drove into the park. There is an automated self-service station that accepts cards, or you can put cash in the drop box, a daily pass in 2021 is$6 and an annual pass is$30. It truly felt like a state park, and it’s definitely bigger than some of them(for instance it is 8x larger than Carley State Park).

The lower loops are definitely better for tent campers, even though quite a few spots could support an RV. The campground map does a good job of providing visual indicators of what a site provides. The upper loop(sits 45-64) is definitely more geared towards RVs, so not what I would consider an ideal tent site. See picture of site 47 to get a feel for what this one is like. The bathrooms were locked up, so no feedback on those at this time. They looked relatively modern though. Also there are two camper cabins, they look more utilitarian than atmospheric though. Sites that I loved: 3, 8, 10.

Overall I had a great time walking the trails, it was always kind of exciting to see what random feature was tucked seamlessly into the next bend. Based on the lack of Dyrt reviews and the overabundance of weekend availability for this campground, it might be a nice option for you to get camping even if you are a state-park-loving metro dweller like me. My reservation for a rustic site wound up being$30 for one night.