Cravens Bay Campground

Arrived on a late Saturday afternoon expecting other campers, and not a single one! Stayed two nights right on the water. All spots have fire rings and concrete picnic tables. No host, I assume, during winter hours. All spots are clean looking and $12/night. You pay at the pay station and no permit required for this camping site. Did have some hunters driving by daily, heading further back along the lake but no other campers. Lots of down wood to use for fires. Be sure to pack everything you need for this trip, no close towns for restock. Has very clean vault toilets and a water pump, but unknown if potable or not. Cell service varies between 2-3 LTE for AT&T. Cold winter nights but boy, that sunset is beautiful. Would definitely stay here again!

Overall, we have really enjoyed our stay here. We were lucky enough to get a site right on the water. The views are beautiful. The 5 miles into the CG are twisty, windy, but paved. The campground roads and sites are gravel. There are sites in a cluster as you arive, but if you want a more wooded, secluded site keep going. To our surprise, there are seasonal sites here. They have an S after the number. We did not ask if you could occupy one short term if it was vacant. Although Craven Bay is on the map as a self serve CG, there's a camp host who collects fees and keeps an eye on things.

There is a flush toilet house and a vault toilet by the cluster of sites. They are both kept clean and supplied. During the week while the Seasonal campers are not here it is very quiet. On the weekends there is the constant noise from a couple non-camping generators. The seasonal sites do not have electric hookups. We had one bar of Verizon without our booster and with it enough AT&T for one of us to work remotely.

The only downside has been the frequent stench of dead fish. Perhaps because we are here in the later summer (August), the lake has gotten too warm and hypoxia is happening, but the shore line is strewn with what looks primarily like big carp carcasses. Fortunately, it has not been so bad as to drive us away.

Not to miss-lead anyone, the price we paid is half off because of my Senior America the Beautiful pass. It pays to be old in the National parks and CGs.