Sweet Briar Lake

Stayed here on 9/21/15 - 9/22/15. At this time of year, there were a couple of other sites being used on the 21st, but no one else was there on the 22nd. Each campsite has lots of space, and it's a long ways from other campsites as well. All of the sites are dry camping, there are no hookups that we saw anywhere, which is why the rating is low. If there were hookups, it'd be five stars easy! There is highway noise from I-94 on the south end, but it isn't bad. Getting into the park is easy, with most of the roads being fairly level.

This is dispersed camping in a county-run recreation area. There's a well-maintained county road that runs the circumference of a small lake with spurs and pull outs for cleared sites of various size and levelness, some with fire pits and/or picnic tables. There are pit toilets scattered throughout. It's small lake, but relatively scenic, and lot of bird action (seems to be on a migration path). Lots of mosquitoes and ticks too. We were here in late June, and It seems to be heavily used by locals, but many of them tend to all crowd into the larger camping areas together, so there were still plenty of opportunities to find a private spot of our own. Close to the freeway, which makes for a small amount of noise, but very quick and easy access. We only stayed for a night to break up some long driving days, but if on a different schedule, could have happily stayed here longer.

VZ: 25Mbps down / 15Mbps up
ATT: 22Mbps down / 29Mbps up

Arrived here Wednesday August 22, 2018, left Tuesday August 28, 2018. I was the only camper here when I got here. Lots of campsites along the shore, but they looked they could get muddy in the rain, and there was rain in the forecast. But there's plenty of sites away from shore and slightly elevated, still with great views of the lake. There's a 10 day maximum stay, and did see a Sheriff truck pass by once. This place fills in on Friday and is busy over the weekend. The campsites ate spaced far apart and don't really see the other campers. Lots of gnats buzzing around when the weather warms up. My advice is to get here and find a place to unhitch the trailer or toad, do not set up camp yet, then exlore the entire perimeter of the lake because you'll find awesome sites if you take the time. Facilities here include restrooms, picnic tables, fire rings. Some sites have covered patio. The west side of the lake has swings and teeter-totter, and there are two manual water pumps that work, but the water looked brown. Verizon 4G came in at 2 bars, but could get 3-4 with the WeBoost. Truck noise from I-94 could be heard.

This was a great place to stop for the night on our way to Montana. Woke up to an incredible view of the lake! Highly recommend.

This small lake is pretty and has a few boat ramps. It is very well maintained and easy to access. It is clear that the county takes care of this place.

Thirty minutes to Mandan / Bismark with tons of services. We really liked this place and would stay again.

Trash cans, picnic tables, and fire pits are available.

The biggest downside is the road noise from the Interstate. It is very close and if you are bothered by road noise then you will not enjoy this spot. Road noise mostly heard when outside and we didn't mind it.

There is a 10 day maximum stay limit.

Verizon and AT&T are excellent, given the proximity to the interstate.

This was such a great find for a place to stop while passing through ND! I would've loved to stay a couple of days and explore the lake and enjoy the beauty of the area! Unfortunately, it was very rainy while I was passing through so I didn't get out much.

The access off the freeway is very easy. The road through the campground was a little muddy and ruddy with all the rain, but it wasn't terrible. The sites are nice and big and well-spaced with picnic tables and fire pits. Grassy so not so great in the rain but it sure is pretty. I was able to find a level enough spot without using blocks. But it is like grassy knolls so there are certainly uneven spots too.

Great cell service out here. AT&T had 4 bars LTE.

I arrived in the evening and didn't have any difficulty finding a spot, the place seemed pretty empty, of course, this was late September and the weather wasn't great.

I would definitely stay here again!

Why is this free?! Perfect overnight on our road trip. Spacious, easy and the cleanest pit toilet I’ve ever used!
- Easy to get to. We followed Waze to “Sweet Briar Lake” and looked at Apple Maps to get a sense of the layout. From the highway there are signs to the lake recreation area. Lots of site choices with fire rings and picnic tables. Looking at the map, the little lakefront loops have sites. We arrived after dark and had no problem finding a great waterfront spot.
- Lots of space, super clean and, when we were there Thurs night early Sept, we saw a camper on the far end of “our” loop and one across the lake. That’s it and that’s about how we like it.
- Very clean pit toilet with tp. No water or electric, per another reviewer (we weren’t looking for it).
- Bonus: Great stars with the Milky Way spread out above. Sunrise was gorgeous. Big fish jumping in the lake.
- Light highway rumbling but nothing to keep you awake (not at all like most KOAs :)

Edit: Drove 10 mins towards town and got a flat tire. Can’t tell how or why. Probably not anything we picked up by the lake but worth mentioning.

We were so excited when we first arrived, but we quickly had to pull out the fly shatter. We had killed 30-40 flies inside, and when we walked outside our entire bus was covered in HUNDREDS of flies. I wish I was exaggerating. I have no idea why there were so many flies. Maybe we were near a nest or the weather was just right? We had to leave because the flies were just terrible.

Other campers didn’t seem to be too bothered, but they were quite the distance away. Download speeds were 9 and upload about 16.

Stayed the night at a lake front site with only 2 other RVs on the peninsula (each being more than 100 feet away). The sunset over the lake was beautiful. The entrance road was perfectly graded. The site I picked had a picnic table and a fire ring, and was located 20 feet from the lake on 2 sides. There was a trash dumpster at the entrance to the peninsula. While Sweet Briar Lake was only a few miles from interstate 94, it was very quite, with the birds providing the background noise.

This is a beautiful peaceful park. After a long stressful drive day this was a treat.
It was clean, quiet, great views and being a solo traveler I felt safe.
The road to get in is gravel, but a smooth ride. Wide open spots with a table and fire pit. They also have water.