O'Haver Lake Campground

Beautiful lakeside sites. Very well maintained campsites. Vault toilets. Water. Amazing sunsets and sunrises.

We and our camping buddies made reservations to stay in this popular park for 6 nights but the only pr was we couldn’t reserve any site for more than two days meaning we would be moving sites constantly during the week. The dirt road arriving to Ohaver lake is certainly one to proceed slowly on. As you climb the mtn the last mile or so you are greeted with numerous washboards on the switchbacks but don’t worry, It’s worth it! When we arrived we noticed that two walk ups had just pulled out, 4 and 5. The friendly camp host allowed us to occupy those side by side sites which meant no moving for the rest of our stay! We enjoyed nice daytime temperatures in the mid 60’s and nighttime temperatures right around 50. And NO humidity! Wow that was great for some Arkansans! Though not on the lake, we found our sites were wonderful! This park is popular! Lots of activity and action on the lake from fishing to kayaking to swimming ( brrr) to sunbathing. We hiked around the lake and enjoyed the beauty of the area. No ATT cell service and no tv access so really enjoyed the down time! On the way out, at the visitors center located at Poncha Springs is a dump station with non potable water for $10 credit/debit card and potable water available at the next building. Thank you Poncha Springs!

As stated the steep road up to the lake is rocky and a bit scary, but once there it's a big, beautiful mountain lake with fishing, kayaking, etc.
Early August and the place was quite full, I was given a campsite near the camp host and got settled in nicely.
Soon after, a neighbor across from me arrived in an older motorhome, he proceeded to run his generator all day long, he had also brought his own old golf cart that was as loud as a 727 at take-off and he kept touring the entire park. After finally parking the beast, he turned on his music and cranked it up to a bothersome level.
I asked a couple of neighbors about the noise and they stated: "we didn't come here for that"
After a rather long time suffering through the noise, the camp host shows up, and I thought GREAT, now we'll get some peace and quiet.
I approach the camp host, which consists of a teenage couple with a 3 year old living in a dilapidated old trailer, and complain about the neighbor, the neighbor sees me complaining and yells out, "OK, I'll turn it down", whereas the camp host yells back NO! you're fine, don't!!
I couldn't believe my ears. But the reason for his neglect soon becomes apparent, it's justification for when he cranks up his own generator which is LOUDER than a 747 at take-off, and THAT runs all afternoon until 9:45 pm
The neighbors loud music went until exactly 10:00 pm. I took my losses and left the next day.
It's a family park so it's never going to be very quiet, but what I went through was torture.

Classic little family campground. Cool mountain lake that is popular for fishing and floating about in small craft.

Only a overnight stop but worth the drive in. The road in is a little steep in spots but not bad. Campground was full when we were there. Had reservation. Host was friendly and helpful. Campground was clean. Toilets good. Fishing for stocker rainbows was decent. Will stay again..

Lots of generators. Good fishing . Close to Salida . Hiking and good mountain pass road nearby . Good host . Nice sites . Crowded in summer on weekends.
Beautiful lake
Road a bit rough so go slow.

A really pretty small motorless lake (15 acres) with a nice small FS campground surrounding it on three sides up at 9,200' near Poncha Pass. Sites 11 and 12 are group sites. Our site, #10, I think is the best on the lake - you are right on it with a place to put in a paddleboard or kayak. No dump station or hookups or cell service and the road in is not paved and is rough in spots - it is your basic FS campground on a beautiful lake.

Lots of people fishing and floating while we were there, but it was always peaceful and mostly quiet except for one camper that ran a generator for many hours each day - once they left it was very quiet. Most folks either used solar or were tenting.

It is maybe a 20 minute run into Poncha Springs, where there is a dump station, water fill and propane fill (at Poncha Lumber) as well as basic groceries at LaGree's, which is also a hardware store.

Our phones and hotspot showed 1 bar of Verizon, but we could never get anything from it at all. The Marshall Pass road runs above the lake on the north side and up there we found a workable 3 bars - so you can climb up the ridge to the road if desperate.