Side Lake Campground — McCarthy Beach State Park
Reviewed Sep. 15, 2017

Stupendous camping.

We really enjoyed this park. Electric loop was tight and some sites had minimal privacy. The non electric sites were much more private. All sites had nice shady trees. It's a very forested park. We really appreciated the new restroom facilities. 

We had easy water access for our kayak off the campground loop. And it was easy enough to carry the kayak across to the other lake to explore out there. The beach on the big lake was very nice, clean and there were easily accessible "ends" of the beach to have a dog. The sandbar was expansive! 

This was a great park for campers of all styles; very family friend - it was very busy with lots of kids. Trails can be reached from the campground but the hike to the trails would be a hike in itself for some. Trail heads seemed remote compared to other parks. 

There were temporary problems with the drinking water on the whole campground - couldn't brush teeth with sink water, and had to go to the dump station to fill up from the one safe water spigot, but it wasn't anything that would keep us from coming back.

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Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of Side Lake Campground — McCarthy Beach State Park by Camp S., September 15, 2017
  • Review photo of Side Lake Campground — McCarthy Beach State Park by Camp S., September 15, 2017
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  • Review photo of Side Lake Campground — McCarthy Beach State Park by Camp S., September 15, 2017
  • Review photo of Side Lake Campground — McCarthy Beach State Park by Camp S., September 15, 2017