We arrived at 6pm on a Saturday and were able to find a spot! Super convenient to the national park. Highly recommend buying wood from corner store on the Hwy 50 turn off.
Easy to find the entry, we took the road to the right since the other option was deeply rutted.
Sites are all dirt, spaced out from each other, and nestled in the trees. Size varied but we found one large enough for our Wawona 6. Extremely quiet, only crickets and traffic/generator (until 10ish), very few signs of life otherwise, not even birdsong aside from a few crows.
Wasps a plenty! We had to bail on cooking breakfast because they were all over the cook station 5 minutes after firing up the stove.
We tent camped one night here, arrived at 3pm on a Friday, and found a site on the north side of the road. Views to the south and east, couldn't see the rocky peaks with snow to the west from our site. There's city glow from Boulder but still dark enough to see plenty of stars to the southwest. Road isn't too bad until you get to the end where it branches off. Sites are spread out in the first half of the road, a bit closer together and better for large groups the further east you go. Convenient to Nederland for supplies. Most sites are a mix of sun and shade. Some plane traffic overhead, not too obnoxious.
Elkmont is a massive campground, one of the better ones I've seen in a National Park. We spent 2 nights in B11, it's on the corner of a section, at the bottom of a hill, only has 1 immediate neighbor, which is above you. Good canopy coverage and a little stream runs next to it. Driveway is slanted down to the site.
Elevated tent pad was large enough for our huge tent (BA Tensleep Station 6). Water and toilets are nearby.
We stayed in site #1, which is the shortest walk from the parking lot and feels really private and compact with vegetation on 3 sides. Includes an elevated tent pad, bear box, picnic table, and fire pit.
Everything from this site is up, up, up - water, toilets, all of the other sites. It doesn't have the incredible view of sites 4-6 but you can still see plenty of sky for stargazing.
Sunrise and sunset are not to be missed!
Arrived at sunset and left at sunrise so no pictures of the actual site!
We stayed in walk-in site C, which the furthest site from the parking lot. Arrive before dark!! The wheelbarrows provided are a lifesaver, the trail to the site is manageable until the last 50 feet, which is steep and rocky.
It is a smaller site and mostly slanted so we had to use our backpacking tent (90"x70") on the small patch that's sort of level, as our car camping tent (10'x14') was entirely too huge.
The views are stunning. There was a pair of bald eagles in a nest down by the river - bring binoculars!
HUGE caveat - this site sits on a ridge above a county highway and freight train tracks. There are also train tracks on the other side of the river. When trains are blowing their horns miles away, the sound carries. When they go past the site, it's incredibly loud! I was amazed at the racket - we live in Chicago on a busy street, a block from the L and the Metra tracks.
Bring ear plugs, trains rolled through until just after midnight and started up around 5am (that I noticed anyway).
While Site C is incredibly difficult to reserve (best dates I could find were a Mon-Wed in October which I booked in APRIL), it's worth the views and the privacy.
Site D is the first of the four walk-ins, huge, level, has a wide view, and a bend in it's trail so isn't exposed. A great choice if C is booked.
Site A is next, least amount of privacy, medium sized, looked level. Sites B was occupied our entire time there so wasn't able to check it out, but it's a bit more private.
Pit toilet by the walk-in sites was as nice as pit toilet gets, it even has a urinal. Water is conveniently located near the parking.
Shower house with flush toilets was really nice, 2-3 shower stalls and 4 toilets. No pay, just have to push the button over and over since the water only stays on for 10 seconds.
The electric and non-electric sites are well spaced and on the larger side. A nice campground overall.
For supplies and firewood, I recommend the Okey Market. It's convenient and has everything you need, huge beer cave too. If you want some local flavor, stop into the Silver Spigot Saloon, cheap beer, tasty fries, and they have a dog-friendly patio.
We visited with our dog the first week of October to catch the fall colors. After driving up from Chicago, checking in, and then driving to Little Carp River Road, finally ready to hike at 4pm. Parking lot isn't huge and all sites were booked that weekend but we were able to snag a spot. We took the Little Carp River trail all the way to the site, which was easy to follow, a good bit of up and down but nothing too difficult. Reservation site says 2.3 miles, we did closer to 3.5 by the time we arrived. LC-7 and LC-6 are close to each other but far enough away that you have some privacy, couldn't hear the other party chatting. Fire wood in the area was sparse, everything was damp. Bear pole was tough to find, follow the trail past the site, then a stump, at the second huge tree on your left, turn to your right and climb the hill.
Site has a fire pit, logs to sit on and plenty of level space to pitch tents. It is right on the trail, so you may see some traffic. Good coverage from old growth trees, enough hills in the area to find privacy for squatting, and the river is easy to access. If I had to choose between LC-6 and LC-7, would pick 6, it's up higher and further from the trail.
We hiked back the next morning, went to Lake in the Clouds and then Ontonagon for lunch. Visited Squeeze on Main for food and beer, place is brand new, looks nice, price reasonable, food was ok. Then the bar a few doors down for more beer, they had a good selection.
Then we drove to the Pinkerton Trail head, limited parking on the side of the road, but room enough on the end for a few cars when we arrived. Pinkerton was a pleasant stroll through the woods, lots of boards, dead falls, and mud, and it's a gradual descent. Met up with the Superior Trail 3 miles in, then went left to LS-3.
LS-3 is everything we came for - right on the lake, plenty of firewood, ultimate in privacy since no other sites are within at least a half mile, perfectly level spot for the tent and a built-out fire pit area. Highly recommend.