OK, so there were no zombies that we accidentally bumped into, but that said, the whole campground was supposed to have gone through a massive redo that was intended to be completed by May, but by the time our camping experience began (2 full months later), the whole place was still going through its renovation efforts.
So what does that mean and what does that look like, you ask? Great questions indeed!
To begin with, I would like for you to imagine any campground that you have either visited or, in the case that you've never visited one, just imagine one. Lots of trees all over the place, with X number of campsites, perhaps a freestanding structure or two and happy campers walking around, fishing or grilling dinner on the BBQ. Get the picture? OK, great.
Now, draw a circle around the perimeter of that campground and while you can leave the trees all around that perimeter, imagine nearly EVERY tree within that perimeter being removed (by brute force, which means that there's no grass or groundmatter whatsoever, other than a composition of ground soil, sand and large rubble). For your viewing pleasure, none of these ancient trees that were savagely removed from the area are taken away, but rather, stacked up in 2 or 3 very ominous piles of decaying wood (pictures of this later).
So while I understand that the park is going through some painful decisions of beautifying the place for the future, the present paints quite a bleak picture. Beyond the sparsely populated campground, which leaves every single campsite in plain view of all the others, resulting in ZERO privacy from any campsite view (in fact, several campers hung sheets from clotheslines to create their own hand-made seclusion, when the backside of an RV wasn't suffice), the bathroom and shower facilities are quite possibly the worst I have ever encountered in this country, on this continent or, for that matter, any of the other 5 continents I have traveled to (many including a number of 3rd world countries that offered far superior amenities).
Let me be plain and to the point - I don't like to begin on a negative note. But I do believe future campers should get a direct and honest first impression of a place that they are going to invest their time, money and energy into before deciding to create memories for themselves and/or their friends and families. So now that the 'bad' is out of the way, let's get to the 'good'…
The most magnificent attraction that brought me to discover Baker Creek in the first place overdelivered - that's the brilliant lake that surrounds this beautiful peninsula. While I understand that there once were 2 campgrounds here, that has since been reduced to the single circular campground that exists now (perhaps in the future, they will reinstate it) that features upwards of 30 individual campsites. One cautionary note - while most campsites dot the perimeter of the inlet, there are about a half dozen that are on the interior of the campground, and while these don't have direct lake access, they do sit higher above ground, making for a decent view, but this places you in the middle of the circle, with everyone viewing you at all times (which just has to feel weird with no trees providing privacy or shade!).
Another tip, the lower number campsites face the west (which means sunset), while the higher number campsites face the east (and sit on higher ground) making for an earlier wake-up call due to sunrise. And while I'm an early morning riser, I will have to admit, the sunsets sinking in the west are nothing short of absolutely brilliant (just view the pictures!). Further, there are a few tiny beachheads on the peninsula, but all are on the west side of the campground (yet another reason to favor that side of the campground).
The greatest experiences we had involved swimming, canoeing and/or inter-tubing on the lake. My entire family just had a blast on the water - which was pretty cool as they had never spent any time on a lake before, and in fact, had a pretty gnarly version of what swimming in a lake would be like (OK, maybe not anything like Lochness, but not too far away from it either!). The first night spent underneath the stars at Baker Creek SP was highlighted by a full, new moon, which was nothing short of spectacular. Every night (even the nights it rained) we had such clear views of the constellation of stars from our tent with peeled back ceiling cover (which if you haven't invested in one, only until you have, can you realize that this is likely one of the single best investments you can make on any single item in your camping gear)!
Each of the campsites come with the standard amenities: brand new picnic tables, easy-open grill covered fire circles and what looked to be newly installed water spigots. One watch-out: most, if not all of the campgrounds offer up large rocky rubble that you'll be planting your tent on (no problem of course if you have an RV )- and while we had a tent skirt that softened the ground a bit, it was still incredibly sharp underneath our tent. I'd definitely recommend bringing some cardboard boxes that you can lay flat and put under the tent (your knees and elbows will thank you later!).
Further afield, there is a boat jetty with a pretty large-sized parking lot perfect for trucks and their boat trailers. Caution here and throughout the entire park: there are some incredibly bad roads, complete with 3rd world pot holes (and I'm from Chicago, so that's saying something!). I've read some of the other reviews and while I don't think anyone needs to be driving a 4x4 to make it through these war-torn divots and poorly laid roads, I would advise on driving slowly throughout (upon exiting the park the first time, I was driving at the height of the speed limit (25 mph or so) and hit a pretty uneven patch of road right near the gate entrance, and felt like I nearly broke one of my car's rims, which I don't even know if that is possible, so beware!).
Outside the campground, there's really beautiful foliage everywhere you look and plenty of nature creeping out to take a peek at you (several deer, raccoons and snakes were spotted). Only a few trails exposed themselves to us, but all looked as though they hadn't had a single hiker pass through for decades (Rangers, you might want to get those trails better marked and cleared!).
Lastly, just beyond the campground( veer left when you see that last campsite sign that points you to the right), there's a main campground building that has a pretty new kid's playground adjacent to it and the largest of the small beachheads in front of it (although beware all the dog, deer and duck dung!). On our last day of camping, we discovered that this building actually has a store that offers camping supplies, but we were never provided with this information upon check-in. In fact, there was no clear instructions on how to check-in and who with, until one of the live-in residents introduced themselves to us the second day of our stay.
Beyond the Baker Creek SP itself, there is the small town of McCormick. Hereto, I've read the reviews, and feel I need to make some corrections. Is there a lot around this campground? No. But is there more than sufficient resources to replenish your camping cupboards, must-haves or even nice-to-haves? Absolutely. So, here's what you've got within a 10 minute drive: a number of state parks with killer hiking trails, an ice cream parlor, 3 gas stations, a stand alone ice machine (at the first light going into McCormick - best $2 I spent on the whole trip!), Burger King, Subway, Hardee's, a Lion's grocery store (superb by my city dwelling standards) and a host of really decent local restaurants.
When we got hit hard by rain one night just before I was about to get the chicken skewers on the grill, the rain didn't look as though it was going to let up, so we headed into town instead and went to Michelle's - which was one-part 'hole-in-the-wall' Italian joint (they were still figuring out if they were more NY or NJ at the time of our visit!) and one-part go-go dive bar (complete with amazingly horrible karaoke - wished I could have stayed!). When asked about what was the best thing on the menu, the waitress boasted - everything! And she was pretty amazingly accurate - so slurp down some good local suds and visit Michelle's if you get tired of hotdogs and beans fireside one night!
I hope this review helps those who read it. Again, I don't mean to paint too much of a negative picture - but my firm recommendation would be, until this campground has truly renewed itself - find another campground that doesn't compromise your experience while it is trying to reconstruct itself. But if you don't mind flying on an airplane while it's being built, than this may very well be the campground for you.
Happy Camping!
