“Enjoy Nature Year Round!”
Cave Lake State Park is a year-round park that offers outstanding recreational opportunities. It features a 32-acre reservoir and provides excellent trout fishing, boating, swimming, hiking, camping and picnicking. The 4,500-acre park is at an elevation of 7,300 feet in the Schell Creek Range adjacent to the Humboldt National Forest. Winter activities include ice-skating, ice fishing and cross-country skiing. The park is eight miles south of Ely on U.S. 93, turning onto Success Summit road (State route 486) and continuing east for seven miles. Fishing is great at Cave Lake this year! On April 14, 2013, a fisherman caught a 14lb German Brown fish. The German Brown was caught on Power Bait from the shore around 3:00pm. Clay Combs caught on May 23, 2013 a 15 lb and 30 inches long German Brown. German brown trout are native to Cave Lake and park streams. Hatchery rainbow trout are stocked in the lake, which is fed by Cave Creek and empties into Steptoe Creek. Big game animals such as elk and muledeer, and predators such as bobcat, mountain lion and coyote, reside in the area. Hawks and eagles are common as are vulture, pinyon jay, magpie and varieties of waterfowl and songbirds. Several varieties of reptiles are present including the occasional western rattlesnake. Park vegetation is typical of the Great Basin and includes aspen, big sagebrush, rabbit brush, Mormon tea, wild rose, chokecherry and currant. A pinyon/juniper woodland area interspersed with wetlands surrounds Cave Lake. Sedimentary limestones and shales typical of the Great Basin dominate park geology, and the area is characterized by large up thrusts, narrow canyons and shallow caves.
Reviews of Cave Lake State Park
20 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 9 users | Last reported on June 23, 2022AT&T 4G
Confirmed by 5 users | Last reported on May 19, 2021T-Mobile 5G
Confirmed by 1 users | Last reported on October 14, 2023This is a very nice state park with two campgrounds. We stayed in Elk Flat, which is not near the lake but there were very few people there on the weekend. Lake View Campground, a few miles away is close to the lake but with no views. It was nearly full when we arrived on a Friday afternoon and the sites seemed smaller and it was a tighter drive through the loop than Elk Flat.
There are miles of trails and dirt roads for hiking and the scenery is beautiful.
Bathrooms have flush toilets and showers but we were far away from them and didn't use them. There is a very nice dump station with water fill-up at the entrance to Elk Flat. Looking at the Verizon coverage map before we got there we expected to have no signal but did have slow 3G that was adequate for checking email.
Ely is an easy 14 mile drive for laundry and shopping. A good place to stock up before heading to Great Basin NP as there is nothing near there.
Nightly Rate: $18.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 14
"Why are they called Utah Junipers if we're in Nevada?" my young son asked me.
Good question.
We decided to find out, and as everyone knows, the best way to learn something is to ask the teenage girls working at the nearest gas station. "I'own'ow." Was her reply.
So we set out to discover the story behind this scandal for ourselves, bypassing the KOA on BLM land and ending up here at Cave Lake State Park.
We smelled the leaves. Didn't smell like Utah to me. We foraged through the underbrush and looked under stones, but unlike the Bugs Bunny cartoons we assumed were documentary factual, no holes to China were found. My youngest son began eating dirt, diligently pursuing the truth that our tree identification books refused to reveal.
"What happens if you eat dirt?" I asked him.
His three year old eyes lowered to the ground as he squeaked out, "If I eat dirt I will get dead." Then he snuck one last lick, checked his own pulse, and the faint odor of 4 bars of E magically changed into 3 bars of 4G*.
It was a magical time.
* That part was true. No Verizon at all, though. More conspiracies, you presume. I assume your presumption is correct.
Nightly Rate: $17.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 14
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
We are on two motorcycles pulling a tent trailer. The rate for a campsite is $17 but since we are on two motorcycles they charge double. Thirty four dollars is way overpriced for a single tent site. It seems that Nevada State Parks are trying to keep motorcycles out. I won't stay at any of them even in a single vehicle!
Nightly Rate: $36.00
Days Stayed: 0
Site Number: -
Wonderful park that we have stayed at a few times. We never go in the summer, so we are not sure how crowded it may get then. Lovely lake, great hikes, very clean park as we have found all of Nevada parks are.
Quiet location except for the campers that can't live without their generators.
Nightly Rate: $17.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: -
I stayed at Cave Lake State Park one night, on Monday, July 24, 2017 with my eight-year-old granddaughter.
The park is several miles off the main road. And as the park is situated on a hill, the backend of my 33 foot rig dragged as we turned into/out of the campsite area.
This is a very beautiful area. Our site number 33, a nice level back-in site with trees, gave us a limited view of the lake and easy walking access to the lake.
As I hold the Nevada State Park Senior Discount Pass, I paid zero Site fees. The campsites have no electricity. Water faucets are located throughout the park. There is a shower/toilet facility conveniently located in the campground area.
I generally don't prefer hilly campsite areas which is what this camp site is. I felt like the sites were too close together. Especially distressing was, as a non-smoker, I could smell nearby campers cigarette smoking and even more challenging was the multiple campfires at night with their smoke filling my motorhome and impeding our ability to breathe well. My granddaughter is asthmatic. And, as there was absolutely no cell service, I became concerned. We, therefore, only stayed one night.
However, we thoroughly enjoyed and played in a beautiful afternoon rain storm that cooled the temperature down. We walked down to the lake a couple of times and took lots of pictures and were amazed at how beautiful this state park is!
There were several nice day picnic areas down around the lake. And the garbage dumpster was within easy walking range of our site. The park also offers a yurt for overnight rental.
And, whereas, for very personal reasons as noted above, I will not return to this park, it is certainly no reflection on the beauty of the park and what it offers those who enjoy its terrain and close proximity to other campers.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 33
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Quiet, nice, scenic, super clean & good value. Elk Flat cg has better sites, water and dump station than Cave Lake cg. Travel around USFS roads for fun 4wd high country experience! Nice soap-n-suds laundromat & taco food truck in Ely.
Nightly Rate: $15.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
This can site was awesome. Clean bathrooms, fairly level sites, fire pits & tables. I can’t forget to mention the amazing fishing, and beautiful views. Would be good to take kids for a weekend fishing trip, or just a relaxing get away.
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 24
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
Very clean and well maintained. Level hillside sites. Great 360 degree views.
Free showers. Nice restrooms. Great small lake for fishing and boating. Hiking trails all around.
Nightly Rate: $23.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 24
My kinda boondocking. No power, water was available, nice dump station, decent shower facility but whole floor gets wet so redressing was a dance.
This is the nicest State park boondocking campground we've ever stayed. The plots were flat, well groomed gravel, and near new, unmarked picnic bench.
I was very impressed - If you like dark skies and quiet camping, give this a shot.
No cel or wifi but plenty of air channels came in for tv.
Nightly Rate: $15.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 15
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon
While on a trip to CO, found myself too tired to keep going. Found this campground on good old Campendium! Great spot! Well maintained, beautiful views, space between sites and wonderful maintenance crew who helped me out with a car issue in the morning.
Took a beautiful hike first thing before packing up to go. Was so tempted to stay a few days but needed to get where I was going. So sad to leave, as was my dog. Will definitely be back... next time with a kayak.
Nightly Rate: $23.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 25
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
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Cave Lake State Park
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Max Stay
- 7
- Max Length
- 35 ft
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Last Nightly Rate
- 0.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 0.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 40.0
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Laundry
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Propane
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Big Rigs
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Boondock
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Firewood
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Fifty Amp
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Full Hookup
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Paved Sites
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Dump Station
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Mobile Homes
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Public Water
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Pull Through
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Water Hookup
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Potable Water
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Age Restricted
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Rec Facilities
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Dispersed Sites
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Open Seasonally
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Permit Required
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Fulltime Residents
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