7/13/-7/14/2023:

     We stayed 1-night. It is a quiet park with a lot of space where the RV camp sites are not identified. Instead, there are open grass spaces between trees to park even the largest of RV’s. We had no trouble finding adequate space for our 34’ fifth-wheel trailer.  There is a water faucet near the restroom and another at the far end of the campground. There are two restrooms but one was closed with an outhouse blocking its entrance. The other was pretty dirty, had a flush toilet but no door on the stall, and although there is running water a sign above the sink states“NON POTABLE WATER NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION”. There is a large dumpster near the restrooms and I only saw one stone fire pit in the park although there may be others. There is a sign warning of the potential of falling branches. The campsite is free, but there is a sign asking for donations, which we did.

     Although the restroom was pretty sketchy (I wouldn’t use it) it was otherwise a nice little park and we would stay there again. Just FYI, the name of the campsite shown in searches come up with a few variations of Cow Belles Corral: Compendium and The Dyrt show the name with Belles, Google with Bells, the Musselshell County website as both Belles and Bells, and sign entering the campground as Cowbelles Corral campground. Verizon wireless had 5G: 4-bars, 4G: 4-bars and 4G throughput measured 22.6Mbps down and 12.7Mbps up.

5/21/23-6/22/23: We stayed a whole month ($500) to recuperate from our previous travels. Owner/manger, Brent Fowler, was a gracious and accommodating host. This is a new 110 acre campground which has only been open a few months (as of this writing). The grounds were well kept and new features are continually being added. There are full-hookups at each site (20/30/50A, water, sewer), high-speed WiFi, and 150 new trees have been planted around the perimeter. While there is presently no water at the dump station, there will be, but water can be used from nearby pull-through sites. Further, a bath-house with showers and laundry facilities are in the works. Mountain City is under 5 miles away and proved to be very convenient. 

Wildlife in the campground and surrounding area was abound with a variety of birds wakening us each morning, and deer that came into camp regularly. Red winged black birds, swallows, and Cardinals are all abundant and quite vociferous. This new campground has the most important quality down pat: Friendly and supportive ownership! We plan to return next year and will likely stay much longer.

1/26/23-1/30/23- This is a great COE campsite that is spacious, clean, quiet, and site#63 has lake views on 3 sides. A picnic table, fire-pit, lantern post, 30A electric, and water are provided. This is a back-in site that slopes significantly to the rear(lake side) though. I needed to lower the front of my 34’ fifth wheel trailer 16” to level it; L/R leveling was reasonable needing 1/2” on the right side. The grassy area around the site would be great for outdoor games and the water access would be great to fish from shore, boat access to the site, or swimming. The staff were very congenial and the dump station is conveniently located on the right side just before exiting the campground. Verizon 4G was 4-bars with 20Mbps download and 2Mbps upload speeds. I paid$13/night with my Interagency Senior Pass. Too bad that it was rainy most of the weekend and we didn’t have nicer weather.

1/19/23- 1/26/23: We stayed one week and it was a quiet and enjoyable campground at a reasonable price, but it still has some misgivings. 

Good Points: The park was mostly empty and very quiet. The views of the lake are particularly nice. The sites are grass(good for dryer weather) and spread reasonably apart for privacy. 30A electric, fresh water, picnic tables, Verizon 4G: 4-bars with 4.8Mbps(down) and 3Mbps(up) can be found here. 

Other Points: 

* Rainy days completely saturates the grass with large puddles in the uneven areas; while walking to the office I discovered that the road had unavoidable puddles too. 

* 40 of the 75 sites have sewer; site#36 does not. Those with sewer were uncapped PVC pipes stubbed out of the ground. 

* Pricing: On Campendium, the facility is listed as Army Corps Of Engineers(COE) with a daily rate of$20. Naturally, with a Senior Lifetime Pass I expected to get a spot for$10/night. No so. The owner Leon Jennings(903-585-5453) said that it is a privately run(and leased) campground and the rate is$20(also posted in the office). After I said that I’d move on to a COE site he offered a spot for$13/night matching what the Clear Springs Park campground(COE) nearby would charge me. Rates on Campendium, the Wright Patman Lake website, and the RoverPass list at$20,$13, and$17 respectively. My interpretation is that the real rates are $17 (30A) and $20 (50A). I didn't see a distinction between sewer or no sewer sites. 

* Odor: There can be a sewer-like odor that I'm told is coming from a paper mill in New Boston. 

* Un-level sites: The sites are rolling grass hills; it is possible to park in a direction that is even (L/R) but may take some finesse. 

* The dump station is a PVC pipe protruding diagonally from the grassy ground across from the office and there is no water spigot for cleanup. I pulled the diagonal pipe out and inserted the dump hose directly into the drain below grass level. After dumping, be sure to use your gray-water to flush your dump hose. 

Summary: The owner and staff are very nice and accommodating. However,$13 at the Clear Springs Park campground would have provided level sites with good drainage, a proper dump station, and perhaps less odor from the paper mill.

9/25-9/29/22- The park was nearly empty, perhaps 6 or 8 other campers widely spread out. It was immaculate and the sites well spaced apart. All site have a picnic table and fire pit. Ours had both 30A and 50A power, was pretty level left/right but about 6” high in front before we leveled our 34’ fifth wheel. The park has drinking water faucets at a variety of places throughout, but site#15 has a faucet directly next to it, so we had water available too. Both AT&T 4G and Verizon 5G had 3 bars reception. The dump station was clean and convenient. It looked like a great place for kids that included at least one (probably more) playground.

8/26-9/1/22- Free camping! There are vault toilets and hand-pump well drinking water in several places, and picnic tables and fire pits at each camp site. The sites are well maintained, clean, and reasonably flat. I tried self registering, but there was nowhere to sign-in. About 11Am the next morning, someone came by to register us. 2-bars Verizon 5G, and 2-bars AT&T 4G. 

We rolled in about 10pm and drove through the western loop sites 1-22, pulled into the first pull-through site(W5) that we could easily get our 34’ fifth wheel into and went to sleep. In the morning, I walked the loop and found several others that we could fit(now that it was light out), and we moved over one site to W6. Site W21 has a lake view and a large loop in front of this back-in site that would be super easy to navigate for a big rig. Sites 11 and 12 were really close together but had a good views of the lake as well. Later, we drove over to the east camp site that all seemed to have lake views, and sites E12 and E13 are surrounded on 3 sides by water, a turn-around loop, and more sunlight for solar powered rigs. I didn’t think to check cell signal while there. 

The towns of Watersmeet and Conover had the cheapest diesel fuel. The Wild Turkey Bar& Grill in Conover, WI had fabulous smoked meats, and there is a great little hardware store in Conover as well.

7/14/22- 7/18/22: If it weren't for the burned trees, the view would be super nice. This site overlooks both Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Lake. Here, we were well positioned for the drive 20-minute drive into the Rocky Mountain National Park entrance north of the town of Grand Lake. Except for the occasional off-road vehicle and the horse flies, it was quiet and enjoyable. Aargh, the flies bite something fierce.

6/28/22 - 7/12/22: This was a nice retreat for us. It is a very popular place on the weekend, but during the week it is much quieter. Most of the weekend traffic is heading to the trailhead for hiking or biking. There are 8 sites here, several large enough for my 34’ fifth-wheel trailer, one is a pull-through with two sites. Vault toilet, no water or dump station. There was 1-bar 5G Verizon, and 2-bars AT&T 4G that were both spotty; cloud cover between the lake and Silverton caused occational intermittent connectivity. Elevation is about 10,300 and posed a problem for our generator that caused severe spark-plug fouling. But, re-jetting the carburetor from a #61 to #58 solved the problem.