I stayed in the Bluewater Bay campground because after a terrible stay at a state park in Illinois that didn’t have separate spaces for RVers and tent campers, the fact that Bluewater Bay doesn’t have electric was all I needed to know. I was not disappointed. I stayed on a Sunday and Monday night in July and it was very very quiet and even when most the campsites filled up the second day, the fact that there’s dense bush and tree cover between sites means you still feel some sense of solitude. The bugs were bad—bring spray and coils to burn.

The best part about Mirror Lake State Park is the lake itself. I SUP and it was a truly magical lake for a few hours paddle early on a Monday morning. I SUP’d Devil’s Lake the next day and just kept comparing the two—Mirror Lake feels secluded and with its calm waters and cool canyons, this is easily one of the coolest lakes I’ve ever SUP’d. Devil’s Lake is cool, but it was crowded and less magical by far.