South Trout Lake — Northern Highland State Forest

Small campground that is super busy with boaters. There isn't a great parking lot for the amount of boats coming and going. I would say this isn't the best place to turn kids loose. I would say this is a great stopover place. The sites were nice but nothing amazing about them. No privacy in this campground as there just isn't much space. The vault toilets were clean and stocked. Water spigot worked so it has everything you need to get away. 

This is another campground that can be good if you are on your bike and going from town to town on the trails. I did ride a bit and it was nice on the trails. Time to come is in the fall when it is a bit chillier as the park is not as busy.

This is much smaller than the north trout lake campground. There were also a bunch of trucks with boat trailers parked on the road in. This means that there is a lot of activity here. 

The sites are ok. They look nice and are on a small loop. Toilets and water are available. The drawback for us was that it’s just a busier place. The road along the lake is the bike route. Ride towards Boulder Junction and there are beautiful spots to stop and enjoy. Several benches can be found or just keep going all the way to town. This paved path is perfect for walking too- we did several miles a day with our dog. 

You can drive across the main road and find Little John Lake too. We found people putting their boats in to go fishing.

Although none of the sites are on the water, it’s just a short walk to the water from any site in the campground. The campground is clean, has vault toilets, and pumps for water. The sites don’t offer a lot of privacy, but are generally flat and easy to access. We kayaked for a few hours-beautiful and clear lake. It’s a rocky, not sandy, bottom.  If you bike, this is definitely a good place to stay. It’s right on the bike trail and a short ride to Boulder Junction, where you can get cold beer, good food, and great service at Aqualand. Aqualand has all outdoor service and seemed very safe from a Covid 19 standpoint.