Top 3 "Pay a Fee" Campgrounds of the Summer

Dean  (the husband)

Shalane  (the wife  :O)

I sometimes wish that I had video of some of the discussions that my wife and I have as we talk about our blogs.  Today, as we identify the top 3 "Fee" campgrounds, you will see that we don't always agree on everything.  We had to create a tie for 2nd place, because no matter how we tried to break the tie, we just couldn't convince the other of the merits of our own pick.  A tie for second is the best we could do.  :o)   We do hope that you enjoy our reviews of these campgrounds starting with the tie.

Cave Lake State Park near Ely, Nevada - Elk Flat Campground

Cave Lake State Park near Ely, Nevada - Elk Flat campground

Dean fishin' at Cave Lake State Park, near Ely, Nevada

Cave Lake State Park, near Ely, Nevada

Cave Lake State Park, near Ely, Nevada

Cave Lake State Park, near Ely, Nevada

Cave Lake State Park, near Ely, Nevada

Individual bathrooms and showers with cedar doors at Elk Flat. Very nice.  :O)

TIE 2)  Cave Lake State Park is just a few miles to the southeast of Ely, NV.  ($17 or $15 for NV residents)  This is my wife's choice for second.  It is a photographers dream.  I have over a hundred pictures of this state park.  Don't get me wrong, I really like it.  In fact, we have made a point of staying there each summer.  It is at a high elevation of over 7000 feet.  The summer temperatures are very pleasant.  The state park has two campgrounds.  One of these Lake View Campground, is directly across from Cave Lake, and the other, Elk Flat Campground, is a couple of miles from the water.  I have always wanted to stay at Lake View, but, as you might imagine, it is almost always full.  Elk View, where we stayed is not a bad alternative.  Each site is nestled into some evergreen trees.  There are water spigots scattered around the campground.  There is no electric or sewer hookups, but here is a dump station at the enterance to the campground.  I think one of the things that my wife likes best about this place is their restrooms.  lol I even took a picture of them. They are very clean and smell wonderful because of the cedar walls.  And because they're actual flush toilets! Ok, now I'm going to have to go back up and post a picture of the bathroom. :O)  We also like the 'green' aspect of the park.  I believe they use solar power for everything including the water heaters and lights. Beautiful mountains surround you on all sides.  We really have enjoyed both opportunities we've had to camp there. There's so much of the park that we haven't seen.  As a matter of fact, there a lot of the park that I have seen and Dean hasn't.  When we went last summer, I let him fish while I went hiking and wore out my camera.  It was so beautiful, and the photo ops were endless.

Table Rock Lake State Park in Branson, Missouri

Table Rock Lake State Park in Branson, Missouri
 

TIE 2)  Table Rock Lake State Park is a few miles east of Branson, MO. ($21. per night-electric only)  This is my choice for second place.  It might be because I feel bad that all campgrounds that we've put on our lists have been in the mountains of Nevada, Colorado, or Utah.  Maybe it is because of nostaglia.  I grew up just 3 hours from there and have enjoyed many wonderful vacations in the Branson area.  I feel the same way.  I also grew up not far from Branson and spent MANY weekends at various Missouri state parks.  I LOVE Missouri, but NOT in the summer!  Personally, I think it's because it is in a beautiful location.  The campsite that we occupied was surrounded by tall shade trees.  Through our back window we could see the rather large lake covered on all sides by a forest.  The park has sites with some, all, or no hookups.  We desperately needed air conditioning, so we reserved an 'electric only' spot.  We stayed three nights, because there was so much we wanted to do in the area.  My wife loves Branson and I really think that she liked the campground.  However, her biggest complaint was about the shower house/restrooms.  Branson gets a lot of precipitation.  We saw more bugs in the restrooms in those three days, than all the other restrooms we were in the entire summer.  Okay, I am exaggerating a little, (No he's not!) but Shalane would probably tell you that it was the truth.  Yes, I would.  She is not a big fan of bugs in an area where she is trying to clean herself.  Hmm.  Interesting way to put that, Babe.  Overall though, I would highly recommend it for those of you looking to set up a base camp so you can go explore all that Branson has to offer. I would HIGHLY recommend Branson, in general, but you could probably find a better place to stay.  I did like some things about this park.  I liked the view from our site, the easy access sites and the many trees.  However, in the three days we were there, the bathrooms were only cleaned once.  Hopefully the cleaning lady was just on vacation, and it's normally much better.

Bird Creek, near Ely, Nevada

The clear water creek runs right through the camp sites.  Bird Creek Recreation Area is located in Duck Creek Basin approximately 25 miles from Ely, Nevada

There's a nice group site on the other side of these bridges.  Bird Creek Recreation Area is located in Duck Creek Basin approximately 25 miles from Ely, Nevada

Bird Creek Recreation Area is located in Duck Creek Basin approximately 25 miles from Ely, Nevada

Dean attempts to start a fire with the damp wood after a nice rain shower.  It was eventually a success!  Bird Creek Recreation Area is located in Duck Creek Basin approximately 25 miles from Ely, Nevada

The storm provided some beautiful colors.  Bird Creek Recreation Area is located in Duck Creek Basin approximately 25 miles from Ely, Nevada

It also made for a gorgeous sunset.  Bird Creek Recreation Area is located in Duck Creek Basin approximately 25 miles from Ely, Nevada

1)  Bird Creek Campground is north of Ely, Nevada in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest- for better directions see our blog on 7/6/11. ($7.00!) Okay, so we had a difficult time deciding which of the above campgrounds should be ranked second.  However, we had no trouble agreeing on our favorite spot.  We accidentily discovered this campground on our way back from Idaho.  We were actually heading to Duck Creek in Nevada (not Utah), when we saw a sign that mentioned Bird Creek.  We decided to go check it out and were excited by what we found.  After going up a moderately rough road, we came to what we believed to be a picnic area.  Upon closer examination, we realized that the national forest service had converted it into a campground.  We found a spot close to a rapid little stream coming down the mountain.  There were trees everywhere.  It smelled AMAZING! I think that the thing that we enjoyed best though was watching the rain come down off the mountain.  By the time, it made its way to us it was a good old fashion thunderstorm.   For those of you reading our blog east of the Rockies, you may be wondering why this would be considered one of the 'best things.'  You see thunderstorms all the time.  However, out west it is a treat to be able to see so much water falling from the skies.  During the storm, I remember looking up to see two deer scurring across the mountain.   There are few things better on this earth than the smell of a pine tree forest after a rain.  Just writing about it, puts a smile on my face.  There really isn't too much to this campground.  There was one pit toilet in the center of the campground, a fire pit at each site and there were a few water spigots around the area.   However, the sights, sounds, and smells that we experienced there I would put up against the best RV parks in the USA.   Even the food that we ate that night somehow tasted better.  It was awesome!  We can't wait to go back again one day.  It's hard to tell, but I think that maybe our own experience as a married couple probably influenced this decision more that the actual campground itself.  I mean, it's kind of hard to be objective.  Dean and I LOVE rain, we love seclusion, the smell of pine, and clear running streams.  We felt almost childlike when we were here.  We cuddled in the back of the truck and watch the rain, then worked nearly an hour to start a fire with the soaked wood.  We had the most delicious chili for dinner that  we had cooked over the open fire, and were giddy the whole time.  For us, it was just a GREAT day.  Objectively, was it the best campground of the summer? Would our readers judge it as such?  Well, I don't know.  All I know is that this little spot holds an amazing memory for us, so it gets the number one spot!

I hope that one day soon, many of you will have the chance to visit one or more of these campgrounds.  As we continue our adventures we will keep on posting reviews of campgrounds that we think you might enjoy.  Last night, we stayed at a cool free campground near our home.  Maybe that will be our next blog.  Happy Trails!