Fenske Lake Campground

Fenske Lake Campground, MN: (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer) Overall Rating: 4 - Great place for a canoe trip, I am told. Also access close by to the boundary waters Price 2023: $10 / night w lifetime senior pass. Usage during visit: During mid week it was pretty busy. Site Privacy: pretty nice Site Spacing: pretty nice Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Quiet Road Noise: There may be occasional road noise in the few sites closer to the entry.
Through Traffic in campground: None Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Yes Generators: Allowed Bathroom: Pit Toilets Showers: No Pull Throughs: There are ‘some pullovers’, no separation from cg road. Those in use only had a van or used as tent sites Cell Service (AT&T). We didn’t check at the campground. But, down the road we accessed via a new AT&T tower.
Setting: In the woods Weather: 70’s with a storm in the forecast Bugs: Mosquitoes are moderate. Solar: Not great for fixed panels Rig size: Some sites take large rigs. Check rec.gov for each site before making your reservation. Sites:

I have camped here many times over the years, and always liked it as a small quiet Forest Service campground great for camping with younger kids. It is not far out of Ely, close to hiking trails like the BassLake or Angleworm Trail, and is a good place for a weekend camping trip, or for a stopover on the Echo Trail before launching a canoe trip into the BWCA. So, I was looking forward to my return.

Unfortunately, the campground sustained a lot of damage from a windstorm not long ago, and the recovery has been slow. Many of the tall old pines are gone now, so most of the campsites are no longer secluded from each other. There are piles of woody debris everywhere, or piles recently burned by Forest Service crews, which gives a barren sad feeling to much of the campground. There are still a number of lakeside campsites that are in pretty good shape, but overall the campground has lost a lot of the appeal it used to have and it may be a while til it recovers from the storm damage.

There is a group campsite for the campground, though it is located on the west shore of Fenske Lake overlooking the main campground. This group campsite seems untouched by the storm and is still in pristine woodsy condition, and on a nice bluff overlooking the lake near the boat access. If you are going to camp at Fenske, it would be worth it to get a group together and reserve the group site! It is really the preferred ption here, and I would give the group site a 5 star rating.