This isolated, quiet, family type camping area is located on the east side of Hovey Lake. It is a good place for canoeing, bird watching, or just enjoying nature's surroundings. There are four campsites, each with a table and fire ring. Toilets and drinking water are available. Swimming conditions in this lake are not good due to shallow water and the mucky bottom. Some northern pike, black bass and panfish can be caught here. The 99 acre Hovey Lake is the headwaters of the Indian Wild and Scenic River and offers good trout fishing. There is a carry-in boat access near the entrance of the campground. No fee area.
Reviews of Hovey Lake Campground
8 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 3 users | Last reported on August 16, 2022AT&T 5G
Confirmed by 3 users | Last reported on June 20, 2021Nice free campground on the shores of a beautiful lake. There are only 4 campsites and each have a picnic table and fire ring. It's secluded and quiet. There is 2 vault toilets and a centrally located water pump. The only drawback is that there's NO cell phone signal with Verizon or AT&T.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 14
Site Number: 3
Nice spot right on a lake. Water and toilets available. Probably 8 or so spots, only 2 big enough for a travel trailer or Class C. Picnic tables and fire rings, but no wood around unless you buy it.
Close to all the pictured rocks area attractions. Large flys were horrible, killed the dog, had to stay in the screen tent during the day.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: -
We loved camping here in late July. There were 4 campsites and all of them were taken by sunset. Google Maps may have you take Blueberry Lane the last 1/4 mile to the campground. Do yourself a favor and go the extra 50 feet to the forest service road. Blueberry Lane seems to have been created for ATV's. There was water there but it came for an old pump and the water looked brackish. There are a couple of pit toilets on the loop on the far end of the campground. For a more complete review with video and drone footage, feel free to visit our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/hnCq8rCseNI We camped here in a truck camper. A Class C came by later in the afternoon. They made it to a site but branches were scrapping the rig often.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: n/a
I was the only person out here the 2nd week of October, when the colors around the lake were SPECTACULAR. It’s a gorgeous location. Do NOT follow google maps when they tell you to turn off Buckhorn onto Blueberry Trail. It’s only a 2-track through the sand. If you go maybe 250 yards further, there is a dirt road called the Hovey Lake road. Take that, and there’s a sign after maybe 3/4 mile that shows you well here to turn for the campsite- it’s forest road 2367.
There is no cell service (at least, no Verizon) at the campground. However, maybe 3 miles back up Buckhorn there is a lodge that advertises free WiFi. I pulled into their parking lot & accesses it- no password needed.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 2
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon
The campsites at Hovey Lake are a gem of the UP. Meg and I arrived around noon and found one available spot. Another opened later in the afternoon and was occupied soon after. Get there early if you want to increase your chances of securing a space.
There is a water pump and clean toilets (bring your own toilet paper). Firewood is abundant on the forest floor so don’t waste your money on a bundle.
Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. The area of each space is generous in size and there is a good distance between each site. If you find the grounds are full, try asking someone if you can share their site. (We made fast friends with a gal who asked if we would share our site.)
A bonus of our stay was meeting some mushroom and berry hunters who were at site 1. They shared their harvest with us and taught us how to scavenge for the fruits of the forest.
After staying at Hovey, it’s hard to imagine why one would stay elsewhere in the surrounding areas.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 4
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon
AT&T
We loved staying on Hovey Lake! It is secluded and far enough away from other campers for privacy. There were a few bigger rv / pull in spots and we were lucky enough to secure one. There were a other sites a little smaller and a bit harder to drive to unless you have a small vehicle. Our site had a small path to walk down to lake, only about 20 ft away. The lake is beautiful and we saw swans and a few other water birds. We stayed Labor Day and night and there were barely any bugs. This spot provides a pure wilderness experience. Be careful on the drive in— directions from this app did not make us turn the correct way at first and we headed down the ATV path. Also, if you walk around on trails nearby just be mindful of no trespassing signs and private property which borders some areas. Great find and stay! We had a peaceful night!
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T
Not sure how people camp here in the summer with all the bugs. We scoped the place out to see if our rig was going to fit and upon exiting the vehicle we were legitimately SWARMED by numerous different types of flies, wasps, bees, dragonflies, butterflies, etc. I assume this is a beautiful place closer to “off season” times of the year because there is no way this could be enjoyable.
Also absolutely NO travel trailers unless you’ve got a teeny tiny pop up. No turn arounds for rigs!
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 0
Site Number: 0
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T
We've been here a week and we love it! There are a ton of places to camp off little roads and such. The site we stayed at for a week is right by Hovey Lake, with a picnic table and camping ring. It's beautiful here.
I do recommend taking your alt vehicle up first to find a spot. If all looks good, you're good to camp!
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: 1?
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Be the first to add a review to the Hovey Lake Campground.
Hovey Lake Campground
Hours
Problem with this listing? Let us know.
Has RV parking changed? Let us know.
-
Parking
-
Pets Allowed
-
Restrooms
-
Wifi
-
Wheelchair Accessible
-
Credit Cards Accepted
- Max Stay
- 14
- Season End
- October
- Affiliation
- National forest
- Season Start
- May
- Last Nightly Rate
- 0.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 0.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 36.0
-
Laundry
-
Propane
-
Showers
-
Big Rigs
-
Boondock
-
Firewood
-
Fifty Amp
-
Tent Sites
-
Cabin Sites
-
Full Hookup
-
Paved Sites
-
Dump Station
-
Mobile Homes
-
Public Water
-
Pull Through
-
Reservations
-
Sewer Hookup
-
Water Hookup
-
Age Restricted
-
Rec Facilities
-
Dispersed Sites
-
Open Seasonally
-
Permit Required
-
Group Tent Sites
-
Fulltime Residents
-
Standard Tent Sites
-
Pull Through RV Sites
Campground, Restrooms
Nearby Hotels
Related Trip Guides
The Great Northern is a 3,600 mile, cross-country odyssey
- 57 Places
- 69:15
- 3,565 mi
The top things to do on a Tunnel of Trees road trip
- 12 Places
- 00:51
- 31 mi
The top things to do on an I-75 road trip
- 34 Places
- 31:05
- 1,933 mi