Panguitch Lake Campground

There are 2 campgrounds directly across each other in this area. Panguitch Lake South is walk-in only.
Panguitch Lake North can be reserved via Recreation.org. Most sites in the North campground are billed as double so you pay 34 a night plus a 9 dollar booking fee for recreation.gov. There are a couple of reservable tent only sites for $17 a night.
We booked site 003 which is NOT worth the fee. There are no electric or water connections and the "tent pads" are just cleared off dirt areas in direct path to the public water faucet or the bathroom. You cannot use the faucet to wash dishes or connect to your RV due to local water system regulations. The site is HUGE with plenty of open land you wish you could put your tent on were it not for the low lying bushes that cover everything. The pull through driveway is level and long enough for 2 vehicles.
Panguitch lake is ok. There is no vegetation to make it singularly pretty and the campground is sequestered from it with fencing. There aren't any trails to use onsite. There are several small stores and restaurants so you won't have to go all the way downhill if you forget something.The locals love this place so it's booked pretty early.
Sites 2 and 4 have back-in drive ways, direct views of the lake and offer a semblance of privacy as they are several steps down from the roadway.
Campground bathrooms have flush toilets but were very dirty during this high use summer holiday weekend. There are no showers or hot water available. The staff was working hard to keep the campground clean but the bathrooms need servicing twice a day to keep up with guests.
Campground noise was at a low- people were pretty chill. At night you can look up and see the Milky Way. Most sites were well covered by forest. This site was very exposed. Wind might be an issue for some.
If you need to reserve a site to be near Cedar City for Shakespeare Fest or Cedar Breaks National Monument book another site. Site #3 is for spend thrift exhibitionists only.

Great hosts! Not overly private but running water bathrooms. No showers. No hookups. Dump station east .5 mi north of church.

Spent the week up here on a group site, it was clean and had beautiful views. The campground is kinda haphazard with the layout but older campgrounds are. The biggest issue is there is no ranger up here. It’s a national park with a private company running it via camp hosts. That’s where the joke begins. There was a group that booked multiple regular and group sites (church group) with no less than 50 kids with adults who don’t care. Yelling, screaming, being kids. Is what it is. My problem is when they are running through your camp site and start a kick ball game sending kick balls into our vehicles and bouncing them off the roof/antennas on my camper. Jazzilyn (sp?) sucks big time. She came by to a check out a water issue (the 3rd time it ran out on our trip) and saw all of this happening and responded with there not bothering anything and a kickball can’t hurt anything. Tell that to our vehicles and camper. So if you know the camp host apparently you can do what ever you want here so if you do then have a blast!

When we go camping all we hope to do is relax from the stressful week that said, we don’t like being micromanaged and constantly being watched over by an over zealous camp host that feels they have Authority over you. We didn’t appreciate someone inflicting rules upon us that they do not follow themselves. Dogs on a leash, noise, and just an overall busy body.
At one point we were playing music by ourselves, not loud, just with our family, and she came straight over and told us that “if” we have neighbors we would need to stop playing our music. Now I’m a man of color and thought “why would she come over and make this comment” but respected her position and her responsibility. Unfortunately the truth came out when other campers came and were playing music till about 11pm! Not once did she tell them to turn off their music! Why must we still be faced with this biased attitude these days! Haven’t we grown as a country? I just wanted to relax, catch fish and camp! This was robbed of us.

Stayed at the North campground. Came here in Mid August. Fished and explored the area.

Positives. (1) Beautiful area. Been coming here for 40 years and it's just as pretty as ever. More crowded, but still great. (2) Clean campground, clean restrooms. (3) Many sites have good spacing and views. (IMO, the best sites here are the FF sites. ( 20, 15 and most of the double sites) (4) Nicely paved access roads and paved sites. (5) Professional and friendly hosts. These hosts are confronted with loads of people - many new to camping due to the Corona Virus casting newcomers out in the woods for the first time. They do a great job for little pay. ( Remember, you get back what you give)

Negatives. (1) Some of the sites are tight ( sites in the 30's) and many reserved sites This is mostly because some sites are under a Ponderosa grove and its is shaded but open underneath - giving the are a congested feel. (2) Solar can be difficult. Too much shade in some places. I would hesitate reserving a slot and expecting solar. (3) Noise. This is a large campground - relatively close to Las Vegas - and you can expect some noise. It is just that way in today's world. (4) Don't count on Cell service. ( I was able to get a consistent 3 bar Verizon signal on a small zone near the Evergreen Group site at the NE corner of the campground).

Overall this is a very good campground - well managed and clean.

* Ace hardware in Panguitch is excellent. Have most everything. The grocery store is in Panguitch is well stocked but Pricey. The burger place across from the campground is worth going to. Good softserve ice cream and Prime rib on Saturdays. BBQ is authentic and good.

If you want a more remote and secluded experience I suggest doing a little research and trying dispersed camping. This area has loads of it between Panguitch lake and Cedar breaks.

We were quite impressed with the campground. Though we only stayed one night, we'd return. Spots were level and there was good distance from your neighbors. Bathrooms were clean. The double sites and group sites were quite spacious. You can see Lake Panguitch from the campground, but campers don't have access to easily walk there. There's no cell phone service at the campground. All in all, another great USFS site.