Mackinaw Campground

We visited in June and we came here with one goal: to escape the relentless summer heat of Phoenix AZ - happy to report we were successful!

At over 9,000 ft this place was nice and cool - so cool in fact we had to bundle up at night and have camp fires! A far cry from the triple digits in Phoenix...

The camp sites were spaced out nicely with a lot of vegetation between so you felt somewhat secluded - many sites have views of the lake, some have water hook ups as well.

This has been one of our all time favorite road trips and we plan to go back - highly recommend it! (And pack your bikes - great trails around the shore of the lake - some of the most beautiful scenery you can imagine!)

Also - there is ZERO cell service - the lodge and the general store have a cell phone booster, you’ll usually find a huddled mass of travelers standing under the antenna trying to squeeze out a txt or two or make a quick call. I went down daily to check emails... it’s not terribly reliable and VERY slow but it’ll work it you absolutely must keep in contact with the outside world.

Stayed 10 days the end of August. ( the campground has a 10 day limit for some reason. When we were there it was not nearly full - even on weekends. I would suggest the managers reevaluate this policy and expand to 16 days like most other NF parks)

The good - Lots of room between sites, beautiful lake views, showers, flush toilets, very few bugs, friendly and helpful host, two country stores and one restaurant close, dump station close ( free). Threaded water connection in campground.

Not so good - a long way if you need things other than ice cream and bread ( LOA 15 mi). Showers require 8 quarters so bring rolls of quarters if you are taking many showers, Roadways are tight within the campground. Some roadway noise.

I had very little trouble getting cell service. Verizon. Was able to text and surf the web. Voice calls were intermittent. IMO, the higher you go up in the campground the better the service.

Hint, get to the restaurant early at Bower Haven on Fri./Sat for the prime rib special.

Nicely laid out campsites. Clean, modern showers.
Situated among the aspens and close to Fish Lake. Groomed walking path along lake us only a few miles long.
Dump and water closed but full camping fees collected.

I realize this review won't help most people, but for those of us who are working while traveling... well, this is for them.
I was so excited to stay here and explore, but the cell signal was so weak that I coudn't log in for work and had to leave first thing in the morning to find enough signal. Phone calls and texts were fine, but internet even Google Maps was non existent.
The views are amazing and the aspen trees are beautiful. The campground host was kind and personable. I hope to be back soon to enjoy all that Fish Lake has to offer.

Unless you have a smaller tent, don't pick site 54. There were two cleared areas and neither was big enough for our tent. We ended up having to rip out sagebrush and stake the tent on top of sagebrush bushes and a large rock, losing tent space and making it very difficult to stake the tent against the wind.

The restroom near us was small, constantly dirty, and old, with nowhere to set down or hang toiletries. No light in the restroom. I suspect the restroom at the far end of the loop was nicer but did not check it out.

Nothing against the campground, but there were a number of large groups that seemed too large for campsite capacity, kept the bathroom constantly busy, sang karaoke loudly during the day, and stayed loud past quiet hours.

The campsites are not designed equally at all. Some of the sites are beautifully shaded, with ample room for large tents and sitting around the fire ring. Site 54 only has room for chairs on one side of the fire ring and only has a few trees around the driveway. I would return in the shoulder season to avoid crowds if I could get a better campsite.

I’ve stayed at over a dozen national forest campgrounds this season. This is the only one that charges extra for towing a car behind a motorhome. When you initially enter the campground the rate sign is changed with a magic marker to indicate each campsite no longer accommodate two vehicles. Each campsite only accommodate one vehicle and the next vehicle is charged half price.The campground host only applies this rule to motorhomes pulling cars. A car pulling a trailer counts as one vehicle. A truck pulling a fifth wheel counts as one vehicle. Two cars count as one vehicle. But a motorhome pulling a car has to pay the surcharge. Only come here if you’re willing to pay extra.

With friends, we selected sites 38/39 up higher on hillside with nice views. We enjoyed biking the lake shore trail out to Doctors Creek CG and around the wetlands and into the aspens - about 5 mi for us one-way. Treat yourself to ice cream at the Lodge afterward.

Be aware that this campground fills up over weekends even after school is in fall session. Many larger rigs here. With no electricity, generator noise.

Very nice campground. Views of the lake from almost all sites. Clean restrooms with flush toilets. Showers with hot water. Three marinas with minimal stores. High elevation ( 8800) so take care if this gives you a problem. @ 16 miles from the nearest town with gas stations, grocery store, and hardware store. Very wonderful host.