roadtripper5705311

We stayed here over the Thanksgiving holiday 2020. We stayed in the Lower Campground and drove through the Upper Campground. Both campgrounds have some distinct pros and cons.

First the Lower. It's much smaller than the Upper...the loop can be walked in about 5 minutes. None of the sites were amazing. There were a few back-ins...I wouldn't stay in any of these. Tight spots and no yards. With the exception of a couple of the more traditional interior pull-thrus at the far end of the loop, pretty much all the pull-thrus are a bit weird. What I mean by this is that 2 or 3 sites share the same piece of gravel. One site bleeds right into the next site, often with no real delineation of boundaries. Very odd. All of the interior loop pull-thrus are backwards sites (door opens to road, not to the site. They all share a middle area with the opposite side of the loop that is about 20 meters away. The exterior sites face away and normally-facing sites (door opens to site). Most exterior sites don't have yards beyond the gravel (steep dropoffs). Our site (site 46) had the best view of the mountain. A few of the sites have a view of the lake below. Bathrooms are clean. Some stairs go down to the lake which is a nice lake for swimming/kayaking.

Upper Campground. It seemed to be double or triple the size. Most, if not all, of the exterior pull-thrus seemed to have large yards (opened up to woods and plenty of room to play). I don't recall if this loop had the same issues of shared gravel spaces with adjoining sites. We only did a drive-thru but I would definitely only stay in this campground if I came back.

The park itself is beautiful. Most of the longer trails were closed for repair while we were there but we were able to walk/hike to both of the lookouts. These lookouts are phenomenal and highly recommended. Sunset was amazing! We did the very (VERY) strenuous hike from the Lower Campground to Pulpit Rock. It was invigorating but we climbed 900' in less than a mile. Worth it though!

We stayed here for 3 nights over Thanksgiving and we didn't want to leave. While I wouldn't give the actual campground a 5/5, the amenities here are what makes this park shine.

First, the negatives...
-The campsites are nothing special. Many have little to no privacy and the sites are relatively close together. About 1/3 of the sites have trees, but most don't.

-Don't stay on the main road through the park if you can help it. It's a VERY busy road. There are 511 campsites here so there is a lot of traffic all hours of the day.

-There are no fire pits at any of the campsites. A few clusters of campsites have a central community fire pit. We had fires two nights in ours and it was a lot of fun. It's a way to meet your neighbors for better or worse.

-It's not overly convenient to the beach. It's about a 1 mile bike ride to beach access. You can also drive to one of two state park beaches that are within 1/4 mile of the park access. You have to cross a major road to get to the beach.

-Playgrounds are old and dumpy. My kids weren't even slightly tempted.

Ok, the positives...

-The campsites are paved. Ours was very level. It's the first time I haven't had to level out the wheels in the last 20 campgrounds we've been to.

-Full hookups under $50.

-Wifi, sortof. We didn't have it at our campsite but they did have 10 mb speed at the camp store.

-There are two state park beach access points. One is the pier (free access if you're camping at the campground) and one is a regular parking lot with bathrooms. I'd recommend the regular beach access (not the pier). It's a short boardwalk walk to the bathrooms from the beach where you'll find very nice (nicest I've ever seen at a beach) bathrooms but also free INDOOR SHOWERS! During the summer months they also have concessions.

-They have an amazing pool! It's open year round but it was a little too chilly to swim in when we were there. They said they were working on getting the pool heated so that would be a welcome addition.

-Our favorite part of the park was the abundance of trails. There are miles and miles of trails suitable for biking, running and walking. Many of the miles are beautiful boardwalks. They seem very new and pretty. They also have at one bridge to the the pier completed and they are about to finish the bridge to the regular beach access.

While the campsites were just so-so, the overall appeal of the bike trails and pool were enticing enough that we will be back. I wish the main road wasn't there, but oh well. As far as the best area for campsites, I'd recommend anywhere west of the pool. There are some really nice water-front sites in the low 20s that are close to the trails and the beach.

We stayed just up the road at Silver Queen CG but I did a drive thru to check out Silver Bell and also to get some water since our spigot was broken in our campground. Check out my review at Silver Queen for some general info on the campgrounds along the Maroon Bells road.

Here I just wanted to make a couple of comments. I liked Silver Queen CG better if you're in a camper. Silver Bell will accommodate a camper, but pretty much only popups or some kind of really small TT. Sites 1, 5 and 7 are your only options if you're in a camper.

Now, if you're in a tent, I really liked sites 8-13. They are more in the open but have some amazing views of the sky, the adjoining mountain side and also of the Maroon Bells off in the distance. There's a short walk to these sites from the parking lot, but it's not far at all.

You can't beat this location and any campground you stay in will be amazing, especially being so close to the Bells!

Let me preface this review with saying that I'm really not into big private campgrounds. I definitely am more of a woodsy, quiet campground kind of guy. That being said, I'll try to be objective in my review.

We stayed over Memorial Day weekend, so it's probably the busiest that this campground can possibly get. It was completely full and was definitely crowded and loud. This campground is a private, members only campground...so you can't just come in off of the street. It's something along the lines of $500/yr for membership and about $11/nt for camping for full hookup sites for members. Not a bad deal if you live in the area and this kind of campground is your thing.

We were here camping with family who are members. They have a portion of the park that is reserved for guests. It is a grassy area in the back of the park with electric/water hookups. The sites here are solid grass and extremely unlevel. It rained a lot and there was a good bit of mud.

The park has a lot to offer as far as amenities. They have an indoor and an outdoor pool, a minimalist workout gym, 9 hole disc golf course, miniature golf, shuffle board, a few playgrounds, paddle boats, a real store that offers camping supplies (they actually had good prices on camper repair parts!), and a restaurant. As far as amenities, they have a lot. The campground has lots of trees and a nice lake, though the lake did stink pretty badly.

The full hookup sites were mainly pull-thru and were gravel. Like most private campgrounds, the sites were close together.

Overall, if you like private campgrounds with full hookups, it's not bad for what it is. It's not a parking lot with an obligatory tree every 30 feet and has a lot to offer. My mediocre review is more reflected by the fact that we prefer more space and the fact that the campground was VERY rowdy while we were there. Our neighbors felt the need to party very loudly and get drunk well into the night each night we were there. Quiet hours are 11pm here which I though was odd.

If I had stayed in the full hookup sites, this would've been a 5 star all the way! As it was, we stayed in a water/electric site and while we still had a blast...it left a bit to be desired.

The park is clean, well laid out and quite pretty with nice boardwalk walking trails, Spanish moss everywhere and flat terrain for the kiddos to ride their bikes around. There are sites with incredible seclusion (camping area 4) and the rest are simply nice wooded sites. The biggest turnoff was how undefined the sites are. Many of the sites that we passed (and the one we stayed in) were just leaves/pine straw with no real clear place to know where to park the camper. Many of the sites flooded after a long night of rain, some as much as 4-6 inches deep, right where the campers would be parked.

Each campsite has a really nice tent pad, easily large enough for 2 tents. It's crush-n-run gravel and elevated. The sites are large, in fact ours had about an acre for the kids to run around and play in the woods.

The full hookup sites are amazing! They're huge (some as long as 100'), most are pull through and they have very defined light gravel spots. They are very well situated and worthy of a 5 star rating. Wish we would've had one, but oh well.

The park has some nice trails. The check-in welcome station has no defined place to park your rig while you check in, but we just pulled up to the end of the parking lot. Small but nice welcome center. One dump station available.

20 minutes from Savannah, 45 minutes to Tybee Island.

I would definitely stay here again!

We decided last minute to stay here on our way to Glacier. We hit Mt. Rushmore in the morning and then headed to Devils Tower. This place is amazing! The trail around the tower is a must. We were traveling the last week in August and arrived around 5pm. We hustled around the two CG loops looking for sites. The only sites left were handicapped so we were able to snag one of these.

If your site doesn't have a direct view of the tower, you can probably walk 25 ft in any direction to get a view. The CG is nestled in a grove of some really big trees...Great for shade and cool to look at, but they do obscure the view. As others mentioned, no water, power, showers or dump station. There's a rest area on the interstate near the pull off of Devils Tower that has free dump station.

First things first...STAY HERE!!!

Second...you better be logged in and hitting reserve the minute a site becomes available 4 months in advance.

This place...and the area around it...is one of the prettiest places on earth and easily rivals the Grand Canyon as far as beauty and scenery goes. Whether you’re into hiking, canyoneering, jeeping, mountain biking, rock climbing, geocaching, running, auto touring, four wheeling, rafting or camping, Moab has you covered and will have you saying “WOW” at least 20 times a day.

Highway 313 leaving Moab is labeled an official “Scenic Byway” and it lives up to its name. The 9 miles between Hwy. 191 and the turn-off for Dead Horse are some of the prettiest we saw on our entire trip out West. Enjoy the drive, take your time getting here and prepare to settle in and relish the quiet solitude and 2000' dropoffs that surround you at Dead Horse Point State Park.

The campground has 21 sites and in peak season, is nearly impossible to reserve. I believe reservations go live 4 months out at 7am local time. We ended up trying 3 different days to get the site that we did and ended up reserving 2 weeks just to get the last 4 nights that we really needed (and changed our listing later). Just know that in peak season, it's tough to get in here.

Site 16 is where we stayed and I think it ended up being one of the best. All of the sites on the east side are on top of a hill and offer nice views of the west wall of the canyons. Sunrise will bounce its light off of these walls and the amazing sunsets will settle behind them. Our site was a pull-thru and level. It was a backwards site (power on wrong side and door opening away from site) that we remedied by breaking the rules and approaching the site going the wrong way on the one-way loop. All sites are paved, have a covered picnic table with food storage and a tent pad.

Bring your own water! We brought 75 gallons between the camper and 2 water jugs that I bought specifically for this CG and we did fine by being conservative. There are at least 6 nice flush restrooms with running water sinks. There is also a big sink outside the bathrooms that you can wash dishes at. You can also grab a few extra gallons of water for your camper or water jug here as the water is potable...they just don't want you wasting water or filling up a hundred gallons in your camper.

The hike out to the Rim Overlook was amazing (about 1.5 miles roundtrip from CG) and takes you out to a football field size outcropping towering 1500 feet above the canyon floor. Just hold onto the kiddos (and your Oakleys...yeah lost a pair to the wind coming off of the cliffs!). The mountain biking here is amazing as well...great not too technical trails for the kids...and adults.

You're 45 minutes from closest grocery store and gas...plan appropriately. There is a small hut with some coffee, ice, sandwiches, etc. It's way overpriced, but at least there's something. Check out Aztec Butte hike in Canyonlands nearby. It was our favorite hike of the whole time in UT. It was hitting 102-104 in Moab while we were there so we were starting around 6 in the morning to get our hikes in to beat the heat and the crowds. Once nice thing is that Dead Horse Point is almost 2000 feet higher in elevation than Moab and tends to be around 10-12 degrees cooler!!

Great place to stay...can't wait to go back. Check out my blog linked above for more in depth look.

I needed a quick place off the interstate on our way up to SD and this one looked like it fit the bill. It's about 5 miles off the interstate but it's a quick straight shot and is very accessible for a quick stop. I noticed when I made the reservation that they had "full price" and "primitive" sites. What surprised me was that their primitive sites still had water and electric. I didn't need anything fancy for one night so we picked one of these.

Surprisingly, our primitive site was beautiful. The loop we were in was definitely a little older, hillier and run down than the premium loops, but we lucked out with a very large and flat site facing the water. The sites in this loop were a mixed bag. Some were great, others were trash.

The other loops were really nice. The mid-50s have a huge "yard" that leads right down to the swimming area and the playground. If you have kids, pick this loop.

The 100s loop was really cool. It's pretty separate from the rest of the campground and shares a nice grassy area in the middle of all the sites. There're nice views of the lake here and sitting areas overlooking the lake. Very peaceful area of the CG.

Overall, great CG, consistent with what I've come to expect from COE campgrounds. We saw 2 skunks and some deer. CG hosts were very pleasant. Bathrooms seemed clean and well-kept. I'd stay here again in a heartbeat for a night or two.

This was our second time to stay at this campground and it was even better than I remembered. As we've been camping around Georgia and across the country over the last 2 years, this is one of the best that we've stayed at. If you're looking for something within an hour or two from Atlanta you'll be hard pressed to find a better spot.

Consistent with COE campgrounds around Georgia, you will find relatively level asphalt parking pads with very spacious gravel living areas that can easily accommodate a large tent. There are a few sites that are RV only that have concrete parking pads but no where for a tent. About 75% of the sites are lake view, though most sites sit up high and have a a steep downhill to the lake.

If you're traveling with a group they have site groupings that will easily accommodate you. If you're a group of two families there's a nice private spot at sites 103&104. No lake view but you're all by yourself. If you're a group of 3 then sites 93-95 are nice. Larger groups will be very well suited in sites 121-127 since they are all close and share an open area and they overlook the beach. Other loops are nice but more spread out. In my opinion, site 92 is the best in the park. It's at the top of a little mountain overlooking the lake on multiple sides and has plenty of space for the kids to play in the woods. It's a little far from the restroom, but it's worth it. If you want to jut out into the lake all by yourself, then sites 110 or 124 are for you. All-in-all, the whole campground is beautiful but the back half (sites 78 and above) is by far the better.

If there is anything negative to say it would be that there is a train that you can hear throughout the day and night. Won't bother you if you're in a camper, but if you're in a tent then it might wake you up. The only other thing that would make this park perfect would be hiking trails. Sure, you can go hike at Red Top Mountain SP 10 minutes away, but this place is so pretty that it would be well suited for some trails.

Bathrooms are fine but nothing amazing. There are two shower houses, a few bathroom only houses and a few multi use houses that have 2 private all-in-one bahroom/shower units.

It's bike friendly though it's very hilly. The playground is nice and overlooks the back beach (which is a better beach IMO, just no restroom nearby).

Seasonal workers were strict but friendly enough.

Stay here, you won't regret it.

Blue Bell was a great spot as far as location. It was an easy trek to Sylvan Lake or Wind Cave NP. Small single-pump gas station and store just outside of CG. Laundry facilities behind gas station.

The site we had was definitely the best in the entire CG and if you're staying here, do your best to get site 24. It has nice views and the kids enjoyed playing around in the woods behind the site. It's also huge! The downside, as was true throughout the CG, was how unlevel it was. I needed 4 or 5 leveling blocks under each wheel on one side! My Father-in-law had so much trouble on his site (I think site 30E) that he could barely unhook his 5th wheel hitch because of how out of level it was.

The site next to me, site 22, was nearly impossible to back a 30' trailer into because of the trees and the angles necessary to maneuver. My neighbor had to pull up an embankment across from the site just to get in.

Sites are electric only and there were only a couple spigots in the park. No dump station. Bathrooms were nice. It's not the nicest CG, and it has horribly out of level sites, but it is in a good location and is one of the best offerings in the area. FYI, if you're heading towards Devils Tower, there's a rest stop near the pull off that you can dump your RV for free.