Airey Lake Recreation Area

I have a hard time finding free camping that’s not ten miles deep into the woods with no cell service. It definitely seemed like the only other people here were in fact living here, but they kept to themselves generally. There was a source of fresh water AND a flush toilet and running faucet, which I was not expecting. There aren’t a ton of sites and some are more meant for tents, but it’s a beautiful location on a little lake.

We spent 3 nights here in our campervan. There is a flush toilet, faucet, dumpster and running water tap besides the toilets. Its a beautiful spot on a small lake. Dont camp behind the wooden barriers, we parked up next to a picnic table behind the toilets and a local came and warned us we would be fined $500 and spend 30 days in the county jail for camping there. There was a local guy called Billy living there in his tent with his dog. We had a great time getting to know him and also another guy that was living at the POW camp up the road and came by to collect water. Very friendly and harmless locals. Free campsite and no need to register.

This was a great spot! We stayed here 4 nights and would have stayed longer, had we the time. The actual campsites were a little confusing (especially after reading on here that you cannot camp behind the wooden barriers, which didn't seem to be true. There were local cars parked behind them, next to their tents, but we were the only RV there. We didn't park our RV behind the wooden barriers, maybe that is what the poster meant?) There are lots of tent sites (anywhere you like, it seems) but perhaps only a few sites for RV's. A large bus showed up in the middle of the night one night, parked easily off the road but was gone early in the morning. Our middle child was picking up the ducks and carrying them around by the second day. They must have been someone's pets, as their wings seem to be clipped. A local man comes every day and feeds them! The area is heavily used by locals but it's pretty harmless - hiking, fishing, feeding the ducks, etc. It was nice to have a lot of people around. But we also had a decent amount of privacy. The locals mostly stopped coming in once it was dark. There is one local guy, Billy, and his dog. He seemed nice enough. There is another tent that seemed unoccupied but was there the whole time. A few more campers came in on Friday night. We left early Saturday. I can imagine it gets much busier on a weekend. Wiggin is the local town with various amenities. It's about 15-20 minutes away. There is some noise from the road nearby. No dirt roads to travel at all (except in the actual area and those are good.) Water and a toilet and sink are available.

As previously posted by the wanderlings, sites are not designated, and does not appear to be much room for an actual RV perhaps a small trailer (16' or less perhaps?) like some have posted pics on here of. Two good size parking areas available for those that are in tents. No one there when we drive thru. Toilet was a mess and hadn't been cleaned, some leftover debris by one fire ring adjacent to the toilet and dumpster. Several water faucets available in the area. We ended up going to Big Foot trailhead and horse camp worked much better for us and is just down the road a ways. Roadway next to camp is busy at least during the day, we didn't overnight so can't say what it would be then. Again we just did a drive thru to check it out.

Right off a main road and lots of controlled burning so not much in the way of isolated natural beauty. On the other hand, there's a flush toilet, water, Verizon service and a dumpster. Lots of trash and cigarette butts, did my part to pick some of it up and dispose of it. Friendly ducks were very cute! Video review at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLWL3VI7nU4

Per the website: "Open for Day Use only; no camping allowed; RESTROOM CLOSED"

The park people have changed this into a day use area.

Pulled in at 830Pm found a spot to park as I camp in my van. There were a few others here camping but it was quiet next to a lake. Beautiful campsite.

We stayed here for one night while passing through the area. It was clean, quiet and the bathroom with running water was much appreciated.

We stopped here in our 20' travel trailer for two nights on our way to Louisiana and wish we could have stayed longer. The spots aren't really marked, but there is lots of space and it's not hard to find level ground. It was chilly when we stayed here, and the service was pretty crappy, but still a great spot. Although it's right off a paved road, it was still pretty quiet. There were scouts or something like it when we were there, so the bathroom wasn't in tip-top shape, but there was running water, which was really nice.
The trail is beautiful, although the bridge is washed out a couple kms out, and there were some friendly ducks on the lake (more like a pond).
We would definitely come back if we didn't need the internet for work.